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  • johnpi 1:25 am on March 5, 2010 | 12 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , converts,

    Willow wrote:

    There is clearly something deeper going on that you’re worried about or have doubts about

    You are correct about being troubled, specifically, spiritually troubled. This response is to Aziz too. Abu Noor, I think you’ve been reading too much of Umar’s long goodbye and seem to be stuck on the notion of ‘progressive devils’ being a fifth column of something or other…

    When I first exchanged some emails with Aziz and he invited me to blog here, I told him that I had been closely following TI for some time, but I hadn’t really engaged or participated because I wasn’t in a very good headspace, I was somewhat angry about some of my conversion experiences, and I didn’t want to engage poorly or from a bad place (I was also upset about how some orthodox problem-solving seemed to create dysfunction in modern life – Islam should give us all the tools we need to succeed anywhere at any time). I was particularly upset about feeling ’silenced’ (don’t ask disrespectful questions) and how – internally – that imbued those questions or concerns with more power and interest than they probably merited just from being bottled up. The initial blogging I did was helpful for deflating that material and kind of getting it out of the way, and it was at about that point that I started blogging here.

    I’ve continued to use the blogging to try to ‘process’ what comes in from the dunya and from other Muslim perspectives and communities, but I think that what may be happening is that in driving myself up against every point of contention in the media and every point of seeming incoherence within the ummah and within Islam, that it’s having an unhealthy spiritual effect, and I’m falling back into that bad headspace again, or at least not a very good space in which to be engaging other Muslims.

    So I need to take a break from being a media junkie, abstain from the blogging and find other diversions for awhile. Finding more and new Muslim community offline in another context might be a good idea too.

    To try to sum up the point, I do believe it’s a matter of spiritual integrity not to ignore the world and what’s happening in it if it challenges your faith or your practice, but wading out into this stuff day after day – seeking it out – for too long is also bad for your spiritual health.

    So I’m going to dial my blogging way back for a bit…

     

  • abunoor 3:36 pm on November 12, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , converts, ,

    Imam Zaid Shakir “Remembering Imam Luqman Abdullah”.

    On Wednesday, October 28, 2009, Imam Luqman Abdullah, a humble servant of America’s underclass, was killed by a fusillade of bullets fired by government agents, some of whom had played an integral role in helping to stage the crimes he was accused of committing. His story, like that of all humans is a complicated one. Unfortunately, most people in this country will never learn of Imam Luqman Abdullah, the complicated man. The complexity of his life will be drowned out by the simplistic images of the homegrown Muslim extremist –a caricature.

    The nuances of his story, his dedication to family, friends, and community; and his struggle to live a dignified life despite the crushing weight of poverty, will all be lost. With their loss, America loses yet another opportunity to attain a small part of the understanding so vital to move this country towards the sort of policies it needs to pursue, both domestically and internationally, if it is to avoid the consuming trap of imperial hubris and the inevitable ravages her twin sister, who is never too far behind her -Nemesis.

    Please read the whole beautiful piece.

     

  • johnpi 11:23 am on November 9, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: converts, , , , , ,

    A convert who was being advised through his conversion in the ways of the deen by Hasan refused to denounce Fort Hood attack.

    It’s been my experience that new converts often get approached by the ‘most hardcore of Muslims.’ This shows further the wisdom of the local imam who refused to recommend Hasan for a lay Muslim leadership position at Fort Hood.

    The convert’s name is Duane Reasoner.

    “He said he should quit the Army,” Reasoner said. “In the Koran, you’re not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christian or others, and if you are killed in the military fighting against Muslims, you will go to hell.”

    But when he was interviewed by Gavin Lee of the BBC, he went further.

    Even if the Muslims involved are engaged in acts of indiscriminate violence against you and other Muslims?

    Update: I’ve changed my earlier wording from “the most strident among us” to a phrase Asra Nomani used.

    (More …)

     

  • johnpi 6:25 am on November 6, 2009 | 3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: converts

    Converts are generally believed to be more fervently religious than those born to a religion, and according to a new Pew study they are, but not as much as people think. Converts really don’t differ that much from the rest of us at all, Pew says…

    • Slightly more than two-thirds of converts (69%) say religion is very important to them, compared with 62% of nonconverts.

    • Half of converts (51%) attend worship services at least once a week, compared with 44% of nonconverts.

    • More than eight-in-ten converts (82%) believe in God with absolute certainty, compared with 77% of nonconverts.

    • Seven-in-ten converts (70%) pray every day, compared with 62% of nonconverts.

    • About three-in-ten converts (29%) say they share their views on God with others at least once a week, compared with two-in-ten nonconverts (20%).

    • And slightly more than one-quarter of converts (27%) say theirs is the one true faith, compared with 22% of nonconverts.

    It should be noted that no Muslims were surveyed for this study.

     

  • johnpi 7:03 pm on October 20, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: converts, , , , ,

    Washington Post: ‘Rising number of Westerners travel to Afghanistan, Pakistan to become terrorists.’

    In the past, such volunteers were largely self-motivated and had to find their own way to South Asia. Today, however, al-Qaeda and its affiliates have developed extensive recruiting networks with agents on the ground in Europe, counterterrorism officials said. The agents provide guidance, money, travel routes and even letters of recommendation so the recruits can join up more easily.

