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Why should I believe in a religion that has caused me all this trauma, a religion that does discriminate so obviously even though we pretend it does not?

As-salamu alaikum

You should believe in it because it is the Truth. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his Companions (ra) experienced a lot of trauma as did great Messengers such as Noah and Abraham (pbut). Is the trauma that you experienced worse than their trauma? What about Joseph (pbuh) who was put in a cold well by his own brothers at a young age, sold into slavery in foreign country and was falsely put into prison and yet had full trust in God and even forgave his brothers?

My advice is to ask God for guidance. Ask Him sincerely to guide you to the true religion and to make you firm in Islam. Read the Qur'an, ponder on its Signs and the stories of the Prophets (pbut).

Okay, here is a post that I wrote as a reply to your question why I believe in God and His Messenger. A lot of what is in this the post is something that I have already written before. I intended to rewrite and sharpen the language, sequencing, delivery and rhetoric a little but unfortunately due to time constraints I wasn't able to. I hope it makes you reflect because that is overall theme of my post. I also apologise if the text doesn't really flow at all times and is not that coherent. Like I said, it's because I compiled from posts that I wrote as replies to other people. I also apologise for the written mistakes that might ruin the flow of the text. Like I said, I intended to brush up on the language but I am a bit busy. So here it goes:

Why believe in God and His Messenger? Historically speaking, people had different reasons for believing in Muhammad’s Prophethood (peace and blessings of God be upon him). His beloved wife, Khadija, who was 15 years her senior, believed in him due to his character. She knew him to be an honest, trustworthy, humble and generous man of character. After the first time Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) received Revelation while he was in the cave of Hira – where was told by the Angel Gabriel to read when he was illiterate – he came home very scared and asked his wife to cover in her arms. Imagine if you received revelation, you probably wouldn’t think to yourself, “This is great! I am a Prophet of God!”, you probably would think you were going possessed and going crazy! Well, that’s what happened with the Prophet and he told his wife that he feared that something bad was going to happen to him, so his wife comforted her telling him that nothing bad would happen and God wouldn’t disgrace him because he was a man of character speaking the truth, he was generous to the poor, he kept good relations wit his family and people. In short, she married him due to his character and believed in his Prophethood due to his character.

(Note, the Meccans believed in God, in fact, the whole Arabian Peninsula did, however, they believed him to have daughters and they believed in other gods as well. However, they believed Allah/God to be the Creator and the Supreme God and they worshipped the other gods so they could acts intercessors between them and God. That’s why they are Mushrikeen in the Qur’an because they associate partners with God. I say this so you can have some context)

Another such person who believed in Muhammad due to his character was Abu Bakr. They were friends before Muhammad’s Prophethood. When Muhammad invited him to Islam, he recited to him some verses from the Qur’an and he became Muslim. When Muhammad had his Night Journey where he was taken from Mecca into Jerusalem at night and was home the following morning, the disbelievers of Mecca found this very startling – due to the impossibility of travelling to Jerusalem and back in less than a day - so they asked, “Your companion is claiming that he travelled to Jerusalem and back in one night, what do you make of this?”. He responded, “If Muhammad is telling that then it is as he said it is. Verily, I believed him regarding an even stranger thing when he claimed to receive Revelations from Heaven”. After that incident, he was called as-Siddiq which means a man of deep conviction. Of course, he was known as as-Siddiq due to his utmost loyalty to Muhammad and spending most of his fortune in the way of Islam.

Another story that might be mentioned is that of Umar ibn al-Khattab who was a passionate and fiery man of deep conviction. He took it as a serious offense when Muhammad declared that the idols and gods of Quraish (the tribe that inhabited Mecca) were falsehood. He felt it went against everything that he believed in him, his forefathers believed in, his whole tribe – everything that he stood for! He was actually so enraged that one day he set out to kill Muhammad, he simply couldn’t stand what Muhammad was preaching. On his way to kill the Prophet, he met a man who was a Muslim (who hid his faith, most people in Mecca hid their acceptance of Islam at that time) but Umar didn’t know this. The man asked where was he going. Umar replied that he was going to kill the Prophet. The man told him to go deal with your family first, your sister and her husband have accepted Islam (they also hid their faith). The man said this because he wanted to divert Umar from harming the Prophet. So Umar enraged by this went to his sister’s and he heard the Qur’an – the very words that had caused an upset in the Pagan society of Mecca – recited there. When Umar’s sister and husband heard Umar approach, they hid the text from which the Qur’an was recited and the person who was reciting it (it wasn’t Umar’s sister and her husband). Umar obviously asked what was going on. His sister and her husband denied hearing anything. Naturally this enraged Umar further and he started beating his sister and his brother-in-law. At last, both of them said without hesitation that they were Muslims and they didn’t care what he was going to do to them. Such boldness had an effect on Umar, and he asked to see the page from which the Qur’an was recited. He read the Surah of Ta-Ha, the twentieth chapter of the Qur’an.

Ta-Ha.
We have not sent down the Qur'an to thee to be (an occasion) for thy distress,
But only as an admonition to those who fear (Allah),-
A revelation from Him Who created the earth and the heavens on high.
Allah) Most Gracious is firmly established on the throne (of authority).
To Him belongs what is in the heavens and on earth, and all between them, and all beneath the soil.

The eloquence of the words had a moving effect on him and he accepted Islam.

Now, most Muslims don’t have such conversion stories. These are isolated, unique cases so you are probably wondering why I brought them up. It is just to show you that people have different reasons for believing in God and His Messenger. Now I will mention some more common reasons for people converting into Islam.

A lot of people became Muslims when the following prophecy found in the Qur’an was fulfilled:

The Romans are vanquished

In a near land, and they, after being vanquished, shall overcome,

Within a few years. Allah's is the command before and after; and on that day the believers shall rejoice, (Qur'an 30:2-4)

The Qur'an prophecises that the Romans (Byzantines, Byzantium) would be victorious even though they had suffered a heavy loss at the hands of the Persians. This prophecy came at a time when Byzantium had suffered a major and humiliating loss at the hands of Persians. They had just lost Jerusalem which contains the Holy Church, the symbol of their Christian identity. They also had lost major economic centers, namely Egypt and Greater Syria. Abu Bakr(ra) the closest friend of the Prophet(pbuh) informed the Pagan Meccans of this prophecy. The Qur'an says that the victory would happen in "few years" which in Arabic terminology meant between three and nine. Abu Bakr and the Pagans decided to make a bet (this was before betting was made unlawful in Islam), and they agreed on six years. Abu Bakr(ra) lost the bet since Byzantium still wasn't winning, but by the seventh year Byzantium started making huge victories, and the Muslims scolded Abu Bakr(ra) for agreeing on six years although the verse in the Qur'an says "few years" which in Arabic terminology meant "between three and nine".

Another reason why people became Muslims is because Muhammad conquered the Mecca, the very town where he was persecuted and from where he was driven out. The Arab tribes before the conquest of Mecca said, “Leave him to deal with his people. If he is victorious over them, he is a Prophet”. After the conquest of Mecca, the various Arab tribes no longer delayed their acceptance of Islam and entered Islam in crowds.

Another thing that is universal in all conversion stories, past, present and future, is the fact that they like the idea of no god but God without partners and they like the Qur’an. Most people who were converted to Islam by the Prophet had verses recited to them and they accepted.

These are some historical examples, now I give personal reasons for believing in God and His Messenger. Of course the above mentioned examples also are part of the reasons why I believe in God and His Messenger but I won’t re-mention them, I just want you to keep them in mind.

One thing that should definitely be noted is that the Qur’an is a very engaging book, it addresses mankind and encourages them to think and power, and look at God’s signs in the universe. I will quote two verses that speak to me personally.

How can ye reject the faith in Allah?- seeing that ye were without life, and He gave you life; then will He cause you to die, and will again bring you to life; and again to Him will ye return. (2:28)
Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? (52:35)

I have thought about existence, and it is a paradox, almost an impossibility, yet here I am! The idea of anything actually exist is actually quite overwhelming, therefore, in my mind something must be eternal because out of nothing comes nothing. I find it more likely that that something is God. Call it intuition or whatever you want.

Another form of rhetoric that comes to mind is the following:

Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; is firmly established on the throne (of authority); He has subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law)! Each one runs (its course) for a term appointed. He doth regulate all affairs, explaining the signs in detail, that ye may believe with certainty in the meeting with your Lord. (13:02)

Now obviously, if anybody were to look out, they would see that the sky is held up without any pillar. Although it is such an obvious fact, a lot of people go heedless of such things. Normally to a human mind a thing needs something to keep it up, however, the Qur'an shows points out to this simple, observable phenomenon to highlight the fact that things are not always as you would think they'd be. Some people in history believed that God or gods held up the Heavens with pillars, although probably invisible ones. The Bible is an example of such beliefs, for example, in Job 26:11 the pillars of the heavens are mentioned.

One of the main themes in the Qur'an is the Resurrection of the dead. So as not to be in doubt about the Resurrection the Qur'an addresses saying:

It is Allah Who causeth the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout. He causeth the living to issue from the dead, and He is the one to cause the dead to issue from the living. That is Allah: then how are ye deluded away from the truth? (6:95)

It is He Who brings out the living from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living, and Who gives life to the earth after it is dead: and thus shall ye be brought out (from the dead). (3:19)

I think other prophecies are in order now. Here is one made in the Qur’an:

"Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to [the present rulers] in the land, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion which He has chosen for them [i.e. Islam]. And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear [provided] they [believers] worship Me and do not associate anything [in worship] with Me." [Qur'an, 24:55]

The Prophet (peace and blessings of God) prophecised of many conquests. He told the Muslims that they would conquer the Arabian Peninsula, Persia and Byzantium. He said that the Last Hour would not come before the Muslims had conquered Jerusalem.

