Saeed.Ibn.George
Member
Assalamu Alaikkum Brothers & Sisters [ [email protected] ]
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My Interview to An INTELLECTUAL in February 2010.
Brother Saeed Ibn George from Bangalore is a revert to Islam from Christianity. Born in India he has witnessed varied beliefs and dogmas and embraced for himself Islam as the way of life. Being a businessman he is well aware of the common man's psyche and is actively involved in Dawa. He offers a pragmatic solution to the social chaos of our times: "Justice is the solution and Islam alone can deliver justice"
The Intellectual: As a young person what were the ideas that influenced you; what was the social set-up and belief systems that surrounded you?
Saeed Ibn George: Hailing from Cochin ours was a very orthodox Christian family with both my father's and mother's family members being very religious. From my childhood itself I would read the Bible and I would read it as any other story book. In fact I was a Christian just because I was following the religion of my parents. I use to feel Jesus is God but I really didn’t understand it completely. I remember sitting as a little child in my grandfather's lap under the starry night sky when a shooting star passed above us. He looked at me and said that it was the angel Michael and he also told me the story of the angel Gabriel but at that time I couldn’t comprehend the concept of angels. It was since my childhood that I began seeing strange dreams which I could not comprehend. Being devoid of any Muslim influence I spend my early years completely unaware of Islam.
The Intellectual: Being a Christian didn’t you ever feel that concepts like Trinity actually go against human logic and commonsense; didn’t you get any doubts in your mind? And upon asking such questions to your peers what were the answers you got?
Saeed Ibn George: Before coming to Islam I never went for a debate with anybody however there were certain contradictions in my mind. When ever I read the Old Testament its concept of the God Jehova attracted me I would feel that is the true concept of God, Our Creator. But only because of my parents I had to believe that Jesus was God and the Son of God but personally I did not have any satisfactory answer for such a belief. While reading the New testament I started getting more and more doubts about Jesus. It says Jesus prayed "Our Father in Heaven.." and I started thinking that if Jesus is God why should he pray to somebody? Also upon being put on the cross he is quoted as saying "Oh My God, Why have you forsaken me?" this is something unacceptable for if Jesus was God or the son of God shouldn’t he have enough power to just walk away? How could it be that a Divine being is so helpless?
I asked my mother about Ibraheem (AS) and she said he was a Prophet. Infact the Bible wrongly describes Prophets of God as mere kings, like Solomon and David etc and this portrayal of Prophets as kings was something utterly confusing in Christianity for me. She continued to say that from Prophet Ibraheem's son Isaac we have the Children of Israel, the chosen people of God whereas the Muslims are from Ismail and he is not the original son. I asked her that if it was so, then which son did Abraham take for sacrifice? The Christians say that Abraham sacrificed Isac, but Isac was born later so that is contradictory. Also I then asked that where is the place Ibraheem made the sacrifice? To this question they had no answer. And I know today that if they accept that they will accept Islam because that is the same place where the Kaba is, the Holy place of Islam.
The Intellectual: Having experienced Christian Life and the Church life in particular, you must have seen how the Church too is deep rooted in racism and inequality shown by segregation of churches on basis of colour and racial backgrounds. Havent you experienced the Islamic concept of universal brotherhood to be an absolute contrast?
Saeed Ibn George : See, no matter how the people behave, the feeling of Brotherhood and the assurity of equal treatment is well grounded into a true Islamic society. In no other religion or system will you find that brotherhood and Islam is the best practical model for it. Though most religions espouse brotherhood, certain philosophies like that of Jesus dying for the salvation of humanity would weaken the spirit of tolerance and co-operation needed for Brotherhood. For, a person would kill another person without a second thought on the assumption that Jesus has already shed blood for him. Islam however is a religion of Practical life, if it aspires for human brotherhood and it also lays down the directions how to achieve that brotherhood. It is the Quran and Sunnah that teach us the smallest ways of pleasant behaviour for our brother starting from a cheerful smile to the manners of greeting. It is by this means that Islam envisions to create a society based on brotherhood and mutual consultation.
The Intellectual: Living in a Non-Muslim society how did you first come in touch with Islam and its teachings? What kind of Muslims did you usually meet?