    In a recent report, the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service said there were a “growing number of indications” that more Europeans were attending camps in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    The Obama administration has said that al-Qaeda’s command structure and operations wing have become weaker in the past year because many of its leaders have been killed in drone missile attacks. But in its report, the Dutch intelligence agency offered a different assessment, saying that al-Qaeda’s ability to carry out attacks has generally improved in recent years largely because it has successfully bolstered its alliances with other terrorist groups.

     

  • johnpi 9:33 am on October 12, 2009 | 3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , converts, , , , ,

    Over at MMW, Alicia (Cycads) wants to interrogate Western interrogators who doubt the headscarf.

    I’m fed up by the fact that positive views women make about the headscarf fall systematically on many deaf ears. It’s time that the tables are turned on the curious people who more often than not have misconceptions and pre-conceived views about Muslim women and what we wear, in which we study their motives and question their curiosity about our lives. Enough about us, we should be asking, “Why do you want to know?”

    I’m converted but my daughter is not. If she takes the Shahadah, will she be ostracized in the community if she doesn’t cover? Will other women refuse to return her salaams?

    Is the social space where a woman can make a pressure-free choice to cover purely hypothetical in many communities?

    Aside from covering, on the over-arching issue of convert pressure, I think Willow had the best advice:

    (More …)

     

  • johnpi 2:28 pm on September 21, 2009 | 4 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: converts, , , , , ,

    Kathy Zeitoun and Muslim women as change agents.

    While author Dave Eggers gives readers a lot of insight into what Kathy Zeitoun faces and her incredible character and spirit, there really has been little attention given to her following the book Zeitoun’s release. This lack of interest is a part of a larger problematic trend when it comes to highlighting the power of Muslim women in effecting change and being change agents in their respective societies.

    Does Kathy Zeitoun’s experience, as a white convert, “highlight the power of Muslim women,” or the power of white women? Also, do Muslims themselves recognize Kathy Zeitoun’s experience as being representative of anything about Muslims, since she is a white convert?

    Here’s something Talk Islam contributor Willow wrote earlier this year about white converts in Islam:

    We are guests–protectorates, wards, bit players–in the Islamic narrative. If this was a Shakespearean drama, we’d be Second Spear-Holder From The Left. What we contribute to that narrative will, in all probability, never be of direct benefit to us as individuals. We will always be outliers, both in our birth communities and in our religious communities. Our significance, and more importantly, our relevance, is massively exaggerated.

     

  • johnpi 6:36 am on September 4, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: converts, Hispanics, ,

    The Muslim population of the US state of Oklahoma is growing – fueled partially by conversions among white women and Hispanic families.

    As Oklahoma’s Muslim community observes the fast of Ramadan this month, they are also taking time to reflect on the growth of their community statewide.

    There are currently five mosques in the Oklahoma city metro area, including one in Norman and one in Edmond. Some of the growth has come from immigrants from south and central Asia as well as the Middle East, but there has been a surprising surge in converts from two other demographics: white females and Hispanic families.

    (via)

     

  • razib, murtad fitri 1:13 pm on June 2, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: converts,

    so, on conversions. back when i was activist in atheist/free thought orgs there were two types of nonbelievers. the first was basically someone who didn’t believe, and didn’t want to be ostracized. the second were more anti-theist than atheist. many of them had really traumatic and/or negative relationships with their previous religion, usually christianity, and tended to ‘act out’ verbally. many times they came from fundamentalist christian backgrounds and hadn’t really changed the way they interacted with people (they were really aggressive). other words, there is “push” and “pull.” i generally found the pull people chill, but the push people not so chill.

    this works for conversion to minority religions in the united states. there are buddhists and hindus who converted who seem more interested in how buddhism or hinduism is different or contradictory to the religion from which they came. in fact their image of buddhism or hinduism has more to do with their own preferences and hang ups than what it really is, though there are enough buddhists or hindus who feed the preconceptions.

     

  • johnpi 10:46 pm on April 10, 2009 | 9 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , converts, ,

    An interesting idea at Altmuslimah:

    There will be some Muslims who decide to marry non-Muslims or nominally converted Muslims. In fact, the suggestion has been made that single Muslim women should start looking outside the community (after all that’s what Muslim men do right?). Conceptually, I agree with my friend who says that it’s a form of ‘dawah’ (educating non-Muslims). She mentioned to me that in her very conservative community there is a position that women should be allowed and encouraged to marry non-Muslims who take the ‘shahada’ (the proclamation of faith in Islam) because Islam has the capacity to evolve in one’s heart over time.

     

  • plimfix 3:18 am on March 20, 2009 | 5 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: convertitus, converts, , ,

    I think we can safely say the Muslim community has embraced a new term, at least in English — convertitus.

    Men inflicted with this condition (and it usually is men) embrace Islam like a child leaping into the arms of  its lost mother. Sufferers are more Muslim than Muslims, to the extent that they sometimes even claim to speak for all Muslims, if not The Creator himself.

    It’s a joke, but sometimes, it can be a tragedy.

     

  • shahed 7:27 am on November 21, 2008 | 13 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: converts

    After years (decades?) of being an urban legend, it’s finally true. Michael Jackson has apparently converted to Islam, in the presence of Dawud Wharsnby, Yusuf Islam, and Idris Phillips.

     

  • thabet 2:28 am on June 5, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: converts, , ,

    Yahya Birt, in a recent article for Emel magazine, argues that “[c]onverts to Islam must be deconstructed as moral persons to make safe the boundary around liberalism (and indeed Islam), marked by words of rejection and acts of violence, such is the dangerous ambiguity of free choice, of acceptance and betrayal, that the convert represents.”

     

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