Dr. Jeffery Lang, a professor of
mathematics recounts his experiences during his journey to Islam during
which the Quran had the most profound impact on him. He is the author
of Even Angels Ask: A Journey to Islam in America and Struggling to Surrender.
Ammar Bakkar
Dr. Jeffrey Lang is an Associate Professor of
Mathematics at the University of Kansas, one of the biggest
universities in the United States. He started his religious journey on
January 30, 1954, when he was born in a Roman Catholic family in
Bridgeport, Connecticut. The first 18 years of his life were spent in
Catholic schools, which left him with many unanswered questions about
God and the Christian religion, Lang said, as he narrated his story of
Islam. �Like most kids back in the late 60s and early 70s, I started
questioning all the values that we had at those times, political,
social and religious�, Lang said. �I rebelled against all the
institutions that society held sacred including the Catholic Church�,
he said.
By the time he reached the age of 18, Lang had
become a full-fledged atheist. �If there is a God, and He is All
Merciful and All Loving, then why is there suffering on this earth? Why
does not He just take us to heaven? Why create all these people to
suffer?� Such were the questions that came up in his mind in those
days.
As a young lecturer in mathematics at San
Francisco University, Lang found his religion where God is finally a
reality. That was shown to him by a few of the Muslim friends he had
met at the university. �We talked about religion. I asked them my
questions, and I was really surprised by how carefully they had thought
out their answers�, Lang said.
Dr. Lang met Mahmoud Qandeel, a regal looking
Saudi student who attracted the attention of the entire class the
moment he walked in. When Lang asked a question about medical research,
Qandeel answered the question in perfect English and with great self
assurance. Everyone knew Qandeel-the mayor, the police chief and the
common people. Together the professor and the student went to all the
glittering places where �there was no joy or happiness, only laughter�.
Yet at the end Qandeel surprisingly gave him a copy of the Quran and
some books on Islam. Lang read the Quran on his own, found his way to
the student-run prayer hall at the university, and basically
surrendered without much struggle. He was conquered by the Quran. The
first two chapters are an account of that encounter and it is a
fascinating one.
�Painters can make the eyes of a portrait
appear to be following you from one place to another, but which author
can write a scripture that anticipates your daily vicissitudes?... Each
night I would formulate questions and objections and somehow discover
the answer the next day. It seemed that the author was reading my ideas
and writing in the appropriate lines in time for my next reading. I
have met myself in its pages...�
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Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: �All the descendants of Adam are sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent."
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