Why Did They Become Muslims

(the Catholic Printhouse), which was inaugurated in Beirut in
1296 [1879 C.E.], printed Holy Bibles in various languages, and
also, in 1908, the Arabic lexicon entitled Al-munjid, which has
been re-edited and reproduced a number of times ever since. It is
stated as follows in the lexicon: “The heretical sect called
Jehowa’s Witnesses was established in the United States of
America in 1872, by Ch. Taze Russell. This person misinterpreted
the Holy Bible, and died in 1334 [1916 C.E.]. Jehovah is the name
given to Allâhu ta’âlâ in the Torah.” This Christian book shows
that the so-called sect is heretical and the word Jehovah is
misused. Fortunately, Muslims do not believe those falselyadorned
and tricky lies. On the contrary, those lies add to their
hatred and distrust for Christianity. May hamd-u-thenâ (gratitude
and praise) be to Allâhu ta’âlâ, Muslims are not ignorant people
as they think. Yes, forty or fifty years before now the number of
Muslims who knew a European language or who graduated from
a university was not very big. However, there were elementary
schools and madrasas in every country, in every city, and even in
every village. Science, mathematics and astronomy, as well as
religious knowledge, were being taught in these madrasas. Books
and curricula preserved from those times prove our statements
true. High mathematical knowledge would be necessary to build
those mosques and schools, to do the calculations inevitable in the
performance of worships such as paying zakât and dividing the
inheritance, to do buying and selling properly, and to keep the
accounts of companies and pious foundations. Parents raced with
one another to send their children to those schools at very early
ages. Magnificent and splendid ceremonies were held and feasts
were given when the children began to go to school. Souvenirs of
such occasions, such as the sequined and gilded clothes worn by
the child being sent to school, the ornamented satchel it carried,
the decorated cart on which it rode to school, and the pictures
taken during the performance of the mawlid, [1] were kept by the
family and gave the child honour and pride throughout its life as
signs of the importance and value which its family attached to
knowledge and learning. Those who had graduated from the
madrasa with a degree were exempted from military service and
[1] Mawlid means birth. In this context it means the eulogy recited for the
honour of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, especially on certain occasions
such as marriage ceremonies, births, circumcision ceremonies, sacred
nights, etc.
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