STUDY ON THE RATIONAL FACTORS OF CHOOSING ISLAM AS ALTERNATIVE LIVES

Islam is the most misunderstood religion. Yet, it is still able to attract people of the other faiths not merely to get to know more of this religion but also choosing Islam as alternative lives. The studies on conversion to Islam in multi-faiths and multi-nations show that there are many pushed and pulled factors of religious shift either as rational factors or relational ones. The rational factors which is induced by intellectual search for choosing Islam as alternative live has become the focal point of discussion in this paper. Analyzing rational factors from various experiences of new Muslims in multi-nations' biographical narratives will significantly clarify the misperceptions that marriage is the main factor of becoming Muslim. To prove this argument, the study on the rational factors of conversion to Islam is carried out by examining the secondary and primary data of new Muslim's biographical narratives. The findings show that conversion through the means of rational factors is considered more Islamic because of it is genuinely attaining the main goal of searching for the truth. In addition, the intellectual conversion has helped much on the new Muslim to face the challenge for being a practicing Muslim as the religious choice is rational.