Saeed Ibn George : Till I seriously started studying Islam I was very ignorant of its teachings and I used to think that Muslims are people who worship the moon! This erroneous belief about Islam had crept into me because I had often seen the signs of a moon and star above the Muslim places of worship. It was when I came for my higher studies to Bangalore I made around five Muslim friends. Unfortunately I save to say this though I do not mean to backbite any Muslims, that all of those Muslims used to drink. This was something unusual when even despite being a Christian myself I never used to drink. So when out of curiosity I asked them how could they drink when its forbidden in Islam I got the reply: "Its only after HAJJ that one cannot drink". This was something that perplexed me as I believed religion should be a 24/7 job. Luckily one of those Muslims was a devout Muslim and was usually taunted as "Maulvi saab". It was this person whom I asked first of all as to what is Islam. One of the things he told me was that according to Islam Ibraheem (AS) sacrificed Ismail (AS) and that the mosque he built is the very Ka'ba that the Muslims offer Hajj to. This was something that really impressed me. It was from the story of Ibraheem (AS) I began reading Islam.
The Intellectual: Describe to us some of the major events prior to your reversion that collectively compelled you to consider Islam and finally culminated in your embracing Islam. Had you a chance to experience extraordinary, out of this world occurrences which had behind them the hand of God?
Saeed Ibn George : Since long I got the same strange dreams repeatedly. Earlier I had never really understood my dreams but it was on one particular night that I saw the dream distinctly, forcing me to flee from fright. What unfurled before me was something like "The Final Episode", the very end of the world. I dreamt that as I stood and watched in horror the mountains crumbled to dust. The trees were uprooted and started flying, even the cattle were flying. All the houses were turning to dust and that heavy wind was carrying away everything. The Earth was spread out into a barren land. I couldn't comprehend the events and I was so scared that I ran out of the house at around 2am in the night. This really made me think that something is wrong somewhere in my life, so I began inclining towards God as is the natural inclination of man in times of fear.
As I kept reading more about Islam I was also trying to perform the Salaah and though I was not aware of the proper method I tried to offer it. When I first decided to offer salaah on Jum'ah I entered Masjid for the first time gripped by fear as to whether the Muslims might harm me; a rather funny incident comes to mind. As I went for Wudhu I looked at the people around me someone was washing his leg so I washed my leg first; I saw some one else washing the hand so I washed the hand and yet someone was washing their face so I washed my face (laughs). That was my first Jum'ah. That very night again I experienced within me some inspiration as if someone spoke to me "You have to believe".
Finally I was given the address of an institution in Kerala established in 1906, which helps people who want to embrace Islam and I travelled to that place from Bangalore. On meeting them I said that I wanted to become a Muslim. They asked me if I believe in Allah; being reluctant to say Allah I said I believe in God and they confirmed my belief in the Prophet Muhammad (saw). They then asked me to shave my head, basically trying to test my enthusiasm and I agreed. They gave me a room and at that time almost 150 students were studying there. At night something unusual happened. I felt someone whispering in my ears such that I could even feel the breath: "What are you doing? You're leaving Jesus? Why are you going to the religion of Sheytan?" At this I felt very disturbed. I felt the need to seek refuge in God and I prayed to the True God that if I was doing something wrong I shouldn’t get any sleep but if I was doing right may He give me sound sleep. I dint know when I had fallen asleep and within a time that felt like fifteen minutes I was woken by someone saying "Its Fajar Salah" SubhanAllah! Allah gave me such a sound sleep. And from that time I have never looked back.
The Intellectual: Since you have become a Muslim by choice rather than by chance and have taken out time to evaluate the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah, according to you what significance should the terms Islam and Muslim have in our lives?
