Islam and Muslim: A Tip from a Muslim Convert

Bismillah,
Najma Perera is from Sri Lanka. She is a convert to Islam. I like to share a short article she had written to a Sri Lankan Sinhala Islamic periodical. The following is a translation of that article, ‘Islam and Muslim’.

Sometimes in the Muslim society you may come across Muslims with bad behavior. Then you may wonder if Islam is the only true religion revealed to us by Almighty Allah (God), why don’t all Muslims live according to its teachings.

Here we would like to make a very important point. That is, religion and its teachings is one thing. However people and their behavior is another. Therefore an honest seeker of truth must focus their attention to the religion and its teachings, not to those who claim to be followers of that religion and behave wrongly.

If someone drives a latest Rolls-Royse car and meets with an accident, will it be the driver’s responsibility? Or would it be the responsibility of the car manufacturer, the Rolls-Royse company? Certainly it is the driver’s mistake and not the mistake of the company that manufactured the car.

Today like in any society, there are good and bad people within the Muslim society. Like others Muslims can be with various human weaknesses. Some Muslim’s level of belief can be very low due to lack of education or religious knowledge, the effects of external forces in the surrounding environment etc. Sometimes, among them you may even meet some Muslims who have completely left the folds of belief.

One day they’ll have to compensate for their wrongs and in the presence of Allah, will have to answer for everything they did in their lifetime.

Though they call themselves Muslims they act like there is no connection between their Muslim names, their behavior or that in their hearts.

This is not the fault of Islam.