ISLAM:
Why hundreds of ordinary West Aussies change faith
The Sunday Times ^ |
15jan06 | Paul Lampathakis
Posted on 01/14/2006 1:15:04
PM PST by one more state
Axel Cremer used to turn heads when he'd roar up to prayer
time at the Rivervale mosque on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
"When I first turned up, I freaked them out," the
50-year-old reticulation company director said.
"They'd see someone in black leather flying down the road,
who stopped, then all of a sudden took all the leather off and
walked into the mosque in Islamic clothing. Now they know me
and miss me when they don't hear the bike."
Mr Cremer, whose Muslim name is Mohammed, is one of hundreds
of West Australians who have converted to Islam in recent years,
despite the stigma surrounding the religion that has grown since
the 9/11 terror attacks.
Local converts say they number about 200, among about
20,000 Muslims in WA from more than 70 countries in the Middle
East, Africa, Asia and eastern Europe. Nationwide, numbers
increased about 40 per cent between 1996 and 2001, according
to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, mainly because of migration.
Look now at why these poeple are converting
from their dead and empty denominational Christainity to Islam.
Converts say that in Islam they have found clearer
answers to questions of spirituality than in Christianity,
a stronger sense of community and
rules to live by.
Denominations are enmeshed with theologocal
gobbledy-gook, meaningless philosphical mind candy and vain
and empty traditions all of which this unsaved man can see rightly
so have no part of one's spirituality and one's walk with God.
He says secondly Islam has a stronger
sense of community as does mormonism -- that is they are a family
and becasue of the social stigma they accept into full fellowship
any that come to their doors -- curches do not churches have
levels and tiers in their membership visitor, regular, member
baptized member, lay ministry member, elders, etc and each has
its distinct priviledges and honors -- in Islam other than the
imam all are equal all are brothers there are no designations
and none can Lord it over each other. (This is straight out
of the Gospel)
And there are clear rules and laws the
church today is especially murky on this issue because they
have lost theri way and can not admit to God or to men they
have no idea what the demands or Laws of Christ are. And so
within churches and from church to church there is chaos --
as is stated in the book of Judges. In those days there was
no king and everyone did that which was right in theri own eyes.
and the church of this hour fully denomstates this.
"There are guidelines for everything. It shows
you how to do the right thing, to be nice to people," said
Mr Cremer, a former Catholic. "The Bible does
this as well, but it has been translated too much, it has been
tampered with too much.
"And one major difference with Islam is there
is no hierarchy above me, no priests, no bishops, no Vatican.
The priesthood of all
beleivers
"Imams (holy men) lead you in prayer. But beyond
that it's just you and Allah. You're talking directly to God,
that simplifies things." The
priesthood of all beleivers
Mr Cremer was also attracted to rules such as Muslims
donating a percentage of their annual income to the poor. Commanded
by Christ in the Goespels
The fact that Islam was a lifestyle
rather than a weekend event was
appealing too, because it advocated morality in all areas, including
politics and work, where he believed morality was sorely needed.
As is preached
in the Gospels as well
As stated elsewhere I have read
in many places that Mohammod was an Apostate Roman Catholic.
And that the Koran is corrupt rewrite of the bible like the
bible of the Samaritans, and the Mormons containing many discernable
portions of scripture, which are enmeshed in demonic and violent
passages which in large part are based on the murder, killing,
and chaos that was done in the name of Christ to the Jews, the
unfaithful, and unbeleivers, by the church of Rome at the time.
The southern suburbs father of four, who migrated to Australia
from Germany 22 years ago, said his Indonesian wife triggered
his "reversion" in Jakarta seven years ago. Muslims
believe people revert, not convert, because they say everyone
is born Muslim.
But Mr Cremer said he became enthusiastic about Islam while
researching the religion before his marriage – after years of
questioning other faiths.
Mother-of-two Nicole Banks, 36, said non-Muslim women were
not compelled by the religion to switch to Islam if they married
a Muslim and were allowed to keep their maiden names.
But the former Church of England follower chose to convert
in 1999, two years after marrying her now-estranged Egyptian
husband. She had admired aspects of the religion, such as its
focus on family and respect for elders, which she saw while
travelling in the Middle East in 1996.
"For instance, you wouldn't send your parents off to a
nursing home. They're looked after in the home by their kids,"
she said. "(In Muslim homes) wives are doing the chores,
while grandmothers are looking after the younger children. Whereas
here, you might not see your family from one week to the next.