Saeed Ibn George : When we describe Islam we often use the term religioun, though Islam is more than a religion, it is a concept of God, His Messengers, His Books and His final Messenger. Encountering Islam is like opening a brand new i-phone. Using it for the first time one needs to look up the "instruction manual". Now, as long as the device is functioning according to the manual, its called i-phone but if it dosent comply with the standard specifications one would return it to the shop and ask for a replacement. We must remember our "User's manual" from Allah is the Qur'an and one is Muslim only as long as he is functioning according to the Qur'an and following the Prophet (saw). Our foremost duty is to understand the Qur'an for it is the Word which was revealed even before the Prophet (saw) was announced Prophethood. "Read in the name of your lord" should be our motivation. And considering the fact that youngsters find subjects such as science, Math and computers easy, honestly Qur'an should be no difficult task by seventh standard. It is only our indifference that keeps us bereft of its knowledge. We must also understand Islam is not a family affair, it is not something inherited but infact it is the duty of every human to find the right meaning and concept of God. Also we must know that Islam is the 23 years of The Prophet's Life. Whatever he did in those years is Islam and except for the first three generations nothing after that can be unquestionably accepted as Islam. Our Eman is not only to believe in the hereafter or to fear Allah but it is reflected by our actions of obedience to Allah. The people who deal in interest must know that Allah declared war against them in Surah Baqarah. Why then do they not desist? Thus the ones who truly love Allah and fear Allah are the people of Eman and are prepared to obey Allah and his Prophet.
Another trick that the Muslims play is to keep away from gaining knowledge on the pretext that "If I hear it I'll have to follow it", such will never be the statement of a true Mu'min. Also we must know His Law for us goes by the pattern laid down in this Book. He is going to treat us by it and his way of dealing never changes and only if we are well versed with His Book can we comprehend reality and succeed. For, Allah says that the Quran is Guidance "for those who truly fear Allah" and so only they can benefit from it. Let not our fate be like the People of Moses who broke the Law of Sabbath day and Allah punished them severely and the only reason Allah is patient with us is that He has only given us little respite and postponed our punishment.
The Intellectual: What should be one's frame of mind while approaching the Quran and Islamic scriptures?
Saeed Ibn George : If one desires to read the Quran and the Hadeeth, one should not come with an intention to find mistakes in it or to attack Muslims or Islam but rather to look at it with an unbiased mind. I myself read the Quran with an intention to understand the book because more than attacking anybody for me the salvation of my soul is more important. This should be our attitude to approach the Quran while being ready to accept the truth whichever quarter it comes from.
The Intellectual: The media often portrays Islam as a "merciless" or "violent" religion; having embraced Islam what have you found in it? Have to found it to be merciless or have you found it rather peaceful?
Saeed Bin George: Islam has the ability to grant the maximum contentment and peace of heart and mind to a human. Islam is the religion of hope as Allah is the Most forgiving, ask Him for forgiveness and He will forgive. And this mercy of Allah and His Forgiveness is the very first glad tiding we are assured of and this is the Greatest Blessing.
I remember when I was reading Quran, the first Surah I memorised was Al-Qadr and I found something amazing in it. I pondered upon the Ayah "Wa Tanazal ul malaikatu war ruhu fiha Bi idhni Rabbi him min kulli amr. Salaamun hiya hatta mat la il fajr". I was really taken aback and I started thinking "Allah is so merciful!" He send so many angels in one night for mankind though we don’t deserve such mercy. Look at us stone hearted humans and then look at the Rabb! This God is so amazing. We have become heedless of Him and we need to rush to our Lord the Most Merciful.
We need to make it clear to the world that Islam does not allow us to kill any one unjustly. A person who kills even an ant unjustly, Allah will give the ant a chance to bite back in Qiyamah. Thus the People of The Quran are bound to be very peaceful and co-operating.
The Intellectual: The turning of hearts for most reverts is when they encounter the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (saw). Share with us some of the lessons from the Seerah that really inspired you and can be a guiding light for us as well.
Saeed Ibn George e: The very meaning of accepting Muhammad (saw) as our prophet is that we take him as our ideal and our teacher and undoubtedly the 23 years of his Prophetic Life is nothing but Islam. Today unfortunately the media has portrayed him as a bad person. I would like to relate an incident from his seerah. People usually say that eating the kaddu is Sunnah. Actually it is not Sunnah but an incident is related to us that and the moral of the story is consideration and good manners. Once a very poor Arab invited the Prophet (saw) to partake from his humble offerings. Being extremely poor he had nothing to offer than a gourd. The Prophet accepted the invitation and as he ate the poor man was overjoyed. Then something strange happened. The Prophet (saw) had the meal while all his companions waited patiently and when it was over the Prophet thanked his host, expressed his pleasure and remarked that this was the most delicious meal he had from long. This way, the Prophet never let him feel lowly or miserable about his poverty.
