When and How did you start your journey towards Islam?
It was way back in 1989 when I, along with my sister, conducted a tour to some of the countries of the Middle East. During our stay in Bahrain, we were accorded a warm welcome. There I happened to meet some children and had a light chitchat with them. I put certain questions to them and they flung at me their innocent queries. During the course of this interaction, they inquired about my religion. I told them, "I am a Christian." I asked them, as to what was their religion. Awave of serenity took over them. They replied in one voice : Islam. Their enthusiastic answer really shook me from within. Then they started telling me about Islam. They were giving me information, much in piece with their age. The pitch of their voice would reveal that they were highly proud of Islam. This is how I paced towards Islam.A very short interaction with a group of children ultimately led me to have long discourses about Islam with Muslim scholars. A great ripple had taken place in my thought. I made failing attempt to console myself that nothing had happened but I could not conceal this fact any longer from myself that at heart I had converted to Islam. This I disclosed first to my family friend, Qunber Ali. The same Qunber Ali managed to take me to Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia. Till that time, I did not know much about Islam. From there, in the company of a Saudi family, I proceeded for Mecca for the performance of"Umrah" [A lesser type of pilgrimage performed to Mecca]. There I made public for the first time that I had become Muslim.What were your feelings after you proclaimed that you were a Muslim?Having embraced Islam, I felt as if I were born again. I found in Islam the answers to those queries which Ihad failed to find in Christianity. Particularly, it was only Islam that provided satisfactory answer to the question relating to the birth of Christ. For the first time I was convinced about the religion itself. I pray my family members might appreciate these facts. My family is the follower of that cult of Christianity, which is known as AVENDANCE of JEHOVA (Jehovah’s Witness). According to its creeds, only 144,000 men would finally qualify to enter into paradise. How come? It remained always a perplexing creed for me. I was surprised to know that the Bible was compiled by so many men, particularly about a volume scripted by King James. I wondered if a man compiles a directory and then ascribes it to God, but he does not fully comply with these directions. During my stay in Saudi Arabia, I have had the opportunity to buy a cassette released by the erstwhile British pop-singer and the present Muslim preacher, Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens). I learnt a lot from this as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment