Ashraf Schneider – The Path to Islam – Comparative Religion & Objective Reflection
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses their past experiences as a believer and their desire to become religious leaders. They share their past experiences with their mother's church community and their desire to become religious leaders. They also discuss their faith and the importance of mercy and forgiveness in their actions. The speaker emphasizes the need for consistency in their revelation and the importance of a signpost of transcendency. They also discuss the discovery of the 1:40 billion year old world and the importance of following Islam to fulfill one's needs and be kind to oneself.AI: Transcript ©
Yes. Very
good.
I really appreciate it. Assalamu alaikum
everyone.
So
a lot of times when people ask me
to speak about my reversion story, I try
and kind of apply it to the
environment that I find myself in.
And I think that for today,
it will
be very paramount to kind of speak about
my reversion story but to give you guys
a little bit more.
Because a lot of times for revert, it's
not just about that initial introduction towards Islam.
It's also about the building blocks
upon their journey
that
elevated
them within the deen.
And my iman itself was tested throughout
my entire reversion
because of the community that I found myself
in, because of my friends,
because of my family.
So I would like to share a little
bit of those elements with you guys as
well, which is not generally something that I
speak about, but I think it is important
for this platform.
So
to tell you guys a little bit about
my history,
I was born and raised in a Christian
family
and my father was the pastor of our
church.
My mother was also very much involved within
the church community.
You know, she would sing in the choir.
She would help with planning some of the
events and so forth.
And from a very young age, I've been
nurtured within this bubble within the church,
you know, through names of the prophets from
Abraham and his sons to Noah upon his
ship,
and Moses with his remarkable courage to guide
his people to safety.
And it was from this young age that
I've been met with a burning desire to
follow in my father's footsteps to become a
religious diva myself.
And so as I was growing within the
church,
I eventually then found a position
where I was, you know,
a part of the youth leadership.
And it gave me an opportunity to speak
about, you know, my love and my passion
for the almighty creator
and what I then believed his untainted revelation.
Now as many of you experience now and
have gone through
as your independence grow at a young age
as you reach, you know, your late teens,
you start asking questions about life
and about the things around
you. And oftentimes when I would pose these
questions to my religious leaders,
they were often left unanswered.
It was also during this time when my
mom was approached by a Muslim man,
because she wanted to write an article regarding
Hajj and she was inquiring as to who
she can speak to pertaining to this article.
And so, you know, she met with this
Muslim man, but he was going to Hajj
with his family.
And he actually encouraged her to take it
upon herself to go study regarding Islam and
Hajj and the practice
to compose this article herself.
Now
due to her studies in Islam of the
time, she started falling in love with this
religion
And you can just imagine me as, you
know, being a part of the church at
the time,
I constantly con contested her quest to to
learn about this faith. I could not understand
why would she go to another Abrahamic faith
in order to learn more about God that
didn't logically make sense to me.
So we debated with 1 another, quite frequently
all the time and as you can imagine,
you know, I would be a little, you
know, researcher online trying to look for anything
that I can, you know, pose
her with pertaining to Islam to try and
call her back to Christianity.
She did not revert to Islam then yet.
It was even times that she would still
come to the church in support of a
community and the family
And she would then start wearing a khimar
or wearing a hijab in the church.
And oftentimes when we would have our youth
groups at home, we would do our praise
and worship, read from the Bible and so
forth. I would like to try and turn
the religious music a little bit louder to
try and, you know, call her back to
Christianity.
And my ignorance at the time, you know,
we debated with 1 another quite frequently,
but it was always in a foundation
of respect, especially from my mommy side. I
think she was extremely patient with me.
And then I realized I had to reevaluate
who I want to be in life
because my quest of now
emulating my father and becoming this religious leader
was starting to wither apart.
And so I decided to go work abroad
for Royal Caribbean Cruises as a photographer
and it was just before I left my
flight that my mom held me in a
close embracing hug
and she prayed a prayer to me
or over me. She prayed to Allah and
she asked Allah to send a very big
angel with me to guide and to protect
me upon my journey.
Now you can imagine for a person that
is a staunch Christian at the time
to have your mother pray to you,
you know, to pray over you in the
name of Allah
is completely foreign. So there was a very
big rejection within my my spirit or in
my heart at the time because
I did not want to accept this.
