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DIALOGUE
Why I Chose Islam Instead of Judaism |
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| Nothing was missing from Judaism, except that I was not halakhically Jewish | ||
 by Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, February 19, 2007
80 comments
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From this Dialogue
In the first installment of their dialogue, Schwartz explains how he, as the spiritually hungry child of a Jewish father and Protestant mother, found his home in the Islamic faith that accepted him, rather than the Jewish faith that didn’t.
From: Stephen Schwartz
To: Kerry Olitzky
Subject: Finding Islam
Kerry,
I have publicly discussed my journey to Islam only in a limited way before.
I was not born Jewish. I was born in the American heartland (Ohio) of a Jewish father and a Christian mother. My mother was the daughter of a Protestant preacher, and I was baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian church. But both of my parents were radical leftists and quite antireligious. As a child I received no religious instruction, and was not informed that I was half-Jewish until late in childhood.
So I did not “convert” to Islam because “conversion” means a change in religions, and I did not have a religion from which to change.
My mother and maternal grandmother were the most important influences in my early development, and to the extent that I learned anything about religion it was from them. However, at age eight I knew I believed in God. Perhaps it was normal for me to rebel against leftist parents by becoming religious. I later discussed religion at great length with my mother but never told my father I 
This is Not a Sermon: Leninist Communism no good to a believerbelieved in God, because his reaction would have been too extreme. He died, I am sorry to say, without knowing this about me.
As a teenager I saw the similarity in sociology—but not in ethics—between radical religion and Communism. I remained politically affiliated with Leninist Communism until 1984, when (at age 35) I simply could no longer stand any involvement with it. I was a hidden believer; a crypto-theist among the atheists.
The first actual faith community I examined and studied was Reformation Protestantism. Then, at 17, I engaged with Catholic spirituality. I attended mass and prepared to convert to the Catholic faith, but the reaction of everyone around me (in San Francisco in 1966) was so hostile and cruel I decided to keep the whole matter personal. This was a major setback in my religious life.
At the same time, I was personally mentored by the poet Kenneth Rexroth, who greatly furthered the influence of Buddhism in America, and I learned to recite the Heart Sutra from Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder. I visited Jap
...And This Won't Work Either: Naked Hippies in San Francisco, 1966an and Korea and observed Shinto and Zen first hand. I found much that was admirable and inspiring in Buddhism but finally concluded that a Westerner cannot really become Buddhist.
Catholic spirituality led me to my earliest contacts with Sufism, through the writings of the Catalan preacher and philosopher Ramon Llull, who explicitly took the Sufis as his model in his style of religious exposition.
I researched the interfaces between Sufism and shamanism in north central Asia (a subject on which, at one time, I considered getting a PhD), but also went out to encounter surviving indigenous American religious phenomena such as the shamanism of the Pomos in California, and the elaborate religions of the Hopis and Zunis in the southwest, as well as indigenous Mexican communities such as the Yaquis, Mayos, and Coras.
I was not “shopping for God,” as we say in California. My approach was always based on a search for authenticity, which is why I was perhaps the first writer in the U.S. to openly denounce Carlos Castaneda as a fraud—I knew real Yaquis and their religion had nothing in common with his fantasies.
I remained more influenced by Catholicism than by any other tradition for quite a while. I researched
Not Just Shopping for God: Participant in Traditional Yaqui Ceremony Catholic-indigenous syncretism among Brazilians and Cubans, in Nicaragua, and again in Mexico. I worked with Catholics—in particular, I assisted the exiled Albanian Catholics after 1990—and attended numerous masses but did not take Communion, as I was not confirmed in the faith. I also attended Jewish services as a friendly and curious observer; nobody then asked about my Jewishness or lack thereof.
My serious interest in Judaism began in 1979 in Paris, where I found a volume titled The Zohar in Moslem and Christian Spain. The author was a Jerusalem-born Kabbalist, Ariel Bension. I turned toward Kabbalah and Sephardic Judaism with great interest, but held back from “joining.”
At the end of 1997, in Sarajevo, I recognized Islam as the religion in which I believed. After that came a complete spiritual revolution in, of all places, a Zen temple in Korea—where I perceived that I had to leave my career as a newspaper reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, after working there eight years and becoming secretary of the local Newspaper Guild. One world had ended for me, and a new world was mine. I made shahada, the Islamic profession of faith.
What was missing at each of the preceding steps? What made Islam my ultimate choice?
Communism fought against God; I finally could not accept that.
That's One Way to Do It: Catholic spiritualist Francis of Assisi found spiritual wealth in material poverty
Protestantism lacked spiritual depth.
I loved Catholicism but could not accept the divinity of Jesus.
Nor could I accept Buddhism, in which God was absent.
Nothing was missing in Judaism—except that I was not halakhically Jewish.
I will try to explain intellectually, with the greatest possible respect, moderation, and sincerity, why I chose Islam rather than conversion to Judaism.
