The A-Z of Believing: C is for Conversion

Written and presented by Dr Ed Kessler MBE, Founder Director of the Cambridge-based Woolf Institute, this compelling guide to religious belief and scepticism is a must-read for believers and non-believers alike.

Founded in 1998 to explore the relationship between religion and society, the Woolf Institute uses research and education to foster understanding between people of all beliefs with the aim of reducing prejudice and intolerance.

Says Dr Kessler: “Latest surveys suggest that 85 per cent of the world’s population identify themselves as belonging to a specific religion, and in many parts of the world the most powerful actors in civil society are religious. Understanding religion and belief, the role they play and their impact on behaviour and decision-making is, therefore, vital.”

Dr Kessler – who was awarded an MBE for services to interfaith relations in 2011 – is an Affiliated Lecturer with the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University, a Principal of the Cambridge Theological Federation and additionally teaches at the Cambridge Muslim College.

He says: “This A-Z of Believing aims to show how the encounter between religions has influenced and been influenced by the evolution of civilisation and culture, both for good and for ill. I hope that a better understanding of believing will lead people to realise that while each religion is separate, they are also profoundly connected.”

C is for Conversion

Conversion is a turning onto the right road. The next thing to do is to walk on it. – Charles Spurgeon

Conversion comes from the Latin word convertere, which simply means to “turn around” or “turn back”. Most of us interpret conversion in terms of religion: a profound transformation of mind and heart towards God.

For Christians, conversion is associated with preaching the Gospel, the Good News, from the Greek evangelion, which is where “evangelical” comes from. Of course, evangelising can be applied to any religion that seeks converts, such as Islam and Buddhism. The Buddha, for example, is depicted as telling his disciples to “go forth for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion for the world. Let no two of you go in the same direction, teach the Dharma”.

Islam seeks converts by dawah, calling people, Muslim and non-Muslim, to Allah. Dawah is understood as the means by which Muhammad began spreading the message of the Quran to humanity.

Similarly, the “Great Commission”, according to the New Testament, is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus to his disciples to spread his teachings and to “convert the world to Christ”, in this case by emphasising God’s saving love and preaching the forgiveness of sins. As well as seeking converts, evangelicals have themselves often experienced a profound religious moment (which is why they are sometimes called “born again”), causing a drastic change in behaviour as well as belief.

When applied in practice, however, the pursuit of converts has not always been “good news”, as the Crusades of 11th -16th centuries showed. Preached by the pope against internal and external enemies – that is other Christians or Jews and Muslims – the Crusades were essentially holy wars that were as political as they were religious.

Much of the Reconquista was couched in crusading language and is understood by most Spanish Catholics as the Christian conquest or re-conquest of Spain after the invasion of Islam. It’s worth reflecting on the terms conquest (and re-conquest) and invasion. Did Ferdinand and Isabella simply regain or liberate the Iberian Peninsula? Or was their action itself, an invasion? The word Reconquista remains the cause of controversy in Spanish history and politics.

Forced conversions were also not uncommon in the Crusades. In Trier, southwest Germany, the majority of the Jewish community was forcibly converted (or killed), although afterwards Emperor Henry IV permitted those who had been baptised against their will to return to Judaism. His ruling caused some controversy because it clashed with canon law, which, notwithstanding its position against forced baptism, stipulated that anyone who had been baptised must remain a Christian.

It won’t surprise you that today, conversion continues to generate suspicion and the word “crusade”, while commonly used by Christians to denote a righteous endeavour, still conjures up for Jews and Muslims the image of unjust religious persecution. President George W Bush got into trouble when he called for a “crusade against terrorism” in response to the September 11 attacks, raising fears that the rhetoric of a “clash of civilizations” between Christians and Muslims, would result and another holy war beginning. That is probably what Osama bin-Laden and his fellow terrorists would have wanted.

Some modern dawah movements are also controversial, like the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-e-Islami. Even though much of their focus is on building grassroots institutions and funding welfare projects, which have helped them survive and at times flourish under various Middle Eastern dictatorships, they are banned in a number of, mainly Muslim, countries and accused of fermenting social unrest. For a brief two-year period from 2011, they ruled in Egypt but are now proscribed by the military regime of President al-Sisi.

Closer to home is the controversial Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international Islamist political organisation, which aims for the re-establishment of the Caliphate, unification of Muslims around the world, enforced sharia law and carrying “the dawah of Islam” to the rest of the world. It is also banned in many countries (including China, Egypt, Germany Russia, Saudi Arabia) but not the UK, where it remains active.

Individuals affiliated with the group have been linked to violent acts such as the murder of a pro-secularist blogger in Bangladesh and the organisation holds extremist views – antisemitic, homophobic and anti-western. It is also widely condemned by many Muslim communities. However, unlike in Germany, the Home Office has stated that as long as the group does not advocate violence, it shouldn’t be banned for having unpopular ideas.

Interestingly, Hizb ut-Tahrir has never attracted large numbers of supporters and their membership in the UK is small and in decline.

And this perhaps demonstrates the crux of the relationship between religion and conversion. Using force or extremism to convert people may be a short-term fix but I don’t think you convert anyone simply by silencing or threatening them. Neither is self-interest a successful tactic in attracting sincere converts.

In my experience of teaching future faith leaders from different religions, kindness has converted more than zeal and learning more than intimidation.

Next week: D is for Dialogue

Listen to each episode of An A-Z of Believing: from Atheism to Zealotry on the Woolf Institute podcast site or wherever you get your podcasts