Converts' Stories: Unknown Brother 1's Testimony

Unknown Brother 1's Testimony

Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 15:13:14 -0500

From: **** ********

To: "'afrashteh@oocities.com'"

Subject: Bahai pages

Sir:

I wanted to express my thanks for the time you've taken to set up a page to expose the Bahai falsehoods from a Muslim point of view. I am not (yet) a Muslim, but I was a practicing Baha'i for several years before discovering (on my own) the internal inconsistencies and overly simplistic answers of the Baha'i religion. After a closer examination of Islam, however, I can clearly see that the Baha'i faith has simply 'cut and pasted' the parts of Islam they like into a newly packaged, sanitized religion. The really sad part about this is that I, having been raised in a Christian home, knew nothing about Islam and it's teachings, and so when I began searching for a new religious framework, the Baha'i Faith 'made sense' to me. I unknowingly accepted it at face value, not knowing that the most profound teachings it offers are really those of Islam.

After discovering for myself the lies and misrepresentations Baha'is (probably unknowingly) make about their history and doctrines, I found that in order for the Baha'i Faith to be true, one would have to accept a number of claims at face value, without any evidence. Among them:

1. Baha'u'llah's claims for himself (the Baha'i puts 'faith' in Baha'u'llah much as a Christian puts 'faith' in the person of Jesus (pbuh)).

2. The historical necessity of a globally unifying religion. By this, I mean to say that one would have to accept that all religions promised a single religious answer and a messianic figure, and that those 'prophecies' were in fact in harmony. This is patently false, and Baha'is simply take those parts of messianic prophecy from other religions they like, and discard the rest as 'uninspired'

3. The absolute claims of the Twelver-Shia to divine inspiration, guidance, and authority. Studying the historical record, I find that the claims for Twelver Shi'aism are tenuous at best, and not as Baha'is make them out to be.

4. The claims of the Bab for himself, and further, that his claims in fact reinforce Baha'i teachings. It seems to me that Baha'is are told what the Bab 'meant' in his writings and interpret his entire life in terms of Baha'i-specific doctrines and narratives, without access to the canon of the Bab's writings. Not only do Baha'is not have access to the complete writings and teachings of the Bab, those to which they do have access are interpreted solely from a Baha'i perspective, and not at face value.

I could go on, but you get my point. The sad thing in all this was that not only did the Baha'i Faith end up being just another religious 'bait-and-switch' scheme, but that it distorts what Islam is, and presents itself as the 'fulfillment' of Islam while in fact it simply isn't. The simple message of the Qu'ran 'This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you and have chosen for you ISLAM as your religion.' is hidden behind a web of deceit and deliberate misrepresentation. Take 19th-century messianic Twelver Shi'aism, combine it with ethnic Persian nationalism, add a generous helping of 20th-century advertising gloss, and VOILA! - the Baha'i Faith miraculously appears!!

Keep up the good work,

Regards

I wrote email#1 to you on your web site, and I thought I should write back and let you know that I have accepted Islam!

It has been a long and difficult journey to Islam, one that was made a bit more difficult, perhaps, because of the heretical ideas of the Baha'i religion, and my early involvement with them.

Thanks be to Allah, though, I received Allah's guidance, and after a search of nearly 20 years, took the shahada and became a Muslim in February, 1998. I have been warmly received by the Muslim community in my hometown, and have finally come home!

May Allah bring His blessings to you for your great work

W'salaam alaikum

In the Name of Allah, most Compassionate, most Merciful

Becoming Muslim

*******

My road to peace - why I am a Muslim

I believe that the whole of life is a process. I have concluded, after sincere introspection and reflection that men and women spend their lives in progressive states of being, using their inborn freedom of choice to move either toward enlightenment and knowledge, or toward darkness and ignorance, toward singularity of consciousness or toward dissolution and chaos. If anyone had told me a year ago that I was going to make a profession of my faith as a Muslim, I would have laughed in his or her face. I had admired Muslims and Islam for years, but for me, a 10th-generation American, whose ancestors came on the Mayflower, conversion seemed like a remote possibility, if one at all. Events of the past year, however, have led me to a reflection on the lessons I have learned and have demanded that they be integrated into my life. In a nutshell, I have come to believe that:

First, I have the freedom to investigate, to choose, to accept, or to reject truth, as I perceive it. It is not only my right, but also my principal duty to learn and to grow. However, my experiences are wholly unique, and the sum total of them gives me a framework within which to interpret subsequent experiences, and draw conclusions, which are consistent with evidence.

