Why Do Women Convert to Islam?

            An even more compelling question would be, why do American women convert to Islam?  There is no easy answer – but I think there is an answer.  And the answer is not spiritual but psychological and cultural.  It’s not that the Muslim god, Allah, is more believable or benevolent, or powerful than the Christian god, Jehovah. It goes far deeper than that.  I am convinced that the same circumstances which induce Americans boys and girls to convert to the Unification Church (Moonies), or Mormon fundamentalism, or other religious cults can be found in the mental states or circumstances which induce American, Canadian and British women to convert to Islam.

            You can Google, “Why Do Women Convert to Islam” and find numerous sites including UTube  testimonials of beautiful young ladies dressed in Muslim garb wearing attractive colored, silk headscarves.  Just looking at those gorgeous gals may cause an objective thinker to assume, there must be something to this Islam business for such pretty girls to convert. 

            But in listening to their testimonials they are not convincing.  I have heard the same “sound bites” said by women converting to Mormon fundamentalism.  Sound bites like:  “I had a spiritual awakening,” which was the comment of Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of Tony Blair.  She thought Muslim women were happy and it was when she went inside a mosque that she had her spiritual awakening. 

            Others have said, “Christian beliefs just didn’t do anything for me.”  Many other female converts said they use to drink and go clubbing, indicating they were ready for a life change.  They claimed Islam made them feel “fulfilled.”  They liked the idea of an Islamic afterlife and didn’t want to go to hell.  They thought Islam was much more about faith and that Islam fulfilled something that was missing in their lives.  One convert said Islam brought her a feeling of peace.

            To justify the conversions  imams tell us thousands convert each year in the United Kingdom.  They claim 20,000 Americans, including many women, convert to Islam each year.  They profess that there are 6 million Muslims in America.

            The mullahs and imams tell us that 9-11 created an interest in Islam and as a result, Americans researching Islam wound up converting.  The same phenomenon can be said about the publicity over Mormon fundamentalism.   But it is my contention that, yes, something was missing in those people’s lives, and that something made them ripe for conversion to a mass movement.  

            In attempting to understand what is in the mind of female converts, consider the following remarks of Ayaan Hirsi Ali on page 85 in her awesome book, Infidel.  So that you understand the excerpt, Ayaan was describing her feeling while attempting to conform to the role of a Muslim woman.

            I asked my mother for money so Sister Aziza’s tailor could make me a huge black cloak, with just three tight bands around my wrists and neck and a long zipper.  It fell to my toes.  I began wearing this robe to school, on top of the school uniform that hung on my scrawny frame, with a black scarf over my hair and shoulders.

            I had a thrill to it, a sensuous feeling.  It made me feel powerful: underneath this screen lay a previously unsuspected, but potentially lethal, femininity.  I was unique: very few people walked about like that in those days in Nairobi.  Weirdly, it made me feel like an individual.  It sent out a message of superiority:  I was the one true Muslim.  All those other girls with their little white headscarves were children, hypocrites.  I was a star of “God.  When I spread out my hands I felt like I could fly. 

            I was one of the first to robe in school.  Some of the Yemeni girls, like Halwa, wore long buttoned coats, but these were tailored to fit the body; you could see female shape inside.  The hidjab I draped over my scrawny frame was overwhelmingly enveloping:  there was simply nothing left see except a small face and two hands.

            My wife and I have toured Israel, Jordan and Egypt three times, fascinated by the archeology. In the Muslim neighborhoods you seldom saw women on the streets and when you did they were mostly wearing the hijab or headscarf.  It may be interesting to note that the hijab is not a mandate of the Koran, but of the hadith, the statements and actions of Mohammad – which are just as binding.

            Cairo back in the nineties was mostly secular but in the suburbs and smaller cities along the Nile to the South it was common to see the men in their native dress, the kurta, or an ankle-length pajama like gown that slips over the head.

            I was particularly intrigued by a young couple in the lobby of Ben Gurion Airport.  He looked to be in his late twenties so I assume she was also but all I could see was a slit in the burka where her eyes should be.  The burka, a heavy brown fabric, covered her entire body from the top of her head to the ground. It was hot outside and I thought the poor woman must be sweating terribly in that outlandish costume. 

            She was following her husband about four paces behind in conformance to Islamic tradition.  Her demeanor was stately, of course stoic, and she seemed to float rather than walk.  I discerned that they were upper class, ultra conservative Muslims.  And I couldn’t help wonder what that poor girl looked like hidden under that super austere cloak.  Is it the habit of Muslims, I wondered, that the more beautiful the wife the more she is covered?  But strangely, I have to admit, there was a primitive beauty about it all. 