In Islam I found simplicity. I am traditional as a believer and the weight of 613 mitzvot seemed too much for me; indeed, as moderate Muslims, if we “criticize” Judaism it is mainly because its demands on its members are extreme. We believe religion was sent to humanity to make life easier, not harder. And, by the way, we do not believe in original sin or the Fall of Mankind.
I was attracted to Islam’s rigorous refusal to anthropomorphize God. In Judaism, this refusal is also evident in the work of Judeo-Islamic theologians such as Sayyid al-Fayyumi (Saadiah Gaon), Bahya ibn Paquda (author of the great Duties of the Heart which was written in Arabic and which should be read by every Muslim), and Maimonides. Without anthropomorphism ther
Judaism for the Whole World: Finding a home in Islame is no barrier between faith and science.
In Sufi Islam, in particular, I found the wisdom of popular religion from Bosnia to Kazakhstan, Morocco to Indonesia. Christians argue that their community represents “Judaism for the whole world.” Moderate Muslims believe this to be much truer for Islam.
Finally, I believed Muslims needed me more than Catholics or Jews did. Catholics were persecuted in many places, but had power and friends; Jews have Israel and, even after the Holocaust, a better-developed history in the West.
What would I say to Jews who seek to answer the question, “What kind of human does Judaism want us to become?” As a Muslim, I would offer three counsels to the House of Israel:
· Study and defend Torah, which is a precious gift to you and to all monotheists.
· Reject any and all attempts to anthropomorphize God.
· Try to be kind and sympathetic to those of us in the ummah of the blessed Prophet Muhammad aleyhisalem, who are working so hard for mutual respect and peace between believers. Now is a difficult time for both of our communities. Your understanding of our difficulty will be rewarded, of this I am certain. Remember that we both suffered great evil at the hands of those who hated us for our devotion to our covenant, which in many ways is a common one. Please remember that the Righteous Among the Nations, honored at Yad Vashem, include Bosnian Muslims.
The great Hungarian-Jewish scholar of Islam, Ignaz Goldziher, wrote that when he prayed as a Muslim in a mosque in Cairo, never in his life was he more devout. I can say that never in my life have I felt more devotion to the faith of Islam, to Quran al-qerim, to the ummah of the blessed Prophet Muhammad aleyhisalem than when I work with, speak with, and assist Jews.
Stephen
Next: Can We Create a "Big Tent Judaism"?
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Stephen Schwartz is the Executive Director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, DC and author of the bestselling The Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and Its Role In Terrorism (Doubleday). He was born in 1948, and |
80 comments | leave a comment
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Anonymous
Your title is misleading. While the author is halakhically not Jewish, I seriously doubt that had he shown an interest in converting and studied with a Rabbi that he wouldn't have been welcomed home. Judaism never 'rejected' him.
Anonymous
This guy's story is very compelling, but I found the idea that "muslims needed him more than Catholics or Jews" smacking of the same boomer narcissism found in the previous dialogue. It seems like he came to Islam with a preset agenda to fix something wrong with it. I'd like to know a couple of things:
1. How have Muslim communities of long standing reacted to his work within Islam
2. Why does he insist on using the the name Stephen Schwartz, when it seems that most converts take on Arabic/Islamic names. Seems like a marketing issue.
Anonymous
"In Islam I found simplicity. I am traditional as a believer and the weight of 613 mitzvot seemed too much for me; indeed, as moderate Muslims, if we “criticize” Judaism it is mainly because its demands on its members are extreme"
There is so much wrong with the above statement I don't even know where to begin. First off, Islam didn't accept you. They accepted you after you converted; which would be exactly the same case with Judaism, convert to Judaism and you'd be accepted (not to many any and all other religions that allow conversion). And the 613 mitzvot seemed to much for you?? So let me get this right, you chose a religion based on how it will effect your laziness? Basically, you liked that Islam didn't force you to be kind to others like the 613 mitzvot do. Second, ALL religions require an enormous amount from its practitioners. You think Priests have it easy? Monks? Rabbi's? Islamic Terrorists? No. It all depends on to what extent you devote your life to the religion. But if you're devoted to your religion, any religion, you'll find your entire life consumed.
Stephen, if you converted to islam because you have a Oedipal complex and needed to pick the one thing that would truly zing your Jewish father then just admit it. But to try and make laziness a valid basis for conversion is just stupid.
Jewcy, this article is so blatently wrong and rediculous that allowing it to be published is journalistic negligence.
Michael Nehora
I'd add that it's not just "Islamic Terrorists" that don't have it easy, in terms of religious demands. (I'll leave aside the matter of Anonymous implying that all Muslims are terrorists, and that Islam doesn't require you "to be kind to others," because I really don't want to get into a pointless argument.) Islamic law, like halakhah although differing in the specifics, sets out in great detail what you can and can't eat, whom you can and can't marry, how you pray, how you give charity (one of the Five Pillars of Islam, Anonymous), and nearly every other area of life. So for Schwartz to claim that the mitzvot "seemed too much" for him, and then embrace a religion which in its own ways requires detailed day-to-day observance, is lame indeed.
