Jeffery Lang (1954-)

1. Jeffery Lang(1954-) Presented by HanisFauzanaSulaiman FaezahSenin Huda Nadiah Othman Edited by Dr. Md. MahmudulHasan International Islamic University Malaysia 2011

2. Jeffrey Lang was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA on 30 January 1954. • He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and educated in a Catholic school. • Received his masters and doctorial degrees from Purdue University. • Currently he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kansas and the Faculty advisor for the Muslim Student Association. • Embraced Islam in 1982, a year after receiving his PhD. • Married a Saudi Muslim woman, Raika, and has three daughters.

3. Journey to Islam • He started his religious journey on Jan 30, 1954, when he was born in a Roman Catholic family. • The first 18 years of his life were spent in Catholic schools, which left him with many unanswered questions about God and the Christian religion. He found that his religious beliefs could no longer provide satisfactory answers to his questions. • During his senior years at the Notre Dam Boys High, a Catholic school, he formed certain rational objections against belief in the existence of a Supreme Being. • At the age of 18, he became an atheist.

4. Ten years later, at the University of San Francisco, he met MahmoudQandeel, a Muslim student who attended his mathematics class. • MahmoudQandeel gave him the Qur’an. • When reading the Qur’an, he found himself in an interesting battle. He would make up questions and objections but would always find the answers in his next readings of the Qur’an. • The Qur’an has the answers to all of his questions. As he states: “The Qur’an was always way ahead of my thinking; it was erasing barriers I had built years ago and was addressing my queries.”

5. He admitted that the Qur’an has conquered him thus he found his way to the student-run prayer hall at the university, and basically surrendered without much struggle. • After embracing Islam, he said: “For those whom Islam has embraced, the greatest witness to God’s unremitting, pursuing, sustaining, and guiding love is the Qur’an. Like a vast magnificent ocean, it lures you deeper and deeper into its dazzling waves until you are swept into it. But instead of drowning in a sea of darkness, as described above, you find yourself immersed in an ocean of divine light and mercy. … as I read the Qur’an and prayed the Islamic prayers, a door to my heart was unsealed and I was immersed in an overwhelming tenderness. Love became more permanent and real than the earth beneath my feet; its power restored me and made it so that even I could feel love…. I was happy enough to have found faith in a sensible religion. But I never expected to be touched by such intoxicating mercy.”

6. On the other hand, Jeffrey Lang pursued a career in mathematics since he has always been fascinated by the subject. • He admitted that using facts and figures to find concrete answers is how his mind works. Thus it is also a reason why it was easy for him to accept Islam because Islam appeals to man’s reasoning. • Dr. Lang has written several books which are best sellers among the Muslim community in the US. Two books are: Even Angels Ask and Losing My Religion: a Call for Help.

8. In Even Angels Ask: A Journey to Islam in America, the author attempts to share the American convert's experience of discovering Islam. • He discusses the conflicts between faith and reason, obstacles in converting to Islam, extremism within some Muslim communities and future outlook for American Muslims based on his personal experiences as a Muslim. • He spends more than half of the book going over various beliefs and attitudes attributed to Muslims and analyzing them according to the Qur'an. • The book also includes a discussion on how Muslims can help Islam to grow in America.

9. This book has six chapters • Introduction • Setting Out • The Decision • Nourishing Faith • The Best of Communities • The Road Ahead

10. Chapter 1: introduction He shares his own stories and experiences when he first embraced Islam. He addresses an array of difficult and frequently controversial issues ranging from predestination to other common philosophical holdups faced by skeptical Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

11. Chapter 2: Setting Out - He explains his research into the Quranic verses in more depth: “Be assured, the Qur’an will not simply translate us to our goal; it will provide directions at different stages, but the traveling and the discovery will have to be ours, because the questions we ask are not only about God – they are about ourselves as particular individuals and we are the only real individuals who have real access to our souls.”

12. Chapter 3: The Decision - he talks about Islam in the west The question is What is your family’s and friend’s reaction towards your conversion to Islam? The reaction will always involve some degree of shock and dismay. Most of the parents and friends come to accept it, as especially he or she seems happier and more at peace in the new found faith.

13. He proves that Islam is NOT just an Arab religion. • Majority of Muslims throughout the world (about 85%) are not Arabs and know virtually no Arabic. They at least have to memorize a few passages of the Quran in order to perform the ritual prayer and more extensive knowledge is required if they want to study Islam’s textual source. So this means that Islam is not only for Arab people, it is the religion for all.

14. He talks about gender differences, religion and culture and prophet Muhammad (pbuh). • * gender differences : in the eyes of westerners, the treatment of Muslim women by Muslim men and vise versa is often demanding and offensive. Muslim men and women generally refuse to greet each other when pass each other, even though prophet always would bid salam to passers-by of either sex. Besides, unfortunately, women are not allowed to go to the masjids.

15. Chapter 4: Nourishing Faith He explains 5 pillars of Islam in a simple manner to make it easy for the new converts to understand their significance. During the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), new Muslims used to ask him what deeds Islam requires of them. The Prophet would often begin by telling them that Islam is built upon five pillars (shahadah, salat, sawn (fasting), zakah and hajj). It is through these five pillars that the converts begin to build their faith. Through these 5 pillars, Muslims fulfill their time on earth: “with the shahadah they commit to God their every moment, with salah their days, with the fast in Ramadhan their months, with the payment of zakah their years, and the pilgrimage to Makkah their lifetime.”

16. Bearing witness: from the point of view of Islam, all creatures, whether or not they are aware of it, are already slaves of God in the sense that they all serve His ultimate purposes and can accomplish only what He allows them to accomplish. God not only wants us to realize this truth, but to benefit as much as we can from it, by using the gifts and guidance He gives to us so that we may grow ever closer to Him. When we become true servants of God, we become servants of the divine attributes as well, of His Mercy, Love, Justice, and Truth. To worship a creation is, to the Muslim, utterly irrational and self-abasing.

17. Experiencing intimacy (with God) : There are moments during salah – moments of truth, true honesty, sincerity, and humility – when a Muslim perceives the omnipresence of God’s most merciful and compassionate light. These are not moments that can be anticipated, for they almost always come unexpectedly. But when they do come, he or she feels the caress of the most tender and most overpowering kindness. It is an utterly humbling experience, because a Muslim knows it is too infinitely beautiful to be deserved. It is a tremendously intoxicating experience, for with your hands, feet, and face placed firmly on the ground, you feel as if you are suddenly lifted into heaven and you could breath its air, smell its soil, and feel its gentle breezes. It feels as if you are about to be raised off the ground and placed in the arms of the most benevolent and affectionate love.

18. Chapter 5: The best of Communities • Lang frankly discusses apostasy and the high rate of religious attrition among both converts and second-generation Western Muslims, a subject many Muslim optimists are reluctant to address. But perhaps it is his beautiful attempt, or deliberate lack thereof, to explain why God guides whom He wills, words that can only be described by someone who has personally experienced such Grace:

19. “The simplest and truest statement we can offer is this: At one special moment of our lives – a moment that we could never have foreseen when we were younger – God, in His infinite knowledge and kindness, had mercy on us. Maybe He saw in us a need so great, a pain so deep, or an emptiness so vast. And maybe, He also saw in us a readiness. However He made it come to be, to Him we are eternally thankful. Truly, all praise and thanks belong to God.”

20. Chapter 6: The Road Ahead He stresses the dire necessity of educating Muslim children in America , and more importantly, of maintaining their Islamic identity and devotion. He believes that for Islam to prevail in North America, three things are necessary: • A substantial fraction of the present generation of American children of Muslim descent must emerge as adults who are strongly committed to Islam; • The Muslim community must remain united and not fracture into sects. • The American Muslim community needs to produce its own religious scholars who can respond effectively to the unprecedented questions and problems that are bound to arise.

22. Jeffrey Lang comes to terms with many of the queries put to him by Americans of Muslim parentage and converts to Islam. • He asserts that, to effectively respond to the general malaise of American-born Muslims, the Islamic establishment in America needs to be willing to listen to the doubts and complaints of the disaffected.

23. In Introduction, Lang tells the readers about his conversation with his daughter Jameela. The conversation starts with a question: “Daddy, what would you do if I became a Christian someday? I was just wondering if you would be mad at me? Did Grandma and Grandpa get mad at you when you stopped being a Christian?” “My mom was devastated and my father threatened to throw me out of the house.” “Would you be mad at me?” “Mad is not the right word. I cannot deny I would be terribly disappointed, because I find so much peace and beauty in Islam, and I always wanted to share that with my children. The only things that really matter to me are my family and my faith.”

24. “I’m not really thinking about becoming a Christian, Daddy, but I sometimes think it would be a lot easier not to be a Muslim.” This questions occurred on many children of Muslim family mainly because the public perception of Islam has taken a significant downturn since the terrorists’ attack of September 11, 2001. Perception towards Islam changed drastically and of course the children naturally want to fit in, want to mix with others without the feelings of threats and it could be extremely disquieting to be associated with a despised, alien people.

25. Lang’s first encounter with the Quran after his friend left the Quran on his desk: • Are You Talkin’ to Me? • That is the book, wherein no doubt, is guidance for those who are on their guard (Qur’an, 2: 2). He felt shiver run through him as he read the above verse and he thought to himself: Are you talking to me? Although he only read the second page of the Quran, he already experienced a sensation as he repeatedly read the text.

26. You Gotta be Talkin’ to Me • Behold, your Lord said to the angels, “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” They said: “Will you put therein one who will spread corruption and shed blood? While we celebrate your praises and glorify you?” He said: “I know what you do not know” (Qur’an, 2: 30). • As he read this verse, he suddenly felt very alone – singled out – as if the Author had pulled him aside into some empty and silent space to speak directly and only to him. That is why he said,:You gotta be talkin’ to me.

27. Question from an American Muslim high school student In the “khutbah” (sermon) last Friday, our imam said that God predetermines all our acts, including our choices, and that anyone who does not accept this is not a Muslim. But if God predetermines all of our actions and choices, then why does He punish us for them? This does not seem fair to me. I’m afraid I’m becoming an atheist! The dogma the imam spoke of in his Friday sermon is referred to in Islamic thought as the doctrine of Qadr (predestination).

28. The Qur’an makes it clear that God has empowered men and women to make choices – moral or otherwise – and to carry them out most often to their expected ends. • He (God) knows what is before them and what comes after them, and they cannot compass it with their knowledge. (Qur’an, 20: 110) • He (God) knows what is before them and what comes after them, and unto God all things are returned. (22:76) • Both texts show that God knows what is best for the human being and they have to live their life without questioning what will happen to them.

29. Conclusion • Through his writings, he shares with the readers his journey and his self discovery within Islam. • He helps new Muslims face threats or questions from people who do not understand Islam. • We believe that Jeffrey Lang provides a sound understanding of Islam in this modern would as he continues to share his overwhelming journey in finding Islam and the beauty of the religion.