My Brother….
I’ve just been watching a film produced by a friend of mine, Ray Tostevin. It’s called ‘My Brother the Islamist’ and follows film-maker Robb Leech on his journey to discover why his step-brother, Richard, converted to an extremist Islam belief. He wants to find out what made Richard follow such radical views such as jihad and sharia law.
This isn’t a review of the program, it’s my thoughts and things that have spinning in my head for a few years.
A number of the people Robb spoke to said they’d converted to Islam after some major event. One guy lost his sister to heroin, others found themselves realising there had to be more to life. Interesting that these are often the same reasons that people convert to any religion. One of the people Robb met said that he’d converted to Islam shortly after 9-11, after President Bush said “If you’re not with us, you’re against us”. That stood out.
Richard however, didn’t seem to have any ‘moment’. It’s almost like he drifted into it as he searched for answers to the bigger questions of life. In someways I identified with that. Although my life was a mess, I didn’t have a big conversion moment. I saw something in Christianity that answered so many questions and slowly I had smaller moments wher i realise God was real and He loved me.
I remember a quote I once heard. “Young people these days are looking for something big enough to die for”. So much of what these young converts were saying about the world, about society was so true. We do live in a corrupt world where there is a lot of immorality, hatred and greed. But sharia is not the answer and neither is jihad. Burning bibles or Qu’ran’s and military action isn’t the answer either.
You know, two of the greatest men to instigate political and social reform last century were Ghandi and Martin Luther King. Both chose non-violence as their weapon. Interestingly, the only religion Jesus ever attacked was his own, pointing out the hypocrisy of it’s leaders.
One thing that struck me was when Salahuddin, (Richards’ new Islamic name) chose to move on because “this is the time when all the drunks start to come out.” Jesus said it was people like that that he came to help.
I believe in God. He’s not an idea, he is a friend that gave His life so that I could have a relationship with Him. He calls me to some pretty extreme things such as loving my enemies, praying for my persecutors, giving twice as much to a beggar as he asks and not chasing after wealth.
“Do it to these, and you do it to me”, He said. It take s a bigger man to turn the other cheek, to gain a friend from an enemy.
I listened to what Salahuddin said. I really wanted to understand but at the end of the day I’m convinced that he’s fallen for a lie. God is so much bigger that that.
