OUR LOVE FOR JESUS GUIDED US TO ISLAM ()

Our Love for Jesus Guided us to Islam

Compiled and prepared by:

Jotiar Bamarni

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(Copyright is for every Muslim man and woman)

May Allah show mercy to those who printed, photocopied, translated, or made this book available on different social media platforms, without any addition or omission! May Allah reward them abundantly and make them and us steadfast upon Islam!

To access ready-made files for printing this book or getting translated copies thereof, contact us via email:

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1st edition, 2022

New Century House for Media and Publishing-

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9d6lWenN1qv9alcB_HcBHA/videos

{And you will surely find that the closest of them in affection to the believers are those who say: "We are Christians." That is because among them are priests and monks, and they are not arrogant.

When they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of recognizing the truth. They say:

﴿۞ لَتَجِدَنَّ أَشَدَّ ٱلنَّاسِ عَدَٰوَةٗ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱلۡيَهُودَ وَٱلَّذِينَ أَشۡرَكُواْۖ وَلَتَجِدَنَّ أَقۡرَبَهُم مَّوَدَّةٗ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّا نَصَٰرَىٰۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ مِنۡهُمۡ قِسِّيسِينَ وَرُهۡبَانٗا وَأَنَّهُمۡ لَا يَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ٨٢ وَإِذَا سَمِعُواْ مَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَى ٱلرَّسُولِ تَرَىٰٓ أَعۡيُنَهُمۡ تَفِيضُ مِنَ ٱلدَّمۡعِ مِمَّا عَرَفُواْ مِنَ ٱلۡحَقِّۖ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ ءَامَنَّا فَٱكۡتُبۡنَا مَعَ ٱلشَّٰهِدِينَ٨٣﴾ [المائدة: 82-83]

{"Our Lord, we believe, so record us among those who testify [to the truth]."}[Surat al-Mā’idah: 82-83]

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

These real stories [1] were lived by their writers over a number of years, along with their love for the Messiah, for Christianity and the Gospel. This love pushed them, by natural disposition, to search for the truth about Prophet Jesus and his true status in the sight of Allah Almighty and to seek the Creator of the worlds and the Disposer of their affairs.

They wanted to know Islam's stance on Jesus and his mother, the pious virgin woman, and to revisit the Gospels with sincere intent to discover whether these words are truly the speech of Allah and His infallible prophets; or, whether they contain many distortions and alterations, leaving nothing remaining for them to follow.

Their curiosity and impartiality led them to find out the false claims about the position of Islam and Muslims regarding the Messiah and the rest of the messengers. They found the opposite of these claims, which led them to know the truth of Islam, the only true religion remaining on Earth.

This curiosity led from having misconceptions fueled by the lies of  Western media and its unjust war against Islam.

a war which, they noticed, was full of contradictions and obvious to every reasonable and impartial person. They searched and held a comparison between their beliefs and Islam, studying and reviewing many books on comparative religion. They discovered that the religion that corresponds with the image that they themselves have of the true God, the true religion, and the right way of life that leads to success in this world and the Hereafter is Islam - so they testified that none is worthy of being worshiped except Allah alone and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and that Jesus is the messenger of Allah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBrmKfOX-ww&t=66s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pGKogXSFeE.

Yusha Evans was born in Greenville, South Carolina, where he grew up in an ultra-conservative Christian home.

In his early teenage, he became deeply connected to the church nearby. He also joined Young Life, a non-denominational youth-oriented association aimed at participation with the department of education and preaching.

Evans intended to enroll in the world-renowned evangelical Bob Jones University in his hometown after graduating from high school.

But in the summer of 1996, his life changed. He studied the Bible from cover to cover and found many things that were against his beliefs and realized that his entire life was not consistent with the outcome of his search.

He left Christianity and set off searching for the truth - after numerous transformations and turns, and ups and downs, and after looking into many religions of the world that search for the tangible proof for the right way of life.

He read the Bible from cover to cover and found a lot of ambiguities and meaningless things and noticed there were numerous versions of it, as anyone could add or omit anything to it in accordance to their personal agendas.

He also noticed that the figures mentioned in the Bible do not seem to be ideal. These contradictions put him in great confusion, especially when the messengers - the noblest among humankind - are accused of the worst acts humanity has ever known, like alcoholic drinking, adultery, killing, and treachery. This prompted him to read the books of many other religions.

However, he did not find in these books what satisfied his thirst. Among them, regrettably, was the first book he read about Islam. The author was an opponent of Islam, and fabricated lies about this religion and sought to defame it. Therefore, Evans decided to stop the search about Islam - and his state of confusion continued.

The reason behind Evans' conversion to Islam, after the life of loss he lived between night clubs and drugs,

He then became acquainted with a  Muslim drug dealer,  who was not practicing Islam at all. However, he obtained a copy of the Qur’an from him and began to read it. As he read, he became captivated by the pure charm of its divine speech and delved into a deep sea of divine beauty, which made him read half of the Qur’an in one night.

He was amazed at the Qur’an's description of Mary's purity and the testimony of Jesus about the chastity of his mother, while he was still a baby in the cradle. Jashua described that night as the best night of his life!

Then, he decided this was the book he had been searching for throughout his life.

He mentioned, thereafter, that he completed extensive reading of the entire Qur’an in three days, after which he declared his conversion to Islam, in December 1998.

Yusha Evans is an American youth and is considered one of the most intelligent Americans who's embraced Islam.

He has specializes in psychology.

and came from a strict Christian family. But now he devotes himself to calling people to Islam all over the globe, giving lectures and introducing the beauty of this religion. He grieves over the millions of people who are in a state of confusion just as he was, and he urges Muslims to convey the light they have far and wide.

For more on his interesting story, you can watch more videos in which Yusha Evans speaks, in English, about how he was guided; and you can also learn Islam from him on his website[1].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx11OZH8gDI&t=485s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouo76Zs0TxM&t=261s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouo76Zs0TxM&t=232s

He was born.

Anthony Waclaw Gavin Green. He is British.

Green was born in Tanzania. His father was an administrator in one of the colonies of the British Empire, and his mother was of Polish origin.

His father was an atheist, while his mother was a follower of the Roman Catholic Church. Hence, Abdur-Rahīm Green was raised upon the Catholic beliefs from babyhood.

After the colony of Dar al-Salam in Tanzania gained independence, his parents returned to the United Kingdom, where Green joined the Catholic Monks boarding school and then Gilling Castle school, and finally Ampleforth College.

Green attended the Catholic churches.

At the age of 11, he moved to Cairo after his father was offered a job there, and he used to spend his long holidays in this city.

Green began to pose questions about life and faith to his Catholic teacher, and he would defend faith versus atheism, even though he did not think that his beliefs were right.

Green's interest in Islam as a religion began in 1987, and he managed to obtain a translated copy of the Qur’an.

"I was amazed at this great and astonishing book," he said.

Then, he officially converted to Islam in 1988. Yet, he continued to drink alcohol and eat pork. In one of his videos, he jokingly said:

"I used to speak to the people at parties about the greatness of Islam and conclude my speech saying: I would have spoken more had I not been so drunk!"

After embracing Islam and spending a lot of time examining reliable sources and studying the religion extensively, Green became one of the most prominent preachers of Islam in the West. He devoted his life to serving this religion and calling people to it.

Several of his lectures are available on English-speaking Islamic channels, and some are available on YouTube.

Shaykh Abdur-Rahīm Green also used to give lectures at Speakers' Corner in the famous Hyde Park in London, and he frequently appears on Peace TV and Islam TV channel.

Unfortunately, many of his works have not been translated into Arabic. You only need to type his name on Google or YouTube and you will find a treasure trove of preaching materials introducing Islam in a wise way.

Moreover, he is one of the most prominent instructors teaching skills based on the well-known GORAP model, which aims at introducing the beauty and merits of Islam to preachers specialized in preaching Islam to non-Muslims.

Shaykh Abdur-Rahīm Green is the founder of the Islamic Education and Research Academy, iERA.

He is well-known throughout the Muslim community through his efforts in preaching Islam in different countries. He currently appears on the English-speaking Peace and Islam TV channels and takes part in some international events, like the Peace Conference in Mumbai. He also organizes da‘wah and humanitarian convoys in Africa and Southeast Asia.

He wrote many valuable articles and books which have been translated to numerous languages, such as:

The Man in the Red Underpants

https://postimg.cc/wyXS7J6p

https://postimg.cc/wyXS7J6p

Julie Carol Sanders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBYeAEZaneg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sdt8QpXiGA

Julie tried to Christianize her Muslim friend. Faced with her insistence, her friend agreed, with one condition, which Sanders failed to meet and hence she embraced Islam and wore hijab (head veil).

Julie Sanders was a very committed Christian. She attempted to convert her friend to Christianity a friend with whom she got acquainted with due to her fine moral character.

Her friend agreed to her persistent request, but with one condition; if she could fulfill this condition, she would leave Islam and embrace Christianity. What was that condition?

As she pressed a Muslim called Hamīdah to embrace Christianity, Hamīdah, being fed-up with her persistent attempts, said to her: "If you could find one error in Islam, I would then convert to Christianity!"

She read and searched and could not find anything.

So, she reversed the situation, asking Hamīdah to try and find any error in Christianity. Hamīdah did not need to read any book; but she gave her a book from Ahmed Deedat, after which Julie became Muslim.

Hamīdah, however, advised her not to wear hijab; but Sanders wore it after she saw that a Muslim woman had almost lost her job due to her observance of hijab, and she asked Sanders to read about hijab.

She only knew about fasting seven years after converting to Islam. She got married to a Muslim, but he does not observe fasting.

She went through bitter experiences with some people, who did not understand Islam properly,

and complained about the inconsistencies she saw among Muslims:  Moroccans present an Islam very different from the Islam displayed by the Egyptians, whereas the Pakistanis claims that thier Islam is the true one.

Julie/Jamīlah said:

"The first advice I offer to new converts to Islam is: Please, do not speak to Muslims. Read as much as you can and ascertain the right sources. Read three books on every issue, for one of the books may not be right. Follow your heart. Indeed, the sound mind can differentiate between right and wrong."

Listen to what she has to say!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgQgbfZ3rYI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXR2OdjHe0w

She said to the members of Congress: "Let society know me and what I believe in."

Janice Huff was a Baptist girl from the US south. She was a hardline advocate of women, and a presenter and journalist, who possessed remarkable mental capabilities.

She excelled in her studies and gained scholarships, and managed her business by herself.

She competed with professionals, won prizes, and made all these accomplishments while she was still an undergraduate.

