“The White Hat Approach to God”

New video is up by our brother Hamza (Andreas) Tzortzis about his talk in Canada, “The White Hat Approach to God”, which is about the existence of God and the inimitability of the Quran.

 

The Intellectual Basis of Islam by Hamza Andreas Tzortzis

Br. Hamza resides in the UK.  For more information about him and his resources, you can visit:

www.inimitiblequran.com

http://hamzatzortzis.blogspot.com

www.hamzatzortzis.com

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A call to the world

The most dynamic web portal about Greek Muslim life

 

p.s. This is my first video, ever, and it was fun putting it together.  🙂

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Hatred for Turks breeds in other countries too

With the recent discussion on Greek-Turkish relations, I think you will find this video interesting. 

Here’s a brother from our city who converted after having ingrained in him the societal acceptance to hate Muslims or Turks.  Although he is from Romania, his upbringing towards the idea of hatred for Turks is very similar to that of Greeks.

Romanian and loving Islam

 

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Wikipedia right on

 

While Wiki does a fine job of providing information about Greek Muslims in the vicinity of Greece, I found that there was nothing said about Greeks around the world who convert to Islam.  I mean Greeks who can date back to Greek ancestry, not Turkish or other.

So, I thought I would make Wikipedia right on by first adding our website to the external links (yay, we’re famous now!) and then also adding a new section: “Greek Muslim Converts around the World”.

The problem is that I’m having a hard time deciding what to actually include in this section or how much detail I should go into.  Here’s what I started off with:

There is an increasing trend of Greeks converting to Islam around the world. These Greek people are 100% Greek either living in Greece or outside of Greece, who after researching religion, have chosen to convert to Islam.

I know, pretty pathetic.  What do you suggest we write?

 

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The struggle to keep your Greek heritage

(photo taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtbphoto/124430789)

Often times, I find we particularly have a hard time with family because they look at us like traitors.  In their minds, we’re now Turks!  We’ve gone over to the OTHER side. 

And for Greeks, that’s just about the worst thing you can do!  I’m serious.  You can come home pregnant (outside of marriage) or basically become an atheist and still look better to your mom than if you become the baboolas, the big monster Muslim.

See, for many of us Greek Muslims, we still want to keep our culture along with our Islam.  And there is no problem with that as long as we don’t indulge in forbidden acts.  But how do we find that middle path? 

When I think Greek, I think of a Big, Fat, Greek Wedding.  Seriously.

A big loud, traditional dancing party with food for the entire village.   Drinking, music,  pure wildness and kissing from cheek to cheek. Everyone knows everyone.  And a place where really, anything goes. 

Try finding the middle path now!  As you can see, it’s hard at times.  Eventually, I came to grips with it and learned to take the good and throw out the bad.  Obviously, no more Greek weddings for me!  I now spend a lot more time with family, choosing the environment carefully. 

I’m very careful not to admonish others about their lifestyle choices but make it very clear to them how I choose to live my lifestyle and they cannot sway me otherwise.  In fact, I learned to give dawah through my actions and not my tongue, and now I’m a lot more respected than ever before.  In fact, my mom coined my new nickname, ei kaloygria (the nun).

So, the best advice I can give to new converts is to seek knowledge first.  Find a good mentor and group of friends who are pious and knowledgeable in Islam that you can emulate. 

Islam is compelling because it’s so simple and natural.  With further prodding, Islam can also be very deep and complex because it covers every single aspect of our lives.  So, when learning more about the details of Islam, it’s always best to go to people of knowledge.  As they say, you are who your friends are.

What are your experiences or advice about culture and Islam?

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