Yet another time, a man came to the Prophet (saw) with a watermelon. Rasool Allah started eating it but strangely he did not offer any to the Sahabas who were sitting there untill the whole fruit was finished. Thereafter He thanked the person for the sweet fruit and he left happily. Then, the companions expressed their apprehension that like never before the Prophet had not shared it with them. At this The Prophet (saw) said that the fruit was so bitter that if had offered to them they would spit it out and the poor man would feel offended and hurt. Just see, this is the Prophet of Allah, this is the Mercy to the worlds.
The Intellectual: How do you feel about the splitting up of Muslims into sects and denominations? Doesn't this trend defy the very spirit of Islam?
Saeed Ibn George : If we happen to go to shopkeeper who cheats us a meager 10 rupees we start calling him a cheat and a thief and we feel we are on our guard however, we fail to realise that Sheytaan is cheating us. He is splitting us up and disuniting us. At the time of the Prophet (saw) how many sects were there? There were no sects! Allah makes it a covenant upon us that we do not ever divide Islam. So, we have ONE Allah, ONE Book, ONE Messenger then why so much of confusion? In the Last Sermon, the Prophet (saw) said to His own daughter Fathima that he has no power to save her on Qiyamah and that "I am leaving you two things: the Book of Allah and My Sunnah. And if you hold to them firmly you shall never go astray"
Allah has preserved and protected Islam but the people because of their ignorance are coming up under different denominational names. Let us unite under one banner of "Muslims". We should be under the same banner of the Prophet for he is our icon and he is our leader.
The Intellectual: You provided the outlines for the people who are not yet Muslim to approach Quran and understanding the Quran through scriptures and not by looking at the Muslims. What should in turn be the attitude and the behaviour of the Muslims so that the Non Muslims may be attracted to Islam?
Saeed Ibn George : Firstly we need to understand that Dawa is not our primary goal, first a Muslim should understand his religion best for how can he argues with people who are more knowledgable than him? Recently we had a sister leaving Islam for Christianity. When I had a chance to ask her why she said that "Muslims are terrorists and I cannot their Prophet". We need to ask ourselves why does this happen? These things happen because we Muslims do not know our religion well. This particular lady obviously did not know Islam and well and the Christians took advantage of it and by demonstrating the good behaviour of Christianity they attracted her heart. And when they baffeled her with questions about the Quran ordering killings she had no answers. So first our duty is not Dawa, our first duty is to obey Allah, to be Muslim and to worship Allah. And that is the very purpose of our creation.
We should not preach to anybody unless we are sure. Eg: when my friend tried to give me Dawa he had told me that Quran ahd been sent down as a book from Heaven and it was only a lot later that I realised that Quran was revealed over 23 years bit by bit. A Daii has to be well versed with Islamic concepts because what you say today you cant change tomorrow. This is the reason knowledge is immensely important.
A Muslim is like the "brand ambassador" for Allah. Among mankind the one who represents Allah's way is the Muslim. We are the "sales executives" of Islam. We have to propagate its concepts and it is not by books neither for money that people come to Islam but it should be for our works and deeds that people accept Islam. If we are to give the message to Non muslims it should be through the Life style as led by Our Beloved Prophet (saw). Let us come upto the Muslim bench mark and then we can give Dawa. Now, in Dawa the biggest Dawa is our character! The thing that had impressed Khadeeja (RA) was the Prophet's character If Muslims could demonstrate the same character there would not be a requirement for a person to do a job but definitely they would look for a Muslim employee. Thus character is the backbone of Dawa. Take the example of a Muslim selling a mobile phone. If instead of fleecing the customer we would boldly say that this is the actual price and please give me a hundred or two hundred rupees more as profit, the customer would be taken back by out honesty and it would make them question as to what is responsible for such honesty? This is how we can be the ambassadors of Islam through our character.
The Intellectual: In conclusion, what is your heartfelt advice for the Muslim Ummah at large?
Saeed Ibn George : I request every single Muslim, just go back to the Quran and understand Islam. Allah has made us able to understand the Quran so please make efforts at reading, understanding and implementing it for this is one of the things we are lacking in today. Let us capture the soul of Sunnah and do actions with the intention of getting closer to Allah through obedience to Islamic commandments and let not ur goal be anything but that we work for the sake of Allah.