            He was dressed in expensive blue jeans and an expensive long sleeved shirt.  His hair was well groomed, his face clean shaven.  He looked like he could be a student at UCLA.  I thought, “What a hypocrite,” he was comfortable in his western attire while she followed him in her mobile sauna to preserve his honor.

            In reflection, the superior sensation described by Ayaan while in her cloak is very similar to the feeling of power a voyeur experiences while peeping through a window at a woman undressing. 

            So if my contention that non religious factors are more telling in why women convert to Islam, what are they?  In that regard I turn to my friend Eric Hoffer and his peerless book, The True Believer.

            The True Believer is a tome that doesn’t necessarily target religion but without saying it, shows us that we humans in looking for relief, tend to transform frustration into symbolic faith.  The implication is that a truly autonomous, well educated person has no need of Islam, Mormonism, Communism, Socialism, cults, spiritual metaphysics, some eccentric mass movement or great cause to give his life meaning. Turning that thought around, it is the autonomous man who goes to church that gives the church meaning, not the other way around.  A person converts to a movement like Mormon fundamentalism or Islam because something is lacking in his present state.

            According to Hoffer, frustration with the present is usually the impetus behind a new faith, a faith which tends to insulate the true believer from fact.  Conversion in many cases is an escape from an intolerable present or an act of defiance “against an established order.”  The individual feels “spoiled.” 

            I think the UTube ladies who were unhappy “clubbing” were looking for an austere structure as penitence for a hedonistic lifestyle.  In essence, I suspect guilt has driven then to an opposite extreme.  If they were looking for a structured, severe lifestyle they sure as hell found it.  But I’ll bet the imams that tutored them did it on a level much more liberal than the Islam practiced in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria or by the Brotherhood.  The following excerpt is from Wafa Sultan’s A God Who Hates, page 137:

            Muslim education has stunted women to the point of depriving them of their mind and their conscience.  This education has had a profound effect on the minds of Muslim men and women alike.  It is no longer just men who are responsible for the situation women are in; women themselves have begun to defend the situation.  Women have seen themselves relegated to the status of men’s animals.  They accepted this status and can now no longer escape it. 

            … (The Koran and imams have) persuaded them (women) that this distorted image was sacred.  Islam views women as defective beings, and because of the education they have received, women have become convinced of their defectiveness and have indeed sanctified that defectiveness as divine decree.  The problem is no longer simply one of Islamic education.  It is being perpetuated by women who defend this education.

            Page 138:  … Muhammad in a hadith told his followers:  “Oh ye women, you are the majority of those who dwell in hell, for when you receive you express no thanks, when afflicted you show no patience, and when I keep aloof from you, you complain.

            Did those American women converting to Islam really know what they were getting into?  Were they ready and willing to submit (Islam means submission) to that described above?  Do they realize that if they or a dog passes by a Muslim man while he is praying, the prayer is nullified? (Page83)  Do they know that if a Muslim woman is raped the sin is on her, and if she bears a child Islamic law prohibits any Muslim to adopt the child?  During the war in Bosnia 30,000 illegitimate children were born and not a single Muslim nation offered to adopt a single child.  (Page 137)  Does she know that in the hadith, “A man has the right to expect his wife, if his nose runs with blood, mucus or pus, to lick it up with her tongue?”  (Page 139)  Do these pretty American ladies pray five times a day as required, in Arabic?  If so consider the following from Page 168:

            A Muslim prays five times a day, and on each occasion he recites the Fatiha, the first verse of the Koran, a number of times.  This verse describes Christians as “those who have gone astray” and Jews as “those who have incurred Your wrath.”  We see from this that Muslims execrate Christians and Jews a number of times in the course of a single prayer, which they repeat five times a day.  Non-Arab Muslims are unaware that they are cursing the Christians and the Jews, because they pray in Arabic without understanding what they are saying.

            According to Islamic law the prayers must be recited in Arabic.  The word, execrate, means to denounce as evil or detestable.  That means that when these gullible women convert, they submit to Islamic law and automatically become the enemies of Jews and Christians.  And I don’t know if they realize it but by submitting to Islamic law, Islamic law is placed over and above, or usurps all other laws which includes the United States Constitution, the very Constitution that protects their right to convert to Islam.  This my friends is “stealth jihad.” 

            I’m trying to understand what it is about the psychic of we Americans that a few of us will reject our Constitution and capitalist way of life for an inferior lifestyle or form of government – whether it is Islam, socialism, communism or Mormon fundamentalism.  We read about the cartel drug wars in Mexico where thousands have been slain, competing for the illegal American drug market. Our youth are the world’s largest consumers of mind altering drugs.  Drug addiction, like an excessive use of alcohol, is a sign of something lacking in a stable, autonomous psychic.  And it is my contention that it is something very similar to those addicted to drugs, something lacking in the psychic, that makes a person vulnerable to Islam or Mormon fundamentalism. 