Anonymous
this is a lovely story, i encourage you & proud of you , may Allah accept you.
would like to respond to some of the comments mentioned in this link , about the tolerance of islam towards other religions (the following is only one story to prove the tolerance of islam, there are many others) :
Omar Bin Al-Khattab In Jerusalem
The Caliph left Ali in Medina as his deputy and himself left for Jerusalem. He had only one attendant with him and only one camel to ride. Omar and the attendant rode the camel by turns. It happened to be the servant's turn to ride on the day when they were to reach Jerusalem. "Commander of the Faithful," said the attendant, "I give up my turn. It will look awkward, in the eyes of the people, if I ride and you lead the camel."
"Oh no," replied Omar, "I am not going to be unjust. The honor of Islam is enough for us all."
Abu Obaid, Khalid, Yazid and other officers of the army went some distance to receive the Caliph. All of them were wearing silk cloaks. This made Omar angry. He took some pebbles and threw them at his generals, saying, "Have you changed so much in just two years? What dress is this? Even if you had done this two hundred years from now, I would have dismissed you."
The officers replied, "Commander of the Faithful, we are in a land where the quality of clothes worn tells the rank of a man. If we wear ordinary clothes, we will command little respect among the people. However, we are wearing our arms underneath the silken robes."
This answer cooled down the anger of the Caliph.
Next the Caliph signed the treaty of peace. It ran as follows:
"From the servant of Allah and the Commander of the Faithful, Omar: The inhabitants of Jerusalem are granted security of life and property. Their churches and crosses shall be secure. This treaty applies to all people of the city. Their places of worship shall remain intact. These shall neither be taken over nor pulled down. People shall be quite free to follow their religion. They shall not be put to any trouble..."
The gates of the city were now opened. Omar went straight to Al-Masjid-i-Aqsa. Here he said his prayer .
Next he visited the biggest Christian church of the city. He was in the church when the time for the afternoon prayer came.
"You may say your prayers in the church," said the Bishop.
"No," replied Omar, "if I do so, the Muslims may one day make this an excuse for taking over the church from you."
So he said his prayers on the steps of the church. Even then, he gave the Bishop a writing. It said that the steps were never to be used for congregational prayers nor was the Adhan [ call to prayer ] to be said there.
Anonymous
Salam all!
first of all i would admire someone for researching on something and then going into it. it was a nice topic but lacks some details or some points mislead. every one and any one can make a mistake in expressing ones thinking... as it is just a matter of words... so he needs to clarify these things... and he must know now what are these.
I dont know stephen for how long u have been muslim... but to deliver u thoughts about a religion u need to be very carefull... so u will find most of the ppl very fanatic or extreme coz its abt the religion.
Secondly, pointing to that anonymous person who criticised abt that 613 mitzvot!! religion means that i should effect u... i should take u deepinside u effect u feeling, emotions and every thing... that is the only reason that u accept any religion... why do u love ur religion... is it bcoz of it is being forced to u? or that was something that u were borned with?? then u are just deceiving ur self and making ur self miserable indeed. u are just calling ur self a jew, christian or muslim or who ever just for marketing i guess or some of ur benifits... or may be there is a posibility that some one will harm u for that... my excuses... i am just pointing out the truth...
For a religion: u need to be sincere with it and accept it with ur heart. so i agree that he felt 613... coz he felt something right... it made him skake from inside... just to wake him up that u have found something right! these are the things that change a mans life...
One more thing: u dont know even the "A" about islam... thats why u called muslim terrorist! Islam is the most peacfull religion and the most righteous. why dont u open the history of jews and christian... they fought against each other just for power... that all medieval period... the same with jews... u just believe on the media and listens to the things that interest you... and which are more easy for u to except... thats what lots of ppl do! dont they??
u dont even know the truth about 9/11...so i would suggest that u read more abt 9/11 and history and also read about the religions... atleast ur own religion....
and yeah one more thing: no righteous religion says any thing about abusing others religion... u should respect him/her for what he/she is and tell him/her that u are right by showing ur religions qualities, the ethics and the culture. becuase a personality represent the whole nation, culture, religion, ethics and family.
anways its a long discussion....
i would like to point out a couple of things:
1. if u are a muslim then why is ur name still stephen??? its not a muslim name ? its strange...
2. I also really didnt get the point "muslims need you more than others" as they are also more developed?? that was something absurd... u chose islam for it the rightous one and u are following islam to help muslims... that makes sense... but they muslims need u more just says that as they are down at the moment so thats why! otherwise u would have preferred jews or christians?? thats really misleading... either u wrote it incorrectly... or i would say it again... u are disceiving urself...
and last thing: for chosing a religion u need to read it thorowly... and if u believe that the religion is righteous... u need to follow it completely... not a mixed mode... i.e. u found one thing good in one religion and another thing good in some other religion so u are following both.
