Conversions to Islam

"I'm not saying imams should be detectives, but I need to know what kind of person I'm talking to. Since many have become Muslim and have shown violent behaviour, I think it is an obligation of our imams to not let Islam be dragged (down) by people who don't understand Islam."
Syed Soharwardy, Calgary imam

"As long as they are accepting Islam for the right reasons I would feel compelled to welcome them warmly and give them the benefit of the doubt."
"Until they show signs of promoting violent extremism there's no reason we have to start doubting."
“If they are becoming strict about a non-tolerance for non-Muslims, or Canadian society or they openly speaking out about the world.”
“Or sometimes they are speaking out against other Muslims that they think are too moderate – that is where it is time to get alarmed,” "If we create an environment of doubt or suspicion, then you've damaged the institution."
Aasim Rashid, spokesman, B.C. Muslim Association

Mufti leader Aasim Rashid speaking at a press conference at the Masjid Al-Salaam & Education Centre mosque in Burnaby. Photo by Mychaylo Prystupa.

"The whole entire BC Muslim Association has an open door policy that must be understood".
 "We are not out there checking individuals coming and going.  People come and go, out of the thousands of people."
"We welcome everyone.  This is a mosque, like any other church.  You’re welcome to come, observe and participate if you wish."
Musa Ismail, president, B.C. Muslim Association

The collaboration between the RCMP and the Islamic Social Services Association of North America in producing a manual to help identify how Muslim groups, leaders of mosques, clerics and the laity can identify the process of radicalization and intercede, didn't turn out too well. Despite the collaboration, some of the text in the handbook turned out to be not quite what the RCMP had anticipated; it was seen to be rather oppositional in what security forces meant to accomplish, and so they removed their support of the manual.


Now there is a debate among Muslim leaders across Canada respecting the extent to which they should feel responsible in probing why some non-Muslims have turned to Islam, becoming converts. This is in the wake of quite a few recent converts to Islam using their conversion as a springboard to engaging in violent jihad. As a result some imams have proposed a checklist of queries to be put to every potential convert.


In addition there is a move among them to encourage new Muslims to take part in basic classes on Islam, or to agree to be paired with a guiding mentor. Still other leaders in the clerical community feel such an approach could have a deleterious effect, making prospective converts feel distrusted. The end result would be to have those people turn away from Islam, and heaven forbid that should happen, since Islam is a proselytizing religion, a major precept to be honoured and pursued.


Islam, after all, fundamentally considers itself the epitome of god's word the very crest of theistic conversation with the Almighty, the only religion, in fact, that leads directly to god's ear. As such it is the duty of all Muslims to ensure that the word of Islam becomes a contagion of religious good, and that as much outreach to persuade non-Muslims to convert as possible orders their relationship with Islam; as a duty.


Imam Soharwardy, a Calgary cleric who founded Muslims Against Terrorism and the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, feels it is necessary that he publish a checklist of questions he feels all imams must ask of those seeking to convert to Islam. After all, conversion is a simple matter of repeating a phrase, the shahada: "There is no god but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger". That's it in a nutshell; that declaration of submission renders the speaker a bona fide Muslim.


And with that status and the impetus to swear allegiance, the obligatory call to jihad beckons for some. For fear of stigmatizing new converts, according to Aasim Rashid, it is rash to probe too deeply into the motivation of those who seek the truth in Islam. Yet how else to perceive the end-purpose of the seeker?

In denying that terrorism and those who invest in it have the best interests of Islam at heart, in fact that these psychopaths are not true Muslims and don't represent Islam, don't imams have an obligation to ensure that they are satisfied with the reason someone wishes to convert?

Exact data on the number of converts to Islam in the West is incomplete because conversions are not always recorded. While the data do not suggest a massive wave of new believers, there are enough to matter. In Germany, statisticians estimated that several thousand Christians convert to Islam every year.[2] In Spain, the number of converts reached around 20,000 in 2006,[3] and in the United Kingdom, perhaps 14,000 had converted by 2006.[4] In the United States, perhaps 20,000 to 25,000 people a year convert to Islam. The number of converts significantly increased in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attack, although it is not yet certain that the conversion surge in the United States has continued.[5] 
While the data do not suggest that conversions can fundamentally change existing European demographics, they do highlight the challenge of conflicting values for Western democracies. Freedom of religion guarantees every person the right to convince or be convinced that a different faith than his own is true; however, some Muslim converts reject the very liberal foundations that allow them to operate freely. And the same Muslims who accept conversions to their faith may not accept conversion away from it. When even a very small percentage of converts to Islam turn fanatic, there is a very real security risk, not only in the state of residence but also in every country with which that state enjoys reciprocal visa-free travel. Indeed, this is a major reason why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security now requests pre-screening even for travelers from countries not requiring visas prior to travel to the United States.[6] 
by Uriya Shavit and Frederic Wiesenbach
Middle East Quarterly
Spring 2009, pp. 3-14