To born-Muslim teenagers raised in a western environment, would you choose Islam if you're not born a Muslim?

Question

That is if you were not born from Muslim parents, and being exposed to different religions and culture, would you still want to be a Muslim and practice it? Why or why not?

Answer 1

yeah of course

i,m 15 and born-muslim alhamdulila and i lived in canada for most of my life, i even wore the hijab there

and if i wasnt born a muslim, if sum1 tells me about it (like wat it really is...not the lies they hear everywher) i wud definately convert

for many reasons and one of them is cuz it makes sense and is truly like a complete religion_another reason is the quran (duh)

Answer 2

Yes, i would chose!! because Islam answered all my questions,which i had about this Universal & Creature!!

Answer 3

I was born in the UK, as a Sikh - I really never believed in God, until recently. When I decided, I'm going to convert after a Muslim boy of my age (15) taught me a few things, and now I just feel it happening - I actually believe in God (Allah).

Answer 4

Well, I was born and raised in the UK, but over here, the Non-Muslims don't learn all that much about Islam from their Muslim peers. Most of them may know the basics about Islam, like the praying 5 times a day or not eating pork but they wouldn't know much about the Quran.

I think that in order to convert to Islam, the Non-Muslim probably read the Quran and found out about Islam in more detail in order to want to convert to it.

I probably wouldn't have done all that and would've probably had remained a Non-Muslim which is lucky that I was born a Muslim.

Answer 5

Hi!

Well I am a teenager who was born and raised in U.S.A., then moved to Sri Lanka for a year, and am now in Malaysia. Basically, I'm an expat. I'm not sure if this really applies to me, but I'll answer it anyway.

I think it would greatly rely on what religion i 'was' born into, and how i was brought up in that religion. For example, if I had been raised as a devout Christian, I probably would follow Christianity, because that's how I would have been molded. But let's say I was raised without a religion. Knowing myself, I would have been curious about religions. I would probably have experimented with most of the religions and stuck with the one that 'felt' right.

But see, the thing is, the reason I'm a Muslim is because of the way I was brought up. I mean, don't get me wrong, I believe in Islam. But if I had no prior knowledge of my religion, I'm not sure I would follow it.

So like yeah, I hope I answered your question.

:)

Answer 6

Yup, because, I am currently doing lots of religious research - which I would be doing even if I wasn't Muslim (because I like religions and am interested in them) and eventually, I would find Islam, and the Qur'an, thereby converting because the religion is so beautiful.

Answer 7

According to Islam all children are born Muslim. the choice of faith is not an accident of birth but a conscious choice.If you believe in islam then Quran is the foundation of faith and the Quran says about it " This indeed is a message beyond doubt".  

Answer 8

No because it is an arcane law based religion that is a total fairy tale.  Islam is cruel and intolerant and it has no place in the modern world

Answer 9

YES  i will chose islam.

Many people have a misconception that Islam is a new religion and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the founder of Islam. However, let me clarify that Islam is not the name of some unique religion presented for the first time by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who should, on that account be called the founder of Islam.

The Qur’an states that Islam – the complete submission of man before his one and only Unique Creator – is the one and only faith and way of life consistently revealed by God to humankind from the very beginning. Noah, Solomon, David, Abraham, Moses, Isaac and Jesus (pbuh) – prophets who appeared at different times and places – all propagated the same faith and conveyed the same message of Tawheed (Oneness of God), Risaalat (Prophethood) and Aakhirah (the Hereafter).

These prophets of God were not founders of different religions to be named after them. They were each reiterating the message and faith of their predecessors.

However, Muhammad (pbuh) was the last Prophet of God. God revived through him the same genuine faith which had been conveyed by all His Prophets. This original message was earlier corrupted and split into various religions by people of different ages, who indulged in interpolations and admixture. These alien elements were eliminated by God, and Islam – in its pure and original form – was transmitted to humankind through Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).



Since there was to be no messenger after Muhammad (pbuh), the Book revealed to him (i.e. the Glorious Qur’an) was preserved word for word so that it should be a source of guidance for all times.



Thus the religion of all the prophets was ‘total submission to God’s will’ and one word for that in the Arabic language is ‘Islam’. Abraham and Jesus (peace be upon them) too were Muslims, as Allah testifies in Al-Qur'an 3:67 and 3:52 respectively.



Islam is embraced by so many humans in all centuries because it is the Truth and it provides practical and comprehensive solutions to problems of humankind. Islam not only teaches good things but also shows practical ways of achieving that state of goodness.



Your surprise regarding many people embracing Islam is justified. Today, though Islam happens to be the fastest growing religion in the world, it also happens to be the religion about which people have maximum number of misconceptions. This is largely because of the virulent propaganda by the media about Islam.



