“Surely you do not guide whomever you love, but Allah guides whomever He decides and He knows best the ones [who are] rightly-guided.” (Al-Qur’an, 28:56)
“Surely you do not guide whomever you love, but Allah guides whomever He decides and He knows best the ones [who are] rightly-guided.” (Al-Qur’an, 28:56)
It always fascinates me to hear of Allah’s mercy to His creation that comes in many beautiful forms, the best of them being Him guiding people back to the right path, especially those whom we never assumed could be practicing Muslims one day.
Unfortunately, it seems that many Muslims who were born and raised in Muslim households have taken Islam for granted. The youth are preferring western lifestyles and values over Islamic teachings that have been provided for their protection, rather than a hindrance to their lives. The more society becomes secular, the more strict, difficult, and suppressing Islam seems to be to the young Muslim generation of today.
However, despite this, we’re still seeing a wonderful influx of young western men and women who are choosing to accept Islam as a way of life, because Allah has blessed them to.
Surely you do not guide whomever you love, but Allah guides whomever He decides and He knows best the ones [who are] rightly-guided.”
Al-Qur’an, 28:56
I spent the last seven years studying the reasons why people convert to Islam and what they expected to gain from it, only to realise that it was more about why Allah guided them to it and what He expected from them when He led them to Islam. So, let’s reflect on this beautiful verse above for a moment.
If Allah has guided someone to Islam, it means that He knows this person has something within them that not only does He love so much, but knows that it will benefit the Ummah and other people’s lives.
Many reverts come to me for counselling because they feel frustrated, angry, depressed, and disappointed in Muslims, the lack of support, a lack of Islamic knowledge, and the crash of the dreams and expectations they had of life as a Muslim. These dreams and expectations could’ve been “sold” to them by ‘pressurising’ men and women giving them dawah and promising that Islam will solve their problems, or from what they sought to find from Islam, based on their own research. Regardless of the reasons, I’ve noticed that they almost all failed to acknowledge that Allah guided them to Islam for a reason.
During counselling, I work with individuals to find out why Allah may have chosen to guide them. They experience a wonderful transformation in mindset and faith when they come to identify the precious key they hold within themselves as people, to Islam. After this discovery, many decide to start over and work with the new realisation they have by putting it to good use. Once they figure out what the reasons could be for Allah guiding them, reverts become more productive in their practicing of Islam and finding solutions to their problems.
Unfortunately, those who seek help from problematic and narcissistic Muslims are more likely than others to dislike Islam and being Muslims, with some leaving Islam altogether afterward. Narcissistic Muslims may be seen to be practicing, but their moral characters aren’t in line with the teachings of The Qur’an and Hadiths.
Many young women, for example, agree to marry charming and handsome men who come across as being religious out of hope that they’ll help them on their conversion/religious journey, only to find that marriage didn’t help at all. In many cases, marrying Muslim men made their journeys more complicated and miserable when they were abused and manipulated by their controlling and patriarchal husbands with misinterpreted Qur’an verses and Hadiths. It is very important for reverts to seek good company and an Islamic education taught by scholars, imams, and teachers who are known to be empathic and possess excellent characters, before getting married so they can choose the right partners and identify practicing Muslims who truly have a good character.
The majority of reverts I counselled had the following traits:
- A lot of empathy, compassion, and a big heart for people and/or animals.
- Knowledge that’s beneficial for the Muslim community, i.e., being a medic or mental health expert.
- A love for spirituality and solitude.
- A deep desire to be protected and comforted from the trials, sins, and tribulations of this life.
- Issues with their faith in another religion, such as Christianity that didn’t make sense to them.
- A regular routine of praying to God (whether they were following another religion or not).
- A longing for purpose and direction and knowing the way they live isn’t correct.
- A natural tendency to help people and treat everyone well.
- They already have the character, principles, and beliefs of a Muslim.
- An inclination towards Islamic beliefs and other things, such as Islamic art and Middle Eastern culture.
From these points, we can see that Allah chooses people who have empathy in their hearts to convert to Islam, because empathy forms the foundation of an excellent Muslim character. Without it, we lose our humanity and the core essence of Islam within our hearts. Many times when we see non-Muslims who have incredibly big and kind hearts and we say to ourselves, if they were Muslims they’d surely be among the best of us.
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:
Shall I not tell you who will be forbidden from The Fire? Every gentle, soft-hearted and kind person.”
Al-Tirmidhi
Regardless of whether someone’s an active truth seeker or not, good and kind people, both Muslims and non-Muslims, will find, after some reflection, that Allah has always shown them signs of His guidance and that He will allow them to stumble across an experience or something during their lives that diverts their attention to the path He’s guiding them to. He inserts a love for Islam in their hearts at the right time and connects it to something they may resonate with, such as a Qur’an verse, a Hadith, or the inspiring actions of a Muslim who has a beautiful character.
Regardless of the ways in which they’re inspired, their spiritual hearts are awakened by the signs that Allah allows them to see.
I’ve also seen atheists who were adamant that there’s no God, but Allah could see the good in them and the benefits they could bring to the Ummah if they embrace Islam. One of the benefits could be them influencing hundreds or thousands of others to learn about Islam or embrace Islam too if people see that it’s made a significant positive difference in their lives, especially when they’re famous or highly influential.
For this reason, reverts are celebrated in Islam, because they’ve found a connection with God again and because of His grace and mercy, God has promised the erasing of all the sins they committed as non-Muslims upon them embracing Islam (with full conviction) as the correct way of life. Reverts are gifted with the cleansing of sin and their hearts are restored to the state of that of pure newborn children who are starting life again with a clean slate.
Amr Ibn Al ‘Aas (ra) said:
When Allah put Islam in my heart, I came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said: ‘Give me your right hand so that I may swear allegiance to you.’ He held out his hand and I withdrew my hand. He said, ‘What is the matter, O ‘Amr?’ I said, ‘I want to stipulate a condition.’ He said, ‘What do you want to stipulate?’ I said, ‘That I will be forgiven.’ He said, ‘Do you not know that Islam erases and wipes out all sins before it (reversion)?’”
Sahih Muslim
Every child is born upon the fitrah (natural inclination) of monotheism and being connected to The Creator and our disconnection from Him that happens as we grow, whether it’s because of our parents, upbringing, environment, school, or family, creates a deep hole within our spiritual hearts that are filled with all the mental health problems people experience today. These mental health problems include fear of the future, heavy anxiety in the present, and feeling depressed, alone, and without purpose.
We know that a reversion to Islam, to the fitrah, is a gift because not everyone is guided or blessed to have spiritual ears and eyes that are open to the signs of Allah, so if you’ve found it, then know that you’re so loved by The Creator and that you have something very precious.
O you who have faith! Should any of you desert his religion, Allah will soon bring a people whom He loves and who love Him.”
Al-Qur’an, 5:54
If you’re struggling with being a Muslim, as we all do sometimes, take some time out to really dig deep, reflect and find out what it is Allah loves in you and why you received the gift of Islam. Ask yourself how you can leave your mark as a Muslim in this life and fully benefit from your faith.
Only then will you be able to see Islam and reversion in the way Allah wants you to see it, which is through His love for you to guide you back to Him and His protection and mercy.
“O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into races and tribes, so that you may identify one another. Surely the noblest of you, in Allah’s sight, is the one who is most pious of you. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” (Al-Qur’an, 49:13)