"If someone's sick within the community, the other girls
will bring food to the house. If somebody has a baby, people
will bring food and help clean the house.
"That feeling of closeness is very much missing in Australian
society."
The former optician/retail manager said the religion taught
her not to be so materialistic and to be thankful for God's
blessings, such as good health.
"Before, I was a workaholic, six days a week, 10 hours
a day," she said. "I drank alcohol . . . smoked cigarettes,
about a pack-plus a day, partied very hard. Now my days are
spent looking after my kids, helping the community, still taking
Arabic, Koran and religion classes twice a week."
Ms Banks's family was apprehensive about her conversion, but
she had subsequently grown closer to her parents.
Comments on the street about her hijab (head scarf) had sometimes
been a problem, but most people were just curious.
She said people should not connect Islam with terror because
suicide and hurting innocents, particularly women, children
and the elderly, were forbidden by the Koran.
Perth banker Maariyah, 62, converted from Catholicism last
February after reading books presenting evidence against the
claim that Jesus was the son of God.
She preferred Islam's belief that Jesus was a prophet.
"And I like the feeling of one big family. We call each
other brother and sister and we mean it," she said. "I
also like the idea of kneeling five times a day and talking
to God rather than once a week or once a year – we see praying
as a privilege, not a duty."
Her husband was not a Muslim and neither he nor other family
members understood her move to Islam.
Carlisle trainee English teacher Jeremy Meredith, 33, became
a Muslim in Jakarta in 2003 because he also liked the sense
of community and the guidelines.
"People say they want freedom, they want liberty,"
he said. "But the bottom line is people want to know what
they can and can't do. They want rules, they want guidelines,
something to believe in, something to follow.
"In Islam, there's a rule for absolutely everything –
how I eat my food, how I go to the toilet, how I get married,
how I lend money."
He said Muslims should not be lumped with extremists because
that was as stupid as saying that because Hitler was a Christian,
all Christians were genocidal maniacs.
Eliza-Aisha, 26, switched from Catholicism about four years
ago before marrying her Pakistani husband, whom she met in university.
In the northern suburbs home she shares with her Catholic mother
and Muslim husband, she said she had researched different faiths
from the age of 13 and had never been content with Catholicism.
She liked the clarity of Islam; that you prayed just to God,
not saints or others.
Eliza-Aisha said she had met converts from areas including
Walpole and Bunbury, and they shared common reasons for changing.
"They want to know the purpose of their life. They don't
just want an empty life filled with material things, a great
house and a car. They want to know more," she said.
"Every week you hear about converts, people in the country,
in the local area. A university professor, I heard, recently
became a Muslim."
She disagreed with the assumption that women were repressed
under the religion. If so, why did so many change, because she
had heard about 80 per cent of converts were female.
Other converts said they disliked Christianity's hypocrisy
in preaching peace and love while being responsible for many
atrocities, including the Crusades and Inquisition, and playing
a big role in Northern Ireland's bloody conflict. They also
believed the Bible had been edited so much it was no longer
the true word of God, while the Koran had not changed.
But Father Brian O'Loughlin, Vicar-General for Perth's Catholic
Archdiocese, said he did not accept that Islam offered a "simpler"
way to God. There were imams and ayatollahs (religious leaders),
and in most Islamic countries it was a state religion with a
structure that went much further than Christianity.
He said tolerance was lacking in Islam because it wanted to
be the one and only religion. For instance, Saudi Arabia had
built mosques worldwide, including in Rome, but would not allow
churches in its boundaries.
He said many of the admired aspects of community in Islam were
also present in southern European culture. But he conceded that
such values might have been eroded in Western culture.
Regarding charity, he said Christians had been outstanding
for living the commandment of love that Jesus had taught, to
include not just Christians.
"And let's go back to the Boxing Day tsunami. Wealthy
countries like Saudi Arabia had to be embarrassed into contributing
some substantial amount," he said.
Father O'Loughlin said a worrying aspect was Islam's concept
of education, which in many cases was breeding fanaticism.
Peter Rosengren, editor of Catholic newspaper The Record, said
it was not surprising that ordinary Australians were attracted
to Islam.
A major phenomena of the past 40 years in developed areas such
as the US, Australia and Europe had been an intensifying secularisation.
"But human beings are fundamentally religious. When you
reject belief in God as a society . . . people still search
for the meaning of their lives. Where do I come from? Where
am I going? What is my life all about?" he said.
While he was a convinced Christian, he admired the fact that
converts to Islam were going against the general trend and trying
to put God first and he felt the same about Christians who were
doing the same.