Second, I am subject to forces, which are completely external - forces such as gravity, electromagnetic forces, and even quantum-level forces, which influence the choices which I make. I cannot choose, for example, to disobey the law of gravity. I may attempt to defy it, but as I live in subjection to it as a matter of condition, my defiance will lead to consequences that are inherent to the operating principle.

Third, I cannot know what is unknowable. By definition, as a limited being, my knowledge is limited, and without tools to convert unknowable truth into knowable truth, I am forced to remain in ignorance of that which is beyond my current capability to understand.

Fourth, I cannot force my opinions, knowledge, or beliefs upon anyone else. I can present evidence, but the conclusions that person reaches are their own, not mine, and as subject to their own life experiences as mine are to me.

Fifth, without organizing principles, the universe (including individuals) moves toward chaos. The physical principal of entropy dictates that without organizing influences, systems tend to homogeneity and disorder. Organizing principals and forces keep things together, and prevent the universe, and human lives from falling into disorder and chaos.

Finding these five principles to be true from my experiences and conclusions, I recognize that the philosophical and observational truths they comprise are not unique to any particular belief system. In fact, those principles appear to me to be the result of my rational inquiry, and the application of the dialectic method to 'ultimate' truths.

That being said, I have determined that there are complementary means to arrive at an understanding of the principles of universal causality. First, the application of the scientific methodology yields results that are consistent with observation, regardless of the position of the observer. However, in and of themselves, scientific conclusions are not a purely objective means of understanding causality. They may yield reproducible results, but the implications of those results depends largely on the position of the observer, his beliefs, pre-conceived ideas, cultural milieu, etc. The methodology, however, is the only objective means that yields reproducible results. The 'truths' science yields act more as signposts on a journey, rather than as a destination. Science becomes a process by which truth is more gradually understood, and not an end in and of itself.

Another means of arriving at truth I like to call trans-rational. The actual process of integrating experiences and conclusions into one's life involves a complex system of emotional, biochemical, and logistical mechanisms. 'Systems' of belief, whether philosophical or religious, start with a basic set of assumptions, and build increasingly complex systems of belief and behavioral control mechanisms (social or individual) upon those assumptions. When the assumptions are discovered, through objective scientific investigation, to be faulty, the structure, which rests on those assumptions, will, necessarily, have to undergo substantial re-interpretation, or will ultimately collapse. The collapse of my previously held beliefs left a void in my life, one which demanded that I find a new paradigm and lifestyle which would bring a sense of wholeness to my life. My conscious recognition of this void led me to continue my spiritual journey, open to possibilities and seeking cohesion.

The scientist-philosopher William James, in his classic 'The Varieties of Religious Experience', described my situation exactly:

"To be converted, to be regenerated, to receive grace, to experience religion, to gain an assurance, are so many phrases which denote the process, gradual or sudden, by which a self hitherto divided, and consciously wrong inferior and unhappy, becomes unified and consciously right superior and happy, in consequence of its firmer hold upon religious realities. This at least is what conversion signifies in general terms, whether or not we believe that a direct divine operation is needed to bring such a moral change about."

My conscious acknowledgement of my 'dividedness' and my need for 'cohesion' paved the way for me to explore spiritual possibilities with a freedom I had not previously experienced.

Belief Systems

My recognition of competing belief systems, and my stubbornness in refusing to dismiss the lessons and realities I experienced, gave me a set of tools which I use to explore not only my perceived reality, but also the implications a belief system might have on my life. I was drawn inevitably toward the principle of a Single Causality, or First Cause, which originated the universe. I found it intellectually and philosophically unacceptable to postulate the existence of a multiplicity of quasi-divine beings, or of co-equal Absolute beings. Admission of the necessity of a Single Cause became the guiding principle of my quest.