A Christian surveyor, Professor Edward reported in the Time Magazine of April 16, 1979 that in a span of 150 years, from 1800 CE to 1950 CE “over 60,000 books have been written against Islam by the Christian West.”  Now, it is questionable, who has initiated, nurtured and collected the hatred which you have referred to, the Muslims or the Christian West?



Many are surprised that despite such propaganda being made against Islam, it still happens to be the fastest growing religion in today’s times. It is so, on the merits of its superior and noble teachings. Says Allah swt in the Glorious Qur'an:



“They (the non-Muslim enemies and critics of Islam) plot and plan, and Allah too plans; but the best of planners is Allah”.

(Al-Qur'an 8:30)

The terrorist acts attributed to Muslim suspects, should not be attributed to Islam or the Muslims in general but to individual human weaknesses. Such human failings occur among all religious and ethnic groups. Recorded history has not witnessed an incident similar to the ‘Holocaust’. However, one is not expected to and should not attribute the holocaust to Christianity or to Christians in general.

Opinion of historian De Lacy O’Leary.

The best reply to the misconception that Islam was spread by the sword is given by the noted historian De Lacy O’Leary in the book "Islam at the cross road" (Page 8):

"History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myth that historians have ever repeated."

4.   Muslims ruled Spain for 800 years.

Muslims ruled Spain for about 800 years. The Muslims in Spain never used the sword to force the people to convert. Later the Christian Crusaders came to Spain and wiped out the Muslims. There was not a single Muslim in Spain who could openly give the adhan, that is the call for prayers.

5.   14 million Arabs are Coptic Christians.

Muslims were the lords of Arabia for 1400 years. For a few years the British ruled, and for a few years the French ruled. Overall, the Muslims ruled Arabia for 1400 years. Yet today, there are 14 million Arabs who are Coptic Christians i.e. Christians since generations. If the Muslims had used the sword there would not have been a single Arab who would have remained a Christian.

6.   More than 80% non-Muslims in India.

The Muslims ruled India for about a thousand years. If they wanted, they had the power of converting each and every non-Muslim of India to Islam. Today more than 80% of the population of India are non-Muslims. All these non-Muslim Indians are bearing witness today that Islam was not spread by the sword.

7.   Indonesia and Malaysia.

Indonesia is a country that has the maximum number of Muslims in the world. The majority of people in Malaysia are Muslims. May one ask, "Which Muslim army went to Indonesia and Malaysia?"

8.   East Coast of Africa.

Similarly, Islam has spread rapidly on the East Coast of Africa. One may again ask, if Islam was spread by the sword, "Which Muslim army went to the East Coast of Africa?"



9.   Thomas Carlyle.

The famous historian, Thomas Carlyle, in his book "Heroes and Hero worship", refers to this misconception about the spread of Islam: "The sword indeed, but where will you get your sword? Every new opinion, at its starting is precisely in a minority of one. In one man’s head alone. There it dwells as yet. One man alone of the whole world believes it, there is one man against all men. That he takes a sword and try to propagate with that, will do little for him. You must get your sword! On the whole, a thing will propagate itself as it can."

10.   No compulsion in religion.

With which sword was Islam spread? Even if Muslims had it they could not use it to spread Islam because the Qur’an says in the following verse:

"Let there be no compulsion in religion:

Truth stands out clear from error"

                                [Al-Qur’an 2:256]

11.   Sword of the Intellect.

It is the sword of intellect. The sword that conquers the hearts and minds of people. The Qur’an says in Surah Nahl, chapter 16 verse 125:

"Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord

with wisdom and beautiful preaching;

and argue with them in ways that are

best and most gracious."

                              [Al-Qur’an 16:125]

12.   Increase in the world religions from 1934 to 1984.

An article in Reader’s Digest ‘Almanac’, year book 1986, gave the statistics of the increase of percentage of the major religions of the world in half a century from 1934 to 1984. This article also appeared in ‘The Plain Truth’ magazine. At the top was Islam, which increased by 235%, and Christianity had increased only by 47%. May one ask, which war took place in this century which converted millions of people to Islam?

13.   Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and Europe.

Today the fastest growing religion in America is Islam. The fastest growing religion in Europe in Islam. Which sword is forcing people in the West to accept Islam in such large numbers?

14.   Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson.

Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson rightly says, "People who worry that nuclear weaponry will one day fall in the hands of the Arabs, fail to realize that the Islamic bomb has been dropped already, it fell the day MUHAMMED (pbuh) was born".

Answer 10

i would because  islam seems the most logical. no twists no turns. one god no one has seen before and the messenger of allah, muhammad (s.a.w). the  most logical if u really think about it.

Answer 11

i was born and raised in Southern California

and i was born muslim (alhamdulilah)

i love learning about different religions.

but of course i would convert!

the religion of Islam is flawles.

"This is the Book (the Qur'ân), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqûn [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allâh much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allâh much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)]." [Qur'an 2: 2]