MY REVERSION TO ISLAM

PUBLISHED IN THE CATEGORY OF:

BAH'I CRITICS
Keywords: Bah'is, Baha'ism, Bah'u'llh, George Hatke, Haifa, Islam, Israel,
Kitb-i-Aqdas, Muslim, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Rhiyyih Maxwell, Seal of
Prophets

MARCH 11, 2014

Web address: BabandBaha.com

My Reversion to Islam

BabandBaha.com

Bah'i Critics

From: Muhammad Yusuf 'Abd al-Latif

As-Salaamu 'Alaykum (Peace be upon you).
I am a white American Muslim male. I see myself as a 'revert' to Islam in that, according to
Muslim belief, all people are born in a state of Islam inasmuch as we are born in a natural
state of submission to Allah. That is what 'Islam' means, after all.
Islam for me is natural in a way that Baha'ism never was--and never can be. No one is born
a Bah'i, and to this the Bah'i writings bear witness.

How I became associated with the Bah'i faith

Though I was thus born a Muslim I was raised a Bah'i. All the same it was not until I was
about fourteen that I became seriously interested in Baha'ism and began reading Bah'i
writings. I come from a "mixed" family. My mother, you see, is Catholic and Baha'ism never
played a very important role in my life until my father, a Bah'i, began taking me to Bah'i
prayer-meetings and Bah'i Sunday school. By the time I was eighteen I was heavily
involved in Bah'i activities, so much so that I was asked to serve as a camp counselor at
Green Acre, a Bah'i summer camp in Maine. People judged that I was a devoted Bah'i and
that I had much to share with other Bah'i youth.

My conflict with the idea of oneness of religion

Some things anyone reading this should know about Baha'ism. It teaches that all the
religions are one. Yes, even cults like Hinduism, with its plethora of deities and its notorious
obsession with sex; or Buddhism which holds that Allah doesn't even exist! Krishna and the
Buddha, say Bah'is, were prophets whose teachings are just as valid as those of Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (peace be upon them). When still a Bah'i I realized I could
not rationalize any of this. Hindus themselves admit that they follow no prophet, and this
so-called Krishna character is nothing more than one of the thousands of gods they worship.
In fact, Hindu scripture recounts Krishna's numerous sexual exploits, and how he used to
steal milk. Not exactly what I call prophetic behavior! If Bah'is admit him into their ring of
Prophethood, then what's to stop them from saying that other pagan deities like Zeus,
Osiris, and Thor are also prophets?
In my opinion, anyone who says that all the religions are one is hopelessly confused,
because they have no idea themselves what is right and wrong. It's like when I show my

Page 1 of 4

3/11/2014

My Reversion to Islam

BabandBaha.com

Bah'i Critics

mom two shirts. Which one looks better, the red one or the one with the yellow and blue
stripes? I'd ask her. Oh, I don't know, they both look fine to me! she'd reply. As I've said,
my mother is not a Bah'i but this attitude sums up Bah'is perfectly: they simply do not
KNOW which religion is the right way and, as a result of their ignorance, they assume that
all religions are okay.

Concerns with the old and new testaments

Furthermore, they believe that such holy texts as the Bible and the Torah exist today in their
original, unaltered form. Where'd that idea come from? You pick up a Catholic Bible, a
Protestant Bible, and--if you can read it--an Ethiopian Orthodox Bible and you can see for
yourself that there are whole sections which are missing in some versions while, in other
versions, other sections are added. Furthermore, the Bible has been re-written in colloquial
English and Ebonics; and recently some feminist has gone out and printed an edition of the
Bible in which she has replaced 'He'--referring to Allah--with 'She'. So, contrary to what the
Bah'is believe, the Bible has indeed been altered, and continues to be altered as I write
these words.
When I was a Bah'i, I simply put these matters out of my head. It's not like any other
Bah'is knew the answers anyway. Of course, with no clergy or religious scholars to guide
the way, that's not surprising.

First time I read Quran

As I began studying Islam in college, though, I was able to read the Quran for the first time,
and was deeply moved--and very impressed--by its uncompromising monotheism. You read
the Quran--especially in its original Arabic text--and you KNOW it's the word of Allah. And
as Allah Himself tells us, it has never been changed--nor can it be changed. By contrast, the
holiest book for the Bah'is, the 'Kitb-i-Aqdas' is nothing but an enumeration of laws. No
one recites it and there's no beauty or poetry in its words. Furthermore, Bah'is always
speak of their texts as being written by the self-styled Bah'i 'prophet' Bah'u'llh or his son
`Abdu'l-Bah. Even they admit that what they read is not created by Allah!

Bah'is view on Islam & Israel

I had taken this course in Islamic thought because I had this fascination with the Middle
East, and I very much wanted to travel there. Nevertheless, I was under no illusion that, for
Bah'is, this posed problems. Much though Bah'is might create the impression of

Page 2 of 4

3/11/2014

My Reversion to Islam

BabandBaha.com

Bah'i Critics

respecting Islam, I was always taught to fear Muslims. A Muslim, I was told, was a fanatical
bigot who would slit my throat for my Bah'i beliefs. What no Bah'is ever told me, however,
was that Israel, which ALL Bah'is support, is guilty of some of the worst crimes against
humanity since Hitler, most of them directed against Muslims. The Bah'i world center is in
Haifa, Israel and Rhiyyih Khanum--a prominent leader of the Bah'i community--once
said that the fate of Baha'ism and Israel are forever intertwined. And at Bah'i Sunday
school we were made to sing songs about Bah'i delusions, among them this one song called
'Queen of Carmel', a reference to the holy site on Mount Carmel in Haifa. The refrain goes
'Cry out O Zion, cry out to your Lord!' That should be enough to convince anyone that the
Bah'is are Zionists to the core, and that they share in the blame for all the misery which
Israelis have created for Palestinians.

My reversion to Islam
It wasn't hard for me to lose interest in Baha'ism once this realization started to kick in. For
me, reverting to Islam wasn't difficult because the Bah'is have taken many of their laws
from Islam. Alcohol and gambling are banned in Baha'ism, for example, so it wasn't like I
had to give up much by becoming a Muslim. I figured that anything good in Baha'ism was
already found in Islam, so you can easily imagine my excitement when, in February of 1999,
I went to the mosque near the college where I study and took the shahadah, testifying that
there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger. And His LAST
Messenger, too, I might add.

What Quran tells about Baha'ism

Allah tells us in the Quran that in this day he has perfected Islam and made it as a religion
for all humanity. What room is there left for Baha'ism in Allah's great plan? And as we read
in the Quran Allah is the best of planners. Just think of the arrogance it must take for
Bah'is to think that they can change what Allah has already perfected? Similarly Allah tells
us in the Quran that Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him and his family) was the
'Seal of the Prophets'. The Bible and the Torah speak of Muhammad's coming, and in fact
the Song of Solomon (in the Old Testament) reports actually preserves the name
'Muhammad-im' in the original Hebrew in a reference to the coming of the Arab Messenger.
Not all the Bible has been altered, of course! But nowhere in the Quran do I hear mention of
any Bah'u'llh. Hmmm

Page 3 of 4

3/11/2014

My Reversion to Islam

BabandBaha.com

Bah'i Critics

Bah'is favorite target

I occasionally hear Muslims complain about the problems Christians and Jews create for
the worldwide Islamic community, I feel strongly that the Bah'is pose a threat to Muslims-indeed ALL people--which is far greater than any Jews or Christians ever could. Bah'is
combine the evangelical zeal of Christian missionaries with the uncompromising Zionism of
ultra-orthodox Jews. They roam around the word, 'Kitb-i-Aqdas' in hand, intent on
spreading their false doctrines. Underprivileged people in the developing world are their
favorite target, though they can strike anywhere at any unsuspecting person. If anything, I
would advise Christians and Jews--and anyone else for that matter--to join Muslims in the
fight to defeat the Satanic forces of Baha'ism. In the end, we will all benefit.
Muhammad Yusuf 'Abd al-Latif
(formerly George Hatke)

To view the article online and leave a comment, please CLICK HERE.

Page 4 of 4

3/11/2014