Strict Monotheism appears to me to be the most logical religious conclusion possible. Rationally, I cannot accept a description of Ultimate Causality other than that of strict Monotheism - the existence of a single First Cause, or 'God'. Beginning with that proposition, that is, assuming the existence of a Single Deity, infinite and unchanging, it appears to me that it would appear that it would possess perceived qualities which would reflect the qualities present in the universe's most complex and highly organized creation - mankind. From a human perspective, it would have intentions that would appear to be benevolent, just, merciful, and the epitome of the noblest of human virtues. If the intentions of Deity are benevolent, than to bridge the gap between its infiniteness and unknowableness and man's finiteness, some sort of communication would be provided to give to mankind direction, moral dictates, social order, and revealed truth.

Even a cursory examination of human history would show that various men have claimed Divine Revelation at various points of time. Those we know of, such as Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, and Muhammad, appear to present messages geared toward the particular social and ethical needs of their respective times. If the messages these men have presented are currently radically differing, than the only possible conclusion is that their original message was corrupted, or that they do, in fact, spring from different sources. Several of them, however, have explicitly claimed to follow in a single tradition, namely the Hebraic tradition, and claim an internal consistency - Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. But, even among those, the messages presented as authentic contradict each other in key areas. The greatest contradiction among the messages of the Western tradition is in the Trinitarian theology of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and its accompanying Incarnation theology. A close historical investigation, however, yields the conclusion that not only was the Incarnation theology slow to develop, the Trinitarian creedal formula originated as a political compromise, designed to keep contending Christian factions from self-destruction, and was proposed to the ruling body of the Christian Church by a pagan - Constantine the Great. His obvious political interests so influenced Christian theology that it is utterly naive to foist his compromise solution upon the historic Christian Church.

That being the case, the other major theological contradiction between the three Western traditions lies in the accompanying theological doctrine to the Trinitarian theology - that of the Incarnation. A close textual examination of the New Testament sources (as in the 'Jesus Seminar' conclusions) clearly indicates that much of what is purported to be teachings of Jesus were in fact commentaries on the current Christian theology by later adherents, some as late as 120 CE. To look beyond the backward projection of the New Testament writings to what constitutes the authentic teachings of Jesus, one finds that Jesus falls clearly within the ongoing Monotheistic Jewish tradition. Jesus has a classical prophetic voice - calling for reform, appealing to fundamental monotheism, pronouncing judgement on the religious hierarchs of the day, taking the radical approach of an itinerant charismatic preacher to spread his message among the Jewish people. Jesus, then, as Rabbi and as Prophet, falls within the scope of the Jewish tradition, and subsequent attempts to foist upon him the incarnational theologies of then-current mystery religions smacked of cultural and Hellenistic influences, rather than authentic Monotheism.

The most vocal proponent of the Hellenistic interpretations of Jesus was Saul of Tarsus, known to history as the Apostle Paul. Writing in Greek, the cultural language of the times, Paul proposed a radically new theology, one which gradually overturned the Jewish theology the Christian Church had at the time. Jesus was turned from being a Messiah to the Jewish people to the incarnation of the Invisible God in human form. Paul's fusion of Jewish sacrificial theology with Mystery Religion incarnation beliefs formed the theological basis of the Christian Church, and ultimately led to the decline and fall of the Jewish theology of early Christianity.

What then of the 'resurrection' of Jesus? Was it genuine? Did Jesus' body authentically rise from the dead in a glorified, resurrected state? Given investigation into the origin of its accounts, the contradictory nature of the facts surrounding them and the central place the doctrine in Christian theology, one would suppose that an event so crucial to Christianity would be more coherent than it is. As it stands, the accounts are second- and third- (and fourth- ) hand, written long after their supposed occurrence, and specifically for an already-believing audience. Strictly in terms of objectivity, they are subject to serious, if not fatal, questions. Given their centrality to Christian theology, their confusion, contradiction, and indirect recording lends them little verifiable support. It appears from the traditions of the New Testament that 'something' happened, but to try to discern the truth from the text of the New Testament without pre-supposing the later Christian theology that formed the milieu in which the writings were produced, is patently impossible. One can gain glimmers, to be certain, but to describe the actual events from the records that purport to describe them is to rely on ultimately inaccurate and biased descriptions.

