Conversion: An Intellectual Transformation

Badges mark quoted or attributed material (Qur'an, hadith, another author, an opposing view). Unbadged passages are Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's own words.

Contents (113 chapters)

1. Preface
2. Search for Truth
3. Philosophy
4. Science
5. Mysticism
6. Faith and Reason
7. Natural Argument
8. Philosophical Argument
9. Spiritual Argument
10. Scientific Argument
11. The Concept of God
12. One God versus many gods
13. A Personal God versus an impersonal God
14. Religion
15. Religions Other than Islam
16. Islam in Brief
17. True Guidance
18. A. Individual
19. B. Society
20. C. State
21. The Creation Plan of God
22. Discovery of Islam
23. Why Islam Alone
24. Prophetic Perspective
25. Separation of Spirit and Form
26. Communalization of the Religion
27. The Veil of Interpretation
28. The Obsession with Historical Glory
29. The Man Islam Builds
30. Internal Development
31. External Activities
32. Intellectual Development
33. (Razin)
34. The Islamic Way of Life
35. Iman (faith)
36. Ibadah (worship)
37. Akhlaq (morality)
38. The Quran portrays Muslims as individuals who “repel evil with good.” (28:54)
39. “One who is not grateful to man cannot be grateful to God either.” (Al-Bayhaqi)
40. Social Relations
41. A. Individual Responsibility
42. B. Family Life
43. C. Legitimate Livelihood
44. Islam As It Is
45. Non-Violence and Islam
46. Peaceful Beginning
47. Success Throgh the Non-violent Method
48. Political Revolt Unlawful
49. The Command of War in Islam
50. The Modern Age and Non-Violence
51. The Manifestation of Religion
52. A Great Opportunity
53. Islam in the Present Age
54. Dawah Activism
55. Through dawah even the direst of enemy turns into a dearest friend. (41:34)
56. Muslims Displaced
57. Peace and Justice
58. Conclusion
59. Islamic Fundamentalism
60. On Islam and Jihad
61. Ideological Hatred
62. Terrorism in the Name of Islam
63. Fundamental Principles of Islam
64. Islam and Politics
65. The Challenge of Fundamentalism
66. The Shariah and Its Application
67. Lead all men to the path of your Lord with wisdom and mild exhortation. (16:25)
68. Bear up then with patience, as did the steadfast Apostles before you. (46:35)
69. Fight for the sake of God those that fight against you. (2:190)
70. The Secret of Guidance and Ignorance
71. Spirituality in Islam
72. The Universe—a Source of Divine Inspiration
73. A Personal Experience
74. “God plants wisdom in the heart of one who shows disinclination for the world.”
75. Preservation, Updating, Dawah
76. (c) Process of dawah
77. Contribution of Muhaddithin (Scholars of Hadith)
78. Religious Institutions
79. Updating
80. Updating: Reapplication of Shariah
81. Dawah
82. Islam Stands the Test of History
83. Prophetic Vision
84. Envisioning the Future
85. Seeing an Advantage Amidst Disadvantages
86. Introducing Peace as the Most Powerful Weapon
87. His Words Determine the Course of History
88. Islamic Activism
89. 1. Positive Status Quoism in Religious Affairs
90. Unlimited Scope of Patience
91. The Islamic Concept of History
92. Creation Plan of God
93. The Age of Perversion
94. The Reasons for Perversion
95. The Problem of Evil
96. The Revolutionary Role of Islam
97. Historical Revolution
98. (This kind of persecution has been mentioned in the Quran as ‘fitna’). (8:39)
99. Freedom of Choice
100. The End of the Superstitious Era
101. Truth Unveiled
102. Islam in History
103. The Eradication of Fitna
104. The Age of Religious Freedom
105. The Peaceful Propagation of Islam
106. The Role of Non-Muslims in Islamic Development
107. Conversion: An Intellectual Transformation
108. Islam and Conversion
109. Conversion—A universal principle
110. The reality of Conversion
111. Conversion—A healthy historical process
112. A Case of Discovery
113. Conclusion

Conversion: An Intellectual Transformation

W

hen an individual belonging to one religious group joins another religious group after converting to that religion, that, in religious terminology, is called proselytism. But this is a limited concept of conversion, which needs to be viewed in a more scientific light.

The religious view of conversion relates only to religious tradition. In this respect it is relatively limited in its spectrum. The scientific outlook, on the contrary, is much broader in scope, being based on the eternal principles of nature itself. Although it would be proper to say that, in the religious context conversion for human beings is a matter of choice, in the scientific sense, this is not so. It is an eternal principle of life, in exactly the same way as the laws of nature have the status of being immutable. We are compelled to accept the principle of conversion, just as we are compelled to accept the morning following the evening, or one season coming after another.