Is it true that born Muslims don't like reverts??

[akhdawud]

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.

[[I accepted Islam this past June.. alhamdulillah]]

The title of this thread was meant to be frivolous, but I do want to ask the question. I feel like a lot of the time, Muslims who are not reverts think less about reverts. It's pretty obvious I'm a revert (young african american with no beard) and it seems I get treated a little differently by some brothers. I may get a dry "salam" or not one at all. And when I make mistakes pertaining to some etiquettes that I'm unaware of, they typically don't let me know, but simply look at me as if I'm some ignorant kafir. I know I'm generalizing, as I've met many brothers and sisters who are very kind, but I still feel this way most of the time when I'm at jumuah or in the prayer room at my university.. Maybe it's just me. My question is, how do you all really feel about reverts? How do you actually treat them, honestly? (don't just relate to me how you're supposed to treat them!) And what can I do to stop feeling this way?

Thanks in advance for your responses!

[Woodrow]

:wa:

Quite a few of us on this forum are reverts myself included. I can only speak for myself, so far I have not experienced what you are speaking of. Since I reverted in 1965 I have lived in 3 Cities in Texas, and one city in each of South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota

[GreyKode]

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.

[[I accepted Islam this past June.. alhamdulillah]]

The title of this thread was meant to be frivolous, but I do want to ask the question. I feel like a lot of the time, Muslims who are not reverts think less about reverts. It's pretty obvious I'm a revert (young african american with no beard) and it seems I get treated a little differently by some brothers. I may get a dry "salam" or not one at all. And when I make mistakes pertaining to some etiquettes that I'm unaware of, they typically don't let me know, but simply look at me as if I'm some ignorant kafir.

I believe what u are saying, unfortunately such types do plague the ummah. Especially the ones who would treat u this way for something like not growing a beard. It is outrageous really, when people forget the basics of the deen and start looking for secondary issues.

Thanks in advance for your responses!

Assalamu alaikum brother,

*sigh*, I really felt very frustrated while reading your post, and I almost thought it was pointless to respond.

I hope you forgive the brothers for their rudeness, they are the ones who are being ignorant. i am from egypt and so far i have never met any reverts in person, but I can tell you that I hold them in very high regard and respect, and i am humbled in their company. I can imagine all the suffering that they must have been through and all the sacrifice. I honestly consider reverts to be the sincerest of muslims.

[Alpha Dude]

Wa alaykum salam,

Welcome to the forum. :)

All the sahaba were reverts, so anyone who belives that born muslims > reverts is being illogical.

I may get a dry "salam" or not one at all. And when I make mistakes pertaining to some etiquettes that I'm unaware of, they typically don't let me know, but simply look at me as if I'm some ignorant kafir.

(Although possible in some cases) I don't think this is all due to discrimination.

Even born Muslims find that their salams are ignored or replied to half-heartedly. Nowadays, the norm is that people only say salam to people who are known to them.

There are some Muslims who are very understanding, knowledgable and practise their faith with due sincerity. These will most likely return your salam with proper respect and let you know (using wisdom) if you make a mistake.

On the other hand there those who are lacking in the above mentioned positive attributes. This could be due to a number of reasons.

Perhaps the most common reason would be that they may have been practising their whole life but only as a form of 'routine' with little to no sincerity and conscious thought behind their actions (dry, lip service stuff).

Also, keep in mind that not everyone is friendly, lively - many are simply perpetually grumpy and too moody to reply to salam properly.

My question is, how do you all really feel about reverts?

I love people who are conscious and sincere about their worship. In general, I find that those who revert to Islam (either from a non-muslim or even born muslim but previously gone astray background) are more worthy of companionship than born muslim 'zombies' who don't pay much attention to the actual theology.

How do you actually treat them, honestly? (don't just relate to me how you're supposed to treat them!)

Haven't had the pleasue of knowing any in real life. :)

And what can I do to stop feeling this way?