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My Interview to An INTELLECTUAL in February 2010.
Brother Saeed Ibn George from Bangalore is a revert to Islam from Christianity. Born in India he has witnessed varied beliefs and dogmas and embraced for himself Islam as the way of life. Being a businessman he is well aware of the common man's psyche and is actively involved in Dawa. He offers a pragmatic solution to the social chaos of our times: "Justice is the solution and Islam alone can deliver justice"
The Intellectual: As a young person what were the ideas that influenced you; what was the social set-up and belief systems that surrounded you?
Saeed Ibn George: Hailing from Cochin ours was a very orthodox Christian family with both my father's and mother's family members being very religious. From my childhood itself I would read the Bible and I would read it as any other story book. In fact I was a Christian just because I was following the religion of my parents. I use to feel Jesus is God but I really didn’t understand it completely. I remember sitting as a little child in my grandfather's lap under the starry night sky when a shooting star passed above us. He looked at me and said that it was the angel Michael and he also told me the story of the angel Gabriel but at that time I couldn’t comprehend the concept of angels. It was since my childhood that I began seeing strange dreams which I could not comprehend. Being devoid of any Muslim influence I spend my early years completely unaware of Islam.
The Intellectual: Being a Christian didn’t you ever feel that concepts like Trinity actually go against human logic and commonsense; didn’t you get any doubts in your mind? And upon asking such questions to your peers what were the answers you got?
Saeed Ibn George: Before coming to Islam I never went for a debate with anybody however there were certain contradictions in my mind. When ever I read the Old Testament its concept of the God Jehova attracted me I would feel that is the true concept of God, Our Creator. But only because of my parents I had to believe that Jesus was God and the Son of God but personally I did not have any satisfactory answer for such a belief. While reading the New testament I started getting more and more doubts about Jesus. It says Jesus prayed "Our Father in Heaven.." and I started thinking that if Jesus is God why should he pray to somebody? Also upon being put on the cross he is quoted as saying "Oh My God, Why have you forsaken me?" this is something unacceptable for if Jesus was God or the son of God shouldn’t he have enough power to just walk away? How could it be that a Divine being is so helpless?
I asked my mother about Ibraheem (AS) and she said he was a Prophet. Infact the Bible wrongly describes Prophets of God as mere kings, like Solomon and David etc and this portrayal of Prophets as kings was something utterly confusing in Christianity for me. She continued to say that from Prophet Ibraheem's son Isaac we have the Children of Israel, the chosen people of God whereas the Muslims are from Ismail and he is not the original son. I asked her that if it was so, then which son did Abraham take for sacrifice? The Christians say that Abraham sacrificed Isac, but Isac was born later so that is contradictory. Also I then asked that where is the place Ibraheem made the sacrifice? To this question they had no answer. And I know today that if they accept that they will accept Islam because that is the same place where the Kaba is, the Holy place of Islam.
The Intellectual: Having experienced Christian Life and the Church life in particular, you must have seen how the Church too is deep rooted in racism and inequality shown by segregation of churches on basis of colour and racial backgrounds. Havent you experienced the Islamic concept of universal brotherhood to be an absolute contrast?
Saeed Ibn George : See, no matter how the people behave, the feeling of Brotherhood and the assurity of equal treatment is well grounded into a true Islamic society. In no other religion or system will you find that brotherhood and Islam is the best practical model for it. Though most religions espouse brotherhood, certain philosophies like that of Jesus dying for the salvation of humanity would weaken the spirit of tolerance and co-operation needed for Brotherhood. For, a person would kill another person without a second thought on the assumption that Jesus has already shed blood for him. Islam however is a religion of Practical life, if it aspires for human brotherhood and it also lays down the directions how to achieve that brotherhood. It is the Quran and Sunnah that teach us the smallest ways of pleasant behaviour for our brother starting from a cheerful smile to the manners of greeting. It is by this means that Islam envisions to create a society based on brotherhood and mutual consultation.
The Intellectual: Living in a Non-Muslim society how did you first come in touch with Islam and its teachings? What kind of Muslims did you usually meet?
