A little over 13 years ago I embraced Islam after a protracted period of soul-searching. I was raised an atheist and up until then, I'd led a life largely devoid of religious considerations, employing common-sense 'do as you would be done by' morality in everyday life. I was always more interested in science and technology yet paradoxically, it was through science and the growing realisation of the sheer majesty of the universe that ultimately led me on the first steps towards accepting the Deen in Ramadan 1994.

Now, I could sit here and recount that story but I'm not going to. Fast forward to last week. An hour before Iftaar I was purchasing a few items at the local store and accidentally bumped into another Muslim whilst performing the age old comedy routine of walking in one direction whilst looking in another. No harm done, I apologised, gave Salaam and wished him Ramadan Mubarak. Genuinely surprised, he asked if I was Muslim and a we struck up a conversation.

Inevitably, the question came up as to how and when I became a Muslim. At some point in the answer, I mentioned that I'd converted around 13 years ago. This earned me a calculatingly dissaproving look. "You musn't say that," he corrected as an adult might do an unruly child, " you reverted to Islam, you did not convert to Islam."

I've been told off for this one countless times but old habits can die hard. Yet, for some reason, this time I left the store feeling irked. On reflection, it came to me it wasn't just the patronising tone but that this wordplay is a fairly recent phenomenon. When I first "reverted", nobody used the word. Now everybody does. Convert, revert. What's the real difference?

Conversion means change, nothing more. Reversion means change to a previous state. You cannot undergo reversion without conversion, so both are equally valid. I understand the reason for preferring the word "revert", yet I wonder why a growing number people seem to insist that it's somehow heresy to use the "C" word.

There's a little more to it than this. I know many con/reverts that will disagree, but from my perspective, the word "revert" seems to focus more on the return to a way of life I had somehow deliberatly rebelled against, rather than one I accepted of my own free will. It seems contrived to make one feel guilty about not being raised a Muslim and diminishes the entire significance of accepting Islam of one's own free will (often under extremely difficult personal circumstances).

On the way home I had to navigate a gang of local youths (many of which I've seen previously being dragged to Traweeh) sporting hoodies and chunky golden jewellry busying themselves by trying to intimidate passers by in a tragic emulation of the chav generation.

So, next time you feel the need to correct someone over their choice of wording, ask yourself if there aren't more important lessons to teach.

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm just off to revert my loft.