Accept that Muslims aren't all angels. There are many who are not on the right path. There probably are some unfortunate people out there who hold reverts below born Muslims but don't let it stress you out. Ignorance is plentiful. Make dua for their guidance.

Remember, everyone is at a different stage of spiritual development. Put any negative behaviour down to ignorance and make dua for their guidance.

Be confident about your faith and connection with Allah. Allah is sufficient for us. Seek his help with patience and don't pay too much attention any nonsensical behaviour.

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[Perseveranze]

Asalaamu Alaikum,

As a born Muslim who has just recently found light in his own faith, I deeply admire and envy the reverts, absolutly have great love for them. Put me to shame, who had this beatiful religion all around him, yet ignored it because of western influence and having too much Jahiliya(ignorance).

So when I see reverts, I gain deep admiration for them. They found the truth through all the struggles, yet with myself the truth was always there only for me to ignore.

If I see a revert I'll always try to help them in anyway, this includes online activity such as Youtube or anything. I only fear that, some reverts might feel offended because their being treated "too nicely or given too much attention" just because they are new to Islam, but really, all reverts may want is to be treated like any other Muslim, born Muslim or not(which is still to be treated Nicely ofcourse lol), with the exceptance of people helping them in gaining knowledge and understanding.

Like, when someone see's a revert and says "o you must be a NEW brother/sister", they might feel offended by that(i think), in a sense that they don't want to be "grouped", their Muslim now, nothing else.

[Muslimman]

On the very contrary. All born Muslims admire reverts a really big deal :). And you should not always blame yourself for ignorant people. May be you are more humble than you should be? Remember you wont meet kind people all the time every place ;) Something else is that some youngmen who may have read some few books think very high of themselves that they with much ignorance treat people like that. Oh don't remind me of that kind of people again. :)

[Ummu Sufyaan]

wa alaykum us-Salaam
one of my good friends is a revert.

[tigerkhan]

ASALAOLIKUM..
to be honest, sometimes i like reverts more than born muslims. they have true spirit and more thirst than born muslims to learn islam. blv i had much respect for them.

[Iman167]

No thats not true. some born muslims do not set good examples of how to be a muslim. they dont know and/or follow the ettiquetes right or put much effort into being a good muslim, since they were born into it and dont see the value of it, this ofcourse isnt all born muslims.

[Saad17]

I don't believe there is a such thing as "born Muslim". I was born in a Muslim family but I didn't choose to be a Muslim until I read the Quran.

Also I believe that Muslim by choice is the real deal plus the Muslims who are born also carry a huge burden that Allah's Message exists in their very home yet most of them don't set a good example so clearly Allah appreciate people who find Him.

Remember, Allah's guidance is something you have to earn , no matter if you're born Muslim or reverted. So ignore them, its like saying that Non-Arab Muslims are less Islamic compared to Arab Muslims while this kind of ideology just proves how wrong they are.

[Aishath]

Assalaamu alaykum,

Personally I have so much respect for reverts. I was a born muslim and yet I haven't always appreciated this huge blessing from Allah (swt). However, when I then see a revert who has come into the folds of Islam through their struggles and with the will of Allah, it makes me respect them so much more because I know that they are probably not going to take things within Islam lightly or take things for granted. A lot of born muslims tend to take the fact that they were so blessed to be born into this beautiful religion so lightly and take it all for granted and yet when you see someone who used to practice another faith or someone who used to not believe in any faith come into Islam, it is just such a beautiful thing. A lot of times, reverts tend to know a lot more about the dheen as well because they make more of an active effort to learn more and more about it. I would personally never think that a born Muslim is better (or worse) than a revert. After all, we are all striving forward to the same thing and it is always such a beautiful thing when we hear of someone new being guided on to the straight path by Allah (swt).

May Allah bless you and make things easy for you.

[Alpha Dude]

All the sahaba were reverts

Sorry, I made a mistake here. Some were born into Islam.

