ASK MAULANA

Psychological studies show that each one of us is different from others. It can be seen that even in a family living together in the same house, following the same culture and speaking the same language, there can still be differences. Such differences are not a problem. Any difference causes discussion and it further leads to brainstorming. Why do most Muslims have a tendency to try to convert people to their religion? Islam does not subscribe to the concept of conversion. It believes that religion is a matter of individual choice. The search for the truth should be every person’s individual effort and the decisions one then takes in the matter of religion is completely personal. The concept of religious conversion is alien to the Quran. It has no basis in the Quran. The Quran speaks of ma'rifah which means Godrealization or the discovery of God. So, the truth is your own discovery, your own realization. It is a personal choice. If you want to know what the purpose of life is, what life and death are about, you have to study, reflect and discuss with learned people. And after that you may reach some conclusion. And that is your religion. So, your religion is your own discovery. In religious ‘conversion’ there are two parties, the converter and the converted. But this is not the concept of Islam. In Islam, there is only one party—and that is you. If you want to find the truth, you have to reflect and study on your own. And when you discover something as the truth, you opt for it. What sort of reforms do you suggest in Islam to adapt to the today’s world? Can we adopt a thousand years’ old religious model? Islam does not need reform; it needs revival. The authentic text of the Quran is available and needs no alteration or correction. The only need is to re-interpret Quranic teachings in the modern idiom. Some Muslim scholars consider Islam to be a complete socio-political system, which is the root cause of many problems. Islam is a religion of individual following and not of forceful implementation of a particular system or state in society. o