How and why do people embrace

’Islam? ‘Part Two

People embrace Islam in the West (USA, Canada, UK,
France and Germany), in the Middle Eastern countries
(Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Jordan), in Africa and the
Far East (Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong) and many
.other countries all over the world

People in all ages may be divided into two main groups

:with respect to their preparedness to receive the message

Those searching for the truth who are dissatisfied with .1

,the religion followed by their contemporaries on one hand

And those not searching. This second group may be .2

further divided into those not searching because they are
satisfied with their religion and those not searching
because they have rejected belief in God. The second
.group has been a minority throughout history

People usually tend to accept the cultural norms of their

society without question. In Prophet Mohammad’s time,
that minority was called the hunafaa’ . Most of them
embraced Islam once they received the message. Very few
however, due to tribal jealousies rejected the Islam
message. Thus, the first group responded positively to the
clear truth of revelation. On the other hand, the second
group based their response on their trust in Prophet
Mohammad’s (PBUH) character. For he was indeed
truthful and honest throughout his life, therefore, there was
.not reason to doubt him being a Prophet
 The Role Model .1

First people who embraced Islam were from the Prophet’s

(PBUH) household

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid

Ali ibn Abi Talib‘
Zayd ibn Harithah

Afterwards the Prophet’s close friend and confidant joined

.them and embraced Islam too

Their embracing Islam was partially a result of their direct

contact with the Prophet (PBUH) and their unquestioned
belief in him and his truthfulness due to their personal
experience with him. This reason for conversion may be
”.called the “role model

(Da’wah to Islamic Monotheism (Tawheed .2

The next five figured embraced Islam with the help of Abu
.Bakr’s invitation

Uthman ibn ‘Affan‘

Az-Zubayr ibn al- ‘Awwam
Abdur-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf‘
Sa ‘ad ibn Abi Waqqas
Talhah ibn ‘Ubaydullah

In their case, embracing Islam was a result of them to

introducing the message of Islam and calling them to
embrace it. Here the reason may be generally called the
(“Da’wah”( calling for Islam
 Truth Seekers .3
Among the converts was ‘Amr ibn ‘Absah who had
rejected the idolatry of his people and went on his search
for the truth. Same case was with Salman al-Farisi who
journeyed from Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity to
Islam. The reason for the conversion of those companions
of the Prophet (PBUH) and others like them may be called
.”“truth seekers

Reading the Qur’an .4

Umar ibn al-Khattab’s embracing Islam was as a result of‘

his hearing the Prophet (PBUH) recite Surrah al-Haaqqah.
The Najashi’s was due to his hearing Surrah Maryam.
These and others like them may be referred to as those
.”who embraced Islam as a result if “Reading the Qur’an

Moreover Islam reached out to the Far East countries .5

through Muslim businessmen and salesmen who went
there for business, their ethics in business dealings and
their honesty encouraged people to embrace Islam, and so
we have lots of Muslims at these countries, like Thailand.
So Islam wasn't spread with the power of sword, as some
anti-Muslims claim. It was through presenting the true
image and nature of this fine religion that made people
.want to embrace Islam

Different reasons behind embracing Islam were almost the

same in all ages. They are not limited to time periods, but
can be found from the earliest of times until the present.
Those involved in propagating the religion and inviting
others to Islam, must familiarize themselves with these and
other factors in order to develop the correct strategies to
.deal with them
 The other major problem that Muslims face, especially in
western societies, is the absence of a Muslim community
to support their families, their children often leave Islam
by the time they graduate from high school. Consequently,
among the da’wah strategies necessary is the development
of Muslim schools to preserve the identity of Muslim
.children of the converts