About Islam: no doubt it is the right religion and the one intact in its true form till now... for any one seeking the right path... one must read the islam carefully.
i am open for discussion and comments.
- khalid
Anonymous
nice example...
about the tolerance of Islam towards other relgions...
- khalid
Anonymous
This is a rare opportunity for us, to understand the reasons for leaving one's faith as told by a Jew who became Muslim. With all the problems related to Islamist terror, we need to be reminded that it's the individual, not the group, who must be judged for his actions. I say Suleyman has chosen well, because he does not allow the terrorists to choose his thoughts and actions.
Stephen Schwartz
I'm sorry to see how quickly anonymous people leap to personally hurtful comments on blogs. I don't do anonymity. My father had been dead for five years when I became Muslim. If I wanted to zing my father I would have gone ahead and become Catholic, though he was so anti-religious even conversion to Judaism would have been a cause for discontent in him.
Not that any of that should be anybody's business but mine, until I decide to publish something about it.
I didn't say Judaism rejected me. I just wasn't Jewish and therefore had to make a choice. I made a choice, which was and remains very, very complex. This dialogue is, I hope, only the beginning of the discussion.
Islam does command kindness to others, it just doesn't specify 613 ways to do it. As Muslims naturally we have dietary and marriage laws, as well as regulations for prayer and burial, and the requirements for fasting, pilgrimage and charity, but in Hanafi Islam belief in God and the prophecy of Muhammad are enough for a person to be saved. I have fasted every Ramadan since 1998.
People who commented on my name didn't read very carefully: I was identified as Stephen Suleyman Schwartz right at the top. New Muslims, i.e. "converts" are not required to take Islamic first names unless their born names are pagan. I am not sure what a pagan name would be since most names today are monotheistic in origin; maybe Hercules or Caesar or something similar. "Stephen" means "crown" and is not a pagan name. In addition, I am known as a writer under my born name and do not intend to change it. However, in Bosnia and among Muslims generally I am known as Suleyman.
The reaction to me and my work has been much more positive in Muslim countries, as well as among Israeli Arab Muslims, than in the West. My book THE TWO FACES OF ISLAM and a book I wrote about the recovery of Sephardic memory in the Balkans after the Holocaust, SARAJEVO ROSE, were both translated into Bosnian and have been included in school curricula there. Non-Muslims have almost no context for imagining how Muslims relate to me; I will only say it is very different than how non-Muslims might imagine it to be.
I suggest those who are really curious look at our website www.islamicpluralism.org. We have made particular progress, incredibly enough, among dissidents in Saudi Arabia.
Anonymous
As to laziness, nobody who knows my work as a journalist, author, and political and union activist would call me lazy. Fighting for moderate Islam is a great deal more arduous than ordinary clerical duties in any religion, and much more demanding than participation in Islamist extremism, which dominates the American Muslim community. Working for moderation is also a great deal less remunerative than apologetics for the terrorists.
The 613 mitzvot constitute a different issue.
Stephen Schwartz
Anonymous
I wanted to add that given that Jewishness is matrilineal, why did the first commentator suggest I should have automatically considered Judaism my home? As I note in the article, my mother and maternal grandmother were the biggest influence on my religious feelings. Why would the Mennonites, Schwenkfelders, Moravian Brethren, or any number of other Reformation sects not have provided me a home? I am often struck by the extraordinary similarities between the Chasidic communities from Eastern Europe, the small Protestant sects, and the Sufi orders in the Balkans, all emerging at the same time. Is it necessary me to choose between apple crumb cake, blintzes, and baklava? I like them all, as long as they are made without lard.
Stephen Schwartz
Anonymous
The Irony is that your whole story reads like a Jewish kid's "search for truth" cliche: "Both of my parents were radical leftists and quite antireligious..." How typical. So you wanted to rebel, fine, but join an organized religion? Why can't you just draw from all the traditions you've studied and come up with your own beliefs? How about starting a new religion called 'Think for Your Self'?
By the way, logically speaking you can't start with what you like about a religion and then come to the conclusion that its theology is 'True' ie that Mohammed was really a "Prophet" who flew up to "Heaven," etc. That's called cognitive dissonance dude and you shouldn't be bragging about it...
Anonymous
Stephen: I don't care what your religious believes are. If it makes you happy and you don't hurt anybody, it's okay.
I admire your work and your war in favour of Moderate Islam.
I am a jewish zionist who really think Moderate Islam should start a battle against radical islamofascism.
I have added Islamic Pluralism to my link section of my blog "Buena Prensa".
The blog is in spanish since I am from Latin America.
Good press, Good World!
Buena Prensa, Buen Mundo!
http://buenaprensa.blogspot.com
Anonymous
Seems like you really want to belong an follow a cult rather than believe in god. Islam, Christianity, Jews etc all claim that their way is the way to get closer to God. Strictly follow oppression of free thought will and immoral values that some how they justify through religion as a way to be close to God. People remember God is one, God is everything, if there were no God there would be nothing and we wouldn't have this mess of unlimited human stupidity called religion. Even when u claim and preach moderate form of religion you are giving into your own vanity. Claiming one form of God is better than the other, even when we claim that God is of no form, we are just giving into the political bickering and herd effect.