Then, one day, and because of a computing error, she was destined to undertake a task assigned to her because she was a sincere Christian.

This would bring her to a change totally different from what was planned. It would completely alter the course of her life.

Her journey with her faith and her sacrifices for it began:

This happened in 1975, when the computer was first employed in universities. She was enrolled in a subject of the college she attended. During her free time outside work, she would study hard to obtain an academic degree.

She had previously enrolled in a certain subject and went to Oklahoma to do some business. This delayed her by two weeks delaying the start of her university course. Anyway, it was no problem for her to make up for what she had missed.

But, to her surprise, she was registered in the theater subject, due to a computing error. The students had to play the roles in front of others, and she was a shy person. Her academic reports described her as too silent. Now, she had to stand before other students, which was in itself a reason for her panic and fear. She could not change the subject. It was too late.

She did not like the idea of dropping the subject, because this would mean low grades, which in turn would deprive her of a scholarship she was waiting for, that would cover her study fees.

Acting upon her husband's advice, she talked to the teacher and tried to persuade him to give her an alternative role, like preparing the actors' costumes. The teacher assured her that he would try to help her as much as he could.

When she went to the lecture, she was shocked to see that the classroom was filled with "camel jockeys", a derogatory term referring to Arabs. This was a sufficient reason for her to be more averse.

She returned home and decided not to attend this class from then on. The idea of sitting among Arabs was totally out of the question for her. "It is impossible for me to go and sit in a room full of dirty pagans."

Her husband was a calm person. He reminded her of the phrase she would often repeat - God makes a reason for everything - and that she had to carefully consider her decision to drop the subject, especially as this would mean risking the scholarship that would cover the cost of her study.

She locked herself in her house for two days, thinking over this issue. Then, she broke her seclusion deciding to continue with the class. She was driven by the feeling that God predestined for her to undertake the mission of converting those Arabs to Christianity.

Thus, she found herself assigned with a task that she had to discharge. She would speak to her Arab colleagues about Christianity. She said:

"I began to explain to them that they would burn in Hell forever if they did not accept the Messiah as their Savior. They would politely listen to me, but my words would not affect them, nor did they want to change their religion. Then, I began to tell them how the Messiah loves them, and how he died on the cross to save them from their sins; and that all they had to do was believe in this within their hearts."

Nonetheless, they did not embrace Christianity. So, she decided to do something else:

"I decided to read their scripture to them in a way to persuade them that Islam is a false religion and that Muhammad was a false god too."

Upon her request, one of the students gave her a copy of the Qur’an and another book on Islam.

She set out to study these two books, an endeavor that took her a year and a half. She read the entire Qur’an and 15 books about Islam. Then, she read the Qur’an once again. As she read, she would write notes she thought would disprove the Noble Qur’an and provide a proof for the falsity of this religion.

Nonetheless, she found that a certain change began to sneak deep within her, without her knowing it. This did not escape the attention of her husband.

"I had a change in some of my traits. But this was enough to worry him. We used to go to the bar on Fridays and Saturdays, or to parties. Yet, I no longer wanted to go there. I became quieter and less harmonious."

She stopped drinking alcohol and eating pork. Her husband suspected she was in a love affair with another man, for a woman's change would usually be attributed to a man. He ultimately asked her to leave, and she found herself living in a separate flat with her two kids.

"As I started to study Islam, I did not expect to find anything new that I wanted or needed in my personal life. It did not occur to me that Islam would change my life. No one could persuade me that Islam would, eventually, make me feel secure and fill my being with love and joy due to my embracing it."

Meanwhile, she continued her search and study. Although she was changing in a gradual and minute manner deep within herself, she remained faithful to her Christianity.

Then, one day she heard knocks on her door. It was a man with traditional Muslim clothing, whom she had not seen before. She described him as "a man wearing long night dress and on his head was a long piece of cloth with white and red square-shaped stripes."

His name was Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Azīz, and he was accompanied by three similarly dressed persons. Their coming to her house while wearing night dresses and pajamas was hurtful to her feelings, not to mention the shock that hit her when he said that he knew that she was intending to embrace Islam. She replied that she was a Christian and had no plan to convert to Islam.

Despite all this, she kindly asked them to answer some questions for her, if they had time. Now, as they accepted her invitation to enter her house, she had to raise the questions and objections occupying her mind, which she wrote down during her search.

"I would never forget his name," she later said of him after he exhibited his forbearance and sublime manners.

"He was very patient. He discussed with me every question I asked him. He did not make me feel silly or foolish due to any question. He listened to every question and objection and provided the answer within the proper context.

He explained to me that Allah commanded us to seek knowledge, and that posing questions is the proper way to attain it. As we moved from one topic to another, it seemed to me as if I was watching petals of flowers that were blossoming one after another until they reached their full beauty and splendor.

Each time I expressed my objection to certain things - with the reasons explained - he would reply that I was right, until our discussion reached a turning point, and he would embark on explanation and clarification. Then, he would advise me to consider the issue more deeply and from different aspects in order to reach comprehensive understanding and conception."

Before long, she started to openly yield and submit, though she had already yielded to it within herself during the past year and a half. On that same day, the baptistic southern woman declared her testimony of faith before Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Azīz and his companions: "I bear witness that none is worthy of being worshiped except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."

"This was on May 21, 1977. It came as shock to most of my family members. Their reaction was so hard that one of them tried to kill me."

Few can really trust Allah and depend on Him under such circumstances, as this woman did. She stood firm, faced the challenges, and offered sacrifices. Meanwhile, she maintained her self-restraint and positive attitude and continued to influence those around her and show them the beauty of what she found and believed in.

She lost most of her friends. Her mother could not accept the idea of her becoming Muslim and wished this was a mere fleeting whim that would soon vanish. Her sister even tried put her in a mental disease institution.

As for her father, he was known for his calm and balanced attitude. People would come to him for advice, and he used to provide solace to them at times of hardship. Yet, when the news of his daughter's conversion to Islam reached him, he loaded his gun and determined to kill her, saying: "It is better for her to be among the dead than suffer at the bottom of Hell."

Shortly thereafter, she began to wear hijab. On the day she wore it, she lost her job. Now, she became without a family, friends, or a source of income.

The major sacrifice she had to offer was yet to come. There was a relationship of deep love between her and her husband. They led a married life full of happiness. But, when she began to study Islam, doubts and suspicions found their way to her husband's heart. As a result, their relationship deteriorated due to his misunderstanding of the changes arising to her attitude, which were obvious to everyone. She became calmer and stopped going to the bars. This change was a sufficient reason for her husband to accuse her of having an illegal affair with someone else. Her attempts to convince him and explain what was happening to her proved unsuccessful.

"There was no way to clarify to him the reason behind the change happening to me, because I myself did not know its reality." Ultimately, he asked her to leave, and she began to live alone.

After she proclaimed her acceptance of Islam, things took a turn for the worse. Divorce was unavoidable. This occurred at a time people had little knowledge and understanding of the reality and essence of Islam.

She had two kids from her husband, whom she loved with every fiber of her being. Although justice dictates that the mother takes custody of her kids because she is more capable of providing them with love and care, the American judiciary deprived her of that, not for any guilt she committed, other than her embracing of Islam, which constituted a violation of the American law and justice.

Before passing the final sentence, the judge gave her a very hard choice: forsake Islam and keep custody of your kids, or remain in Islam and lose their custody. She was given just 20 minutes to make this fateful decision.

She had indescribable love for her children. It is perhaps the worst nightmare a mother could have is that she is required to abandon her kids willingly, not for one day, month, or year, but forever. On the other hand, how could she live with the two kids as a hypocrite, hiding the reality of her Islam from them!

"Those twenty minutes were the hardest and most serious in my life," she stated in an interview.

If we are fathers or, particularly, mothers, we can imagine the extent of suffering and pain that must have been felt by this mother at every minute of those twenty minutes. Her pain and grief even became more intense because of medical reports that suggested she could not get pregnant again due to certain health problems.

"I made a supplication to Allah that I had not made before. I knew that there would be no refuge for my kids better than Allah's care and protection; and if I denied Allah, I would not have a way, in the future, to reveal to my kids the amazing and wondrous situations I lived with Allah."

She decided to choose Islam and put her trust in Allah about her two kids, a boy and a girl, who were taken away from her and handed to the custody of their father.

Would there be any greater sacrifice a mother could offer? It is not a sacrifice for any worldly gain or purpose, but for faith and creed.

"I left the court with sure knowledge that my life would be hard and bitter without my kids. My heart was wrenched. Nonetheless, I knew deep within myself that I had done the right thing."

She found the best comfort and solace in the greatest verse of the noble Qur’an, namely the verse of the Kursi:

﴿ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلۡحَيُّ ٱلۡقَيُّومُۚ لَا تَأۡخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٞ وَلَا نَوۡمٞۚ لَّهُۥ مَا فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِي يَشۡفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِهِۦۚ يَعۡلَمُ مَا بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيهِمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَهُمۡۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيۡءٖ مِّنۡ عِلۡمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَۚ وَسِعَ كُرۡسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفۡظُهُمَاۚ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَلِيُّ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ٢٥٥﴾ [البقرة: 255]

{Allah: none has the right to be worshiped except Him, the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that can intercede with Him except with His permission? He knows what was before them and what will be after them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge, except what He wills. His Kursī [footstool] extends over the heavens and earth, and safeguarding of both does not weary Him, for He is the Most High, the Most Great.}[Surat al-Baqarah: 255]

Now, after the seed of Islam was planted in her heart, and it grew upon faith, patience, and reliance upon Allah, it was time for reaping the good fruits and the fulfillment of Allah's promise to the believers:

﴿أَمۡ حَسِبۡتُمۡ أَن تَدۡخُلُواْ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأۡتِكُم مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ خَلَوۡاْ مِن قَبۡلِكُمۖ مَّسَّتۡهُمُ ٱلۡبَأۡسَآءُ وَٱلضَّرَّآءُ وَزُلۡزِلُواْ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ ٱلرَّسُولُ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مَعَهُۥ مَتَىٰ نَصۡرُ ٱللَّهِۗ أَلَآ إِنَّ نَصۡرَ ٱللَّهِ قَرِيبٞ٢١٤﴾ [البقرة: 214]

{Do you think that you will enter Paradise without being tested like those before you who were tested? They were afflicted with poverty and adversity and were shaken until the messenger and the believers with him said: "When will the help of Allah come?" Indeed, the victory of Allah is near.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 214]

Perhaps the air of Colorado was too thin to carry justice in its midst, or maybe there was a greater plan whereby Allah wanted to manage this matter.

