Najeeb Al-Zamil Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper I watched Maryam, the Saudi girl who abandoned Islam and embraced Christianity, on a Christian TV channel. It was clear that she didn't know anything about her new religion. That is why the host kept asking her simple questions about how she felt now that she had become Christian. It is typical to ask this question to someone who has just embraced a new religion. There is nothing new about that. As someone who is well-versed in theology and very interested in religious issues, let me explain one thing. The Bible is based on the Torah. There were some parts added to the Bible by the first generation of teachers who taught Jesus' religion. They are called, in Christian literature, apostles. The only Christian phrase Maryam said was a combination of English and Arabic words. She said, “I had a vision.” According to Christianity, this means that she saw Jesus (peace be upon him) vividly coming down from the heavens with a halo surrounding him and he planted in her heart the seeds of love for him and his religion. Anyone who has this vision is supposed to spend the rest of his or her life dedicated to serving the church as a way of thanking Jesus the Savior. In light of the above, I believe that Maryam didn't embrace Christianity because she was convinced that it is the right religion or because she wanted to learn more about it. Something else coerced her into this action. The reason does not have to be religious; it could be something that happened spontaneously and made her so desperate that she was looking for something to cling on to. However, we should treat Maryam's case as a real eye-opener. Her case could be the tip of an iceberg. I've written many times about what I called the “forgotten and abandoned youth” in our midst. If you search for this phrase with my name in Google, you will find several articles on the topic. Let me say this: we are largely responsible for driving our youth away from Islam and causing them to feel tortured, desperate and confused, and pushing them to suicidal thoughts. I've seen this happening before my eyes several times. For many years now, I have been following up with the miseries of young men and women. I have exerted great efforts at conferences and through TV channels and newspapers to bring society's attention to this section of youth. I have talked before about tens of young men and women who lost their way and wanted to come back to the path of righteousness because they were no longer able to bear their doubts and misconceptions about religion. An atheist might not feel miserable in this world because he convinced himself that he is doing the right thing. His mind is at ease but deep in his soul he is lost. Besides, he does not know what awaits him on the Day of Judgment. But those young men and women who have doubts and misconceptions are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They don't know what to do. They stay in touch with me through Twitter and Facebook and some even send me letters. Yet, others speak publicly on Twitter about their misconceptions and start bombarding us with questions about religion. We regard these questions as daring and impermissible. But the fact of the matter is those youngsters are not daring; they are lost, tired and exhausted; they have a lot of questions racing inside their minds but they cannot ask them because they are frightened. What is really surprising is 70 percent of the youth I'm in touch with are girls. The reason can be attributed to the fact that girls suffer a lot from mistreatment and oppression at home. This makes them angry and they abhor religion. I have said this before and I am going to say it again: When I talk with them over the phone, I might not be able to solve their social problems and make the social pressures strangling them go away, but they feel comfortable when I sympathize with them. I always say faith is like a hard piece of marble and doubts are the dust that covers its shining surface. Once we blow the dust away, we can see the shining surface again. Most young people who I talk to know that I don't have any religious authority and I never purported to have such authority. That is why they feel comfortable in talking to me and listen to my words. I have received letters from many of them saying they no longer have any doubts and they feel happy that their misconceptions have been removed. I think Maryam was not attracted to Christianity because she thought that it is more logical than Islam. One who knows Islam does not accept any other logic. Even Christians who became Muslims attested to this fact. I think Maryam felt at ease in her heart and soul when she heard the soothing phrases of Christianity said to her by the two men. These phrases would captivate and mesmerize anyone who has been deprived of care, attention and love. Examples of such phrases are “God loves His children”, “Jesus the Savior”, “perpetual tranquility” and “wash my soul”. We should not be enraged by what Maryam did despite the enormity of the issue. But we deserve to be blamed if more Maryams appear in our society. — [email protected]
