Answering Your Questions: 'Shopping' for Islam

Today’s post is a response to a comment I received a long time ago.  I’ve wanted to answer this comment since I first read it, but that’s hard to do when I’m not blogging.  Anyway, the comment in question:

I have a simple question for Iman(which i think is 'Imaan'). When you buy a gadget,you do a good research and then buy,so you must have done the same before adopting a new religion.Also must have done a comparison with other options.
So what made you convert to Islam? Any traits or just fantasy?

This is an excellent question, and I get asked this a lot.  In reply, I often like to tell people that I didn’t wake up one morning and decide it was nice a day to convert to Islam.

I’m not the type of person who chooses to jump into things without plenty of research and planning.  This applies to most aspects of my life.  For example, I recently had to purchase a new computer.  I didn’t buy the first one that caught my attention.  Instead, I spent hours researching all the different options and brands.  I would have taken longer to reach a decision if I hadn’t needed a computer right away.

I go through the same process with pretty much anything I purchase, comparing different brands and reviews of every product in question.  And I apply the same process to other decisions as well: what university to attend, what sights to see when traveling, etc.  In other words, I’m not the type of person who makes a decision without first research all the options.

So of course I didn’t just jump into Islam one day.  No, I started with a curiosity about the religion.  I wasn’t even considering converting when I first became interested in Islam.  I just wanted to know more about it and figure out why it was so despised here in the US.  I bought books and talked to Muslims online.  Only after several months of research did I begin to believe in Islam.

But what exactly made me convert?  Well, I touched upon this in response to a comment on a previous post.  While the culmination of all the books I had read previous to converting led me to do so, there is really only one book that I credit with my conversion: ‘The Qur’an and Modern Science’ by Dr. Zakir Naik.  For those unfamiliar with this work, the author goes through some of the scientific ‘miracles’ (signs as they are called in Islam) found in the Qur’an, such as embryology, the medicinal properties of honey, etc.  Basically, the Qur’an is over 1400 years old, older than the scientific discoveries of most of these ‘signs.’  However, the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam was completely unlearned: he did not know how to read or write and never attended school.  How can one uneducated man know all this long before proper scientists discovered them same things?  To me, this proves the Qur’an is from a divine source and is not man-made.  And also, if those parts are true, then the rest of the Qur’an must be true.  Thus I became a Muslim.

While I’ve never really felt my decision to convert to Islam was a major decision, the reality is that changing religions shouldn’t be done lightly and without prior research.  I did spend plenty of time – probably close to a year – reading, studying, and asking questions before making a final decision.  I converted to Islam because I believed in what I discovered.  It just felt right in a way I can’t explain.