Saeed Ibn George : Till I seriously started studying Islam I was very ignorant of its teachings and I used to think that Muslims are people who worship the moon! This erroneous belief about Islam had crept into me because I had often seen the signs of a moon and star above the Muslim places of worship. It was when I came for my higher studies to Bangalore I made around five Muslim friends. Unfortunately I save to say this though I do not mean to backbite any Muslims, that all of those Muslims used to drink. This was something unusual when even despite being a Christian myself I never used to drink. So when out of curiosity I asked them how could they drink when its forbidden in Islam I got the reply: "Its only after HAJJ that one cannot drink". This was something that perplexed me as I believed religion should be a 24/7 job. Luckily one of those Muslims was a devout Muslim and was usually taunted as "Maulvi saab". It was this person whom I asked first of all as to what is Islam. One of the things he told me was that according to Islam Ibraheem (AS) sacrificed Ismail (AS) and that the mosque he built is the very Ka'ba that the Muslims offer Hajj to. This was something that really impressed me. It was from the story of Ibraheem (AS) I began reading Islam.
The Intellectual: Describe to us some of the major events prior to your reversion that collectively compelled you to consider Islam and finally culminated in your embracing Islam. Had you a chance to experience extraordinary, out of this world occurrences which had behind them the hand of God?
Saeed Ibn George : Since long I got the same strange dreams repeatedly. Earlier I had never really understood my dreams but it was on one particular night that I saw the dream distinctly, forcing me to flee from fright. What unfurled before me was something like "The Final Episode", the very end of the world. I dreamt that as I stood and watched in horror the mountains crumbled to dust. The trees were uprooted and started flying, even the cattle were flying. All the houses were turning to dust and that heavy wind was carrying away everything. The Earth was spread out into a barren land. I couldn't comprehend the events and I was so scared that I ran out of the house at around 2am in the night. This really made me think that something is wrong somewhere in my life, so I began inclining towards God as is the natural inclination of man in times of fear.
As I kept reading more about Islam I was also trying to perform the Salaah and though I was not aware of the proper method I tried to offer it. When I first decided to offer salaah on Jum'ah I entered Masjid for the first time gripped by fear as to whether the Muslims might harm me; a rather funny incident comes to mind. As I went for Wudhu I looked at the people around me someone was washing his leg so I washed my leg first; I saw some one else washing the hand so I washed the hand and yet someone was washing their face so I washed my face (laughs). That was my first Jum'ah. That very night again I experienced within me some inspiration as if someone spoke to me "You have to believe".
Finally I was given the address of an institution in Kerala established in 1906, which helps people who want to embrace Islam and I travelled to that place from Bangalore. On meeting them I said that I wanted to become a Muslim. They asked me if I believe in Allah; being reluctant to say Allah I said I believe in God and they confirmed my belief in the Prophet Muhammad (saw). They then asked me to shave my head, basically trying to test my enthusiasm and I agreed. They gave me a room and at that time almost 150 students were studying there. At night something unusual happened. I felt someone whispering in my ears such that I could even feel the breath: "What are you doing? You're leaving Jesus? Why are you going to the religion of Sheytan?" At this I felt very disturbed. I felt the need to seek refuge in God and I prayed to the True God that if I was doing something wrong I shouldn’t get any sleep but if I was doing right may He give me sound sleep. I dint know when I had fallen asleep and within a time that felt like fifteen minutes I was woken by someone saying "Its Fajar Salah" SubhanAllah! Allah gave me such a sound sleep. And from that time I have never looked back.
The Intellectual: Since you have become a Muslim by choice rather than by chance and have taken out time to evaluate the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah, according to you what significance should the terms Islam and Muslim have in our lives?
