\n\nAs you wish<\/div>\n <\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n \u201cIt was the most beautiful day of my life. I was reborn. This was a radical choice, which has changed my entire past and has begun a new life. On that day, the Magdi Allam inside me, who believes unambiguously and unquestionably in the principles of liberty and choice, was reborn in the framework of religion.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Such a statement is fitting for any convert to Islam, and if heard uttered by someone who has newly embraced Islam, smiles, feelings of warmth, and shouts of \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d would fill the mosque or Islamic center in which they were uttered. Yet, there was no such adulation on the part of Muslims; no such feelings of warmth inside; no shouts of \u201cAllahu Akbar.\u201d In fact, I am sure there were shouts of \u201cLa\u2019anahu Allah\u201d (may God curse him) all across the Muslim world, because the words quoted above were those of a Muslim who converted to Catholic Christianity.<\/p>\n Yet, this was no ordinary conversion, and this was no ordinary Muslim. It was that of Magdi Allam, the most famous (non-practicing) Muslim in Italy, and a leading writer and intellectual. Allam has gained notoriety for his staunch support for Israel and fierce condemnation of radical Islam. In 2003, Hamas declared a death sentence on him because of his criticism of terror attacks in Israel, and he has been under round-the-clock guard ever since. Over time, he came to the conclusion that there cannot be a \u201cmoderate Islam\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cI asked myself how it was possible that those who, like me, sincerely and boldly called for a \u2018moderate Islam,\u2019 assuming the responsibility for exposing themselves in the first person in denouncing Islamic extremism and terrorism, ended up being sentenced to death in the name of Islam on the basis of the Koran. I was forced to see that, beyond the contingency of the phenomenon of Islamic extremism and terrorism that has appeared on a global level, the root of evil is inherent in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictive.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As a result, he converted to Christianity and was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI himself, in Saint Peter\u2019s Basilica itself, during Easter Midnight Mass, the \u201cmother of all masses,\u201d itself. Writing in Ha\u2019aretz, Adi Schwartz comments that \u201cthe exalted public ceremony transformed the event into a clear political statement.\u201d<\/p>\n And everyone braced for an angry Muslim backlash. For his part, Allam immediately went on the offensive, saying that his conversion \u201cliberated\u201d him from \u201cdarkness,\u201d and that he \u201crealized that Islam is not compatible with core values such as respect for life and freedom of choice.\u201d The Vatican publication L\u2019Osservatore Romano, wrote: \u201cThere are no hostile intentions toward a great religion like Islam.\u201d The Holy See\u2019s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that Mr. Allam\u2019s comments about Islam \u201cremain his personal opinions without in any way becoming the official expression of the positions of the Pope or of the Holy See.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet, why should Muslims be outraged by his conversion? What are we afraid of?<\/p>\n Indeed, some Muslims who heeded his call to renounce violence and espouse the true, moderate Islam feel betrayed. Prominent Italian Muslim preacher Yahya Sergio Pallavicini, who joined Mr. Allam (when he was a \u201cMuslim\u201d) on several occasions to renounce extremism, said \u201cOne day he\u2019s saying that moderate Islam exists, the next day he\u2019s saying the whole religion is violent. Is he suggesting that the only choice for Muslims who renounce terrorism is to be baptized by the Pope next Easter?\u201d He makes a good point.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Magdi Allam\u2019s conversion, as public (more public than that of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair) and political as it was, should garner absolutely no anger or fury. No stone should be thrown; no tire burnt; no glass broken; no call for his death should be made. If Magdi Allam decides to leave Islam, that is his business, and he will answer to God for his decision. No one should brace for an angry response, because an angry response is completely unnecessary.<\/p>\n If Mr. Allam left his nominal Islamic faith for Catholicism because Islam, as he claims, \u201cis not compatible with core values such as respect for life and freedom of choice,\u201d then he is either being wilfully decietful or is completely and utterly ignorant of the very basic tenets of Islam, curious for someone who was born into the faith.<\/p>\n A cursory reading of even a poor translation of the Qur\u2019an would reveal that Islam places the sanctity of human life at the utmost of importance:<\/p>\n And do not take any human being\u2019s life \u2013 [the life] which God has willed to be sacred \u2013 otherwise than in [the pursuit] of justice\u2026<\/i> (17:33)<\/p>\n And do not kill yourselves, for God has been merciful to you.<\/i> (4:29)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Furthermore, the freedom to choose one\u2019s own spiritual path is tantamount in the Qur\u2019an; one only has to look, and it is quite obvious that Allam has either chosen not to look or is completely blind:<\/p>\n Unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life. And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you\u2026<\/i> (5:48)<\/p>\n For had God so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community; however, He lets go astray that wills [to go astray], and guides aright him that wills [to be guided]; and you will surely be called to account for all that you ever did!<\/i> (16:93)<\/p>\n There shall be no coercion in matters of faith. Distinct has now become the right way from [the way of] error\u2026<\/i> (2:256)<\/p>\n Say [O Muhammad], \u2018The truth is from your Lord:\u2019 Let him who wills believe it, and let him who wills, reject (it).<\/i> (18:29)<\/p>\n If it had been your Lord\u2019s will, they all would have believed \u2013 all who are on earth. Will you, then, compel the people, against their will, to believe?<\/i> (10:99)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The evidence is overwhelming: Islam firmly upholds freedom of choice in matters of faith. Indeed, some Muslims do not, but their sins do not speak for the entire faith. Rather, their sins are an affront to the principles of Islam. Yet, Allam does not seem to know this, and he continues to rail against Islam as an \u201cintolerant\u201d faith, so much so, that the Vatican has distanced itself from Allam and his comments.<\/p>\n Yet, in no way, shape, or form should the Muslim community be bent out of shape by Allam\u2019s conversion. Even if the head Shaikh of Al Azhar University converted to Catholicism, it would not diminish the truth of Islam\u2019s message one iota. The Qur\u2019an is quite confident in the truth it speaks, and so should it be with its adherents. \u201cThe right way has now become distinct from [the way] of error,\u201d the Qur\u2019an says, and \u201cthe truth is from your Lord. Let him who wills, believe it, and let him who wills, reject it.\u201d<\/p>\n All will stand before God and account for his or her actions, and that includes Magdi Cristiano Allam. <\/p>\n Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago physician and writer. He is the co-author of \u201cThe Beliefnet Guide to Islam<\/a>,\u201d published by Doubleday in 2006. His blog is at godfaithpen.com. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Magdi Allam decides to leave Islam, that is his business, and he will answer to God for his decision. No one should brace for an angry response, because an angry response is completely unnecessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":520,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-hesham-hassaballa"],"yoast_head":"\n Free will: Alarm over Allam?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If Magdi Allam decides to leave Islam, that is his business, and he will answer to God for his decision. 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