Thursday, 20 March 2014

Converts or Reverts?

Abū Hurayrah (radiya -Llāhu ʿanhu) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

مَا مِنْ مَوْلُودٍ إِلَّا يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ وَيُنَصِّرَانِهِ وَيُمَجِّسَانِهِ

“No one is born except upon the state of fiṭrah (فطرة); then his parents turn him into a Jew or a Christian or a Magian.” (al-Bukhārī and Muslim)

Notice how the Prophet ﷺ didn't say that everyone was born upon Islam, but rather upon the fiṭrah – the natural disposition/inclination to believe in one God.

Hence, when describing people who have newly accepted Islam, it is more appropriate to refer to them as "converts", rather than as "reverts" as commonly misconceived.

We ask Allāh to keep inclined towards tawḥīd and submission towards Him until the day we die. Āmīn!

3 comments:

  1. Asalam wa Alaikom wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu,
    Akhi one question, what about the covenant every single person made with Allah Subhan ahu Wa Ta'ala when we were taken out of Adam's allayhis salam loins? My reference : http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1038&Itemid=62

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wa `alaykum as-salam wa rahmatu Llahi wa barakatuh

    From what I know -- and Allah knows best -- this covenant refers to our acknowledgement of Allah as being our Lord. This did not include the acknowledgement of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as being His messenger, which is the second part of the shahadah without which one cannot be considered a Muslim. Hence, it couldn't have been that we were born Muslims -- babies aren't aware that Muhammad ﷺ was the messenger of Allah.

    This is what I know, and Allah knows best.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes I read further into the topic with the work of Shaykul Islam ibn Taymiyyah Rahimahullah on the Fitrah and he explained it very well using the Quran and Sunnah. JazakAllah Khair, in sha Allah one day we meet face to face.

    ReplyDelete