Ukrainian youth Dimitri Buliakov is testifying
In one of the mosques of Ukraine, the increasing number of western educated people turning to Islam and recognizing it is a remarkable and thought-provoking phenomenon. During the past centuries, all obstacles were used to prevent the influence of Islam in the West; Especially in the last two centuries, there has been a hostile attack on Islam and Muslims in various forms. From military occupation to political colonization and from economic exploitation to the invasion of Islamic cultural and civilizational beliefs and the denial of Islam’s contribution to the progress of human civilization and…
Now, Islam, which is the second largest religion in Europe and the West, has attracted the attention of Western elite and intellectual groups, and the conversion of a large number of them to this great religion is a phenomenon worthy of study.
The book “Al-Muslimoon Al-Jadd” was first published in the form of a series of articles in “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat” newspaper, and after some time, due to the great popularity of the readers, it was published as an independent book by the educational, scientific and cultural organization of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
This book is the story of the new life of Muslims in the West and the attractions of Islam and Islamic spirituality for Western people. The author writes at the beginning of the book: British Muslims are looking for a way out of the world of materialism in Islam. In spite of the distorted and dark image that Western propaganda tools have painted of Islam, terror, violence, evil, etc. have been attributed to it; But today, Islam has been favored by many Westerners individually and collectively, and they seek mental peace, tranquility and compensation for their spiritual emptiness in it.
Some western psychologists and sociologists have considered paying attention to mental and psychological causes, some matters as the main factors of converting to Islam; Financial instability, family breakdown due to material pressures, and a sense of insecurity and peace. All these and many other issues have forced Westerners to turn to Islam by seeking refuge in spirituality and searching for truth and mental peace. The author then refers to the opinion of an Islamic institute in London and writes: Most of the English who convert to Islam, after studying Islamic art or architecture or language, or after visiting an Islamic country and communicating with Muslims, and a few of them also accept the new religion after marrying Muslims.
In several parts of the book, the author introduces the views, thoughts and books of Dr. Murad Hoffman, the former German ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who converted to Islam. He talks about his conversation and association with Dr. Hoffman and that Dr. Hoffman finds it difficult to explain his motives for converting to Islam, and like Abu Hamed Ghazali, he believes that it is not easy to discover the secret and evaluate the evolution of thought. Hoffman invites the author to read his book “The Road to Mecca” in which he details his conversion to Islam. Hoffman sees the acceptance of Islam as a result of the light that God has cast in his heart. The first sparks of his familiarity with Islam happened during his political mission in Algeria, as the consul of the German embassy in this country, in the years before independence and during the struggles of the Algerian Muslim nation.
Hoffmann, who is now a serious participant in intellectual-religious and inter-religious gatherings and congresses in the guise of a Muslim thinker, started his faith in Islam from doubting the teachings of the Catholic religion: “I had complete wisdom and knowledge of the Catholic religion, and to be more precise, I was familiar with this religion from the inside; But at the same time, I also had many doubts about its teachings… despite the fact that I liked Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy very much; But I was absolutely certain that no evidence has been proven to deny the existence of God. After solving the problem of the principle of God’s existence, I searched about the nature of the relationship between God and man until I believed in the possibility, but also the necessity, of revelation and religion. But which belief and which religion? Judaism, Christianity or Islam?
Through experience, the answer I got was the third; Repeated recitation of verse 38 of Surah Najm, which is “And Latzer and Wazir Wazir Akhri”; And no winner takes another’s burden. This verse creates doubt for someone who has taken seriously the principle of love for others that exists in Christianity, because the Christian teaching apparently calls for a contradiction; While this verse of the Qur’an does not only talk about the moral principle, it also includes two categories and religious beliefs that are the basis and essence of religious thought:
۱٫ This verse negates the inheritance of (initial) sin; That the burden of one’s sin does not weigh on others.
۲٫ That it removes the issue of mediation between man and God, and in this way the burden of mediation is removed from his shoulders, so the position of the priests and their influence and power in mediating between man and God and purifying people from sins It is stable, it destroys.
But the issue of the inheritance of error and sin was more important to me, because it emptied some basic Christian ideas of their content; Such as the necessity of salvation, incarnation, trinity of God and death in the way of sacrifice. I thought that God’s failure in the work of his servants and his inability to change them, except by producing a son and sacrificing him, and in other words, torturing God for the benefit of mankind, is something to be ashamed of, but the ultimate insult to God. is divine
Little by little, I came to the conclusion that the principles and foundations of Christianity are based on superstitions and legends, and then on the dangerous and evil role of Paul, who did not know Christ at all, did not see him and did not speak with him, and changed and distorted the teachings of I realized that the Jew-Christian who had faithfully organized before him Barnabas. From now on, I am sure that the Christian National Council in 325 AD by declaring that Christ is the same God, has gone astray and deviated from the original teachings of that great prophet.
In short, I looked at Islam as a basic and true belief that has not been affected by any distortions and deceptions, and I found the best interpretation of monotheism and the oneness of God in this religion. A religion that, unlike some religions, does not consider its followers to be God’s chosen nation and does not place any of the prophets in a divine position.
Hoffman says about the attractions of Islam: I understand the power of attraction of Islamic art better now, because I am surrounded by Islamic art products at home and I understand why Western art history is unable to even define Islamic art.
In the rest of this book, we will learn about the experience of becoming a Muslim and the life of some new European and American Muslims. For example, the biography of Muhammad Ali Kelly, the former American boxing champion, whose conversion to Islam was a reaction to racial discrimination against blacks in the United States, or Michael Wolfie, an American writer from a Christian mother and a Jewish father, who described the complexity and ambiguity of the church system and priests against Christ. and considers the specialness of the Jewish religion for Jews as the reason for turning his attention to Islam. He says: In this way, I have seen Islam as a clearer and broader religion, because Islam is God’s religion for all people. Among other new Muslims whose lives are mentioned in this book, Yusuf Islam is a famous English singer whose artistic programs and political stances have been a headache for the British government.