Islam Rediscovered
23. Conversion: An Intellectual Transformation
~ 399 ~
Conversion, in reality, is an event resulting from a
sense of discovery. After making a great discovery,
one does not remain as before. One becomes a new
man. Only a truly revolutionary change of this kind
merits the name of conversion. When it does take
place, it stems from personal decision-making, and
not from greed or external pressures. It causes those
lacking in awareness to become intellectually
receptive; the dormant come fully alive in all their
senses; the morally “blind” gain a code of ethics; the
non-curious develop a questing spirit; those living
in a circumscribed environment suddenly enter a
world without limits, where they can breathe freely;
creatures existing at the purely physical level rise
above it and begin really to live on a higher
conceptual plane; the aimless wanderer, becoming
spiritually focussed, learns the secret of leading a
purposeful life.
CONVERSION—A HEALTHY HISTORICAL
PROCESS
A few years ago I went through a book by an Indian
writer called
The Politics of Conversion
. I found that
there was only one point on which I differed from
