War and Peace in Islam

That is why the Quran uses no synonym for conversion. To express the act of conversion, other more meaningful words have been used, for instance, the dawah mission (the communication of the message to others) of Islam finds mention in the Quran in these words: A light has come to you from God and a glorious Book with which He will guide to the paths of peace those that seek to please Him. He will lead them by His will from darkness to the light; He will guide them to a straight path. (5:15-16) Those who enter the fold of Islam after being influenced by their study of the Quran, have been thus described in the Quran: Shall he then who knows that what has been revealed to you by your Lord is the truth be like him who is blind? But it is only the men of understanding that pay heed. (13:19) According to this verse, the real conversion is one which has taken place when the convert is aware that he has entered the phase of gnosis and has left behind the phase of ignorance. That is why a tradition of the Prophet speaks of the period prior to Islam as a period of ignorance. Similarly, the difference between a believer and a nonbeliever has been alluded to in the Quran in the context of life after death: ‘Can the dead man whom We have raised to life and given a light with which he may be guided among men, be compared to him who blunders about in a darkness from which he will never emerge?’ (6:122) This same reality has been expressed in different ways in the Quran, for instance, by the simile of the earth. When the rains come, the fertile earth blooms, becoming green with vegetation. ‘Good soil yields fruit by God’s leave. But poor and scant are the fruits which spring from barren soil. Thus we show our signs to those who render thanks.’ (7:58)