The Prophet(pbuh) also told that the Muslims (Arabs) will conquer Egypt and enjoined them to treat them well since they share common ancestry through Hagar(ra). Hagar was an Egyptian slave who bore Abraham Ishmael who is the ancestor of the Arabs.

He also once had a nap at Umm Haram's house. He woke up and told her that he had seen in his dream his followers sailing in the sea like kings. Umm Haram(ra) asked the Prophet(pbuh) to pray that she would be with them. He responded that she would. He again went back to sleep and woke up and told her about the same dream. She again asked him to pray that she would be a part of those people, he responded that she would be. Well, she ended up being a part of those people. This was the first time the Muslims took on to the sea. This was the idea of Mu'awiyah(ra), the fifth Caliph, though at the time he was just governor of Syria. Umm Haram joined his husband on a expedition against Cyprus. She died in Cyprus because she fell off the back of a mule and broke her neck.


God repeatedly points out the creation itself as a sign. It points out the origin of man.

For example, in the Qur’an, God says that man is created “from a quintessence/extract of the nature of a fluid despised (which is semen)”: (32:8). Furthermore, God says in the Qur’an that man is created out of a mingled drop (76:2). The reason why God says mingled drop is because in order for a human to be created the spermatozoid and the ovum need to mingle into a zygote, the mingled drop.

To continue on the matter of reproduction, I’d like to quote another verse from the Qur’an and give you a story which happened in the day of the Prophet (pbuh).

In whatever form He willed, He put you together (82:8)

Now, the story:

Once a man came complaining to the Prophet: “"My wife has given birth to a black child and I have disowned him!" The Messenger of Allah asked him: "Do you own camels?" The man said yes. "What color are they?" "Red." "Any gray ones among them?" "Indeed, there are gray ones among them!" "And how do you think this [color] came to them?" "Messenger of Allah, some strain must have drawn it out! (`irqun naza`ahu)." "Maybe the same happened here, some strain must have drawn him out." He did not allow him to disown him.

Even if today, in the age of science and technology, your wife gave birth to a black baby, what would your initial reaction be? Let me ask, were you to be back in 7th century Arabia where tribal lineage, family blood and offspring were considered of utmost importance, would you have solved this problem as the Prophet(pbuh) solved it?

Now, I want to focus our attention on astronomy. God mentions in the Qur’an that the Sun and the Moon “swim each in an orbit” (21:33). Many companions of the Prophet expanded on this verse by explaining that the Sun and the Moon “revolve like a spinning wheel, in a circle.” And as you know, the Sun and the Moon indeed do revolve in that manner, as in not only do they revolve in a circle but they also revolve around themselves like a spinning wheel.

Now, let us have a look at another subject. In the Qur’an, God swears “By the Firmament which returns (in its round),”. A companion of the Prophet(pbuh) commented on this verse by saying that the thing which the firmament (sky) returns is the sustenance (water) without which the creatures on Earth would perish. Another point of interest to mention along side this information are these verses from the Qur’an: “See ye the water which ye drink? Do ye bring it down (in rain) from the cloud or do We? Were it Our Will, We could make it salt (and unpalatable): then why do ye not give thanks? (56:68-70)

I want to bring another verse to the table.

And it is He Who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His mercy (rain). Till when they have carried a heavy-laden cloud (7:57)

As we know today through scientific means, the winds do carry the clouds, i.e keep them in the air, although they are very heavy-laden with rain water. I wonder if there is another ancient source that describes the winds as carrying the clouds because they are heavy. If anybody has any information on this, please let me know. But even if there is, it is a remarkable use of language.

Another example is how the clouds are formed:

Hast thou not seen how Allah wafteth the clouds, then gathereth them, then maketh them layers, and thou seest the rain come forth from between them; He sendeth down from the heaven mountains wherein is hail, and smiteth therewith whom He will, and averteth it from whom He will. The flashing of His lightning all but snatcheth away the sight.
(24:43)

As modern states, clouds actually grow in height.

I just wanted to add one more thing.

Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one united piece, then We parted them And We have made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe (21:30)

Well, as we already know all living things are made of water. The Qur’an also asks a question – “Will you not then believe?”.

Three of the Companions of the Prophet said that the heavens and the earth are separated from one another by this air, i.e the air is a partition between the heavens and the earth. Now, what separates the earth from outer space?¨

This post is by no means an exhaustive list. There are other reasons but I haven't written about them myself so I didn't include them.