The nature of religious faith is quite mysterious. As part of theirreligious faiths, people believe in a variety of deities. There are people who have religious faith in the unseen supreme inimitable power, and then there are others who believe in some humans as Gods, or animals (e.g. monkeys), fire, idols made of stone, and the list goes on.


A lot is associated with having a religious ‘faith’. Part of it has to do with beliefs passed on through generations. People’s identities therefore get tied to it. Many times, these beliefs and associated feelings are not completely demonstrable by reason or any rational arguments. There is nothing right or wrong with this, but that’s just how the nature of religious faith has come to be.


Almost everyone thinks they are right in their faith and beliefs. Being with people and groups with similar faith further strengthens people’s faith, and they see it as right, even though logical reasoning and argument sometimes can’t explain it all. That’s simple human psychology.


Islam & Intellectual Reasoning
Muslims believe however, that the Islamic religion is different in this context. One may argue that similar to other faiths there are aspects of it which are not completely demonstrable by reason, but on the other hand the Qur’anic text, which is God’s words addressing humanity at large, uses intellectual reason, critical thinking, and the process of reflection as a means not only to reinforce the faith of the believers, but also to call non-believers to ponder about the authenticity of Islam as the way of life for humanity at large.


Although no religious beliefs can be fully based on logic and reasoning, Islam and Qur’anprovide more than enough examples and an opportunity to examine the truth and the soundness of its message through the lens of empirical evidence and knowledge.


No one (Muslim or otherwise) would argue that critical thinking and reflection can be a major catalyst for changing one’s life. Critical thinking has been used by many to improve their lives simply because a critical thinker asks probing questions about a situation, collects as much information as possible, reflects on the ideas collected and generated in context of the information available, keeps an open and unbiased mind, and carefully scrutinizes assumptions and seeks alternatives.


This is the reason, therefore, that new Muslim converts would attribute the use of intelligent reasoning, reflection and critical thinking when explaining their journey to Islam. Such people cut through the hysteria created in the media to view Islam from a critical lens and following the truth thus comes naturally to them as part of this process. How else can one explain the increase in conversions with the
increase of anti-Islamic rhetoric? How else can one explain that more non-Muslim preachers have been converting to Islam than ever before?


Although, as Muslims, we believe that guidance comes only from Allah, the use of a person’s God-gifted intellectual reasoning has a very powerful role to play in Muslim converts making that destiny changing decision. And once converted, they rarely go back to their old faiths, simply because a faith whose foundations are built on logic and reason is much less likely to be shaken down than one which simply builds upon a set of rites and sacraments.