Believe in yourself, believe in God, listen to God when he talks to you for God will never let to stray. All the teachings handed down form the religious text are stories of a time long gone to help you understand the true nature of being human, a part of God.
Follow your own path for once, for its only men who preach. Hear and God will give you the power to Understand. Walk your own pant and GOD will bring you closer. The path does not lie in selfish worship or preaching, we are meant to walk the path and understand where we reach. We are meant to worship through your actions and not teachings, not pray in fear of the almighty. For all the people who say do this and do that, pray to him, worship him, keep a fast, pray and follow this path as this is the only path to God, i really wonder if they even know what love is. Believe in God, appreciate what he has given us and how he has made us and the world. love it for what it is. remember God in all the simplistic complexity has made us to think and better our selves, to evolve and progress.
We are not sheep we are men. we don't need to follow for we can walk free. Once we are on the right path, don't ask others to follow for others will walk the path to God with us.
i wrote this here as it made me angry and heart broken to see that we debate God and then choose which religion, moderate or not, as though we are out to buy something and do a cost and benefit analysis among all the alternatives. silly really.
I believe in God, and worship God through my actions. I do talk to god (praying in your language) and see all forms or lack thereof as representations of God to help my feeble mind grasp God greatness, oneness and glory. I walk my own path to God, a path of love. I think for myself and take Gods guidance.
i stumbled on this page and wrote the above in rather incoherent manner, trying to bring out my frustration. When i finished i wanted to delete it all and move on, but then i decided to post it, rather Guided to post this here. this is the first and the last time i do something like this and i don't even know why i am even bothering
Anonymous
You are not a true Muslim but a hypocrite who exploits Islam for your own purposes. I have read much of what you have written and know that in private or when not observed, you are a different person who fails salah and zakat, ignores haraam, and fakes sawm. In your heart and mind you know the truth - and so do I:
Islam is your profession, and sunnah is your chosen path to profit.
Anonymous
Dear Stephen,
To us who born as "muslim"s, this became an issue of belonging to a tribe; so saying "your name is not Islamic", as you answered, is from total ignorance. We are not trying to find the truth, we are not deciding on the truth and most of the muslims don't ask themselves the questions you asked.
Your journey is interesting. I had mine as a Turkish Muslim, once regarded Islam as "one of the religions" (as Al-Ghazzali did) and tried to be as open as possible. I became Agnostic, tried to read a bit or two about every religion and critiques about them. But again, by the help and rahmah of Allah, and seeing that in "belief to the ghayb (unknown)" Agnosticism's basic principle is something inherent in Islam, I decided that "submitting myself to Allah, who is beyond grasp of mind, who is not a person, not a thing, not even a who" is the way for salvation.
Your points are clear. Within Islam one finds the "outside" of Judaism with "inside" of Buddhism. (Christians always seemed to be like pagans who changed their idols from stones to humans. Calling Jesus Christ as "one of the three" and saints seemed to be examples of human worship.) There are many different traditions and groups which follow very different ways and philosophies in Islam. (We need muslims who call each other "hypocrite" ;))
Islam is the largest unorganized religion in the world. It has no single head, no single set of observances, no single belief system, no single authority. (So there are "terrorist muslims", "peaceful muslims", "democratic muslims", "muslims that think west is devil", "muslims that think muslims must change", "muslims that think US is a good home", "muslims that think all people should be muslims", "muslims that think without changing name one can't be a proper muslim", "muslims that think thinking such and such is not necessary" ad infinitum.)
May peace be upon you.
Emre Sahin
http://emresahin.net/
(Mostly in Turkish, but you can find my e-mail there.)
Anonymous
For more about the author, see
http://antiwar.com/blog/?p=1941
Did you ever wonder why Eskimos have a thousand words for snow and we have a thousand words for wacko?
Anonymous
Stephen, I would rather call you with this rather new additional name. Well, it is doesn't matter your name as long your sincere submit only to Allah and follow Quran and Prophet Muhammad Guidance.
Regarding to Moslem characteristic that factually various, don't wory about this. It is also various in many religion too. We can't say there is only single belief in Christian or Chatolic or Judaism, even Budhist or Hinduism, etc. It's about perception of the faith. It is spreadly from moderat to extreem. From sincretism to radical. Ones can't generate that moslem is terorism. It's only lack of Islam knowledge or hate.
Please read to History of Prophet Muhammad, many books were translation from Arabic to English. As well as previouse prophets,from Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses to Jesus. All of thems were delegated in one scenario from Master of Universe. All of them always call the peoples to submit to Master of Universe only, in Islam called Allah, other words say Jehova, Ellohim.