If the message of Jesus, then, is interpreted within the framework of Jewish monotheism, and Jesus himself was rejected by the Jewish religious leaders of the time, what do we make of him and his message? I have come to the unalterable conclusion that Jesus' teachings are remarkably consistent with the great strain of classical monotheism. His obvious prophetic voice, calls to reform, and rejection by the religious hierarchy of his day, indicate to me that he was a 'messiah', or an anointed servant, sent by God to call the Jewish people to repentance and the worship of the One God.

Among the figures of human history, another singular figure stands out. That figure is Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) who explicitly claimed to be a prophet, endowed with a mission from God to teach obedience to God's principles. That he could come from such an uncouth people as the 6th-century Arabs is miraculous in itself. That he could effectively convert not only his enemies, but establish the foundations of a civilization is nothing short of a miracle. He alone stands as the figure that produced (revealed) a prophetic work in his own lifetime, which has remained unchanged for over 1300 years. What of the message he taught? Is it internally consistent? Does it answer basic questions of existence and meaning? Is it in harmony with the findings of science, and thus not demand a radical dichotomy between intellect and emotion, between observation and faith?

My answer to these questions, after what I believe to be sincere and serious inquiry, is a resounding 'yes'. Islam is a lifestyle, and not simply a set of esoteric beliefs. It begins with the concept of absolute monotheism (tawhid, in Arabic), and flows naturally from there. It is amazingly internally consistent, in terms of its theology, and broad enough to allow for a variety of interpretations of the implications of its principles in a believer's life. There is no radical dichotomy required in Islam between 'faith' and 'science' or between religion and observation. Islam encourages inquiry and demands the unity of the sciences of creation.

As a process-oriented religion and lifestyle, Islam is rich, and amazingly diverse. Its teachings about the nature of God (Allah, s.w.t.) point to a Reality that is absolutely Other, yet intimately involved in the lives and events of the natural world. It doesn't demand setting aside one's intellect, and balances intellect and faith in such a way that actually living it is practical, and provides a sense of meaning, rhythm, values, and personal fulfillment.

I have studied Islam for several years, and those who know me will attest to my respect and admiration for Islam and for practicing Muslims. My first exposure to Islam was in my late teens, and even then, I felt a deep attraction to its emphasis on single causality and the resultant implications for life. To be certain, Muslims have as many problems as other people, but I have found in the religion of Islam a way of life that I can actually live, and a set of beliefs that make sense to me, both intellectually and emotionally. The Quran teaches that 'there is no compulsion in religion', and in my experience, God does not force anyone to accept Islam. But, as a religion of utter submission to the will of God (as exemplified in natural law), Islam promises peace through submission - interesting that the root of the word 'Islam' means both 'submission' and 'peace'. The peace that has come to me through submission is more a realization of the process of growth and of my interconnectedness to all creation, rather than a blinding revelation, so to speak.

My 'conversion', if you can call it that, culminated in my recent formal profession of Islam at a masjid (mosque) after Friday prayers. The actual process was amazingly simple, but hard-won for me in terms of the time necessary to incorporate its consciousness into my life. I made the Muslim declaration of faith, and entered into the fold of Islam, over a billion strong worldwide - a diverse, dynamic, self-subsistent community. The declaration of faith

"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah"

is the creed of Muslims, and functions as both the entry point, and the ultimate reality for Muslims. Living a life that is unitary, that is, reflecting the absolute Oneness (tawhid) of Allah (s.w.t.), gives a single focus for life. In reality, my profession of Islam was simply recognition of my natural state of being - born into a state of unity, peace, and submission, and returning to that innocence and simplicity once again. In this sense, I have 'reverted' to Islam, which I believe is the natural state of all creation - submission to the unitary principles of existence, with a merciful God extending guidance for the betterment of His creation.

W'salaam alaikum (peace be with you!)

3 Thw al-Qidah, 1418 A.H.

March 2, 1998 CE