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Page 10
The Islamic Bulletin
Issue 11
Page 11
The Islamic Bulletin
Issue 11
Q: How did you discover the Holy Quran?
A: The first time I came across the Quran was through the
French translation of its meanings in Andrea de Riyar edition
published in 1647.(That was actually the first translation of
the meanings of the Holy Quran in French; there are now
more than 30 translations done mostly by French scholars not
without misunderstanding either intentionally or otherwise).
I discovered the said French translation in Saint Sir School,
which is a military school near Paris whose graduates become
officers in the army. I was one of its students between 1934-
1936. Every week I used to copy a few chosen verses from
the Quran.
Q: What is your response to the Christian’s theory of Jesus
Christ being the son of God?
A: I could have a son. The only attitude that seemed logical and
acceptable to me was that of the Quran which says:
“Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a Messenger
of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a
Spirit proceeding from Him: So believe in Allah and His Mes-
senger. (Quran 4:171)
They disbelieve who say: “Allah is one of three (in a trinity:)
for there is no god except One God.” (Quran 5:73)
Again in Sura Ikhlas we read:
“Say: He is Allah, The One: Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He
begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto
Him.” (Quran 112:1-4)
The first Christians were not far from this belief; it was only in
320 A.D. that Jesus was officially declared as God and the Son
of God. What is more strange, however, is that at the fourth
Rome Convention in 1215 which was held to define the na-
ture of God the said convention declared that God the One
neither begetteth nor was He begotten, which is identical to
the Islamic creed.
I could not accept three major beliefs on Christ especially trinity
and crucifixion, on which the Holy Quran says:
“That they said (in boast), “We killed Christ Jesus’ the Son of
Mary, the Messenger of Allah;-” but they killed him not, nor
crucified him, only a likeness of that was shown to them, and
those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain)
knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they
killed him not.” (Quran 4:157)
Notice that Muslims believe in the Holy Quran as the word of
God while the Bible is not so for Christians. Christ for them is the
word of God. I don’t have the slightest doubt that the message
of Muhammad is true. I believe that Muhammad is the seal of
all prophets and messengers of God and that he was sent to all
humanity; his message was revealed to complete the revelation
in the Old and the New Testament. My best proof for this is the
Holy Quran: the Great miracle. I reject all Pascal’s impressions
on the apostle of Islam except one of them which reads: That the
Quran is not authored by Muhammad and that the Bible was not
written by Matthew.
Q: What was your attitude of your friends after you became
Muslim?
A: I received lately a letter from Beirut sent by a Lebanese Christian
friend of mine wherein he requests me to avoid all provoking and
inimical expression which usually come forth from a new convert
to Islam, he says, “I shall pay much attention to this claim for the
following factors:
- Because Muslims regard Christians with respect and call them
People of the Book.
- The Holy Quran calls for benevolence saying:
“Let there be no compulsion in religion.” (Quran 2:256)
- The Holy Quran also describes the Christians in very friendly
words saying:
“And nearest among them in love to the Believers wilt
thou find those who say; “We are Christians”; because
amongst these are men devoted to learning, and men who
have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant”.
(Quran 5:82)
Q: What were the factors that led you to Islam?
A: There were many social and ethical factors that led me to the
house of Islam. As regards the ethical factors I found out that Islam
did not accept the principle of original sin. The Holy Quran says
in this respect:
Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and fell into error. But his
Lord chose him (For His Grace): He turned to him, and gave
him guidance. (Quran 20:121-122)
Thus we do not find in Islam any sin complex as it is know in
the Anglo-Saxon precept. Chastity and hermitry are not beyond
the reach of human beings. Here are some verses from the Holy
Quran to this effect:
“Thus have We made of you an Ummat justly balanced.”
(Quran 2:143)
“And has imposed no difficulties on you in religion.” (Quran
22:78)
Q: What are some of the misconceptions against Islam?