Lucky you, that you found the beliefing system that touching your life in the whole aspects; from personal things like cutting the pubic hair until government administration.
Of course the value of faith of will increase or decrease from time to time.
Try to keep maximize it by doing of what its order.
Anonymous
by the power of Gray Skull!!
Anonymous
i m from bosnia and i would like to say that the bosnia muslims are just after war became muslims,before war they were atheists and communist.
Moiz
I see it this way... A persons life is what they make of it. I myself am Muslim. I attempt to live my life as expected by my religion. We are supposed to attempt success in this life and the hereafter. As for the whole comment about "I'd add that it's not just "Islamic Terrorists" that don't have it easy, in terms of religious demands" and "Seems like you really want to belong an follow a cult rather than believe in god", I think a better choice of words could rather be used. Islam isn't a religion of terrorism, unfortunately no matter where you go, there are people who are extremists. As for being a cult, you may as well consider all governments to be a cult as well. Do they not shape us to believe what they wish us to? Yeah, sure... the whole freedom thing here in the U.S. wooptie doo and la dee da. Seriously, we have more constraints in the U.S. Than most religions do. What I'm trying to say here is, prior to being one-sided, just learn about as many things as you can. Don't just read one side of a book and leave the other sitting there collecting dust. I have many friends who are of different faiths and cultures. What we truly need is people to understand that it is not impossible to get along with each other.
ie.; Let's say you cannot seem to establish a relationship with someone on a comfortable level and you are afraid that something bad may occur if you do, why not just tell the person " Hey I don't feel too secure about how our personalities clash, I don't think I can continue on this relation without being able to understand you and you being able to understand me better". However even then, you can still talk to the person on a business level should you desire, but a friendship will be lacking.
People tend to come to their "fight or flight" response by the smallest things. Hatred builds up, jealousy, rage, or any other emotion. Yet, what we can't do for some reason is understand that we must rationalize our thoughts, and than act in a proper manner. The biggest problem we have today is that so many people have secrets. Many people gossip and spread rumors. People today lie through their teeth for their own personal gain. Why?
Just because you're interacting with someone doesn't mean you have to impress them by lying or deceiving them. You don't even have be the best person in the world. Just be kind and considerate, take what's given to you, and give what you can. And by that I don't mean material objects. If someone offers advice or has an opinion, listen to them. You don't have to act on their advice, but acquire that little bit of insight you can and share it if you feel it's necessary. Just be open hearted and open minded and don't slander others nor their beliefs. Though you may feel something different or believe is something different doesn't give you the right to discourage or antagonize others. I'm not saying don't offer up anything you have to say, just relay your opinions and views in a manner which is not rude or hateful, and also accept opinions and views from others in the same manner as to not be partial or bias. Knowledge is a powerful tool, but it can be worthless when it's not known how to be used.
A curious Christian
Sorry Stephen, I was with you right up until you got to the part where you said you rejected Judaism “because its demands on its members are extreme. We believe religion was sent to humanity to make life easier, not harder.”
Well, by my count I can’t think of a religion that tries to make your life harder than Islam.
Here’s a short list of things required of practicing Muslims:
- Fast for a month during Ramadan.
- No drinking alcohol.
- Marriages are often arranged.
- Women have few rights.
- Clothing styles for women are dictated.
- Followers are required to pray five times a day.
- There are stipulations on what you can eat, what music you can listen to, activities you can participate in.
And that’s in North America. That doesn’t even begin to tap what goes on in the Middle East.
I’m no expert, but I live in a very mixed neighborhood with a large Muslim population and I witness this all the time. So while I’m not fully versed in the teachings of Islam, I know what I see in my neighborhood every day.
So please, please, tell me how it is that Judaism has more extreme demands on its followers that Islam? Like Stephen I have done some research into various world religions (though not to his extent) and quite frankly can’t name a single one with more extreme demands than Islam.
Amer Iftekhar
Assalm ALikum,
"
Here’s a short list of things required of practicing Muslims:
- Fast for a month during Ramadan.
- No drinking alcohol.
- Marriages are often arranged.
- Women have few rights.
- Clothing styles for women are dictated.
- Followers are required to pray five times a day."
Badly Researched Point 1 :Its not "fast for a month" but fast from the fajir adhan till the magrib adhan(from dawn till dusk)
Badly Researched Point 3:Arrange marriages are not a requirement for being a muslim.A muslim man or a women has every right to marry who they consider right for them.
Badly Researched Point 4:
I won't even comment on this one as I did'nt know what were you thinking when you worte it.(probably thats why Allah forbids us "No drinking alcohol" , which is point 2 on your list)
please refer to the following link to more information on Islam and women's rights.
http://www.al-islam.org/rightsofwomeninislam/
And since you admit
"
Like Stephen I have done some research into various world religions (though not to his extent) "
therefore its not Stephen's problem that you
"quite frankly can’t name a single one with more extreme demands than Islam"
May Allah Guide you to the right path
Anonymous
Other than no alchohol, praying five times a day and fasting during the day for a month, what are the other minimum requirements for an observant Muslim?
