Many Muslims like to present examples of people who converted from other faiths (e.g. Christianity) to Islam, but there are counter examples. In fact, there are people who are well-educated in Islamic doctrine, devout and conservative Muslims, who now work hand-in-hand with secular and Christian communities!
Those are not fledgling young Muslims who have just been introduced to the faith of Islam, but people who studied the faith very well, initiated debates with secularists and Christians, and vowed to win.
This article sheds light on one such case study. It is difficult for someone to admit that he has been mistaken about an important topic such as religion, especially if he is well-established in the topic, with a vast experience. Someone who discovered the falseness of Islamic doctrine even after participating in debates as a Muslim.
It is quite humiliating to receive a “six of the best,” that is, six strokes of the paddle, when you are in school, if you have failed to behave or done something wrong. But receiving six of the best – figuratively – when you are well-established and mature is indeed a different matter.
I decided to become a Muslim scholar so I could defeat Western secularists and Christians in debates, mainly in Britain as an ex-colonial who was superior to our colonial occupiers. I wanted to show that the tables had been turned on them, and that I could logically defeat their concepts. I was very insistent about wanting to defeat them in debates and become a “hero” of Islam. Ironically, all that turned on me: I was thoroughly defeated in the debates.
Unlike most encounters where both parties claim victory over each other, I admitted my full and decisive defeat, and the victory of my opponents. This was, of course, also acknowledged by them. I have written a formal testimony that documents my defeat. The results of the debates are objective and complete. Right-wing secularists traded high fives.
In fact, right-wing secularists were really cooperative and understanding, yet very strict about documenting the case and enjoying their victory – a well-deserved achievement. If they were to treat me in the same way that jihadists treat their captured opponents, they would have placed me in a cage inside one of the main secular halls, with a stand holding my testimony beside it, so that visitors could see and read about the “hero.” But the secularists did something better than that: they returned a Muslim genie into the bottle and closed it forever … How?
Whether I intentionally or unintentionally tried to defend and promote Islam or proselytize Islamic ideas or even if I plan future counter debates with religious/non-religious groups as a form of revenge, all that is now useless and has no effect at all, because:
1. I fully admitted the defeat, thus, the credibility of any future attempts to defend Islam have been aborted beforehand. The result is final and objective. Why would potential converts to Islam listen to someone who was once defeated in debates with secularists and Christians, admitted that and submitted a testimony?
2. The case was fully documented and was published to serve as a source material for freethinkers in the Muslim world. Thanks for the Internet, that never forgets anything!
That is, if you are inside a closed bottle you can shout as you like, no one can hear you. Which is good if you are shouting and saying wrong ideas and using wrong logic. That was one of the advantages of announcing my testimony; it rendered my supportive opinion on Islam useless.
The discussions in the UK deflated my inflated sense of importance and overconfidence. I was a devout Muslim; however, behind this mask laid a fragile faith that was vulnerable to the slightest criticism. It was like a hot-air balloon: it may appear large, but it was empty and easily deflated. I stopped debating and defending Islam. I admitted and accepted the full decisive defeat.
Instead, I have determined to use all the knowledge that I have of Islamic doctrine to demolish it in a proper and systematic way. Ironically, all the gained knowledge about Islamic doctrine will now be put to serve this goal. An example, case study, and a lesson to be learnt by conservative Muslims.
Jalal Tagreeb is a freelance researcher and translator from the Levant; his major is Islamic Studies and History. He is a big fan of and supporter to the Western colonisation/civilisation mission’s views of the Middle East in a very objective way. He understands that his predecessors fought against that, but he thinks that was completely wrong. He believes that the level of education and awareness at that time were insufficient. He has a strong passion to research the topic, mainly the role of modern colonialism and global power politics in shaping the Middle East.