Muslim

"If I had seen the Muslims before I saw Islam I probably would not have become Muslim."
A comment that one hears alot from Muslim reverts living in the Arab world.
On the other hand I'm reading a book about Muslim reverts in the West. A common aspect of their coming to Islam is the way the Muslims welcomed these women into the Masjid even before they were Muslim.
A reason many Muslim reverts become muslims in the west is because they see how the Muslims have such an organized way of life. They see how they have a close knit community.
They see how Muslims have such strong self control that is common in all people.
The problem is alot of these Muslim converts still want to move to a Muslim country to be able to hear the call to prayer in the streets. To be able to pass anyone by in the street and say Salam Alaikom and know that they understand you and answer back. To be able to find a masjid on every corner. Basically to practice their religion openly and with the least possible temptations.
What happens is they come to these countries and find temptations they would not think they would find in a Muslim country. They find extreme difficulty in making a living in these countries. The people are always skeptical over whether they are really Muslims or agents of the West. The cleanliness of course is another issue. Lying. And many more problems.
If Muslims acted the way the Quran and Sunnah tells us to act, the world would get a better picture of Muslims.
If Muslims everywhere were clean. Polite. Waited for their turn. Did not lie. Followed their religion closely as they were ordered to, then the way of life that Allah created and gave us guidelines to would be achieved.