Amīnah Assilmi did not sit idly by. She defended herself in the of face this war declared against her. She raised her case in the media, and although she did not succeed in obtaining custody of her children, there was an amendment to the applicable law in Colorado stipulating that a person may not be deprived of custody of their children on account of their religion.

In fact, she was under Allah's care and protection. It seemed as if Allah chose her for some special gift. He made her the object of people's admiration and love and gave her the honor of spreading the light of Islam among them. Wherever she went, people would be affected by her pure words and noble Islamic manners, and many of them embraced Islam as a result.

After entering Islam, Amīnah became a different person and had a unique character, so much that her family members, relatives, and people around her began to admire her manners and the faith that brought about this change in her being.

Despite the initial reaction from her family members, she did not sever ties with them. Rather, she continued to communicate with them and treated them with all respect and modesty, in compliance with Allah's commands to Muslims in the noble Qur’an.

She used to send cards to her parents on different occasions. But she would adorn every card with a verse from the Qur’an or a Prophetic Hadīth, without mentioning the source of these fine words that are full of wisdom. Soon, her positive influence began to play a big role among her family members.

Her grandmother, aged over 100, was the first among her relatives to embrace Islam. She died shortly thereafter. On the day she proclaimed the testimony of faith, Allah obliterated all her past sins and kept her good deeds by virtue of her Islam. She passed away soon after entering Islam, which makes her record heavy with good deeds, Allah willing. This made me so happy.

The second person to embrace Islam was her father, who was earlier determined to kill her. Thus, he embodied the story of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him).

‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was one of the Prophet's Companions. He had persecuted the earlier Muslims before he embraced Islam. Upon hearing the news that his sister became Muslim, he went out with his sword unsheathed, intending to kill her. But when he heard some verses of the noble Qur’an, he relented and inclined to Islam and realized that it is the truth. Immediately he went off and headed to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) to declare his conversion to Islam.

Two years after Amīnah accepted Islam, her mother invited her and expressed her admiration of her belief and wished that she would continue to adhere to it. Two years later, she invited her once again and asked her about what one should do if one wants to embrace Islam.

Amīnah replied that one should believe that none is worthy of being worshiped except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Her mother said: "This is no secret even to a foolish person. But what should I do?"

Amīnah explained that if this was her belief, then she was really a Muslim. To this, her mother responded: "Well, but let us keep this a secret between us for some time and not reveal it to your father."

She was not aware that her husband (Amīnah's stepfather) had already embraced Islam two weeks earlier. So, they lived together as Muslims for years without neither of them knowing that the other was Muslim.

Her sister who tried to put her in a mental institution embraced Islam too. She must have realized that entering Islam is more beneficial for one's mental and physical health and the best thing one can do.

When her son Whitney was at the age of 21, he invited her and told her he wanted to become a Muslim.

16 years after divorce, her ex-husband converted to Islam. He told her that he had been checking on her all that period and that he wanted his daughter to follow the example of her mother and embrace this great religion. He came to her apologizing for what he had done. He was a gentleman, and Amīnah forgave him a long time ago.

The greatest prize was probably yet to come...

Later, Amīnah got married to another man and had a beautiful baby, out of Allah's grace, though the doctors determined it was impossible for her to have a baby. But who can possibly stand as a barrier between a person and Allah's gift to him! Indeed, this was a sublime blessing from Allah, and, in recognition of this blessing, she named the baby boy 'Barakah' (i.e. blessing).

"I soon began to recognize the value of the blessing Allah bestowed upon me. I learned how significant it is that people know through me the reality of Islam. The opinions of people, Muslims or non-Muslims, were no longer important to me, whether they agree or disagree with me, and so was their admiration of me. The acceptance and approval I was seeking is that of Allah Almighty. Nonetheless, I began to find out that I had the love of so many people without a clear reason. I felt very joyful when I remembered from what I read that when Allah loves a person, He makes people love him, though I do not deserve all this love. It means that this is another gift from Allah Almighty. Allah is the Most Great!"

With her remarkable style and soft words that carry sincere faith, which is firm like mountains and cannot be shaken by all earthquakes or obliterated by all volcanoes of the earth, this is the caller to the truth, Amīnah, who said: "I am willing to renounce anything, except for Islam!"

She further said: "I am very happy. I love Islam. Undoubtedly, it is my life and heartbeats. Nothing is as important to me as Islam. It is the blood flowing in my veins and the source of my strength. It is the most beautiful and splendid thing in my life. Without it, I am worth nothing. If Allah had turned His face away from me, He would not have ever decreed salvation for me. I recognize the power, love, and wisdom of Allah and understand His mercy and justice."

She also said: "The reaction of my family members was so severe that one of them tried to kill me and another tried to put me in a mental institution. This is because they could not believe my conversion to Islam. But, when I practiced Islam before them and lived as a Muslim, most of them became Muslims - Praise be to Allah!"

"If you live the true Islam and display it wherever you go, you will make an impact on others and change their way of thinking."

The sacrifice Amīnah offered in the cause of Allah is indeed one of the greatest sacrifices. As the recompense is of the same type of a person's action, she deserved Allah's mercy and great favors.

She renounced her family members for the sake of Islam, and now most of them have become Muslims. Also, she lost many friends because of Islam, and now she enjoys the love of so many people.

"All these friends came out of nowhere. Allah's favors began to come to me one after another, to the extent that all people I met during my journeys here and there got affected by the beauty of Islam and accepted the truth."

Many people - not only Muslims - now turned to her for opinion and advice.

After she had lost her job because of hijab, she became the president of the International Union of Muslim Women and gave lectures on a large scale. Her lectures attracted an increasing number of people[2], thanks to her institution which managed to gain support for issuing "the Eid post", which was approved by the US Postal Service after strenuous efforts for several years. Then, Ms. Amīnah sought to make the Eid day an official holiday nationwide.

Her great trust in Allah's love and mercy made faith, belief, and contentment with Allah's predestination deeply established in her.

She was diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer. The doctors predicted she would live for just one year. This did not shake her faith or prevent her from continuing to spread Islam until the last breath.

"Death is inevitable for all of us. I was sure that the pain I suffered was carrying within it many blessings."

The best example of a person's love for his Almighty Lord is displayed in what she related about a friend of hers called "Karīm al-Missāwi. He died of cancer at the age of 20. "Shortly before his death, he was praising and extolling Allah and describing to me how Allah is Most Merciful. He was suffering the unbearable pains. Nonetheless, his face was bright with love for Allah. He said one day: 'Allah willed to admit me into Paradise while my record of deed is white and pure.' His death was an example and lesson to me. I learned therefrom to believe in Allah's love and mercy."

After this great journey with Islam, this true religion, Allah caused her to die while believing that her infection with cancer is one of the greatest blessings Allah bestowed upon her. She, however, did not stop giving,

nor did she wait to die of cancer. Rather, she used every day of her life to present to the people the beauty of Islam and its good aspects, until she died in a car accident on March 5, 2010, outside Newport City, Tennessee, at the age of 65. She and her son were returning from a lecture she delivered in New York City.

The story of this woman contains a lot of lessons and great values. She set the best example for patience and adherence to the truth and offered major sacrifices for the sake of Islam, without fearing any blame from people. Hence, she deserved the love of Allah, Who made her loved by people and replaced her fear with security. Thus, Allah's promise to her was fulfilled:

"How true Allah's promise is! He has afflicted and tested me, and His giving was far greater than what I was hoping for."

O Muslim woman, reflect upon the story of this struggling woman, who renounced the embellishments and transient joys of worldly life in that nation representing the peak of the Western civilization; all of this for the sake of winning Allah's pleasure and love.

Wake up from your heedlessness, O Muslim woman, and take this woman as a role model so that you can win the pleasure of Allah Almighty, and know that true happiness lies in following Allah's commands, not in the fervent pursuit of fashion and the different forms of nudity and immodesty, propagated by fashion magazines, which are displeasing to our Lord.

Do not be deceived by the slogans and calls launched by the helpers of the devil through various media outlets, which promote vice and abandon virtue. Be certain that your adherence to your religion protects your chastity and purity.

O Allah, bestow Your forgiveness and mercy upon her and make her grave one of the gardens of Paradise!

Samuel Shropshire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlDd8zVXoas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi4Uyl9_kBM&t=171s

The American Muslim preacher Samuel Shropshire related the story of his conversion to Islam during his stay in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as part of a project for translating the meanings of the noble Qur’an into English.

Shropshire, whose role was restricted to correcting words in the English language, said that he had not read the Qur’an before or had any idea about Islam.

Before coming to the KSA, he was told in the US that this is a dangerous country; hence, when he arrived in the KSA, 2011, he remained in his residence and did not venture to go out. He was afraid of walking in the streets.

In a video aired by Saudi TV, he said that when he went out to buy food, he was surprised by the friendly and warm welcome by people whom he did not previously know, adding, with tearful eyes, he was shocked by their kind treatment, as they hugged him and invited him to dinner, tea, and coffee.

Shropshire related that every night he would read chapters of the English translation of the noble Qur’an and write down some questions that he would pose to Dr. Safi Qasqas - until he declared his conversion to Islam in June 2012.

Samuel noted that he performed the obligation of Hajj in 2013, which constituted a great blessing in his life, as it gave him spiritual purification and forgiveness of all his past sins. He added that he is so happy and proud to be Muslim.

During the writing of this book, we contacted the team of the preacher Samuel, as they were roaming all parts of America to call people to Allah, despite the complicated measures of the coronavirus pandemic.

-

Aisha Journey to Islam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFmT0dymTuQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQAQ6zgI5yg

Listen to her story directly from her.

Roraima Aisha Kanar related: I was born in Cuba. While my father came from the Canary Islands, my mother was a Spaniard. I lived in Cuba with my parents till the age of five. Then, I moved to the USA, where I went to the Catholic school for 12 years, until I finished my high school education.

My experience in that school was good. I had a lot of friends and sisters and was influenced by the nuns and their closeness to God. I liked their clothing and veil.

When I was close to finishing the second stage, I decided to become a nun. I told my mother about that, thinking that she would be happy about this boon. Instead, she began to weep and told me she wanted me to get married and wanted grandchildren, and that this will not happen. At that point, I began to ask about my religion.

I told her I wanted to travel to Africa, which also saddened her. She did not want me to leave the house.

In Miami University, I met two persons through whom I began to know Islam. They gave me a copy of the Qur’an and other different books. I also made an acquaintance with their family.

I found differences between Islam and Catholicism in which I was raised from childhood. In Catholicism, I had to believe in things that did not seem logical to me, like: When I commit a sin, I have to confess my sin to a human being that has authority. How is that? He is a human being like me and also commits sins. Who gave him such authority that I should confess to him?