            For example, I think women will at times do something outrageous out of defiance or for the shock value.  I am aware of a pretty young lady running from an unhappy polygamous marriage that immediately started dating African Americans knowing that the fundamentalists would then consider her tainted and unworthy.  She would never have to worry about licentious polygs thereafter.

            It is said that most of the Islamic world was converted by the sword.  That is true.  A conquered people and minorities were given the choice of converting, becoming slaves, or die.  Still others were permitted to pay the jizya, a tribute.  Still others, as in the case of the Jews, were annihilated – euthanized.   In Egypt, as I write these words, Muslims are killing, raping and driving Christians out of Egypt.  But in Britain, Canada, America, Holland and other European nations the conversion is by stealth.  The sword is held behind the back with one hand while an olive leaf is extended with the other.  In Islam, lying to infidels is permitted, even preferred.

            I have read Skinner, Jung, Freud and Fromm’s Escape from Freedom, but when it comes to the human condition I keep returning to Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer, the subtitle being, “Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements.”  If you don’t know who Eric Hoffer is look him up on the Internet, it will be worth your while.  The True Believer like Hoffer’s other books is short, to the point, on target and in a language that is easy to understand.  If you are interested in human behavior, The True Believer is unprecedented. 

            Before I purchase a book I look at the Table of Contents.  With some authors the Table of Contents doesn’t seem to harmonize with the title or it reflects the author’s skill in abstractions.  Not so with Hoffer, there is no mistaking what he is talking about.  As I go through the Table of Contents, quoting from chapters, I am confident you will begin to see why people convert to Islam, Mormon fundamentalism, socialism, or other causes which Hoffer refers to as “mass movements.”

Author’s Preface

            “All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intolerance; all of them are capable of releasing a powerful flow of activity in certain departments of life; and all of them demand blind faith and singlehearted allegiance.”

            “… The true believer is everywhere on the march, and both by converting and antagonizing he is shaping the world in his own image.  And whether we are to line up with him or against him, it is well that we should know all we can concerning his nature and potentialities.”

Part One – The Appeal of Mass Movements

1. The Desire for Change
2. The Desire for Substitutes

            “It is a truism that many who join a rising revolutionary movement are attracted by the prospect of sudden and spectacular change in their conditions of life.  A revolutionary movement is a conspicuous instrument of change.”

            “Discontent by itself does not invariably create a desire for change.  Other factors have to be present before discontent turns into disaffection.  One of these is a sense of power.”

            “The men who rush into undertakings of vast change usually feel they are in possession of some irresistible power.”

            “The Nazis … had faith in an infallible leader and also faith in a new technique.”

            “Thus the differences between the conservative and the radical seem to spring mainly from their attitude toward the future.  Fear of the future causes us to lean against and cling to the present, while faith in the future renders us receptive to change.”

            (A mass movement appeals) “to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self.  A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation”

            “Their innermost craving is for a new life – a rebirth – or, failing this, a chance to acquire new elements of pride, confidence, hope, a sense of purpose and worth by identification with a holy cause.  An active mass movement offers them opportunities for both.  If they join the movement as full converts they are reborn to a new life in its close-knit collective body, or if attracted as sympathizers they find elements of pride, confidence and purpose by identifying themselves with the efforts, achievements and prospect of the movement.”

            Still, the fact remains that a practical concern cannot endure unless it can appeal to and satisfy self-interest, while the vigor and growth of a rising mass movement depend on its capacity to evoke and satisfy the passion for self-renunciation.  When a mass movement begins to attract people who are interested in their individual careers, it is a sign that it has passed its vigorous stage; that it is no longer engaged in molding a new world but in possessing and preserving the present.  It ceases then to be a movement and becomes an enterprise.” (The FLDS, AUB, Kingston Klan are all enterprises.)

            “Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless.  There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem.  The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.”

            “We cannot be sure that we have something worth living for unless we are ready to die for it.”

            “Emigration offers some of the things the frustrated hope to find when they join a mass movement, namely, change and a chance for a new beginning.”  (Muslims who emigrate do not themselves change but conspire to change America to suit themselves.)

            Part Two deals with the potential converts – the “disaffected,” those I said were lacking something in their psychics. He categories them as follows:  “the poor – misfits – outcasts – minorities – adolescent youth – the ambitious (whether facing insurmountable obstacles or unlimited opportunities – those in the grip of some vice or obsession – the impotent (in body or mind) – the inordinately selfish – the bored – the sinners,” and then he discusses in detail each category.

