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Often, when I consider the portrayal of our faith both from within and without, I wonder if there is any hope for those we love and admire. Are they even capable of cutting through the mire to discern even a little goodness in our tradition?

And yet, despite these pervasive thoughts, the kind of heart do still come, jumping aboard this caravan. Amongst them, those raised Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and atheist. Amongst them, men and women, young and old, black and white, rich and poor.

Just after I became Muslim nearly twenty-five years ago, a friend — also a convert — laughed, “The action you’ve just taken is like jumping on board a sinking ship.”

It is remarkable that the ship is still afloat at all, given all that we have experienced in the two and a half decades since. Or have we just disembarked into lifeboats, buffeted by the rough seas all around us? Regardless, afloat we are.

In my lifetime, I have been blessed to meet some remarkable and wonderful believers, whose very being shines light on the path ahead. Men and women enthused by the light of faith, merciful and kind in their dealings with others. If once we were taught, “by their fruit shall you know them,” in such folk we find our way.

If popular culture is to believed, most converts are former criminals, finding faith in prison, attracted by the sense of fraternal belonging. For some, the faith is said to provide order and discipline, for others simply protection. For some it is a path of reform, enabling them to turn their lives around; for others, a vehicle towards even more heinous crimes.

Perhaps it suits those in power to forever associate our faith with criminality, but the converts we have known in our time have mostly been from the opposite end of the spectrum. Many of them raised by loving families to live good lives in the service of others, devoted to God and good living.

In my time, I have known many like this. The kind young man, once an Anglican hospital chaplain, who by conscience had to resign a post he loved in order to pursue the oneness of God. The trainee priest who, despite never having met a Muslim at the time, embraced the faith midway through his ordination course. The son of a prominent Jewish rabbi, who took up the path while living on a kibbutz in Israel.

Despite all of the depravity witnessed out there in the world, good men and women still find their way home, attracted not by the great foam upon the ocean, but by the little lights that still pierce the dark. Mostly they must walk alone, isolated from friends and family who can only see the scum upon the sea, but still they walk, hurrying on in pursuit of their Lord.

If they are fortunate, they will find companions along the road. Kindred spirits capable of aiding and supporting them. Humble guides lighting the way. Otherwise, it might be a lonely road, but still they walk on, trusting in the One who gave them life and bestowed on their hearts a clear sense of what is right and wrong.

In the end we must acknowledge that guidance comes from God alone. No matter how man tries to guide or misguide, the gift of guidance comes from a far greater source. Could those extremists who once sent a threat to my father — then a Church of England canon, telling him to convert or face the consequences — ever have imagined that his youngest son was already a Muslim?

Those who believe must find the fortitude from deep within to look past the repulsive renditions of our faith: to walk on holding fast to all that is good and virtuous, to raise their voices high in defence of nobility, to shun hate-filled calls to all which run diametrically opposed to the intent of faith. To remain steadfast in the face of this earthquake of ideas.

This faith of ours starts from the outside and then goes inward. First you become a Muslim, then you must struggle to become a Mumin. The first sign of such a believer is that when they see something harmful, they remove it. A good Muslim is one who makes a fine effort in the path towards establishing a state of safety and good health for all.

This the path we embraced. This the path people will continue to embrace, regardless of its repulsive portrayal from both within and without. Good people will always follow their hearts, whatever the plots and plans of man.