[Ansariyah]

We are all brothas n sistas in Islam, it doesnt matter if ur a revert or Born as long ur Muslim thats all that matters. These people who treated u that way, I'm sorry. Wat can I say? Sadly we are muslim doesnt always mean that we have the best of manners (unfortunately).=(

Dont let people like that bring u down. Change ur surroundings meet other muslims im sure they will treat u like a real brotha InshaAllah.=)

[Innocent Soul]

^ I agree with you sis. Sometimes being in the company of not practising muslims brings an bad impression on you.
I feel very good to see reverts because they always try to practise Islam the best way. I also feel that they are blessed with Allah's blessings and so they accepted Islam :rolleyes: . I really have great respect for the reverts because struggle a lot for Allah's sake. I have never seen any reverts in my life (I have seen only in forums).

[Rafeeq]

:sl:

My experience seeing people (including myself) found respecting reverts more than other. They do deserve it. Islam was granted by Allah to us by birth but they struggled to come to the right path. And we believe a revert is the one who has no sins in his/her account at the time of accepting Islam and starts a new life. Hence, we respect them as better muslims.

:w:

[Samiro]

Coming to islam is such a beautiful thing, I dont see why anyone would treat reverts with disrespect. I have a lot of respect for them for being able to make such a big change in their life.

[Abdul-Raouf]

My heart and face smiles when i see a revert...

Two reverts (from hinduism) used to visit my muhalla masjid..and i have great respect for them.

Will tell you an incident:

Two weeks back.. Brothers from other muhalla came to sell Quran and Muhammad(P) Biography in Tamil.

One of the revert brother(though he is not Tamil)...bought around Ten copies of each..with the intention of distributing them to others.. - Alhamdulillah what a great initiative by him. Did not see anyone else buying that many .. that day.

Lot to learn from them (reverts)..I believe they have strong faith...My heart and face smiles when i see a revert...There is no fake smile.

[gohar98]

You`re right brother. You must be really sad. But still don`t take it on the heart.Allah will reward you.

ps.Welcome to Islam.

[Asiyah3]

I love, respect and have learned a lot from reverts.

[Bub]

Asalam Alaykium
I was born muslim alhamdulilah but do not practice til few yrs ago wiv the help of Allah's swt
I always respect reverts mashaAllah, they overcome some difficult wiv their non muslim family, I have read some story is that reverts' family kicked them out of the house just cos he/she choose to be a Muslim
and by the way welcome to Islam

[aqilah]

Assalamualaikum akh

Like others, I acknowledge that not all born muslims are practicing muslims.

I really love the analogy of medicine and patient i.e The patient has been prescribed with the medicine that is widely known could cure this particular illness of his. But yet he chose not to take the medicine. So, it's the patient's fault if his condition is not improved but let not this discourages other patients who want to benefit from the medicine.

May Allah bless you akh inshaAllah.

[Strzelecki]

.nevermind...

[highway4]

Islam was granted by Allah to us by birth but they struggled to come to the right path. And we believe a revert is the one who has no sins in his/her account at the time of accepting Islam and starts a new life

Absolutely brother...

The Prophet Muhammad saw said, "No baby is born but upon Fitra (as a Muslim). It is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Polytheist." (Sahih Muslim, Book 033, Number 6426)

In our childhood we are weak, innocent and immature. We are dependent on our parents...and become accustomed to their traditions and belief...

When someone reverts they become like a new born baby, clean and pure...all their sins are wash and cleansed away...starting a new life a new rightous path..

Its true that due bad habits people only send their salams to people they know... they too seem to find it strange why someone they dont know says salam...

but you know what...

even if they dont respond salam and you make mistakes just remember that Allah swt sees everything that you do, and he looks at your intentions and in your heart...

Trust me there are many muslims that grew up with Islam as their deen and they have a huge heart for reverts...

I am a revert myself...