I'm curious and really only familiar with Jewish and Christian practices.
Amer Iftekhar
Assalam Alikum
The minimum requirments or the Five Pillar of Islam are.
SHAHADAH. This Pillar is believing and saying the words. “There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”.SALAH. This Pillar is praying five times a day. There are set prayers which Muslims should say, and all Muslims should face Mecca in Arabia when praying, and should pray on a prayer mat. People should wash before they pray. There are fixed movements, which include kneeling with the forehead placed on the ground in front. This expresses the servant status of the human being in relation to Allah.ZAKAH. Each year, Muslims are supposed to give a fixed proportion of their savings for endeavours such as helping the poor. In this way, they believe that their wealth is “made pure”SAWM. Refraining from food and drink during the month of Ramadan during daylight hours.HAJJ. This is making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life, if it can be afforded.
Seven Principles of Muslim Beliefs:
Muslim beliefs have also been broken down into the following seven principles:
1. Tawheed - the unity of God.
2. Risallah - acceptance of the Prophethood of Muhammad, a messenger of God.
3. Mala'ikah - belief in angels.
4. Kutubullah - belief in God's books (like the Quran and the Psalms of David and the Bible).
5. Yawmuddin - belief in a Day of Judgment.
6. al-Qadr - acceptance of pre-destination.
7. Akhriah - faith in a resurrection after death.
Courtesy
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/re/fivepillars.htm
http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/islam/blfaq_islam_basic.htm
http://www.islamic-knowledge.com/Guide/
Anonymous
Sounds like you chose Islam over Judaism as between the two monotheistic religions because Judaism had too many restrictions. It's almost like Judaism is the religion for priests and Islam the easier version for the common man. Did you have that feeling?
Jonathan
Shalom aleikem
What is "pre-destination" in the context of Islam? How does that compare to the tradional Jewish belief that we have complete free will, but G-d is outside time and knows everything that will happen?
Anonymous
Thank you for sharing your story. I very much enjoyed reading what led you on your path to Islam. I have talked to many people about their religions and what fasinates me is how the religion they choose resonates with them. There are those who find the 613 mitzvot a great source of comfort and blessing; for them Judaism* is wonderful. For someone who needs a personified image of G-d christianity* has a lot to offer. Obviously Islam was what most resonated. However, I take some issue with the title of this which suggests more of a competition then a description of someones spiritual search.
-Matt
*These are merely illustrative obviously both religions are much more complex then I am making them out to be.
Anonymous
I am shocked why anyone coming from a secular background would choose religion, Christanity, Judiasm or Islam. I can understand if you come from a religious family, but if you don't I don't see the appeal.
Anonymous
considering the reception he would have probably gotten from an orthodox rabbi (aloofness and mistrust) upon showing interest in converting- it's easy to see why he went for the next closest thing. why feel like you are forced to wear a hair shirt?...just to feel better when you take it off?
Anonymous
You don't know that he would have received the negative reception you described from an orthodox Rabbi. That seems to be your personal prejudice.
unimportant
As a contributor to interfaithfamily.com on this very subject, I can say that I have lived a curious blend of Islam and Judaism for over 10 years now and really feel very happy that way. Abraham originated in current day Iraq not Poland. I conisder yself middle eastern in the larger sense of the word without all the chidish, pointless divides. Allah, Elohim it's the same. We are brothers, how shameful we treat family so poorly. Bad indicator for humanity. I believe it's all a divine test, will the brothers make amends?
Anonymous
Both are irrelivent. any religion from the old book is full of violence hate and falsenesss. Science has proved adam and eve as the biggest joke that has ever existed on earth.
Islam though is worse as their leader was a sxual pervert that encouraged sick acts such as marrying your first cousin, which causes your children to have major diseases and also sx with 9yr olds as he did (ayesha) which he then nonchalently blamed on god rather than excepting blame himself. he also took as a wife a woman whos brother and dad he had murdered just days before..tell me which woman would fall in love and marry a vicious murderer like that? reality is none, she would have been forced into it for forced sx that mohammed loved. Islamists condoned it. even though jews of the day refered to him as a womaniser in the holy hadiths. make no mistake this was rape at mohammadins best...he then also encouraged his soldiers to have a 3 day wedding pass on any non mohammed believing woman so that they could relieve themselves.
these satanic men are evil. the most evil being mohammed. if he was alive today perhaps i would beat his toes, chop off his tongue and treat him like a dog for no one on earth has ever brought so much hatred and muderer and rape on this earth than he.....
Anonymous
you are a typical israeli HATER.
David Strauss
"any religion from the old book is full of violence hate and falsenesss (sic)"
"i would beat his toes, chop off his tongue and treat him like a dog"
You've clearly come so far.
David Strauss
"I am shocked why anyone coming from a secular background would choose religion, Christanity, Judiasm or Islam. I can understand if you come from a religious family, but if you don't I don't see the appeal."