In Catholicism, one should believe in the seven spirits of Mary, the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity. These things are intellectually illogical. I went to the priests, who said to me: What is your problem? They also told me that I could not communicate with the church if I did not believe in these things.

I found out that Allah endowed me with the mind to ask and think and gave me the Qur’an, where I found the answers to all my questions.

Islam helped me restore my shyness or modesty, with which I was born and which are lost by non-Muslims and even some Muslims.

I traveled to Syria and went to the house of a female Shaykh, where there were lots of women. There I proclaimed the testimony of faith. Those people led me to Islam. I thought they were mere friends. I began to pray in Arabic, reciting therein Surat al-Fātihah and Surat al-Ikhlās.

Roraima loved the biography and morals of the mother of the believers ‘Ā’ishah and so she took this name for herself - ‘Ā’ishah.

James Eric Meek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdeCXAvAcQo&t=17s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emyxPZEywTU

Khalīl Meek is one of the founders of the Muslim Legal Fund of America and he is its executive director. He was behind the acquittal of so many Muslims who were accused in cases that drew the attention of the public opinion in America, without taking the proper legal measures.

Meek was born in Japan when his father was serving in the American army (1964 - 1965). Then, he returned with his parents and siblings to the US, where he was raised in a conservative Catholic family.

Meek joined Denton University, Texas, to study financial investments. He decided, however, to work as a Baptist missionary, a desire that led him to a journey of dialogues and research, which ended up with him embracing Islam in 1989.

After September 11, 2001, events, and the ensuing persecution against Muslims at the public and private levels, an idea was raised about establishing a project for defending the legal rights of Muslims. I agreed to work with them for six months to draw up a financial plan for this entity, which needed a lot of money to play its intended role. Thus, the fund came into being. Now, after the passage of 15 years, I am still there.

We do different activities, like holding conferences and raising the awareness of mosque imāms and leaders about law.

The fund also undertakes to find and hire the best lawyers to defend Muslims and their rights in the US courts. We are not lawyers, but we choose lawyers and make them available for defendants.

After years of experience, we can now distinguish between a lawyer who has a good reputation yet does not perform well in the court and a lawyer whose performance is strong before the judiciary body.

After 14 years of funding cases, we acquired experience in selecting the best lawyers, based on the types of cases presented to us.

A summary of an interview with him in California, conducted by Marwa Sabri.

https://www.noor-book.com/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%89-%D9%83%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86-pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBuoZrSnrFw

He wrote the book "Al-Adiyān Fi Kaffat Al-Mizān" (Religions in the Scale), in which he mentioned that he was studying Islam with the intent to extract therefrom the errors suggested to him by his teachers and relatives; but he found out that what they claimed to be shortcomings in Islam are actually advantages. So, he approached Islam with his heart and yielded to it. After careful consideration, study, and examination, he believed in it, and it turned out to be heavier in the scale.[3]

He was born to a Christian father and mother from Egypt. They planted in him love for Christianity so that he would be a member of the Christian community. But he began to think and reflect.

He entertained some doubts that ignited in him the flame of worry, which prompted him to search for the truth and the sound religion.

As his mind grew, he started searching for the truth. About this, he recalls:

"The study led me to listen carefully to several calls which reached me as a result of the loopholes exposed by my doubts and suspicions about things that my mind could not accept and my conscience could not feel reassured about at the moment of spiritual purity, as part of the things I was studying or the tasks I was being prepared to carry. So, those calls found listening ears in me. Thereafter, I began to think about the religions preceding my religion, and in this I was like a man jumping out of the frying pan into the fire."[4]

Al-Hāshimi began to look into the religions before Christianity and man-made religions so that he may find therein what he was searching for.

Then, he turned to Islam and began to look into it. But he was resentful and hateful of it. He did not want to embrace it. Rather, he aimed at extracting shortcomings, faults, and contradictions from it so as to destroy this religion and rid people of it. But, glory be to the One Who can change people's conditions! This man found in Islam the path of guidance and the light he had been searching for throughout his life.

He described what he saw in the religion of Islam, saying: "I found an adequate answer to every question, which could not be answered by any previous religion, be it man-made, descending from the divine religions, or based on philosophical principles (I say 'descending' because religions descend at the hands of clergymen, who make them depart from their required purpose). I found that what they claimed to be shortcomings in Islam are advantages, what they thought to be contradictions are wise things or rulings and laws that were explained to people of understanding, and what they considered to be faults in Islam are remedies for humanity, which have long descended into the wilderness of darkness. Then, Islam came and brought them out of darkness into light, and people were guided, by their Lord's permission, to a straight path."

After that, Muhammad Fouad al-Hāshimi declared his conversion to Islam.

After Muhammad Fouad al-Hāshimi embraced Islam, he did several things to serve this religion.

He conducted a comparative study of religions. One of the fruits of this study is an amazing book he offered to Muslims, titled "Religions in the Pan of Scale" - and numerous other books, in addition to elevating the word of Allah and supporting His religion[5].

﴿ٱلَّذِينَ أُخۡرِجُواْ مِن دِيَٰرِهِم بِغَيۡرِ حَقٍّ إِلَّآ أَن يَقُولُواْ رَبُّنَا ٱللَّهُۗ وَلَوۡلَا دَفۡعُ ٱللَّهِ ٱلنَّاسَ بَعۡضَهُم بِبَعۡضٖ لَّهُدِّمَتۡ صَوَٰمِعُ وَبِيَعٞ وَصَلَوَٰتٞ وَمَسَٰجِدُ يُذۡكَرُ فِيهَا ٱسۡمُ ٱللَّهِ كَثِيرٗاۗ وَلَيَنصُرَنَّ ٱللَّهُ مَن يَنصُرُهُۥٓۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَقَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ٤٠﴾ [الحج: 40]

{Allah surely helps those who stand up for His cause. Indeed, Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty.} [Surat al-Hajj: 40][6]

He also authored books titled: "The Secret of My Conversion to Islam.. Why I Chose Islam as a Religion"; "The Prophet Without Doubt"; "A Dialogue Between a Christian and a Muslim"; and "Judaism from the Holy Scriptures".

Source: Book "‘Uzhamā' Aslamu" (Great Figures Who Embraced Islam), for Dr. Rāgheb al-Sergāni

The covers of some of the books by the former priest Muhammad Fouad al-Hāshimi:

https://postimg.cc/FkvDqBXt

https://postimg.cc/y3Tvzy7D

https://postimg.cc/D47RsZZb

https://postimg.cc/JtcLnwnk

Blake, the British woman: She was searching and comparing the Qur’an and the Gospel

Jane Blake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Sn4cgneuU&t=145s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyZ8QR-SbuA

Ms. Ameena Blake related: "I went through the stages of education until I joined university and obtained an academic degree in English language. I followed my father's example in teaching language and became a teacher. Then, I got a master's degree in administrative leadership in teaching, in an area of Sheffield.

My previous religion is Christianity. Although the Gospel abounds with amazing stories, and I was passionate about the spiritual and faith-related aspect, which is an innate part of human beings without which they cannot live,

I always wanted to be sure about my belief and religion. Allah endowed people with mind and distinguished them thereby from other creatures. My keen interest in the scientific aspect helped me in this.

This universe did not come from nothing. It comprises a very delicate cosmic engineering. Hence, this life must be consistent with Allah's intent.

I used to read the Gospel a lot. But I always saw that it does not accord with science. Science has certain facts and things, and the Bible says something different. I cannot believe in anything without proof. This caused a conflict within me.

Questions began to come to my mind one after another, and doubts sneaked into my soul. I said: 'I must go to the church,' which I did. I met the priest and posed many questions to him, like: 'Why is God three though He is supposed to be One?'

I asked him to convince me of the allegation of trinity and the reason behind salvation. If the Messiah was a god, what was the salvation for?

He answered me: 'You should believe with your heart only.' This phrase was like telling me: Do not think, do not discuss, do not ask. I cannot do that. I cannot believe in anything unless it is established to me by a proof.

During that period, I had a Muslim friend. As we were walking one night, I asked her about Islam, whether Islam could answer my questions in a scientific way, and whether there is a connection between Islam and science.

I was interested in knowing Allah Almighty and the proof that the Qur’an is the word of Allah. Since my friend had very limited knowledge on this, she directed me to read a translation of the noble Qur’an, which I set off reading.

One day, this friend came to me and said: 'Well, a neighbor of mine - an English man called David - converted to Islam a long time ago. I think he can answer your questions.

To me, David was like a drowning man clutching at anything to save him from his inner conflict.

I went to him and asked the same question about Islam. He brought to me the Qur’an and verses therefrom that accord with science and its facts. I here say 'verses', not 'one verse' - verses that agree with science.

Like the verses in which Allah speaks about the cycle of water, clearly demonstrating to me all the facts related to this cycle in its eight forms: the sun, the wind, the storage of water, the clouds, etc. He cited the verse that reads:

﴿أَلَمۡ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُزۡجِي سَحَابٗا ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ بَيۡنَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَجۡعَلُهُۥ رُكَامٗا فَتَرَى ٱلۡوَدۡقَ يَخۡرُجُ مِنۡ خِلَٰلِهِۦ وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن جِبَالٖ فِيهَا مِنۢ بَرَدٖ فَيُصِيبُ بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَصۡرِفُهُۥ عَن مَّن يَشَآءُۖ يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرۡقِهِۦ يَذۡهَبُ بِٱلۡأَبۡصَٰرِ ٤٣﴾ [النور: 43]

{Do you not see that Allah drives the clouds, then gathers them together, then turns them into a heap, then you see raindrops coming out from their midst? He sends down hail from mountains [of clouds] in the sky, raining it down upon whoever He wills and turning it away from whoever He wills. The flash of its lightning almost takes away eyesight.}[Surat an-Nūr: 43]

Then, he began to cite other verses, like the ones in which Allah speaks about mountains and their wedges that diverge into the earth, an information that was reached by geology only 30 or 40 years ago. Glory be to Allah!

And other verses that describe earth as egg-shaped; whereas the Bible says it is flat.

Also, there are two dazzling verses. In the first verse, Allah speaks about the embryo, something which can only be seen by a microscope. You cannot see it with your naked eyes. Glory be to Allah!

Yet, Allah mentions it in the Qur’an! All these are proofs. They are considered proofs not only 1400 ago, but also today. This is another miracle pointing to the permanence of the Qur’an. It is closely linked to the past, the present, and the everlasting future. Glory be to Allah!