A: I have found there to be five major misconceptions al-
ways raised against Islam, however, I do not see them logical
at all. These misconceptions are predestination, prejudice,
cruelty, serfdom and polygamy. Predestination for instance
is nothing but depending upon God and complete submis-
sion to Him. Divine will is represented in orders which
have nothing to do with predestination. Human freewill
can best be illustrated in the Holy Quran in the following
verses among many others:
“This is an admonition: whosoever will, let him take a
(straight) Path to His Lord. But ye will not, except as God
wills.”
The second misconception is one of prejudice. They claim that
Islam teaches prejudice. As a matter of fact Islam does not order
its people to use force except in self-defense or in justified war
“jihad”.
The third accusation is that legal punishments in Islam are said
to be cruel. Islam does not order the application of those pun-
ishments except in exceptional cases and according to certain
conditions. Thus very few hands were cut during the first three
decades of Islamic era, but the fruit was very great. People’s
properties were secure. There were also very few instances
of stoning the adulteress, but the cost was chastity and legal
children. Islam also regards the crime against a man’s life to
be a crime on life itself. Thus it takes the life of the criminal
to secure life itself.
Regarding the fourth misconception, namely that of serfdom, as
a matter of fact serfdom or slavery was an established law in the
world when Islam was revealed. Islam in fact restricted it and put
a gradual solution for serfdom. Thus the Holy Quran encourages
the liberation of slaves, so much so that slave liberation is regarded
in Islam as an act of worship. It is made the atonement for many
major sins. Among the closest companions to the Prophet Mu-
hammad peace be upon him were former slaves like Bilal, Suhaib
and Salman the Persian. Islam in point of truth came to liberate
slaves and not otherwise.
The question of polygamy which is misunderstood by many
non-Muslims. Polygamy is thought to be one of the weak points in
Islam while in truth it is an advantage as well as an achievement.
First of all Islam did not establish polygamy, it restricted it to a
limited number instead of too many wives. Polygamy in Islam is ac-
tually the exception in a law that is meant to encompass all human
cases. Is not polygamy better than the numerous prostitutes who
are secretly resorted to beside the legal wives in the west? Justice
is a very important condition to apply polygamy. Do not widows
and unmarried old girls prefer to be second wives instead of their
solitary lives of hardship? How just, then, is the religion of Islam!
I find great peace in Islam which I do not find anywhere else;
this is due to the fact that Islam does not divide between body
and soul. Islam appreciates the mind and the body. It respects
the guest and keeping one’s word, which are essential elements
in a just war like the one going on in Palestine.
Moving then to the social factors that convinced me to embrace
Islam is that my belief in Islam means that I have become member
in a 600 million nation of Islam. This did not lead to cutting off
my national origin. I have lived more than thirty years in North
Africa, Iran, Lebanon, Senegal and Indonesia, and have wandered
around the world like a new Ibn Battuta, the famous Arab tourist,
everywhere I went I found the same way of life, the same faith
and the same human sentiments. I found Islamic society to be
one of courage, simplicity and hermitry. I liked to live merely on
dates and milk and to have nothing to do with oil dollars which
I am afraid would be a curse and not a blessing.
As regards the forbidden foods they do not disturb me because
I have never had wine, and can go without pork and I do not
smoke. The five pillars of faith represent personal steadfastness.
The cultural factors that convinced him of the truth of Islam.
Europeans still speak proudly of what they have to given Arabs
and to the world at large. They count the schools, means of
transport, telephones... etc. They forget however what they
owe to Arabs which is not a small thing. The Arabs have kept
the Greek legacy. It was thanks to them that we now read for
Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and others. The greatest capitals of
learning in the world were at one time Cairo, Baghdad, Tulaytula
and Palermo to mention only a few.
Arabic language is first of all the Language of Divine revelation.
One cannot have real access to Arabian culture unless he reads
the Quran which is the source of inspiration for Arab writers
both modern and old. Quranic verses are often quoted in gram-
matical illustrations. The Holy Quran is in fact the mainstay of
Arabic thinking. Read the great genius Ibn Khaldoun, or the
famous poet Al Mutanabbi, or the well- known philosopher
Ibn Rushd, and all others, and you will see the influence of
the Quran on them all.