I think everything important in life can be traced to an emotional (non-rational) foundation. I have yet to see someone make a chart with the pros and cons of different religions and pick based on it. (Pascal's wager doesn't count; in addition to being logically shoddy, the wager merely served to reinforce a decision he had already made.)
Anonymous
Can you say, self-hater? Can you say...Dhimmitude to the maxxx?
This may be true; our people(Jews), throughout the centuries of forced martyrdom, may feel the need to find it elsewhere? LIke an abused woman, always feeling the need to find it somehwhere? Or, maybe new Mr. Islam is like a child going through a "punk-rock" stage in life...a shocking fashion statement perhaps? Hmmm....this will only get more popular, but nothing new. Happened under caliphdome all the freekin' time. Look it up. Oh, and the dhimmified media of almost anti-Israeli entire world LOVES YOU! Thanks for supporting the belief in the annhialation of the only Jewish state, and your people throughout the world. Nice.
Anonymous
You responded to my post questioning of this bloggers religious choice given his secular upbringing by mentioning Pascal's law.
In addition to being logically unsound as you mentioned, his incompatible halachically given that there is no formal notion of Hell in Judiasm.
Phil
You mean the tolerance of at best enslaving and at worst slaughtering and raping those of other religions? Christianity went through its own reformations (several of them) before it could even be suggested that it was tolerant of other religions. Islam is just beginning its first reformation and can under no circumstances be considered tolerant. Ask our non-halachically Jewish blogger what would happen to him if he were to decide he was needed more among the Buddhist. His throat would be slit before he said his first "Namu myoho renge kyo."
Shoshana
Islam's a religion of hate
David Strauss
"In addition to being logically unsound as you mentioned, [it's]
incompatible halachically given that there is no formal notion of Hell
in Judiasm."
Pascal's wager does not fail because for Judaism because Judaism lacks a Hell. The wager merely requires a risk of infinite pain or the possibility of infinite good. A non-zero chance at infinite good -- even without any risk of infinite pain -- remains a worthwhile wager if you accept Pascal's flawed model of choices.
The wager fails uniquely for Judaism because a shot at "the world to come" is non-exclusive. Only Jews are judged by the compliance with the Torah. The rest of the world has relatively few obligations to be eligible for Olam Ha-Ba. Thus, one cannot associate infinite good with conversion to Judaism.
The Orthodox perspective turns the wager on its head. From that perspective, it's easier to be righteous in God's eyes as a non-Jew, which is the basis for discouraging conversion. Jews, as "the Chosen," carry a uniquely heavy burden to be righteous. There's no rational reason to take that on voluntarily.
Egherman
...Then no one would jump to the conclusion that he was Jewish to begin with. He clearly states that he was not ever Jewish, yet so many of the commenters seem to be so enamored with the idea that he actually was that they cannot even read or understand the story he tells.
hadees
Reform Judaism which is the majority of the United States would have accepted you as a Jew without converting.
"Finally, I believed Muslims needed me more than Catholics or Jews did.
Catholics were persecuted in many places, but had power and friends;
Jews have Israel and, even after the Holocaust, a better-developed
history in the West."
Um... Islam has 1.3 billion people and has more then 20 countries.
As for Judaism being more restrictive then Islam I think you are just trying to rationalize your decision. Islam has many requirements, just because you think they are to make life "more fun" doesn't really change that fact.
Anonymous
"muslims needed him more than Catholics or Jews" - The muslims can keep him gladly.
just a yid
If you want your grandkids to be Jewish
1. Dont intermarry
2. Dont be a Communist
If you MUST do the latter, dont also do the former. And vice versa.
Really, I dont see the news here, other than that Schwartz is well known (kinda) cause of his discussions of Wahabism (yosher koach on those). I mean like, did you guys know that its probably gonna snow in Vermont this year?
Curious
"Schwartz" and it took you until late childhood to realize that your dad was a Jew? Wow, things are different in Ohio, huh?
You seem like a sincere person who is trying to do some good in this world. The rest is nitpicking.
Anonymous
Yes it's true , that he did not state that he was a Jewish , But he state that his father is. And that is an insult to his father and it is a shame for a father that his son would go astray , and join a group , and not just a group , but this group devote their life and resources in destroying Israel . This is what made me angry . He is a careless man , and had no consideration to the community that his father belong , and to the people of Israel . He had not give it a thought that God is protecting Israel . He said , he want to get closer to God , so he join Islam . That's a lot of bullshit if you ask me .But this is the only thing I can say about him, he is lazy , and a curse to his family , and to the society to which his father belong .
white Dove
Well , to think of it , Israeli had a relief . One more is gone ,to be worried about .
As the saying goes , " Bird of the same feather , flock together " . So good luck to all of you muslim , and pray that he will not betray you .
Joel Rubin
Another left wing Jew fails to realize the irony of his self discovery. Yawn.
Joey Kurtzman