But then I left for my flight,
and I landed in Australia and I boarded
my ship
and I opened my bag and then I'd
realized that my mom had left me with
more than just a prayer.
She put a copy of the Holy Quran
in this bag
and in this beautiful book, she wrote a
little note and she told me that if
ever I want to debate against Muslims 1
day, which was, you know something I was
growing passionate about, that I need to know
what their religion teaches.
And so with the love and compassion, you
know, that I have for my mommy, I
mean, she is my mommy, I dedicated myself
to reading at least 1 page every day.
And
1 page soon turned into 2, 2 into
3, and I found myself completing the Quran
from cover to cover.
Now at the time
it really hurt me a lot.
I was a little bit angry as well,
Right? Because I felt kind
of lost,
but I knew I was where I had
to be. Right?
I felt like the concept of
this creator that I grew up with
was wrong
and I felt like I did not really
know God,
but I knew that he was there with
me
And I felt betrayed by my religious leaders,
right, for not teaching me about other faiths,
about Islam.
But I knew that there was something that
was guiding me.
And as I've completed the Quran text, that's
not when I made my shahada because now
my perception changed.
I became a little bit
defensive
in my faith,
not wanting to accept anything readily
because I knew that if I were to
accept this, I had to do it wholeheartedly
and I had to do it on terms
where I knew that this was the truth.
So
I then decided to go back into the
biblical text, right? And to do a comparative
religious study because I knew the Bible very
well. I grew up with the Bible, I
taught from the Bible, I learned the Bible
every single week. It was something I was
extremely passionate about.
And in my quest for comparative religious study,
this is where things really started to fall
into place for me.
Because I've realized that the very principle of
Allah in the Quran and Sura Ikhlas
is echoed through the biblical text.
Even if you look at
some of the sayings of Moses, for example,
where he would say to say in the
book of Deuteronomy that here are Israel, the
Lord of God, the Lord
is 1. This is also confirmed by Jesus
in the book of Mark chapter 12 where
it says, hero is Raul, the Lord of
God, the Lord is 1.
To the very concept, you know, in the
book of Exodus chapter 20 verse 3 to
5, where god says that you will have
no other gods before me. Nothing in the
heavens above, the earth beneath, or the water
underneath the earth will ever resemble me. Do
not make any idols of this. Do not
bow down to these things.
And when you look at the relationship
of Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him,
and how he relates himself to the father,
there's a separation that's taking place. He's constantly
claiming that he's in a form or position
of subordination.
For example, in the book of John chapter
14 verse 28,
when he says that
my father is greater than I, or the
book of John chapter 10 verse 29, where
he says, my father is greater than all.
Or the book of John chapter 5 verse
30,
where he says that out of my own
self, I could do nothing.
It's only as I hear I judge and
my judgment is just because I seek not
to please myself,
but only God who has sent
me. In the book of John chapter 17
verse 3 where he says that this is
eternal life that they may know you, the
only true God and me whom you have
sent.
Now, Christianity has 2 sides
that are very dominant within the faith.
The 1 is regarding the concept of the
trinity. I now found that, you know, this
is not something I can adhere to
And then the other side is the concept
of salvation
because technically you can still be a Christian
and not believe that Jesus is God but
that he's somehow divine and died for your
sins.
And there's a verse in the New Testament
that was written by Paul in the book
of Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22
where he says that
the only means of salvation is through bloodshed.
That
bloodshed is exclusively the only way that you
can gain salvation.
But fundamentally,
through my comparative study, when Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala tells us in the Quran that, Oh
my servants who've transgressed against themselves by sinning,
do not despair for the mercy of Allah.
Indeed Allah forgives all sins.
That just really hit my fitra so hard.
And in the Bible, there's a reflection of
this. If you look in the book of
Isaiah chapter 1 verse 11 to 20, God
speaks and he says that
the multitude of your sacrifices
that you bring in front of me.
Who's asked this of you? Says the Lord.
I have no pleasure in the blood of
bulls, rams or goats. This is a trampling
of my courts.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight.
Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right. Defend
the oppressed. Take up the cause of the
fatherless and plead the case of the widow.
Come now, let us settle this battle, says
the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet,
they will be as white as snow.
And in the book of Psalms as well,
if you look at David and how he
cried out to God for forgiveness and God
speaks out of the heavens and he says
that I wash your soul as white as
snow. This is reflected even in the book
of the Messiah where the prophets would say
that I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
And when Jesus comes and he says exactly
those words, I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
And that I've come to call the wickedness
the wicked to repentance.
Right? To repentance, to repent onto God, to
ask him for forgiveness.
And even in the fatherly prayer where he
prays and he says that,
father, forgive us of our sins and have
us forgive those who transgressed against us so
we might gain your forgiveness
without bloodshed.
I then realized that all of these building
blocks that are starting to fall into place
for me is making sense,
that I just believe in this 1 almighty
creator,
that I should just submit unto him and
pray to him directly for forgiveness, for guidance,
and healing, and protection.
Now this is more or less the things
that I would share when I speak about
my reversion story, but I think what is
also important is what happens on this path.
Because
the way in which Islam builds your iman
is just
it's remarkable.
If you are born Muslim
and you have a mommy and a daddy
or someone that had taught you about Islam,
after this lecture I implore you go give
them a hug
and thank them for this deen,
Thank them for the guidance that they've given
you.
There are millions of people around this world
that just do not know.
Then it's upon us as Muslims
to do dawah
and to call them towards Allah.
As Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says in the
Quran chapter 16 verse 125.
Invite to the way of your Lord with
wisdom and good instructions and debate with them
in a way that is best.
We are instructed to go out there and
share this message.
But the ways in which my mind was
built upon this path
is not only because of these things that
I'd found in comparative religious study
but just how simply Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
answers the most prominent and complicated questions that
we as human beings have
about ourselves, about our existence, about his existence.
And in the Quran in chapter 52 verse
35 to 36, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks
specifically to 1 of these points
and he asked the disbelievers a question, he
says that do you believe that you were
created out of nothing?
Do you believe that you are your own
creators?
Have you constructed the heavens and the earth?
In fact, you have no firm belief in
Allah.
Allah speaking about 4 possibilities for our existence.
The first of which is that we came
out of nothingness, which is impossible
because something cannot just come into existence out
of absolute void or the absence of anything.
There has to be energy and power prior
to.
The second thing that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is saying is do you believe you are
your own creators?
That is illogical
because something cannot create itself if it never
existed in the first place.
It's like saying that a mother can give
birth to herself.
It is a logical paradox.
The third thing that Allah is saying is
do you believe that you created the heavens
and the earth or that the heavens and
the earth was created by something that is
in and of itself also created?
But if this universe came from something
like a universe before it, then what created
that universe?
The answer in that rhetoric would be another
universe before that universe and the universe before
that universe.
And that cycle would just continue at infinitum
and we would not be having this conversation
right now because the universe would just never
exist. It would be infinite ring regression.
So what we know is that we had
to be created by something
and we know that this creator has to
be all powerful to produce the energy and
power to put this universe into motion.
We know that this creator has to be
all knowledgeable, right?
To create a universe with such an intricate
design to sustain life on earth.
And we know this creator has to be
self sufficient
and uncreated.
Should not have to eat or sleep in
order to sustain himself.
And what this made me realize is that
these names and attributes of Allah is perfect.
They are not deficient in anything
and they can also be applied.
So if we see a concept of God
out there, for instance, Jesus peace and blessings
be upon him,
We know that he cannot be God because
God cannot be both
all knowledgeable and lack knowledge. God cannot be
both self sufficient
and be dependent on something else to survive.
God cannot be both all powerful and then
lack power in and of himself.
That is just
contradictory to the nature of God.
Because as soon as that happens, that entity
is not almighty, and we only worship the
almighty.
Even Jesus only worshiped the almighty.
Now that was the 1 point that I
really understood
Quran text.
How do I truly know that this revelation
is from Allah?
How can you how can you truly know
that this revelation is from Allah?
The revelation does say that it is from
Allah, right? It testifies to that.
But how do you know?
And it made me think,
right?
