Islam Rediscovered
23. Conversion: An Intellectual Transformation
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This dialogue-conversion process is the only ladder
to all kinds of human progress. That is, whenever
any revolution of civilization has been produced or
a human group has succeeded in performing some
great creative role, it has always come in the wake
of this same dialogue-conversion process.
There is no single form of this process. It can be
religious or non-religious in nature. In the history of
the last fifteen hundred years we find two major
examples—one of religious conversion and the
other of secular conversion.
The history of the Arabs provides the example of
religious conversion. Up to the sixth century A.D.,
the Arabs led a confined tribal life under the
idolatrous system. Then at the beginning of the
seventh century, there appeared the religion of
monotheism, Islam. In consequence, intensive
dialogue began between the monotheists and
idolators. This dialogue assumed such an
aggressive character that it came to the point of
collision. As a result a new way of thinking was
born among the Arabs, which went on growing till
it took the form of a great intellectual revolution.