            I hope I have hooked you to the point you will purchase and read The True Believer as you will never again look at Mormon fundamentalism, Islam, socialism, communism or other radical mass movements in the same way.  The book was first printed in 1951 but there are plenty of used copies available on Amazon.com.  Furthermore, the philosophy of Hoffer is as pertinent today as it was in 1951.

            Part Three discusses make-believe, doctrine and fanaticism and its relativity to the convert.  I

found the part dealing with Unifying Agents particularly interesting:  “hatred, imitation, persuasion and coercion, leadership, action, suspicion and the effects of unification.” Anyone who is familiar with Mormon fundamentalism will be able to identify with Hoffer’s views, especially the subject of leadership, and the qualifications of an effective leader.  His views `will automatically resonate with all those phony prophets who hijack key sections of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith or Section 132 to build a following.

            Part Four discusses “men of words, fanatics, men of action, good and bad movements. 

             I think that Americans who have converted to Islam and Communism have something in common, or I should say a common disaffected characteristic which makes them fodder for conversion.  Many African Americans have converted to Islam, creating their own version of Islam like the Nation of Islam.  I think the motive behind these movements is racism and power.  They view Christianity as a white man’s religion.  And then there is the Black Panthers?  Of course their objective is power.  They are covertly political with an Islamic head scarf. 

            Right now we are told 47% of Americans don’t pay income tax.  Islam would like to convert that 47% and more.  Islam and socialism hold hands because they share the same damning rhetoric against capitalism and the American way of life. 

            It is an old tactic in a war of words to accuse an enemy of doing the very thing that it is doing.  For example, the Brotherhood accuses America of wanting to destroy Islam when the truth is the other way around.   Islam claims to be a religion of peace and tolerance when the reality is the other way around. 

            We find many of the same totalitarian motives found in Mormon fundamentalism, found in Islam only compounded by hundreds of thousands.  The way to combat radical Islam, besides education, is by eliminating the psychological and economic conditions that make people vulnerable to Islam.  If we look at the last two years of the Obama administration – his apologies, socialistic policies, dependence on big government, fiscal irresponsibility and so forth, Obama is creating a positive environment conducive for conversion to radical groups like Islam, socialism and communism. 

            At the risk of being repetitious for I have made this statement many times, I will once again explain why women convert to Mormon polygamy in support of my contention that actual faith is secondary. 

            The typical female converting to Mormon polygamy is a single mom who had a bad monogamous relationship.  She has a testimony of Joseph Smith but feels uncomfortable in the LDS Church where marriage is stressed.  She is introduced to fundamentalism by word of mouth. In most cases she is struggling.  At this point in the conversion scheme many of the reasons Hoffer articulates kick in. She is welcomed with open arms, she finds security.  It is assumed that any man willing to provide for two or three wives must be a good man.  She falls for the oft said axiom:  It’s better to have part of a good man than all of a bad man.  And then there is the man of words, a charismatic prevaricator who condemns the present and glorifies a future in Islam, Mormon fundamentalism, or whatever. 

            Unification become a decision making factor.  Where she was in the shadows in the LDS Church she is now in the spotlight.  Once she is acclimated, religion, and only then does religion become the justification.

            If you ever have the opportunity to interview an American woman who has converted to Islam, don’t necessarily talk about the future or the doctrines, but about her past – because that is where you will find why she converted to Islam. 

            Furthermore there are four sects within Islam - Sunni, Shia, Wahhabi, and Salafism.   The Sunni and Shia don’t like each other.  The Wahhabi is most prominent in Saudi Arabia which is Sunni.  Salafism is the most severe form of Islam, also found in Saudi Arabia.  Iran is Shia.  Syria is Shia.  Egypt is Sunni.  And then we have Hamas (Sunni), Hezbollah (Shia), CAIR, and the Brotherhood (funded by Saudi Arabia) and dozens of other subsects.  It would be interesting know which chair those American converts to Islam are sitting in.

            In conclusion, why do American women convert to Islam when there is so much about Islam that a free society and free women dislike? 

            Mormon fundamentalists oppress women and brainwash children.  But the problems created by Mormon fundamentalists are but a fraction of what the problems America will have if Islam gets a toe hold, which they are not that far from doing.  There is so much similarity between Mohammad and Joseph Smith, Islam and Mormon fundamentalism, that opposing Sharia Law, which is the same as opposing Islam, would automatically be opposing Mormon fundamentalism – because their doctrines towards the subjugation of women are the same.