If we had all the major religious texts
in front of us,
in order for us to objectively say which
of these books is from Allah the Almighty
Creator,
we would look for 3 things.
The first thing we would look for is
how does this revelation represent the Almighty?
So if a revelation says that God is
a monkey or that God is a tree
or that God is a human being,
we know that that is not an appropriate
representation of this
almighty entity
and that, you know,
a monkey or tree and a human being
are not all powerful. They are not all
knowing and they are not self sufficient. Therefore,
that revelation cannot be from God.
The second thing we would look for is
consistency.
Internally, this revelation should not contradict itself because
God is all knowing. Why would he give
knowledge in 1 sense and then completely contradict
himself in another pertaining to the same context?
This revelation also needs to be externally consistent
because when it speaks about the creation of
Allah,
it needs to be in accordance to His
creation. So if a revelation says that the
earth is flat,
we know there cannot be knowledge that comes
from Allah because Allah is not deceptive.
Right? He's not a liar. So why would
he give us knowledge that goes against the
creation that he's created? And we know that
the earth is spherical.
The third and final point is where things
get interesting
because it's quite a high standard that is
put forward
but this revelation needs to show us that
it is transcendent,
that a human mind could not have conceived
of it.
And the interesting thing is if you take
these 3 points
and you apply to all the major religious
texts that is out there in the world,
there's only 1 that stands that test
and that is the Quran.
Let me explain to you why.
On the first point, in the representation
of this almighty creator,
he's represented as maximally perfect in each and
every 1 of his attributes and names.
There's no deficiency in them.
Even when a decree is given, it's in
accordance to those names and attributes,
which cannot even be said to most of
the major religious texts.
There are some decrees and other religious texts
that you can just say that this is
this is not from a merciful and just
God.
On the second point,
regarding consistency,
we find that internally within the Quran, there
are no contradictions.
There are also no external contradictions.
Because from the time of prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam,
the Quranic text was preserved.
There's not a single other religious text on
the face of this planet
that is properly preserved from the time that
the messenger came to give that message.
A lot of people might point to the
biblical text and say that, no, the Bible
is preserved, but it is not. Even
if you just look at the New Testament,
the earliest manuscripts that you have of the
New Testament that is a complete book is
the Codex Sinaiticus
that comes from the 4th century.
The earliest fragment of the Bible that we
have is the papyrus 52
from the book of John. It's literally like
the size of a credit card.
That is dated to the 2nd century.
But due to the way in which Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala had sought that this revelation
would be preserved,
That is why we still have it in
its unique and beautiful form today.
Because during the time of prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam,
he would speak the revelation and people around
him would memorize that. Scribes would then write
it down and in confirmation
that would become the Quran text.
And that line of narration can be found
all the way back from prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam to our day to day.
We have people that can recite the Quran
from cover to cover, word for word in
100% perfection from all around the world.
Now what about the third point, right?
It has to have a signpost of transcendency.
Now here I really had to wrap my
head around it a little bit
Because soon as soon as you understand this,
you realize that you are dealing with something
far greater than yourself.
In the Quran in chapter 21 verse 30,
the almighty creator is speaking to the disbelievers
again,
and he asked them a question.
Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens
and the earth would join together as 1
unit of creation
before we split it asunder?
And that we created every living creature from
water, will they then still not believe?
Now this knowledge revealed a 1, 400 years
ago we just discovered in our
century.
That the heavens and the earth come from
a singularity,
complete hot and dense point that then split
apart.
In whichever model that might be on our
observation of the universe, I mean, there are
17 different models, but all of them agree
to that very point.
And that every living creature is created with
an element of water. Our human cell consists
of around 60% of water. Right?
Our brains of around 70%. When a fetus
of baby when a baby is born, they
consist of around 80% of water.
Now who could have known this a 1400
years ago?
I had to ask myself these questions.
Right? Is this a human mind Or is
this perhaps divine inspired?
In the Quran in chapter 16, the chapter
of the bee,
when Allah
speaks about the working bee that pollinates plants,
who produces honey,
he speaks about them in the female form.
And just recently, we've discovered that every single
working bee is female.
Even in the work of Shakespeare in his,
you know, his sonnets and plays that he
has written,
he always portrayed the working bee as a
male bee.
