Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette  

 

Speakers at a recent function in Jeddah to honor new reverts to Islam have emphasized that Islam never allows any believer to use coercive tactics under any circumstances in the propagation of the divine religion. They voiced deep concern over the alleged forced conversion of around 300 Muslims to Hinduism in the North Indian city of Agra and a spate of similar cases across the country.



The Moulana Hifzur Rehman Seoharvi Academy organized the function to felicitate 16 Asian expatriates who embraced Islam at Lasani Restaurant here. All of the new Muslims said categorically that not any iota of force was there behind their conversion. “What persuaded us to the divine religion was Islam’s sublime values of compassion, love, mercy, kindness, equality and humanity,” they said.



Addressing the gathering, Sheikh Salman, a priest turned Islamic preacher, said that good manners of Muslims is crucial in attracting non-believers to Islam. “The good manners and gentle behavior of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were the strongest weapons in the spreading of Islam. The mission of the Prophet (PBUH) was only to invite people to Islam after becoming a true model of an ideal Muslim, and the Prophet (PBUH) had not given any authority to force people to convert to Islam,” he said quoting verses from the Holy Qur’an and Hadith (Tradition of Prophet).



Calling Islam as a religion of good manners, Sheikh Salman urged Muslims to become true gentlemen in their dealings with other people, especially with followers of other religions. “If we hold fast to good conduct and values of compassion and empathy, Islam will spread easily. With a strong weapon of good manners, the Prophet (PBUH) won the hearts of people.” He specially quoted the Hadiths such as “The best of you is the best among you in conduct, “Nothing is weightier on the Scale of Deeds than one’s good manners.” “The Prophet was very courteous to all sections of the society,” he added. Sheikh Salman, who served as a priest in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh before reverting to Islam in 1993, is working as a preacher at the Call and Guidance Center in Jeddah’s Industrial Area.



Bahjat Ayub Najmi, founder president of the academy, congratulated the new Muslims, saying that they are the VVIPs of today’s function as Allah honored them with His guidance. “If we love and take care of them, it is a noble worship to Almighty Allah.” He noted that giving ‘hidaya’ (guidance to the true religion) is Allah’s prerogative and even Prophet (PBUH) was not given any stake from it. “Hence, forced conversion is alien to Islam. If the Muslim rulers, during their 800-year-old period, used any force for conversion, the percentage of Muslims would have never been remained less than 20 percent of India’s 1.25 billion population at present,” he said. Najmi also noted: “Many of the new converts told us that they don’t want Biryani or any other worldly pleasures but only our moral support to live as true Muslims.”



Some of the new converts shared their experiences and experiments with truth. Othman and Ali, who hail from the Indian states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh respectively, said that they found Islam as the best religion after reading a number of books on the divine religion. “Initially, what fascinated me the most was the eagerness to fulfill a long cherished dream of visiting the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah after arrival in the Kingdom on a work visa,” Othman said and added: “In India, I visited several holy places for Hindus but I did not receive the most sought after peace of mind anywhere there. I was fully confident that what I had been searching for would be there in Makkah and Madinah, and hence, I started reading books on Islam and learning the Holy Qur’an before embracing the divine religion.”



Ali came to know about Islam from his friends back in India before reaching the Kingdom. “I have chosen the right path after continuous studies and critical and comparative analysis of both Islam and Hinduism,” he said. Ibrahim, a Filipino, described his reversion as the greatest blessing from Almighty Allah. “I was a fashionable boy who ran after worldly pleasures before finding true meaning of life in Islam,” Ibrahim said. He finds joy in doing Dawa work during off day on every Friday together with his colleagues. Faisal, another Filipino, said Islam was an answer to his many unanswered questions and gave him peace of mind after adolescent years full of confusions.



Earlier, the function was started with the recitation of a few verses from the Holy Qur’an by Mohammad Kareem. Dr. Dilshad Shamsi of King Faisal Specialist Hospital introduced six young Filipinos who reverted to Islam. Speaking on the occasion, Academy’s General Sectary Ashfaque Ahmed said the function was organized to express solidarity with those who were guided by Allah to the right path. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hydrus, Sheikh Saad Al-Hanbashi, and Masud Marfani were among those who distributed books on Islam and other gifts to the new converts. Hafiz Anwar Ali introduced the academy and the guests to the audience.



Najmi, founder of the academy, explained the activities of the academy, especially its annual honoring ceremony of new converts. Najmi is the grandson of the late Moulana Hifzur Rehman Seoharvi, a famous freedom fighter, member of parliament and noted Muslim personality of India. “We distribute books on Islam among followers of other religions, in addition to free distribution of literatures on rituals of Haj and Umrah as well as prayer mats and other souvenirs among the pilgrims,” he added.