The second verse addresses justice between man and woman. I am an advocate of giving women more rights and jobs, yet within the Islamic framework. I am keenly interested in women's rights.

I clearly saw justice between man and woman in the Qur’an, to the extent that it mentions man and woman the same number of times: 23. Now, let me ask: How many chromosomes are in a human being? The answer is: 46. Glory be to Allah! It is 23 for the father and 23 for the mother.

When David finished talking, I said to myself: This is the thing I should believe in. This is the true religion, which addresses the mind with arguments and proofs.

Really, this is not the speech of human beings. I was in need of a proof that tells me: This is the truth. I wasted my life following something, and then it ultimately turned out to be wrong. Glory be to Allah!

Now, I had a proof from the religion. But I still needed this proof to change my feelings: my heart... a feeling that calls me and attracts my emotion.

I was 17 years old at the time. My brother David gave me a copy of "The Message" movie, which relates the Prophet's biography. As I watched the movie, I felt bored, since it is too long, nearly three hours. I kept entering the room for some time and leaving it for a while, and so on, until all of a sudden, it was as if the world stopped moving at one moment. In the scene in which Bilāl (may Allah be pleased with him) rose over the Ka‘bah and proclaimed the Adhān for the first time, I rushed towards the room where the TV was. What is this sound? It is the Adhān. I had not heard it before. The rhyme at every pause in the words and phrases of the Adhān gave me such a warm feeling.

My heart had not lived such warm moments before. It even felt that it should turn to one of the scenes of this amazing movie and be part of it, though I understood none of its words - nothing. How strange! It is in Arabic language, and I am an English woman.

It was a new feeling that I had not been familiar with before. I needed to be part of this wonderful movie and one of its elements. Three days later, I directed my face towards the mosque and uttered the testimony of faith. This happened 22 years ago. Praise be to Allah!"

Ms. Ameena, a preacher, lecturer, professional, and activist in presenting Islam's beauty and values to the British society. She is the vice president of the Muslim Association of Britain.

https://shamela.ws/author/1181

He is a holder of a master's degree in theology from Princeton University in the United States of America.

His books include:

Muhammad in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur’an

The Messiah is a Human Being, Not a God

Islam in the Divine Scriptures

Know Your Enemy Israel

Orientalism and Missionary Work and their Link to the Global Imperialism

Missionaries and Orientalists in the Arab and Muslim World

He was a pastor of the evangelical church and a theologian. A lot of people converted to Islam by his hands.

He was turned back by his free mind:

Shaykh Ibrāhīm relates to us the story of his journey to Islam, saying:

"I was invited to speak at a missionary conference. I elaborated on all the frequently repeated criticisms against Islam. As I finished talking, I asked myself: Why do I say this while I know that I am lying?

I excused myself before the conference was over and went out alone, heading home. I was shaken deep inside and very disturbed. At home, I spent the whole night alone in the library, reading the Qur’an. I paused for long at the noble verse that reads:

﴿لَوۡ أَنزَلۡنَا هَٰذَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٖ لَّرَأَيۡتَهُۥ خَٰشِعٗا مُّتَصَدِّعٗا مِّنۡ خَشۡيَةِ ٱللَّهِۚ وَتِلۡكَ ٱلۡأَمۡثَٰلُ نَضۡرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ ٢١﴾ [الحشر: 21]

{Had We sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and break asunder out of awe of Allah. Such are the similitudes We set forth for people so that they may reflect.} [Surat al-Hashr: 21]

At that night, I took the most important decision in my life and embraced Islam. Then, all my children followed suit, and the most enthusiastic among them was my eldest son, Osāmah, a Doctor of Philosophy, who works as a professor of psychology in Sorbonne University.

A former teacher at the Evangelical Faculty of Theology, Ibrāhīm Khalīl Philobus is one of millions who followed what they found their forefathers following, among non-Muslims.

He grew up in the church and rose the ladder of career in the schools of theology and occupied a high position in the sphere of missionary work. With his hand, he wrote down the summary and outcome of his long experience in hundreds of pages of a master's thesis titled: How can we destroy Islam by Muslims?

In theology, Philobus was an unrivalled expert, and he was the proud son of the American evangelical church. Due to the means of power, pleasure, and protection provided to him, Ibrāhīm did not show the scholars of Al-Azhar - who led a life of austerity - any regard or respect!

However, the uprising of falsehood subsided all of a sudden, and the errors of the evangelical distortion and the Torah-related fabrication cracked unexpectedly, with the veil of illusion falling and the natural insight blooming. Ibrāhīm Khalīl Philobus, who had turned 40 in 1959, had a new birth.

The following interview was conducted with Mr. Ibrāhīm Khalīl Ahmad, today's preacher, which delved through the vestibules of misguidance and falsehood, heading towards the realm of the truth, guidance, and light.

Q: How was the journey of guidance which led you to the shore of faith and Islam? Where was the start?

A: I was born in Alexandria, Egypt, January 13, 1919. I grew up as a committed Christian and was sent to the American Missionary schools. As I reached the stage of secondary education, World War II broke out.

Alexandria was subject to horrific bombardments. So, we were obliged to relocate to Assiut, where I joined the boarding education at its faculty and obtained a diploma in 1941-1942. Opportunities of work were soon available to me, and I joined the US forces, from 1942 to 1944.

Q: What was the nature of this work? And how did you get it?

A: The US forces had chemical laboratories at that time for analyzing the metals forming the structures of the downed aircraft with the aim of knowing their compositions and types.

Given my culture gained at the Faculty of Assiut and my excellent command of English, and since the Americans had such a keen interest in university graduates and would welcome them in their firms, I worked there and spent two years in this job.

But the news of the war and disasters inspired me to have a deeper worldview and led me towards the call to peace and to the church, which was monitoring my desires and inflaming my inclinations. So, I joined the Faculty of Theology in 1945 and studied for three years there.

Q: What are the general lines of the faculty's approach? And where does Islam stand in it?

A: In the first eight months, we were engaging in theoretical studies. The professor would give the lecture in the form of main points, after which we were required to complete our research in the library. We had to learn the three languages - the Greek, the Aramaic, and the Hebrew - in addition to Arabic as the mother tongue and English as a second language.

Then, we studied the introductions to the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as the interpretations and commentaries, the history of the church, and then the history of the missionary movement and its relation to Muslims. At that point, we began to study the noble Qur’an and the Prophetic Hadīths and focused on the sects that departed from Islam, like the Isma‘ilis, the ‘Alawis, the Qadiyanists, and the Baha'is.

Surely, the students were given great attention. It is enough to mention that we were 12 students, and 12 American and 7 Egyptian teachers were assigned to teach to us.

Q: Those studies about Islam and Muslim sects; were they for academic learning only, or there was another purpose behind them?

A: In fact, we would make these studies the basis of our future dialogues with Muslims and use our knowledge for combating the Qur’an with the Qur’an and Islam with the black spots in the history of Muslims!

We used to engage in dialogues with the Azharis (those related to Azhar University) and Muslims based on the Qur’an to mislead them, using verses taken out of their context to serve our purposes.

We had certain books addressing this issue, most notably the book "Guidance" and the book "The Source of Islam". Moreover, we would also utilize the writings of the orientalism agents, such as Taha Hussein, from whose book "Ash-Shi‘ﷺ‬ Al-Jāhili" (Pre-Islam Poetry) the church benefited greatly. The students at the Faculty of Theology considered it one of the chief books for teaching the subject on Islam.

My master's thesis, titled "How can we destroy Islam by Muslims?", tackled this approach, in 1952. I prepared it in a period of four years, based on my practical experience in preaching and missionary work among Muslims, after my graduation in 1948.

Q: How then did this turnabout happen to you? When did you intend to embrace Islam?

A: As I mentioned earlier, I was very active in the American missionary movement. Through the long contact and first-hand knowledge of their secrets, I became sure that the missionaries from Egypt had not come to spread the religion, but to support colonization and espionage.

Q: How?

A: There were many indications and instances. When the country was getting prepared to revolt against oppression, the church was the first to know that, because the Copts and Muslims lived together on the same land. If a Muslim whined, the Copt would immediately hear his whining and report that to us, and we in turn would analyze and translate it.

On the other hand, the church's followers in the armed forces were a direct tool for conveying the military information and secrets. And through the missionary centers, which were affiliated to the US and protected by it, the espionage war was directed.

Let me tell you that an Egyptian Christian has two nationalities and affiliations: his affiliation to the homeland where he was born, which is a civil affiliation expressed by his Egyptian nationality, and a stronger religious affiliation, represented by the Christian nationality. In Europe and the US, he feels that he is a protected first-class citizen. By contrast, in Egypt, Christians feel they are strangers. This is exactly like the Israeli who is spiritually and religiously affiliated to Jerusalem, yet his affiliation to the homeland where he was born is a purely civil one.

Therefore, it was the plot of missionaries and the church to put Egypt under the influence of colonization and make it unable to live independently from it.

This prompted me to feel my Egyptian affiliation and see those people as strangers to me and that my Muslim neighbor was actually closer to me than them. So, I began to be tolerant. Excuse me, I say "to be tolerant", and I mean: I began to recite the Qur’an in a way different from the earlier one.

In June 1995 or so, I listened to Allah's words that read:

﴿قُلۡ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ ٱسۡتَمَعَ نَفَرٞ مِّنَ ٱلۡجِنِّ فَقَالُوٓاْ إِنَّا سَمِعۡنَا قُرۡءَانًا عَجَبٗا١ يَهۡدِيٓ إِلَى ٱلرُّشۡدِ فَـَٔامَنَّا بِهِۦۖ وَلَن نُّشۡرِكَ بِرَبِّنَآ أَحَدٗا ٢﴾ [الجن: 1-2]

{Say: "It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened [to the Qur’an,] and they said: 'Indeed, we have heard a wondrous recitation that guides to the right way, so we have believed in it.'"} [Surat al-Jinn: 1-2]

Strangely, this noble verse took hold of my heart, and when I returned home, I rushed to the Qur’an and held it while I was amazed at this Qur’anic chapter.

Q: How?

