Throughout recent history, what has deterred people away from religions include the complexities, lack of clarity, and the concept of the middleman between an individual and God. As the PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) published in 2016,

“The reasons Americans leave their childhood religion are varied, but a lack of belief in teaching of religion was the most commonly cited reason for disaffiliation.”¹

In other words, not believing in what they have been taught is the main reason people are leaving Christianity specifically. That is because other religions in the US account for only 10% (Islam, for example, is about 0.9%) and don’t have great statistical significance.

What Islam preaches is simplicity, especially at its main principles. It preaches that there is one God. Period. Contrast this with the concept of the Trinity, where to this day, Christian scholars cannot properly explain the concept, with conclusive proofs from the Bible and the original teachings of Jesus (peace be upon him).

Islam also is against the concept of a middleman between you and God. Contrast this with religions where a middleman is necessary for salvation or to even connect with God. How many religions in history existed where one was told, “You cannot study the Holy Book! You need the priest or shaman to teach it to you,” or “For you to talk to God, you need to listen to me first”? How insulting was this for people who wanted to learn their religion themselves or speak to God directly?

In Islam, these concepts are foreign. In fact, having such beliefs like that of the Trinity or a middleman can take a person away from the folds of the religion. A Muslim is encouraged to be educated and learn the Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. And if at any moment you want to talk to God, you can go right ahead! Yes, Islam has a high regard for scholars and one is to respect them. You can go to them to ask questions, but you are not allowed to blindly follow them. Scholars are meant to educate the layman, not become those in the middle or deities themselves.

Related article: Reason #27: Why Tawhid (Oneness of God) makes sense

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1. https://www.prri.org/research/prri-rns-poll-nones-atheist-leaving-religion/

When a person foreign to the religion of Islam looks at Muslims, particularly the practicing women, they will likely see many of them wearing the hijab (clothes covering the entire body, excluding the face and hands). Sadly, many who live in the West will automatically look at that and think of oppression. However, when did wearing more clothes equal oppression? When did that mean that the men living with these women are abusing and harassing them off their human rights? Did one stop and actually ask those women if they are indeed being oppressed? One has to genuinely ask him/herself these and see if there are any hidden biases in one’s thought processes.

We have to be fair and look at the actual teachings of Islam, see what is said about women’s rights, and then decide if there is equality or not. In the Qur’an, we see that God says,

“O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.“

[Qur’an 49:13]

Thus, we can see that to God, nobility is determined by piety. He did not mention anything else. He did not mention gender nor race. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Women are the full siblings of men.”¹

The default in Islam is that men and women are treated the same – they have the same rights and same responsibilities. However and rightfully so, there are some situations where men may have certain rights and responsibilities that women won’t have and the opposite where women will have more. We cannot deny scientifically that men and women are different, whether it’s biologically, hormonally, or psychologically. Thus, treating them exactly the same in every situation would not be just. God acknowledges that in Islam. For example, when women are on their menstrual period, they are excluded from their daily prayers. Men obviously can never have that exception. Men have the financial responsibility of taking care of his wife and children. Women don’t.

An article by Yaqeen Institute explains, “Historically, the Qur’an and Sunnah were viewed as neither oppressive nor regressive, but rather advocates on behalf of women. No narrations can be found from any of the Prophet ﷺ’s female companions ever complaining about the revelation itself nor the manner in which the Prophet ﷺ implemented it.“²

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1. Musnad Aḥmad, no. 5869; Sunan al-Tirmidhī, no. 105; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, no. 204, authenticated by al-Albānī in al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Ma‘ārif, 1996), 6:860, no. 2862.
2. https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/we-used-to-have-no-regard-for-women-gender-equity-the-advent-of-islam