[Nizam1]

I personally haven't experienced any negative attitudes towards reverts. Last year my wife and I reverted to Islam, and our sons (aged 15, 13, 10 and 6) are now being raised in Islam (the eldest two by their own choice). In the case of my eldest two sons, they have received nothing but positive encouragement, help and support from the Muslim boys at their school and the local area.

[Jibrael]

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.

It's pretty obvious I'm a revert (young african american with no beard) and it seems I get treated a little differently by some brothers.

Wa alaikum assalaam

Brother, may I ask why you don't have a beard? As you know shaving is haraam in our religion. Therefore you should not shave and grow your beard (unless you can't grow for natural reasons). This is probably why other Muslim brothers look at you strange...in which case I can't blame them. A man without a beard is indeed a strange sight for us Muslims.

[abdulkarim]

I have never experienced or sensed any dislike towards me since converting in fact every Muslim has been been polite and welcoming and really friendlily towards me.

[Endymion]

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.

[[I accepted Islam this past June.. alhamdulillah]]

:wa: Dear Brother in Islam.And a very warm welcome in the Deeyn of Peace and to the humble forum :statisfie

The title of this thread was meant to be frivolous, but I do want to ask the question. I feel like a lot of the time, Muslims who are not reverts think less about reverts. It's pretty obvious I'm a revert (young african american with no beard) and it seems I get treated a little differently by some brothers. I may get a dry "salam" or not one at all. And when I make mistakes pertaining to some etiquettes that I'm unaware of, they typically don't let me know, but simply look at me as if I'm some ignorant kafir. I know I'm generalizing, as I've met many brothers and sisters who are very kind, but I still feel this way most of the time when I'm at jumuah or in the prayer room at my university.. Maybe it's just me.

According to my opinion,it is just because of the company you keep.There are lots of people who unfortunately know a very little about Islam but act very religious.You can simply identify them by their behavior.They look down upon other Muslims and easily paste the Fatwa of Kufr on others,which is strictly forbidden in Islam.In the eyes of Allah swt,every Muslim is precious and we dont know who is more near to Allah swt.Even Allah swt send a Ayah on this topic in which he SWT asked his beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW to behave with every Muslim with equality.See here.
**********Surah 80 - 'Abasa HE FROWNED ************

1-16] He frowned and turned away his face because there came up to him the blind man.1 And what would make you know that he might reform, or heed the admonition, and admonishing might profit him? As for him who is indifferent, to him you attend, though you would not be responsible if he did not reform. And the one 'who comes to you running, of his own will, and fears, from him you turn away.2 By no means!3 This is but an admonition.4 Let him who wills accept it. It is written in scrolls, which are honored, exalted, purified,5 (and which) remain in the hands of noble6 and virtuous scribes.7

And the explanation.

The style of this first sentence is elegant and subtle. Although in the following sentences the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) has been directly addressed, which by itself shows that the act of frowning and turning aside had issued forth from him, the discourse has been opened in a manner as though it was not he but some one else who had so acted. By this style the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace), by a subtle method, has been made to realize that it was an act unseemly for him. Had somebody familiar with his high morals witnessed it, he would have thought that it was not he but some other person who had behaved in that manner.

The blind man referred to here implies, as we have explained in the Introduction, the well-known Companion, Hadrat Ibn Umm Maktum. Hafiz Ibn 'Abdul Barr in Al-Isti'ab and Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Al-Isbah have stated that he was a first cousin of the Holy Prophet's wife, Hadrat Khadijah. His mother, Umm Maktum, and Hadrat Khadijah's father, Khuwailid, were sister and brother to each other. After one knows his relationship with the Holy Prophet, there remains no room for the doubt that he had turned away from him regarding him as a poor man having a low station in life, and attended to the high-placed people, for he was the Holy Prophet's brother-in-law and a man of noble birth. The reason why the Holy Prophet had shown disregard for him is indicated by the word a ma (blind man), which Allah Himself has used as the cause of the Holy Prophet's inattention. That is, the Holy Prophet thought that even if a single man from among the people whom he was trying to bring to the right path, listened to him and was rightly guided, be could become a powerful means of strengthening Islam. On the contrary, Ibn Umm Maktum was a blind man, who could not prove to be so useful for Islam because of his disability as could one of the Quraish elders on becoming a Muslim. Therefore, he should not interrupt the conversation at that time; whatever he wanted to ask or learn, he could ask or learn at some later time.