A: Allah Almighty says:

﴿لَوۡ أَنزَلۡنَا هَٰذَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٖ لَّرَأَيۡتَهُۥ خَٰشِعٗا مُّتَصَدِّعٗا مِّنۡ خَشۡيَةِ ٱللَّهِۚ وَتِلۡكَ ٱلۡأَمۡثَٰلُ نَضۡرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ ٢١﴾ [الحشر: 21]

{Had We sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and break asunder out of awe of Allah.} [Surat al-Hashr: 21]

Ibrāhīm Khalīl, who was until recently fighting Islam and establishing arguments out of the Qur’an and the Sunnah and from the heretic sects against Islam, now turned into a soft-hearted person who approached the Qur’an with respect and reverence. It was as if the veil on my eyes was lifted and my eyesight became sharp so that I could see what could not be seen and felt the inspirations of Allah as a bight light sparkling within the lines. So, I devoted myself to the Book of Allah and recited the verse that reads:

﴿ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلرَّسُولَ ٱلنَّبِيَّ ٱلۡأُمِّيَّ ٱلَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُۥ مَكۡتُوبًا عِندَهُمۡ فِي ٱلتَّوۡرَىٰةِ وَٱلۡإِنجِيلِ ...﴾ [الأعراف: 157]

{Those who follow the Messenger – the unlettered Prophet – whose description they find in their Torah and the Gospel.} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 157]

And in Surat as-Saff, I read:

﴿... وَمُبَشِّرَۢا بِرَسُولٖ يَأۡتِي مِنۢ بَعۡدِي ٱسۡمُهُۥٓ أَحۡمَدُۖ ...﴾ [الصف: 6]

{And giving glad tidings of a messenger after me whose name will be Ahmad.} [Surat as-Saff: 6]

Then, the noble Qur’an affirms that there are prophecies in the Torah and the Gospel about Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).

Hence, I started to study these prophecies, for years, and found them to be true, not marred by alteration or distortion. This is because the Children of Israel thought that they would not go beyond their circle. For example, Deuteronomy, the fifth among the books of the Torah, says: (I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.)

I paused at the word "their brothers" and wondered: Does it refer to "the Children of Israel"? If this was the case, He would say: "From among themselves." As He said, "from among their brothers", this means it refers to their cousins.

In Deuteronomy 2:4, Allah says to Prophet Moses: (You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau.) 'Esau' is the person we call in Islam Al-‘Īs, and he is the full brother of Jacob. His children are the cousins of the Children of Israel. Nonetheless, He says: "Your brothers." The same applies to the children of Isaac and the children of Ishmael; they are cousins, because Isaac is the full brother of Ishmael. From Isaac came the Children of Israel, and from Ishmael came Qedar, from whose offspring came Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). This is the branch that the Children of Israel wanted to abolish, and which is affirmed by the Torah when it says: "From among your brothers." That's from among your cousins.

Then, I paused at the words "like you" and held a comparison between the three prophets: Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. I found that Jesus greatly differed from Moses and Muhammad, according to the Christian belief itself, which we certainly reject. In their belief, he is an embodied god and the real son of God, and he is the second hypostasis of the Trinity and died on the cross. As for Moses, he was a servant of Allah, a man, and a prophet, and he died naturally and was buried in a grave just like other human beings, which also holds true for our Prophet Muhammad.

The likeness applies to Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), whereas the difference is affirmed between Jesus and Moses, according to the Christian belief itself.

If we consider the remaining part "I will put my words in his mouth..." and look into Muhammad's life, we will find that he was an unlettered man who could not read or write, and all of a sudden he came to proclaim the miraculous Qur’an when he turned forty. If we go back to another prophesy in the Torah, in Isaiah 29:12, which says, "Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I don’t know how to read”, we will find complete matching between these two prophesies and the incident of Gabriel coming down with revelation to the Messenger of Allah in Hirā’ Cave and the revelation of the first five verses of Surat al-‘Alaq.

Q: This applies to the Torah. What about the Gospel in which you used to believe?

If we exclude Barnabas's clear and explicit prophesies about the mission of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), mentioning him by name, as the church does not acknowledge this Gospel in the first place, Christ gave nine prophesies in the Gospel of John. The word 'paraclete', which is used by John in several prophesies, has five meanings: the comforter, the intercessor, the lawyer, the praised one, the praiseworthy one. All these meanings fully apply to Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). He is the comforter to the group of believers and followers of the truth after their past loss and decadence. And he is the lawyer who defends Jesus, the son of Mary, and all prophets and messengers after the Jews and Christians distorted their image and changed their religion, which is Islam.

Hence, the Gospel of John, 14:16-17, says: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; the spirit of the truth." In another prophesy, 16:13-14, He says: "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you to all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me." This agrees with the Qur’anic verse that reads:

﴿قُلۡ إِنَّمَآ أَنَا۠ بَشَرٞ مِّثۡلُكُمۡ يُوحَىٰٓ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَآ إِلَٰهُكُمۡ إِلَٰهٞ وَٰحِدٞۖ فَمَن كَانَ يَرۡجُواْ لِقَآءَ رَبِّهِۦ فَلۡيَعۡمَلۡ عَمَلٗا صَٰلِحٗا وَلَا يُشۡرِكۡ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِۦٓ أَحَدَۢا١١٠﴾ [الكهف: 110]

{Say: "I am only a man like you; it has been revealed to me that your God is One God. So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and associate none in the worship of his Lord."} [Surat al-Kahf: 110]

Q: How was the moment in which you declared your conversion to Islam? And how was the new life of guidance and the truth?

After I reached certitude and laid my hands on the truth, I had to talk to the closest person to me, my wife. Unfortunately, however, my words were leaked through her to the mission, and they soon caught me and put me in a hospital under strict oversight on the grounds that I was mentally deranged!

During the four months that followed, I went through a very tough suffering. They separated my wife and children from me and confiscated my library, which comprised prominent books and encyclopedias. My name was even removed from Asyut complex and the Synod conference, and my file as a holder of a master's degree from the Faculty of Theology was lost. Paradoxically, the English authorities, during that period, had overthrown one of the kings on the grounds of insanity. So, I feared I might face the same fate. Therefore, I remained calm, patient, and steadfast till I was released.

I tendered my resignation from religious service and worked at an American stationery firm, but the oversight there was so strict. The church does not allow any of its followers to revolt against it and be safe. They will either kill him or scheme plots against him to destroy his life.

On the other hand, the Muslim community was unable to help me at the time, for the period of the 1950s and 1960s, as you know, witnessed the elimination of some Islamic groups. Affiliation to Islam and defending it during that period would only lead to ruin. Therefore, I had to struggle as much as I could.

So, I embarked on business and opened a trade office. Once it was completed, I rushed to send a telegraph message to Dr. John Thomson, the then-chairman of the US mission, on December 25, 1959, coinciding with Christmas Day. The message read: I believed in Allah, the One and Only God, and in Muhammad as a Prophet and Messenger.

But my declaration of conversion to Islam obliged me, according to the legal procedures, to meet a committee, from my nationality, to verify the matter and discuss it with me.

At the time when all European and American companies refused to deal with me, the concerned committee was formed out of seven priests holding PhD. Their discourse with me was more of intimidation and threats than discussion.

And it actually happened! I was expelled from my apartment because I did not pay the rent for two or three months. The church continued to plot against me wherever I went. Moreover, my business came to a deadlock. I proceeded, however, on the true path that I embraced, until Allah destined that my news reach the then-minister of endowments. He summoned me to meet him and asked me to join the Islamic work (through the job of the secretary of the expert committee at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs).

I initially felt extremely happy. But the atmosphere to which I moved was, unfortunately, toxic. The youths were being trained on spying, rather than seeking knowledge!

The employees were concerned with the instructions of the youths organization and prioritized them over their original duties. Spying on colleagues, managers, and deputy ministers enables the ruler to control all of them with an iron fist. I would often leave my stuff in my desk drawer in a tidy way, to find them in a mess the following day.

In this state, days went by, and Allah Almighty willed that a new minister of endowments assume the post. The new minister had been raised in a German disciplined manner. However, the secretary of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and one of the revolution second-level officers stood up against him.

One day the new minister summoned me after the release of my book "Orientalists and Missionaries in the Arab and Muslim World". He liked to make an acquaintance with me. News of this reached the secretary of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and he thought I was part of the new minister's camp. So, all of a sudden, I found myself on the receiving end of insult from his office manager, who said to me: Go to the ministry that protects you!

I came out with tears in my eyes. I also found out that they confiscated my personal books from my office and left nothing to me but a few stuff, which I carried and returned to the ministry, where I worked as a registry clerk. Then, I retired on January 1, 1979, at the age of 60.

From that day on, Ibrāhīm Khalīl began to take his position as an Islamic preacher.

The first thing with which Allah Almighty supported me was that I, along with Dr. Jamīl Ghāzi, held an open debate with 13 priests in Sudan, which ended with all of them converting to Islam. Those were a cause of goodness and guidance for the people in West Sudan, as thousands of pagans and others entered the religion of Allah at their hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDR6yQWe-Jo&t=60s

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Praise be to Allah for the blessing of Islam. It is indeed a great blessing unrivalled by any other blessing, for there are no longer any people on earth who worship Allah alone but the Muslims.

I went through a long journey, close to 40 years, until Allah guided me. I will describe to you all the stages of this journey in my life:

My father was a preacher in Alexandria, at the Friends of the Bible Association. His job was to do missionary activities in the poor villages in an attempt to bring poor Muslims to Christianity. My father insisted that I should join the deacons when I was 6 years old and attend regularly the lessons of Sunday Schools. There, they plant the seeds of black spite in the minds of children. To this end, they say:

Muslims usurped Egypt from Christians and tortured them.

Muslims are worse disbelievers than Buddhists and cow worshipers.

The Qur’an is not the book of Allah, but Muhammad invented it.

Muslims persecute Christians to drive them to leave Egypt and immigrate abroad.

In addition to other seeds that cultivate black hatred in the children's hearts against Muslims.

During that embarrassing period, my father would speak to us, secretly, about the deviation of the churches from true Christianity, which forbids images, statues, prostration to patriarchs, and confession to priests.

At the age of 18, I became a lecturer in the Sunday Schools and a teacher for deacons. Meanwhile, I had to attend the preaching classes in the church and visit the monasteries on a periodic basis, particularly in the summer, when people specialized in attacking Islam and harshly criticizing the Qur’an and Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).

These meetings would include statements like:

The Qur’an abounds with contradictions. Then, they would cite incomplete verses, like {Do not approach prayer...}

And many many statements deriding the noble Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).

During that period, youths, including myself, would ask the priests many questions that were confusing to us:

A Christian young man asked: What do you think about Muhammad?

The priest answered: He was a genius and smart person.

There were a lot of geniuses, like Plato, Socrates, and Hammurabi, yet we did not see followers for them or a religion that spreads that fast, to date. Why?

The priest was confused in answering.

Another young man asked: What do you think about the Qur’an?

Answer: It is a book that contains stories of the prophets and urges people to do virtuous deeds, yet it is filled with errors.

