Why Are People Converting to Islam?

according to my expereince, one of the main reasons of why many people convert to Islam is when they know Muslims in their neighborhoods, jobs and then they see a different picture of Muslims in the media as terrorists, uncivilzied people etc, they question and try to find themselves the truth. and in the way they end up learning about they true Islam and what it teaches.

I am again shocked by the tone of this discussion, finding it arrogant and full of selfflattery. Am i as a converted muslim reading the Koran different than you. If you want a situation changed, then change yourself, change within. Do not call hatred to Allah, which to me means adapt mosques to the buildingstyle of the country you live in and maybe do not wear hijabs or niqabs. The discussion feels as if what to me was very important, is not understood, in the enddays all religions will meet eachother and learn from each other. What i hear is that muslims in this discussion still consider themselves as the better religion. That is not what is said in the Koran.Also one of the most important duties of a muslim, for me is to live in the world. Furthermore i found a lot of enemythinking in this discussion.

AlHamduliAllah Dr. Ramadan Maa Shaa Allah for your wisdom and ‘’always outstanding’’ contributions. Thanks Dr. Tamimi for your relevant answers.
I believe that one of the driving forces to, I would say ‘’ evolution’’ and not conversion to Islam is really THE LOGICS that shapes each fragment of its message.
If my 9 y.o son tells me that he is proud to be a Muslim, because he believes indeed, that the one who created the universe (the sun, the moon, the galaxy, the oceans, the mountains..) is not a human being. And that powerful one who governs all, is only ONE not two or three, otherwise they will end up fighting as my son explains to me referring to what he sees in his PSP’s games  Imagine a child had perfectly understood the essence of ATTAWHHED which is a strong element in Islam.
Another discussion with him, made it clear that the value of RESPECT and recognition of the other prophets, religions, races, animals, nature… is another attractive element. in the heart of the message of Islam ( yet I should mention that respect is also a value emphasized by other religions and other non religious thoughts) But I personally find this value much broader in Islam, think about it, do a muslim dare to draw insulting cartoons of Jesus PBUH?
Therefore, I believe that those who embrace or grow their faith to the final and complete Abrahamic religion are simply catching all these elements with illuminated minds that illuminate their hearts.
I agree that Islam is not imposed to anybody, it is explained and it is up to the other to take it or leave it. Compared to what I discover about some Christian evangelizing movements that act by bribing people ( in Muslim countries) in order to push them back in their faith to embrace Christianity (see link: http://quietube. com/v.php/ http:/www. youtube.com/ watch?v=c5dt- WREldg&feature=related
Thus, Islam is a religion of simplicity, humility, discipline, respect, justice, cooperation… and a daily spirituality. But we must admit that they are not all the muslims and even worse the nowadays moslem leaders who are giving the best image of it!
May Allah help the future generations, who are not necessarily getting always good examples to be proud of!
Kindly and respectfully… Souad B.

I have to agree with Hayat that the discussion did appeared to be some what arrogant, furthermore Muslims are not the only ones condemning the greed of the bankers , recently the Archbishop of Canterbury has commented on it.
Perhaps as a Christian I should be rejoicing that more folks are becoming Muslims as we do share in the Ultimate Truth- that God exists with a common adversary being the likes of Dawkins who doesn’t believe in this Ultimate Truth
At the beginning of 2010 ,addressing more than 21,000 college students, from over 30 countries, in Atlanta Georgia USA, Baptist pastor John Piper posed the question on whether God is an egomaniac and he said this « God demands that we all get on our face and worship Him, admire Him, treasure Him and count Him as the supreme value in the universe and He’s angry when we don’t”
I imagine that an imam would say something similar at a Friday sermon.

I found the discussion to be a bit self-flattery from Dr. Azzam Tamimi, but Dr, Ramadan talked openly about the state of affairs of Muslims.
Dr Ramadan did his best to correct Dr. Tamimi such as when he spoke about Muslims leading the world in resisting Imperialism.
Personally I don’t see where Muslims are leading in the world today whether it’s in the area of resistance to Imperialism or science or business or any important facets of life.
When Tariq Ramadan commented about what Muslims are giving the world today quoting someone telling him “Yes, Muslims gave to science but what are they giving today?” Dr Tamimi’s answer to that was “there is the hereafter” which didn’t make sense and contradicted an earlier statement he made: “He who doesn’t concern with the affairs of Muslims isn’t one of them”

I am an Algerian-born Canadian who has been living in Alberta, Canada for over 21 years, and I don’t see better behaviors of Muslims here in Edmonton than I used to see in Algeria. They focus on technicalities such as hijab or separation of men and women and worse they marginalize women by putting them in a backroom where they cannot even address the Imam or participate in the discussion.
Men expect women to lower their gaze but don’t lower theirs.
During Fridays’ prayers as soon as the sermon is done in Arabic, women start talking preventing those like my daughter who don’t understand Arabic, from listening. This is so rude and defeats the purpose of them attending the prayers.
Other examples of rude behavior I’ve witnessed many times:

• Men block cars in the parking lot of the Mosque and instead of leaving after the prayers to move their vehicle they take their time to chat with others.

• Women answer their cell phones during Khutba.

• People being always late at events such as Aid during Aid prayers, talk during Khutba to the point where it cannot be heard, then when done rush and push their way when leaving instead of being polite.

We need to improve ourselves and our image.
We need more leaders like Tariq Ramadan who can inspire the new generation of Muslims.

To reply to those who posted about their conversion to Islam and who found the picture of islam in the video a little distorted. Well I don’t think there was arrogance here. There only was an attempt to explain why people were attracted to islam, although we all know the picture given in the media is one that presents a religion linked to violence… As professor Tariq Ramadan concluded, what is interesting is the paradox between a religion which is feared on the one hand, and a religion that still appeals to many people on the other hand… I don’t think that has something to do with being arrogant.
Yes, Islam encourages modesty, humility, and a sense of caring for all the human kind.

PS: By the way, this is the first time I’ve seen your show. Does it appear on a regular basis? thank you.

Salam wa rahmatu llah to Tariq and the people who help you with making this site work.

It is actually the fact that there is a lot of hate and fear spreading in Europe about Islam and Muslims. And I see this as the main root of why people are converting to Islam. In many countries in Europe and Switzerland is one example where I live, people don’t really take religion as a serious matter and for most of the new generation their daily action send an indirect message that there is nothing serious about religion and the afterlife and so on. And then they are confronted with those people who have so strong believe , who are praying 5 times a day, who are accepting to fast 30 days even without drinking water, who are going away from their desires because of their commitment to ISLAM. This raises a lot of question about those people and their religion. Adding to this the ready European culture which encourage free thinking and debate , research and discussion, many of those European act on their culture and investigate the matter and many of them found his/her way in Islam , the same way which they missed in all other religions and concepts.

Alslam Alikum
brothers and sisters Islam ma shaa ALLAH growing very fast in US and Europe but the government hiding the true numbers of the real Muslim .. we need to find a way to show the real numbers especially in the USA i know i was there and i hear it from every Muslim there…thanks

عرب سوفت

what I miss in this discussion is the fact that most of the people who convert are women. I think a big reason why these women convert is because they find a respect for femininity in islam, that’s lost in western society, and a protection of women (at least in theory) and womanhood. islam stresses on the importance of women being women, i think that’s very attractive to the more feminine women.