The COVID-19 pandemic has caused people around the world to shift their lives online, from work to doctors’ appointments and exercise sessions. The Dubai-based Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Islamic Culture is no exception and is now enabling people to complete their conversion to Islam remotely using email and WhatsApp, it announced today, April 28.
The center, which falls under the Dubai Government’s Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD), is headed by Hind Mohammed Luttah, who said demand for its services was still strong in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
IACAD reports that 852 people converted to Islam through the center in the first quarter of 2020, representing a “significant increase” compared to last year’s figures of 828 new Muslims, Luttah said in an online statement.
The director assured those interested in exploring Islam that “the center is still providing conversion services,” adding that it is now fully equipped with the “necessary technical requirements” to do so via the internet.
The head of the center’s New Muslim Welfare section, Hana Abdullah Al-Jallaf, said, “the interest in Islam and its teachings in the center and collaborating parties, witnessed a remarkable rise especially with the exceptional circumstances the world is facing nowadays.”
Al-Jallaf explained that those interested in converting to Islam can now contact the center’s hotline and discuss their religious intentions with a guide via the phone, email, or through ICAD’s mobile application. Converts can also make their declaration of faith “remotely” and have certificates of conversion sent to them electronically.
IACAD did not elaborate on whether the remote conversion services would stay in place post-COVID-19.