The fifth factor that incited him to enter the fold of Islam. He
says: By embracing Islam I find myself joining a new camp, a
camp different from the two struggling camps namely that of
neo-colonialism and the Zionist aggressive camp. I have joined
a new world extending from Senegal to Indonesia, a world
of real sentiment; I have not joined this world because of its
richness; but because I liked the Palestinians who are victims of
their own brethren as they are victims of their staunch enemy.
I have joined the world of emigrant workers who have taken
the place of slaves in our age, and who are about two million
people in France, thus representing the second largest com-
munity in my country bigger even than the Protestants and
the Jews. I have received two congratulations for embracing
Islam, one from a Muslim brother in Indonesia; and the other
from an Arab priest. My first Friday prayer was in Noukshott in
the Rimaal mosque. That great event took place on the 22nd
of July 1977. From henceforward I was called Al Mansour
Al Shafii. Al Mansour in Arabic is equivalent to my Christian
name Vincent, though I believe that there is no supporter
except God. I took Al Shafii School of Jurisprudence for the
sake of my Muslim brothers in Indonesia, the biggest Islamic
community the world over.
T
he
Q
uran
as
a
P
recept
and
D
iscipline
for
L
ife
Despite constant research on and analysis of the language of the
Qur’an by both scholars and philologists to find the underlying
element which gives the Qur’an its unsurpassed meaning, it
continues to elude them. This is because man’s unconscious
faculties seem to respond to Allah alone, regardless of any ex-
ternal factors, be they social, cultural, or psychological.
Because of the Qur’an’s impact on such deep levels of con-
sciousness, Muhammad’s adversaries dreaded people listening
to it, particularly the non-believers. Its influence on those
who listened to it was so powerful that Walid ibn Mughirah,
a staunch opponent of Muhammad (SAW), after listening to
its recitation said: “It indeed overflows with sweet clarity; it is
fruitful at its lowest and prodigious at its highest, and towers
over all human diction.”
This same soothing and overwhelming power of the Qur’an
was experienced by ‘Umar ibn al- Khattab before embracing
Islam. Having learned that his father-in-law and sister had
denounced their old religions and declared their allegiance to
Muhammad (SAW) and the new faith, ‘Umar rushed to their
house filled with rage. However, arriving to hear the Qur’an
being recited, his anger soon vanished and shortly afterwards
he himself became a Muslim.
The spontaneous emotional change in Umar happened be-
cause the words of the Qur’an stirred deep within, bringing
him calm. In the same way, the verses which cause the hearts
of believers everywhere to throb with elation are equally able
to produce the same effect in the heart of someone who has
yet to believe in Allah.
There are within man inborn talents and faculties know only
to Allah. He alone can reach them and cause them to respond
to His words without the soul detecting their true nature. This
divine ability of the Qur’an to remain appropriate to an infinite
number of situations confounded Arabs and non- believing
scholars alike. They tried to justify their failure to comprehend
this miracle by accusing Muhammad (SAW) of sorcery. They
claimed he had cast a spell on those tempted to listen to him,
admitting that no human could produce diction appropriate
to so many situations or could influence people’s thoughts
unhampered by their different aptitudes. If Muhammad (SAW)
was a sorcerer and could cast a spell on those who listened to
him recite the Qur’an, how as it that some listeners were in-
fluenced by the spell but not others? If the Qur’an was indeed
Muhammad’s own composition, why weren’t Arab scholars
and linguists able to rival the fields and the arts of diction, such
scholars were in a superior position to Muhammad (SAW) who
was know to be illiterate. What prevented them from exposing
him if he was an impostor as they claimed? The answer is that
the Qur’an is Allah’s speech, and no man can compete with
Him. To those opponents Allah says:
“It is not poet’s speech- little is it that ye believe! Nor di-
viner’s speech- little is it that ye remember!” (Al- Haqqah
69:41-2)
Even the answer is not without challenge, for poetry is governed
by metre and other literary devices. The assumption that the
language of the Qur’an was metrical verse in which the rules
of poetry are observed was utterly false. The Arabs, more than
any other people, knew this because of their superior skill in
poetry. Their hypocrisy and denial of Allah were affirmed by
Allah’s saying to them, “Little is it that ye believe!”
M
iracles of
the
Q
ur
’
an