So you can see that Allah swt did'nt even allow his beloved Prophet to turn back from those who want to learn Islam.The people who are disrespectful towards their brother Muslims,are actually misguided.They themselve need guidance so just ignore them and dont let their behavior hurt you.Try to befriend with people who are helping and kind and know the real messege of Islam.Inshallah,you will find Allah swt with you every where helping you and guiding you :)

My question is, how do you all really feel about reverts? How do you actually treat them, honestly? (don't just relate to me how you're supposed to treat them!) And what can I do to stop feeling this way?

Majority of my friends are revert and i always feel that they are chosen people.I always feel that they are very lucky becoz they find the right path.I admire them,i always try to encourage them and i always learn from them how to make my belief strong.I always found new energy in me whenever i talk to them.Truly,they are more excited about Islam than me,a born Muslim.I leraned lot from them and i always Thank Allah SWT for friends like them :)

[Endymion]

Here is the revert story of my very good friend Ayesha,it made me cry so much.I hope this will help you :)

My Revert story... my journey to islam

My name is Aysha, and I am from North Hungary. I heard about Islam when I was in secondary school in the history lessons, because Hungary was under occupation by Turkey for 150 years.

After that I went to university to study molecular biology, where I met many Muslim foreign students.



I was always curious why Muslims are so proud that they are Muslims.



I was Catholic, a good one, but I always had doubts and I didn't agree with some parts of my religion: for example, how can God have a son and the concept of the Trinity was also not believable for me.



Then I started to talk with my friends, and one time, when we were having dinner and the Adhan started, one of my friends asked me to stop it, but I said no. I was very much impressed by it and something surely touched my heart.



Then I don't know why at that summer I downloaded a Quran program. I was listening to it in Arabic and was reading it in English. Then I was thinking a lot about Islam and I was reading many books about it.



But then, after two months of thinking I finally chose Islam. I declared Shahadah in front of two of my friends. I said: La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasul Allah (I bear witness there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah)

I chose Islam against my culture and my family, especially my mom.



After that, Ramadan started and I decided that I will start my new life in Islam with Ramadan. Alhamdulilah (thank God), I made it successfully.



I started to offer prayer on the 4th of August. It was very hard for me at the beginning because people around me were not that practicing Muslims, so I couldn't ask anyone.



I learnt how to pray by myself from the Internet, because no one showed me how to pray or how to make wudu (ablution), or what invocation to say before it or how to do ghusl (ritual cleansing of the body) or what are the etiquettes and the rulings of Islam.



Once I had a friend and he made me really down. He told me you will never understand Islam, because you were not born as a Muslim. When I told him I want to start fasting Ramadan, he said it is not just about being hungry. At that time I was so new to Islam, I had converted just a month before he said that.

At that time I got so scared, what if I will never learn how to pray in Arabic? What if I don't do it the correct way? And I didn't have hijab (head scarf) or a rug to pray on, and I didn't get any help. So I had lots of fears.







But when I started to pray, I was thinking God must be smiling on me now. Because I used to write down the text of the ritual prayer on a paper and its instructions,and I kept my papers in my right hand and read loudly and then bow down and read again and so on. I'm sure I was looking so funny. But afterwards I succeeded to memorize it in the Arabic language so then there was no problem.