Q: Why do you fear that we should read it and consider those who touch or read it as disbelievers?

A: The priest insisted that those who read it are disbelievers, without clarifying the reason.

Another one asked: If Muhammad was a liar, why would Allah leave him to spread his call for 23 years, and his religion even continues to spread to date, though it is written in the Book of Jeremiah that God undertook to destroy anyone who claims prophethood, him and his family, within a year?

The priest answered: Perhaps God wants to test Christians through him.

In 1971, Patriarch Shenouda issued a decision to deprive Raphael, the Monk of the Monastery of Saint Mina, from prayer, because he did not mention his name in the prayer. Monk Samuel tried to convince him of the prayer saying that he prays to God and not to the Patriarch. But he feared the Patriarch might deprive him of heaven as well!

Monk Samuel wondered: Would the Imam of Al-Azhar dare to deprive any Muslim from prayer? Impossible.

The most confusing thing to me was my knowledge that every Christian sect considers other sects as disbelievers. So, I asked Archpriest Matyas Raphael, a father confessor, and he affirmed to me that such takfīr (declaring someone a disbeliever) is valid on earth and in the heaven.

I wondered: Does this mean that we are disbelievers because the Pope of Rome considers us as such?

He answered: Unfortunately, yes.

I further asked: And all other sects are disbelievers because the Patriarch of Alexandria considers them as disbelievers?

He answered: Unfortunately, yes.

I asked him: Then, what will be our condition on the Day of Judgment?

He answered: May God show mercy to us!

As I entered the church and found the image and statue of the Messiah above its altar, I asked myself: How could this weak and humiliated person who was mocked and tortured be a lord and god?

I must worship the Lord of this weak person who fled the oppression of the Jews.

I was astonished to know that the Torah curses the cross and the one crucified on it and states that he is impure and makes the land on which he is crucified impure.[7]

In 1981, I would often argue with my Muslim neighbor, Ahmed Muhammad al-Demerdash Hijazy. He spoke to me one day about justice in Islam, in terms of inheritance, divorce, and legal retribution. Then, he asked me: Do you have something similar? I replied: No, no, we do not.

I began to ask myself: How could one man bring all these perfect and complete legislations in worship and dealings, without differences? And how could the Jews and Christians, with their massive fortunes, be unable to prove he was a fabricator?

From 1982 to 1990, I worked as a physician at Kom Ash-Shoqafa Chest Hospital, where Dr. Muhammad ash-Shatibi would always speak to the colleagues about the Prophet's Hadīths. At the beginning, I would feel extremely jealous. But, over time, I loved hearing those Hadīths, which are brief in words but full of meanings and are beautifully worded. I felt that this man was a great prophet.

Among the factors that played a role in my guidance are the shocking things I would discover about my father, such as the following:

He abandoned the churches, preaching, and the missionary associations altogether.

He would not kiss the hands of priests (a grave thing among Christians).

He did not believe in the body and blood (the bread and wine); that is he did not believe in the incarnation of God.

Instead of going out for prayer on Friday morning, he would now remain asleep and then take a bath and go out at noon!

He would invent excuses to go out at the afternoon time and would come back late in the evening.

He began to prevent the girls from going to the hairdresser's salon.

He began to use new phrases, like: "I seek refuge in Allah from the devil" and "There is no power or strength except through Allah".

After my father's death, in 1988, I found in his Gospel bits of papers in which he clarified certain errors in the Gospels, along with their corrections.

I also found the Gospel of my paternal grandfather, the 1930 edition. It completely demonstrates the changes applied by the Christians to it, like turning the words "O teacher" and "O master" to "O lord", thus misleading the readers into believing that the Messiah's worship began from his birth.

In the vicinity of my clinic, there is a mosque called "Huda al-Islam". I drew close and began to look inside it. I found out that it is a far cry from the church (no seats, no drawings, no large lamps, no luxurious carpets, no musical instruments, no singing, and no clapping).

I found that worship in mosques involves bowing and prostration to Allah alone, with no distinction between rich and poor; everyone stands in organized rows. I compared this to the opposite that happens in the churches, and the outcome of the comparison was always in favor of the mosque.

I wanted to read the Qur’an. So, I bought a copy and remembered my friend Ahmad al-Demerdash's statement that the Qur’an.

{none can touch except the purified.}

I took a bath and did so with cold water, as I could not find any other. Then, I read the Qur’an and was fearful I might find discrepancies therein (after I lost my trust in the Torah and the Gospel). I read the Qur’an in two days and did not find in it what the church taught us about this book.

More amazingly, the one speaking to Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs him that he would die! Who dares speak like that except Allah! I supplicated Allah to guide and direct me.

One day, I felt sleepy and put the Qur’an beside me. Shortly before dawn, I saw a light in the wall of the room from which a bright-faced man appeared. He approached me and pointed to the Qur’an. I extended my hand to shake hands with him, but he disappeared. Something in my heart told me that this was Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), signaling that the Qur’an is the path of light and guidance.

I asked a lawyer and he told me to go to the religious affairs department at the security directorate. I remained sleepless that night, and the devil kept whispering to me: How would you leave the religion of your forefather that easy?

I went out at 6:00 in the morning and entered the Gerges and Antonious Church, where the prayer was being held. The hall was full of images and statues for the Messiah, Mary, and the disciples, and others for the former Patriarch Kerols. I said to them: If you are right and can actually perform miracles, as they used to teach us, then do anything. Give any sign or signal to tell me that I am walking in a wrong path."

I cried a lot over the long years of my life I wasted in the worship of these images and statues. After crying, I felt purified of paganism and that I was walking in the right path, the path of the true worship of Allah.

I went to the security directorate and embarked on a long difficult journey with routine and bureaucracy as well as people's suspicions. After ten months, my conversion to Islam was officially proclaimed at the notary, in August 1992.

O Allah, make me live as a Muslim and die in belief!

O Allah, protect my offspring after me and make them humble worshipers of You, fearing to disobey You and seeking Your closeness and pleasure!

And our last invocation is: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds!

Dr. Wadī‘ Boutros

Holder of a master's degree in theology

(Harvard University)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq0ngPx_yoc&t=26s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrygGuthLUE

One of his books was behind the conversion of more than two hundred Americans to Islam.

Dr. Jerald Dirks is a former deacon at the United Methodist Church, and he obtained a master's degree in theology from Harvard University and PhD in psychology from the University of Denver. He wrote numerous books, including "The Cross and the Crescent", "Interfaith Dialogue Between Christianity and Islam" (2001), and "Abraham: The Friend of God" (2002).

He published over 60 articles in the field of clinical psychology and more than 150 articles on Arabian purebred horses.

Dr. Dirks grew up in a small rural community in Kansas, where the church was the center of life. It was a small village of 500 people, and it had three churches.

Every summer, ice cream parties were held in the churches, which truly represented a center for the life of society. That was also the case for his family. He and his family would go to the local Methodist church.

During his childhood, he was very actively involved in collecting his perfect attendance pens from Sunday School and his awards for memorizing biblical verses. By the time he reached junior high school, he was considering that priesthood was personally calling him.

At that time, during the annual Youth Sunday, he was always selected to deliver the sermon. Before long, he was preaching at other local churches upon occasion and at nursing homes and other church-affiliated organizations. He was 14 years old at the time. He continued in that direction until he entered Harvard University at the age of 17 and studied philosophy as a major, and he proceeded in that direction.

In 1969, he received the preaching license from the United Methodist Church.

In 1971, he graduated as an undergraduate

and entered Harvard Divinity School, which is a three-year program leading to the master's degree in theology.

In 1972, he was ordained as a deacon in the United Methodist Church.

In 1974, he graduated with a master's degree in theology from Harvard Divinity School and spent the summer of that year as a minister in the local churches in Kansas.

But in the fall of 1974, he left the parish ministry, yet remained an ordained minister. He, however, did not preach again after that.

In an interview, Dr. ‘Abdur-Rahmān Abu al-Majd said:

Dr. Jerald Dirks, Abu Yahya, and his wife Debra L. Dirks, Umm Yahya, walked to Islam through several paths and routes and uttered the testimony of faith in 1993.

Praise be to Allah, their journey went through several stages, namely studying the Arabic history, the Christian theology, and the Bible, along with the Old Testament and the New Testament. And their journey is ongoing to this day.

They consider themselves as students studying Islam. They constantly learn and share their knowledge with others. Dr. Dirks and his wife are currently engaged in writing some books, organizing workshops, and delivering lectures all over the globe.

Dr. Jerald Dirks wrote a number of important books, like: "Abraham: The Close Friend of God"; "Understanding Islam"; "The Abrahamic Faiths", "The Cross and the Crescent"; "Letters to My Elders in Islam", and "Muslims in American History".

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He is yet to finish his latest book "What You Weren't Taught in Sunday School". In addition, he wrote five chapters about the ease of understanding Islam. Sr. Debra was a co-editor of the book "Islam Our Choice".

https://postimg.cc/c6NW01sW

Some of the leading Arab publishing houses will translate a number of Dr. Dirks' books into Arabic, Allah Willing, and before long, all his books will be translated.

It is noteworthy that Dr. Dirks, Dr. Lawrence Brown, Dr. Jonathan Brown, and Dr. Ahmed Vincenzo are among the most hopeful candidates for winning the global contest of:

the Award of "Muhammad is the Messenger of God",

2011, which is sponsored by the International Association of Science and Culture, Sweden.

The following interview was conducted with Dr. Dirks:

Dr. ‘Abdur-Rahmān: First of all, welcome back. When I asked about you last week, Umm Yahya told me you had traveled to deliver some lectures. Would you tell us where you were giving those lectures? And what was their topic?

Dr. Dirks: I gave two lectures in Washington University, as part of the Islamic awareness week organized by the Muslim Student Association. In one lecture, I spoke about the common denominators that can be found between the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The other lecture focused on refuting the false claim that, according to the concept of Islam, Allah is not a god of love.

Q: How did you know that Islam is the true religion?

Dr. Dirks: When someone asks me why I became a Muslim, I usually say that there is a long answer and a short answer.

The long answer includes all of the factors you mentioned in your introduction, and it would far exceed the allocated length of this interview. The short answer is, I always say: "Good education." By that, I mean that a good education and the post baccalaureate educational program to become an ordained minister were the main reason behind my conversion to Islam. This includes a thorough grounding in:

The Bible, its additions, omissions, misleading translations, and internal contradictions, and the selection process that reached the extent of determining which books and pages thereof were accepted and which pages were not.