Saeed Ibn George : When we describe Islam we often use the term religioun, though Islam is more than a religion, it is a concept of God, His Messengers, His Books and His final Messenger. Encountering Islam is like opening a brand new i-phone. Using it for the first time one needs to look up the "instruction manual". Now, as long as the device is functioning according to the manual, its called i-phone but if it dosent comply with the standard specifications one would return it to the shop and ask for a replacement. We must remember our "User's manual" from Allah is the Qur'an and one is Muslim only as long as he is functioning according to the Qur'an and following the Prophet (saw). Our foremost duty is to understand the Qur'an for it is the Word which was revealed even before the Prophet (saw) was announced Prophethood. "Read in the name of your lord" should be our motivation. And considering the fact that youngsters find subjects such as science, Math and computers easy, honestly Qur'an should be no difficult task by seventh standard. It is only our indifference that keeps us bereft of its knowledge. We must also understand Islam is not a family affair, it is not something inherited but infact it is the duty of every human to find the right meaning and concept of God. Also we must know that Islam is the 23 years of The Prophet's Life. Whatever he did in those years is Islam and except for the first three generations nothing after that can be unquestionably accepted as Islam. Our Eman is not only to believe in the hereafter or to fear Allah but it is reflected by our actions of obedience to Allah. The people who deal in interest must know that Allah declared war against them in Surah Baqarah. Why then do they not desist? Thus the ones who truly love Allah and fear Allah are the people of Eman and are prepared to obey Allah and his Prophet.
Another trick that the Muslims play is to keep away from gaining knowledge on the pretext that "If I hear it I'll have to follow it", such will never be the statement of a true Mu'min. Also we must know His Law for us goes by the pattern laid down in this Book. He is going to treat us by it and his way of dealing never changes and only if we are well versed with His Book can we comprehend reality and succeed. For, Allah says that the Quran is Guidance "for those who truly fear Allah" and so only they can benefit from it. Let not our fate be like the People of Moses who broke the Law of Sabbath day and Allah punished them severely and the only reason Allah is patient with us is that He has only given us little respite and postponed our punishment.
The Intellectual: What should be one's frame of mind while approaching the Quran and Islamic scriptures?
Saeed Ibn George : If one desires to read the Quran and the Hadeeth, one should not come with an intention to find mistakes in it or to attack Muslims or Islam but rather to look at it with an unbiased mind. I myself read the Quran with an intention to understand the book because more than attacking anybody for me the salvation of my soul is more important. This should be our attitude to approach the Quran while being ready to accept the truth whichever quarter it comes from.
The Intellectual: The media often portrays Islam as a "merciless" or "violent" religion; having embraced Islam what have you found in it? Have to found it to be merciless or have you found it rather peaceful?
Saeed Bin George: Islam has the ability to grant the maximum contentment and peace of heart and mind to a human. Islam is the religion of hope as Allah is the Most forgiving, ask Him for forgiveness and He will forgive. And this mercy of Allah and His Forgiveness is the very first glad tiding we are assured of and this is the Greatest Blessing.
I remember when I was reading Quran, the first Surah I memorised was Al-Qadr and I found something amazing in it. I pondered upon the Ayah "Wa Tanazal ul malaikatu war ruhu fiha Bi idhni Rabbi him min kulli amr. Salaamun hiya hatta mat la il fajr". I was really taken aback and I started thinking "Allah is so merciful!" He send so many angels in one night for mankind though we don’t deserve such mercy. Look at us stone hearted humans and then look at the Rabb! This God is so amazing. We have become heedless of Him and we need to rush to our Lord the Most Merciful.
We need to make it clear to the world that Islam does not allow us to kill any one unjustly. A person who kills even an ant unjustly, Allah will give the ant a chance to bite back in Qiyamah. Thus the People of The Quran are bound to be very peaceful and co-operating.
The Intellectual: The turning of hearts for most reverts is when they encounter the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (saw). Share with us some of the lessons from the Seerah that really inspired you and can be a guiding light for us as well.
Saeed Ibn George e: The very meaning of accepting Muhammad (saw) as our prophet is that we take him as our ideal and our teacher and undoubtedly the 23 years of his Prophetic Life is nothing but Islam. Today unfortunately the media has portrayed him as a bad person. I would like to relate an incident from his seerah. People usually say that eating the kaddu is Sunnah. Actually it is not Sunnah but an incident is related to us that and the moral of the story is consideration and good manners. Once a very poor Arab invited the Prophet (saw) to partake from his humble offerings. Being extremely poor he had nothing to offer than a gourd. The Prophet accepted the invitation and as he ate the poor man was overjoyed. Then something strange happened. The Prophet (saw) had the meal while all his companions waited patiently and when it was over the Prophet thanked his host, expressed his pleasure and remarked that this was the most delicious meal he had from long. This way, the Prophet never let him feel lowly or miserable about his poverty.
