Why Did They Become Muslims

a soul that was desperately struggling in a deep gloom of indecision
and depression and seeking for a murshid to guide him to
salvation! As I read it, I felt as if the great poet had written it about
me and as if the poem were describing my struggles to find the
truth.
He, alone, exists; there’s no others in existence;
He, alone, is worthy of worship by all existence.
To fulfil my mother’s wishes and to satisfy my curiousity, I
registered in a high school with a religious curriculum. Despite its
religious system of education, the school did not follow a fanatical
policy. The students could discuss their ideas freely, and their ideas
were held in high regard. The religious lessons consisted of
religious essentials that a person needed to know. However, the
answer, “I feel deep respect for the Islamic religion,” which I gave
to a final exam question querying our opinions about other
religions must have consternated the school director. In those
days, the strong feelings of sympathy I had had for the Islamic
religion had not developed into a definite belief yet. I was still in a
state of indecision. Nor had I completely recovered from the
morbid hostility against Islam that the church had engraved into
the depths of my soul.
Firmly resolved to disentangle myself from the influence of
those books with European authors, I embarked on an entirely
personal study of Islam; this time the only criterion would be my
personal evaluation. How thoroughbred the facts that the study
yielded were! It began to dawn on me why so many people
abandoned the religions inculcated into them during their
childhood and embraced Islam. For the first feature of Islam
reflected man’s own essence, his personal world, his true belief and
trust in Allâhu ta’âlâ, and its second feature involved his
unconditional submission to Allâhu ta’âlâ, his Owner, and
obedience to His commandments. In the following paragraphs I
shall attempt some quotations from the Qur’ân al-kerîm, which I
consider relevant to the subject. Stripped as they may be of the
magnificent harmony inherent in their Arabic originals,
translations of these divine statements still have very strong
attraction.
The twenty-seventh and later âyats of Fajr Sûra purport, “O
(thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction!” “Come back
thou to thy Allah, well-pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto
Him!” “Enter thou, then, among My devotees!” “Yea, enter thou
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