Are you a Muslim by Chance or by Choice

Transcript of the khatira delivered by Dr. Munawar Haque on Jan 28, 2017

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين

Brothers and Sisters! If someone asks you, “Are you a Muslim?” The immediate answer will be “Yes I am.”  But, what if someone asks you, “Why are you a Muslim?” This will make you start to think. For most of us, the answer might be “It’s because I was born in a Muslim family.”  But, is that the correct answer? What if we weren’t born in a Muslim family? Would we still be a Muslim?

InshaAllah, in today’s khatira, I want to share some thoughts with you on the question, “Am I a Muslim by chance or by choice?” Each person is born in a circumstance which is not of his own choosing. The religious tradition of his family is thrust upon him from the very beginning of his existence in this world. By the time he reaches his teens, he is usually fully brain-washed into believing that the beliefs of his particular family are the correct beliefs that everyone should have. Generally, he becomes a Jew, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, secular humanist or follower of any other religion or creed because of his parents who were the means for his coming into this world. He becomes so by chance—the chance of being born and raised in a particular family of a particular faith or creed.  

However, when some people mature and are exposed to other belief-systems, they often reach a point of confusion upon realizing that each and every religion, sect, ideology and philosophy claims to be the one and only right way for man. They all encourage people to good. So, which one is right? They cannot all be right since each claims all others to be wrong. Like every other religion or tradition, Islam also claims to be the one and only true way for man. In this respect it is no different from other systems.

We can only determine the true path by putting aside emotions and prejudices. Then, and only then, will we be able to use our intelligence and make a rational and correct decision. According to a hadith, “Every child is born in a state of fitrah. Then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian…” Fitrah is a natural belief in God and an in-born inclination to worship Him alone. This means that if the child were left alone, he would worship God in his own way, but all children are affected by the environment.

Now, just as the child submits to the physical laws which God has imposed on nature, in the same way his soul also submits naturally to the fact that there is a Supreme Being who is his Lord and Creator. But, if his parents try to make him follow a different path, the child is not strong enough in the early stages of his life to resist or oppose the will of his parents. In such cases, the religion which the child follows is one of custom and upbringing, and God does not hold him to account or punish him for his religion up to a certain stage of his life—up to the time that he becomes old enough and mature enough to use his intellect.

Reverting to Islam means transforming of a person’s religion by chance to the elementary and original religion of Islam by choice. Islam has been the religion of all Prophets and Messengers of Allah—from Adam (AS)—the first man on earth to Muhammad (SAW)--the last and final Messenger of Allah. 

We see religious leaders and others being more interested in converting persons from other religions to their religions but not interested in reverting the persons of their own religion from "by chance" to "by choice." For now, let us focus on the Muslims. Usually, they are born in a Muslim family and hence their Muslim names. They are Muslims by chance, and do not feel the necessity to revert or to become Muslims by choice. Why? Because they can enjoy all the privileges of Islam even if they do not fulfill their duties and responsibilities which Islam imposes on them.

To become a Muslim by choice would mean to follow Islam in letter and spirit; to leave the unlawful; to submit to Allah and not to submit to one’s whims and base desires. Hence to continue living as Muslim by chance is much easier than to become a Muslim by choice which is hard and demands sacrifice. Look at this ayah of Surat al-Nisa which asks believers to believe.  

  يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا آَمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ

“O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger and in the Scripture He sent down to His Messenger…” (al-Nisa’, 4:136)

To ask believers to believe might at first seem strange. The fact, however, is that belief here has two meanings. Firstly, a person believes because he was born and raised in a Muslim home. Therefore, by default, he joins the camp of the believers. Secondly, belief indicates true faith, which means a man's believing in the truth with full sincerity. It denotes man's sincere determination to mold his way of thinking, his likes and dislikes, his conduct and character, and the direction of his efforts, in compliance with the creed which he has resolved to embrace. In this verse of the Qur’an, the believers in the first sense of the term i.e., Muslims by chance are being asked to change themselves into believers in the second sense, i.e., Muslims by choice.

There are Muslims who do not consider the question of faith as a serious matter but play with it as long as it suits their desires and fancies. Such ‘Muslims by chance' often behave like hypocrites. They are secular and liberal to the core like their disbelieving friends in culture, in thoughts, and in the way of life.

Islam being a lifestyle and value-system in every aspect of life has a paradigm or a model for daily living. By and large, the paradigm of the self-destructive global civilization generally, and the secular modern western civilization specifically is to work only for material success in this world. This paradigm depicts the end of life in this world and hence no accountability of one's deeds after this life. This is in sharp contrast to the Islamic worldview that considers man to be accountable for all his actions in this life. Man will be judged by God Almighty in the next life. He will then be either among the people of eternal bliss or eternal doom.

Brothers and sisters! Alhamdulillah, we are all Muslims. We claim to be Muslims. As Muslims, we believe in every word of the Qur’an. The Qur’an says,

“The deen in the sight of Allah is Islam” (Aal ‘Imran, 3:19). It also says, “If anyone desires anything other than Islam as a deen, it will not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter, he will be among the losers.” (Aal ‘Imran, 3:85)

In this age of doubt, when atheism and agnosticism have become commonplace and when media outlets have become saturated with attacks on Islam and Muslims, many of us can find it hard to achieve the highest levels of certainty. It is crucial that an unshakable yaqeen in Allah, in His Messenger, in the Qur’an, and in the Hereafter must be the basis of our Islam. If we have it, we will always want to act in a manner pleasing to Allah.

The central principle of Islam and its meaning is “the surrender of one's will to God.” In order to actually submit to God's will, one must continually choose between right and wrong. Man is blessed by God with the power not only to distinguish between right and wrong but also to choose between right and wrong.

This God-given power carries with it an important responsibility—that man is answerable to God for the choices he makes. It follows, then, that man should try his utmost to do good and avoid evil and to consciously live by the dictates of the divine teachings. Such a believer can be said to be a Muslim by choice.

I will conclude by reminding myself and you to become Muslims by choice.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ

“O you who believe! Enter Islam totally. Do not follow in the footsteps of Shaytan. He is an outright enemy to you.” (al-Baqarah, 2:208)

Alhamdulillah, even if we are believers by being born and raised up in Muslim households, may Islam be our choice. May we live as Muslims and and die as Muslims; Ameen.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ 

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