Yet another time, a man came to the Prophet (saw) with a watermelon. Rasool Allah started eating it but strangely he did not offer any to the Sahabas who were sitting there untill the whole fruit was finished. Thereafter He thanked the person for the sweet fruit and he left happily. Then, the companions expressed their apprehension that like never before the Prophet had not shared it with them. At this The Prophet (saw) said that the fruit was so bitter that if had offered to them they would spit it out and the poor man would feel offended and hurt. Just see, this is the Prophet of Allah, this is the Mercy to the worlds.
The Intellectual: How do you feel about the splitting up of Muslims into sects and denominations? Doesn't this trend defy the very spirit of Islam?
Saeed Ibn George : If we happen to go to shopkeeper who cheats us a meager 10 rupees we start calling him a cheat and a thief and we feel we are on our guard however, we fail to realise that Sheytaan is cheating us. He is splitting us up and disuniting us. At the time of the Prophet (saw) how many sects were there? There were no sects! Allah makes it a covenant upon us that we do not ever divide Islam. So, we have ONE Allah, ONE Book, ONE Messenger then why so much of confusion? In the Last Sermon, the Prophet (saw) said to His own daughter Fathima that he has no power to save her on Qiyamah and that "I am leaving you two things: the Book of Allah and My Sunnah. And if you hold to them firmly you shall never go astray"
Allah has preserved and protected Islam but the people because of their ignorance are coming up under different denominational names. Let us unite under one banner of "Muslims". We should be under the same banner of the Prophet for he is our icon and he is our leader.
The Intellectual: You provided the outlines for the people who are not yet Muslim to approach Quran and understanding the Quran through scriptures and not by looking at the Muslims. What should in turn be the attitude and the behaviour of the Muslims so that the Non Muslims may be attracted to Islam?
Saeed Ibn George : Firstly we need to understand that Dawa is not our primary goal, first a Muslim should understand his religion best for how can he argues with people who are more knowledgable than him? Recently we had a sister leaving Islam for Christianity. When I had a chance to ask her why she said that "Muslims are terrorists and I cannot their Prophet". We need to ask ourselves why does this happen? These things happen because we Muslims do not know our religion well. This particular lady obviously did not know Islam and well and the Christians took advantage of it and by demonstrating the good behaviour of Christianity they attracted her heart. And when they baffeled her with questions about the Quran ordering killings she had no answers. So first our duty is not Dawa, our first duty is to obey Allah, to be Muslim and to worship Allah. And that is the very purpose of our creation.
We should not preach to anybody unless we are sure. Eg: when my friend tried to give me Dawa he had told me that Quran ahd been sent down as a book from Heaven and it was only a lot later that I realised that Quran was revealed over 23 years bit by bit. A Daii has to be well versed with Islamic concepts because what you say today you cant change tomorrow. This is the reason knowledge is immensely important.
A Muslim is like the "brand ambassador" for Allah. Among mankind the one who represents Allah's way is the Muslim. We are the "sales executives" of Islam. We have to propagate its concepts and it is not by books neither for money that people come to Islam but it should be for our works and deeds that people accept Islam. If we are to give the message to Non muslims it should be through the Life style as led by Our Beloved Prophet (saw). Let us come upto the Muslim bench mark and then we can give Dawa. Now, in Dawa the biggest Dawa is our character! The thing that had impressed Khadeeja (RA) was the Prophet's character If Muslims could demonstrate the same character there would not be a requirement for a person to do a job but definitely they would look for a Muslim employee. Thus character is the backbone of Dawa. Take the example of a Muslim selling a mobile phone. If instead of fleecing the customer we would boldly say that this is the actual price and please give me a hundred or two hundred rupees more as profit, the customer would be taken back by out honesty and it would make them question as to what is responsible for such honesty? This is how we can be the ambassadors of Islam through our character.
The Intellectual: In conclusion, what is your heartfelt advice for the Muslim Ummah at large?
Saeed Ibn George : I request every single Muslim, just go back to the Quran and understand Islam. Allah has made us able to understand the Quran so please make efforts at reading, understanding and implementing it for this is one of the things we are lacking in today. Let us capture the soul of Sunnah and do actions with the intention of getting closer to Allah through obedience to Islamic commandments and let not ur goal be anything but that we work for the sake of Allah.
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