Dear Reader,

There is no compulsion for a person to accept the TRUTH. Yet it is certainly a shame for the human intellect when a person is not even interested in discovering what the TRUTH is! Islam teaches that God has endowed humans with the faculty of reason, and consequently, it expects humans to derive things for themselves, objectively and systematically. To reflect, to question, and to reflect again.

No one should pressure you to make a hasty decision to accept any teaching of Islam, since Islam teaches that a person should be given the freedom of choice. Even when a person is confronted with the TRUTH, there is no compulsion for them to accept it.

But before you form an opinion about Islam, ask yourself whether your current knowledge of Islam is deep enough. Ask yourself whether that knowledge was obtained through non-Muslims, who have probably themselves been exposed only to random readings about Islam and have yet to reason objectively and systematically about it.

Is it right for someone to form an opinion about the taste of a certain dish only based on what others say, who have not necessarily tasted it themselves? In the same way, you should discover Islam for yourself, through reliable sources—not just “taste” it, but truly digest it before forming an opinion.

This would be an intellectual approach to Islam. The next move is yours.

The Mālikī school