Conversion: An Intellectual Transformation

From this we learn that conversion according to Islam means a thorough transformation of the person and not just a change of religion in the everyday sense. There is a formal method of religious conversion prevalent among the Jews and Christians known as baptism. In this ritual ceremony, the convert is dipped in water. The hue of water considered a symbol of purity, and their priests believe that dipping someone in pure clean water purifies him, and he is thus converted to a new religion. But pouring water outwardly does not purify a person, for the attainment of purity necessitates a transformation of the total human personality. The convert is suffused with the hue of God and he adopts God’s ways in thought, word and deed. As the Quran puts it: We take on God’s own dye—and who has a better dye than God’s? And we are His worshippers. (2:138). The Quran refuses to give its seal of approval to conversions which are mere formalities. In ancient Madinah there was the case of about three hundred people having become Muslims by reciting the Islamic creed. To all intents and purposes, they even said their prayers, and fasted, but they did all this in a hypocritical manner, paying only lip service: their inner state did not correspond to their outward pronouncements. They claimed allegiance to Islam by word of mouth but as regards the state of their hearts, the Islamic spirit was lacking. The Quran branded the ‘Islam’ of such people as a falsity: When the hypocrites come to you, they say: