From: john w {at}yahoo.com>

x-no-archive: yes
On 26 Mar 2007 10:00:33 -0700, "arah"  wrote:
 C 2007 John D Weatherly all rights reserved; no portion of this post
may be used anywhere else without written permission of the author.
>The rising popularity of Islam in the West
>By Huda al-Kibsi
>Mar 25, 2007, 12:16
>
> Islam is becoming the most popular religion in the world, said Hashem
>al-Attas, a researcher at the Dar al-Mustafa for Traditional Islamic
>Education. "Many mass media show that it is spreading faster than all

No doubt that Islam is growing more and more popular these (last) days! 
The Bible says that as our age draws to a close, the false religions would
grow up and choke the true!

I think Islam is an excellent example of the false choking the true!

john w

>other religions," he said. To address this issue, the al-Ibda Cultural
>Center for Studies and Heritage Services prepared in cooperation with
>Sana'a University and the al-Mustafa Center for Islamic Studies a
>cultural symposium on the spread of Islam in  the West.
>
>The symposium was held last Monday, Mar 19, and was attended by Luke
>Martin of Great Britain, who changed his name to Mos'ab after he
>became a Muslim and Mr. Herman, a Namibian man who became Abdullah
>after he converted.  They are both new Muslims and narrated their
>stories about their journey toward Islam for those attending the
>symposium.  Both Mos'ab and Abdullah said they came to Yemen to learn
>and know more about Islam in this country, as they believed it to be a
>country of faith and wisdom.
>
>The people of Yemen are mentioned hundreds of times in the generations
>of the prophet Muhammad, said Mos'ab. "As it is mentioned in the
>Hadith, faith is Yemen and wisdom is Yemen."  Their sole intention on
>coming to Yemen was to learn the Arabic language and to know more
>about Islam, said Abdullah. "I heard a lot of good things about Yemen
>and I decided to come. I have been here for two years, and I can see
>that Sana'a is full of beautiful views.
>
>It is amazing in its structure."   Abdullah wanted to share his
>experiences on his journey from darkness to light, and from spiritual
>poverty to wealth, he said. "There were two things I was thinking of,
>and that became my aims in life," said Abdullah. "Money and freedom. I
>left my parents for these two things, after I was thinking of having a
>good family like the one I grew up in.  "I got myself a job and
>started running after money and worrying about how much money was in
>my bank account.
>
>I found myself in a situation where I was looking at my clothes,
>mobile phone, and shoes and whether they were expensive enough and the
>latest fashion. I was exhausted and through this exhaustion I escaped
>to stop one day and questioned myself what is the reason of my
>existence?  "At that time I was a Christian and I learned that one
>plus one plus one does not equal one. This trinity was not only
>confusing me, but was confusing other people around me as well.
>Another thing that was confusing me is the prophet Lot in
>Christianity.
>
>The prophet supposes to be the beloved of God, but Lot was said to
>have been drinking alcohol and having unlawful integrate with his
>daughters. "Prayer in Christianity is only on Sunday, once a week,
>while in Islam there is this continual connection with Allah. In
>Islam, we pray every single day of the week and for five times a day.
>Keeping up this practice continues connection, so that there is no way
>that you may be forgotten by your creator.
>
>"I started thinking of Islam. I saw Islam as a bearded man who walks
>around with weapons spreading violence wherever he goes and in the
>same time abusing his wife.  "Before I become a Muslim, I was working
>at a sport center. A strange man walked in with a strange beard. He
>was requesting a private pool. I kept in contact with him in helping
>him find one. As well, there was something about him that was
>attracting me, like good characteristics he had.
>
>I really wanted to spend more time with him. I was visiting him in his
>house and I was amazed by the good hospitality, patience, and
>generosity he showed toward me. These characteristics were rare in
>people of London where I lived. Through my visits and by witnessing I
>learned more about Islam. He was informing me about Islam. I got to
>the point when I accepted Islam to be the truth, as you all know
>change is very hard.
>
>"I wanted to clean myself first to meet my lord in a clean state. I
>told him that I need more time to think about this, and I was also
>worried about what my parents and friends are going to think. The
>response that came from my friend was the question 'do you accept
>Islam to be the truth?' He asked me if I had to die without having
>accepted the truth.  "This question angered me and I expelled him from
>my house. He left, but the question did not leave me.
>
>I asked myself what will happen for me if I die in darkness. It was
>Saturday night and lots of bad things in London happen on Saturday
>night. I was picturing myself. All these things happen to me and
>obviously death in particular could not be that far. I left my house
>and went to my friend. I got to his house and he accepted me with a
>smile. There was not much to be done after accepting Islam to be the
>truth.
>
>I came to a point to take al-Shahadah (that is to proclaim that there
>is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger) which means making
>the change. I told myself that I could give it a test. In my head I
>thought that I would say al-Shahadah and would try myself for a month--
>by buying new clothes or a mobile phone and if it does not work I can
>return it."  Abdullah found later on that this friend was a foreigner
>like him, who came from outside the UK and searched for similar
>things.
>
>"I like to do like him and call people and encourage them to be
>Muslims," he said.  Mos'ab also spoke about his experience. He also
>mentioned why cultured people in the west liked Prophet Mohammed. "In
>the west there are scholars of history and literature and one of the
>striking things is that even before a number of years, when there was
>no television or internet, there was knowledge of the prophet Mohammed
>in the west," he said.
>
>For example, the famous French poet Alphonse de La Martaine said in
>his "Historie de La Turquie, Paris, 1954:   "If greatness of purpose,
>smallness of means, and astonishing results are the three criteria of
>a human genius, who could dare compare any great man in history with
>Muhammad?...Philosopher, Orator, Apostle, Legislator, Conqueror of
>ideas, Restorer of Rational beliefs... The founder of twenty terrestrial
>empires and one of the spiritual empires that is Muhammad.
>
>As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we
>may well as, is there any man greater than he?" A Christian Anglican
>author, Barnaby Rogerson (in his "the prophet Muhammad: A Biography")
>enthusiastically said about the prophet Muhammad: "Even when viewed in
>an entirely secular respective, he remains a super hero... only by
>marrying the best qualities of certain characters from European
>civilization- a combination, say, of Alexander the Great, and
>Aristotle, or the Emperor Constantine, St. Paul and St. Francis- can
>you begin to understand the measure of the man."
>
>There are likely many more in the west with stories like those of
>Abdullah and Mos'ab people grow fed-up with the consumerism and
>materialism prevalent in the west, they hunger for a life with a
>deeper spiritual element. For many, Islam fills that role.
>Copyright 2002 - 2006 Yemen Observer

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