Even today, if you watch a cartoon or
something, you would see that the working bee
is always portrayed as a male bee.
This is microscopic knowledge,
and yet it was revealed a 1, 400
years ago.
I had to ask myself again, who could
have revealed this? Right?
A human mind or God.
In the Quran in chapter 78 verse 67,
Allah says that we created the earth as
an expands.
We placed mountains as pegs within the ground.
Now if you take a peg and you
hit on the ground, right, you would only
see the tip of the peg and the
rest of the peg will be underneath the
surface of the earth.
Now Allah is saying that He created the
mountains like pegs in the ground.
And just recently through plate tectonics that we
discovered that when 2 plates push against 1
another, not when 1 goes over the other,
But when they push against 1 another, there's
1 that protrudes upwards. Right? The creative tip
of the mountain that we see. But there's
also 1 that pushes downwards into the earth
that creates
its roots. This is not even something that
you can see with your eyes.
There's no theologian,
scientist,
philosopher
in history that has ever propounded this.
And yet it was revealed a 1, 400
years ago that the mountains function like pegs
or like stakes in the ground.
We've just discovered this.
I came to the realization that
through this and many many more examples in
the Quran that I'm dealing with something far
greater than myself.
Because every single messenger came with a sign
for their people.
Moses, he struck his staff, the sea separated.
People said that this is a messenger, we
must follow him. Ezekiel,
Elijah, they raised the dead, they healed the
sick. People could see that they are messengers.
We must follow them.
Jesus, he multiplied food and water. He healed
the sick. People could see he's a messenger.
They must follow.
Muhammad, during his time, he multiplied food and
water. He healed the sick.
And peace and blessings be upon all the
messengers.
And people could see that he's a messenger.
They must follow
him. Now if the Quran is saying that
this revelation will
stay uncorrupted until the final day of resurrection
and this will be a sign until the
final day of resurrection,
the prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is the
seal of the messengers, meaning that there's no
other prophets to come. The sign that is
given to him must be applicable to all
these generations.
That is why this Quran is such an
amazing sign of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala of
the almighty creator.
And it doesn't matter how you try to
wrap your head around it
but you cannot deny that this is not
from the Almighty.
And even if you look at the life
of prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
even if you look at some of the
prophecies that came to fulfillment that we spoke
about,
that you know that the barefoot,
people of Arabia will compete with 1 another
in building the tallest buildings.
We're seeing that today
and that the earth will gush forth its
treasures,
right?
During the time of Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam,
the oil of the time was useless.
It's only today because of our advances made
in technology that we are able to utilize
this element, the source.
And today, it's 1 of the most valuable
resources on the face of this planet.
And he said that the earth would gush
forth its presence.
1 cannot deny that this is the truth.
If you look at it this,
Deen, if you look this way of life
objectively
and rationally,
1 cannot say that this is a human
mind that has created this.
This must be from a divine.
And it was through my studies that I
realized that I am Muslim, that I need
to submit to this wholeheartedly.
I can no longer, you know, hold on
to my own inclinations or desires or my
history or where I grew up with or,
you know, the things that I've eventually clouded
my fitra.
I had to allow myself to submit
and to take that step.
And it was truly
the most beautiful thing that has ever happened
to me.
The level of contentment that you have in
this deen,
I think it is taken for granted so
much.
And again, if you are born a Muslim,
do not lose yourself to this dunya
because you truly
have been
blessed
by the ability
to call yourself a Muslim from birth.
And if you're in a position where you
are kind of uncertain about your deen, about
your faith, go study.
Ask Allah to provide you with the answers
to give you guidance
and you will find those answers.
And for your parents,
thank them.
Thank them for making some of the hard
choices for you.
Because it's not always easy as a parent.
But it's nice to know that you have
someone that is upon this team that you
can rely on.
So that is basically, you know, not only
my reversion story,
but also a little bit more about the
things that helped build my mind upon this
journey.
And I would like to close off there.
So if you guys have any questions,
then you're welcome to ask.
Everything that I had said that is incorrect
is from my own self.
Everything that I had said that is truthful
is from Allah
and I thank my rub for everything.
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