Then I came to Facebook and got many new friends and many sisters. From online sisters I got so much love and courage. Then a Muslim man proposed to me and he got me my first hijab and prayer rug and an Islamic book. And I got my first Arabic Quran from Jordan by post because we cannot buy it here. Now it is more than a year that I wear hijab.I went through a very bad period with my mom. She would say to me that I will be a terrorist and I will leave her as I left my religion and I will leave my country too. She would put all pork things in the fridge and I would refuse to eat it so it turns into a big argument.



She couldn't stand seeing me praying or seeing me in hijab. So I pray upstairs in my room. She would never look at me when I'm in hijab and she would say: "I gave birth to a Christian child not to a veiled Muslim."



So we had serious problems, but I was never harsh or rude with her. But alhamdulilah (thank God) she calmed down now and she seems accepting that I converted. I'm really thankful to Allah for that. Now I go out in hijab, and she doesn't say anything.



I was not talking with my father for all my life and he didn't want to see me. But now, because of Islam, I opened towards him so now he visits us regularly.



Yes, my life is a big test but I thank God for it and I have patience and hope. On the Day of Judgment I will be very thankful for them. So I'm trying to be better and better and learn more and more to understand my religion.



I believe everything is predestined, so whatever Allah has decreed that will happen to me I cannot change, but I can choose to live my life nicely.



I try helping others now in Debrecen. I organized a project to collect second hand clothes for refugee camp people. There are a lot of Muslims there who don't have a home because of wars. So we collected clothes and we went there and I made them Pakistani bread, for children and for females, they were so happy and it was so nice to see them.

I used to raise my voice if somebody says anything that bothers me. But now I am showing example everywhere I go.



I'm trying to guide also those who want to convert or just converted. I met with two Hungarian sisters, the other day, and they have just converted to Islam. So I gave them books, and my prayer rug and a copy of the Quran, so alhamdulilah we prayed together and they were really happy.



I always try to leave the image that we Muslims are nice, friendly and we have a good heart.



I converted one and a half years ago. Now I am learning Arabic, to be able to read the Quran. I read Quran in Hungarian, I offer prayers five times a day, I try to follow the Quran and the Sunnah, and I read many books to understand better.



This is my story.



Peace be unto you.

A Hungarian Muslim

[Ramadhan]

Here is the revert story of my very good friend Ayesha,it made me cry so much.I hope this will help you

Beautiful story.

Can you also post it to http://www.islamicboard.com/new-musl...s-here-34.html

[Endymion]

Beautiful story.

Can you also post it to

Good to know you like it :)
And im going to post it over there as well :)

[Esther462]

There are some groups of born muslims that dont like reverts as reverts are more pure to Islam than some born muslim. The born muslims in my town are a little sursipoius of reverts. Esperly that Im a white English women. I always travel to another town where there are more muslims and personal, I have no problem with born muslims. They are very welcoming but most of my friends are reverts because of where I live.

[selsebil]

Assalaam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,
It's the fault of those Muslims.That's not correct.Quran says:
"O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)."
Only Allah SWT knows who is more righteous.You may be more righteous than me or a born Muslim.Only Allah knows hidden in the hearts.And,don't forget: All children born in the nature of Islam!

[YusufNoor]

:sl:


you may have to choose to ignore some people and other things may startle you!

when i asked a Somali sister to marry me, the local IMAM of her tribe made the following remarks:

"we [indicating some thought and discussion] weren't sure about Yusuf at first. we thought that he may be a spy. but we eventually decided that Allah guided him"

so, out of 300 Million Americans, Allah chose him.

HOWEVER, Americans beat and kill their wives [yeah, there's NO unjust killing in Somalia ^o)], and based upon the hadeeth that a woman has a right to chose her own husband, i strongly advise AGAINST it! [then why use THAT hadeeth?]

so...good enough for Allah, but NOT for a Somali!

and just last Jummu'ah, one Somali brother was trying to convince me that i NEED to learn Somali, when i NEED to learn Arabic!

on the other hand, some of the BEST brothers i know are Somali.:D

just make du'a for everyone and yourself and consider it an opportunity for some extra Ibadah!

:wa: