45 Bahrain residents converted to Islam during Ramadan

Manama: Forty five Bahrain residents have converted to Islam during Ramadan, bringing the total number of converts this year to 250, the head of a religious organization has said.

Ramadan, Muslims' holy month, started on August 22 and ended on Saturday.

“The figure is in line with the trend that we have witnessed over the last four years when we had an average of 300 converts annually,'' Khalid Abdul Salam, the general director of Discover Islam has said. “Most of those who have converted are Asians. But we do have some Westerners as well.''

According to Discover Islam, which presents itself as a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the values of Islam, Indians lead the list of converts, followed by Filipinos, Nepalese and Bangladeshis.

Among the Western community, Americans top the numbers, followed by nationals from Britain, Canada, Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Australia.

“Some of the people convert after years of individual studies and research during which they compare between religions until they feel at ease with Islam and its values. There are also those who become curious about Islam and start attending group discussions and intensive courses about the religion,'' Abdul Salam said.

The religious scholar said that there was no pompous ceremony to mark the conversion. “All it takes for the new convert is to pronounce the shahada (testimony of faith) before a judge and usually in the presence of other converts,'' he said.

The Discover Islam official said that the organization had plans to send 40 converts to Makkah to perform Umrah as part of its annual programme to enable the new Muslims to visit the holy places. Last year, it sent 70 people on umrah.

“We also organise special courses to help new converts with understanding Islamic values and rites and to learn basic Arabic. The courses are often given by people who had converted earlier and who can communicate easily with the new converts,'' said Abdul Salam.

An Open House festival was this year organized at Al Fateh Mosque for the tenth time by the justice and Islamic affairs ministry and Discover Islam to “help promote understanding and harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims.''

The festival, organised at Bahrain's largest religious edifice, attracted more than 3,000 visitors in two days, organizers said.

“They were from various nationalities and faiths and had the opportunity to learn more about the genuine values, teachings and messages of Islam,'' Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Khalifa, the head of Al Fateh Mosque, said.