The early Christian history and the machinations that went into formulating and codifying the various doctrines of Christianity, including the conflict that raged between the Jewish Paul of Tarsus and the Christian church established by the actual disciples of Jesus (peace be upon him). Such knowledge makes it nigh impossible to accept such basic Christian doctrines as the Trinity and the combined divinity and humanity of Jesus (peace be upon him).

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Praise be to Allah, I was fortunate enough to receive such an education in the course of obtaining my master's degree in divinity from the Harvard Divinity School.

Thereafter, although I was an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, I avoided the parish ministry in favor of becoming a practicing psychotherapist and considered myself to be an “atypical Christian,” i.e., one who does not believe in either the divinity of Jesus (peace be upon him) or in the Trinity.

Many years later, as I made the acquaintance with some Muslim families in the Denver area, Colorado, I began to study Islam.

Within the pages of the Qur’an, I discovered knowledge of the Bible and the prophetic history that simply could not have been known by illiterate Arabs in seventh-century Arabia. Two brief examples can illustrate this:

First, the Qur’an consistently refers to the Egyptian ruler at the time of Joseph as a king, while the Bible consistently refers to this ruler as Pharaoh. In contrast, both the Qur’an and the Bible refer to the Egyptian ruler at the time of Moses as Pharaoh. This distinction is important in that the kings of Egypt did not adopt the title of pharaoh until after the time of Joseph and before the time of Moses, a fact that was not known until the archaeological discoveries that were done many centuries after the time the Qur’an was revealed.

Second, the Qur’an includes a story not found in the Bible about Abraham reasoning to monotheism by naturalistic observation of the sun, the moon, and the star. This is an important point as it was not discovered until the 20th-century excavations of Ur, the childhood home of Abraham.

It was also discovered that the temple in ancient Ur was dedicated to an astral triad consisting of the sun, the moon, and Venus (the evening and morning star).

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Q: In your first book "The Cross and the Crescent", you explore some areas of similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity. Would you elaborate on some of those differences?

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Dr. Dirks: The main differences between Islam and modern Christianity can be boiled down into the following issues:

The mission of Jesus is universal, according to contemporary Christianity, and specific to the Children of Israel, according to Islam.

The nature of Jesus; he combined divinity and humanity, according to contemporary Christianity, and was only an ordinary human being, according to Islam.

The crucifixion of Jesus - a reality according to modern Christianity, and illusion or fiction, according to Islam.

The nature of God - Trinity according to modern Christianity, and Oneness, according to Islam. Additional differences concern the role of the Bible as divine revelation, the role of the Qur’an as divine revelation, and the prophetic status of Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).

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While contemporary Christianity differs from Islam on each of the four main points listed above, there were branches of ancient Christianity that agreed with Islam and disagreed with modern Christianity on each of these four points.

In my book "The Cross and the Crescent", I detailed this discrepancy between some branches of ancient Christianity and contemporary Christianity in some depth with regard to the first three issues mentioned above.

In doing so, the actual text from early Christian writers and from the Bible is utilized in demonstrating how these ancient Christians agreed with the Islamic position on each of these three issues.

Q: What makes your second book - Abraham: The Close Friend of God - a unique biography of this prophet?

Dr. Dirks: In "Abraham: The Close Friend of God", I have integrated information from the Qur’an, authentic Hadīths, the Bible, and such ancient Jewish sources as Jubilees and Josephus’ first-century Jewish antiquities to create as complete biography as possible. The process of integration that I utilized gave first priority to the Qur’an and authentic Hadīths and then filled in the gaps of the story with the other sources of information.

Q: In your third book "Understanding Islam - A Guide for the Judaeo-Christian Reader", you gave a thorough introduction to Islam, including the concepts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, for the reader coming from either a Jewish or a Christian affiliation. How has that book been received?

Dr. Dirks: Praise be to Allah, the book has sold a few thousand copies, and many of those sales have been to non-Muslims.

I believe the book is a good introduction to Islam for Jews and Christians. It stresses the commonalities that we share in the prophetic history, presents a brief biography of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and introduces the reader to the Qur’an, the Sunnah, the five pillars of Islam, and the six pillars of faith.

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In addition, and quite importantly in the wake of 9/11, the book provided several chapters clearing up common misconceptions about Jihad in Islam. Overall, the response from both Muslim and non-Muslim readers has been quite positive.

Q: Your fourth book - The Abrahamic Faiths - is a perfect follow-up book to the book "Understanding Islam". In the sixth chapter of "The Abrahamic Faiths", you recount the history and current status of Islamophobia in the Christian West. Please, elaborate on this issue.

Dr. Dirks: Perhaps the best starting point for tracing Islamophobia in the Christian West is with Pope Urban II’s decidedly unchristian statement at the Council of Clermont on November 25, 1095, when he branded all Muslims as “an accursed race, a race utterly alienated from God” and urged the assembled knights and noblemen to “exterminate Islam and Muslims from our lands.” In closing his rallying cry to annihilate all Muslims, which launched the First Crusade, he proclaimed: This is what God wills."

Since Urban II’s call for genocide against all Muslims, Islamophobia has permeated the troubadour songs of 12th-century France, e.g., La Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland), and the writings of such stalwarts of Western Europe as Dante, Chaucer, and Voltaire.

More recently, even before 9/11, but reaching a fever pitch after 9/11, some well-known ministers of the Right-Wing Extremist Christians went on to attack Islam and slandered Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) with the most outrageous of prevarications of committing immorality. For example, on the October 6, 2002, broadcast of Sixty Minutes, Rev. Jerry Falwell claimed that Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was a terrorist. Even more vitriolic was Rev. Jerry Vines' statement that Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was raping the minor.

At present, despite the efforts of mainstream Christian denominations to work for mutual understanding and respect with various Islamic organizations in interfaith dialogue, yet the anti-Islamic propaganda.

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by the extreme Christian Right appears to be gaining ground.

Q: In your fifth book "Muslims in American History - A Forgotten Legacy", you note that there is a prominent myth that Muslims were Johnny-come-lately to the shores of America, arriving only in the latter half of the 20th century. In combating that myth, your book offers a number of proofs that Muslims have always been part and parcel of America. Would you give us a brief review of that information?

Dr. Dirks: Arabic records documenting that there were at least three voyages to America from Muslim Andalusia.

The first of these voyages was by Khashkhash ibn Sa‘īd ibn al-Aswad in 889, fully 600 years before Columbus landed on San Salvador on October 12, 1492.

Additional voyages to the New World from Muslim Andalusia included that of Ibn Farruk in 999 and of al-Idrīsi's account of a ship with eight sailors. Further, Shaykh Zayn ad-Dīn ‘Ali ibn Fadl al-Mazandarāni sailed from Morocco to the Americas in 1291.

There were two voyages from West Africa, specifically from the Muslim country of Mali to the Americas, circa 1310. These two latter voyages comprised over 2,000 ships.

In addition to these pre-Columbus voyages by Muslims to the New World, it should be noted that when Columbus made his first voyage in 1492, he had with him at least one Muslim (an African named Pedro Alonso Nino) and three Moriscos. (Moriscos were Muslims or the immediate descendants of Muslims who had been forcibly converted to Christianity under pain of death or torture from the Spanish Inquisition. Typically, these conversions to Christianity were sham conversions). The three Moriscos were the Pinzon brothers, two of whom captained two of Columbus’ three ships.

Muslims were also present with the Spanish Conquistadors as they explored and invaded parts of the Americas in the 16th century.

Estevanico of Azamor, aka Mustafa Zemmouri, was one of such example of a Muslim serving with the Conquistadors. Additionally, Muslims were present in such 16th-century Spanish colonies in the Americas as Santa Elena, Cuba, Mexico, Florida, and the American Southwest. Not to be outdone by the Spanish, the British settled Turkish Muslims in Jamestown, Virginia, by at least 1631.

The largest early influx of Muslims to America came about as part of the infamous slave trade. Somewhere between four and six million Muslims from Africa were imported into the New World as slaves during the 16th through 19th centuries.

These Muslim slaves helped build the agricultural base of the American South and left a Muslim residual that survived into the 20th century, although occasionally in distorted form.

Finally, it should be noted that Muslims such as Yusuf bin ‘Ali fought in the American Revolutionary War to gain independence from Great Britain.

Muslims such as Bilāli Muhammad stood armed and ready to defend the American coastline from British invasion during the War of 1812.

Muslims such as Muhammad ‘Ali ibn fought to preserve the American Union during the American Civil War of the 1860s.

Muslims such as Hajji ‘Ali helped tame and settle the American Wild West in the latter half of the 19th century.

In-depth information about the contributions of all of the above-mentioned Muslims to American history is listed in the book "Muslims in American History - A Forgotten Legacy".

Q: Tell us a bit about your sixth book: "Letters to My Elders in Islam".

Dr. Dirks: This is a collection of letters addressed to the Islamic Ummah that was written over the course of several years. The letters focus on a variety of issues, including geopolitics and world events, American politics, the potentials and pitfalls of private Islamic education in America, and the faults, foibles, and shortcomings of the Muslim Ummah.

Not all of the letters represent my own beliefs and perspectives, as I occasionally used this format to give voice to the concerns of other Muslim brothers and sisters, even when I disagreed with their viewpoint.

Q: In "Islam Our Choice", the book co-edited by your wife, the lives of six different American women who converted to Islam are presented. The book chronicles their lives before accepting Islam, the reasons that led to their conversions, and their lives after accepting Islam. When can we look forward to a similar book detailing the lives of male converts?

Dr. Dirks: I thought about doing such a book, but it is presently on the backburner. Currently, I am finishing up a book that is tentatively titled "What You Weren’t Taught in Sunday School", which contains seven essays. These essays cover such topics as:

How was the Bible formed, and how many different Bibles are recognized by one or another branch of Christianity.

The actual historical role of Paul in the formation of Christianity, and the nature of the conflict between Paul and the actual disciples of Jesus.

The extent to which the concepts of Holy War and genocide are part and parcel of Biblical history.

The non-Hebrew Israelites.

The actual location of Mount Sinai.

The story of Moses’ first wife.

The fact that the Bible credits two different people with killing Goliath.

Casting doubt on the information suggesting that Thomas was the brother of Jesus (peace be upon him).

An examination of who actually wrote the canonical gospels.

The discrepant lists of Jesus’ 12 disciples given in the New Testament.

The major additions to, omissions from, and misleading translations to be found in the Bible.

How Jesus (peace be upon him) is portrayed in traditional Jewish and Islamic literature.

A refutation of the myth that America was founded as a Christian nation.

Allah Willing, this book will be out in print late this year or early next year. After that book is finished, I have plans to write at least two other books before I can start on a book about American males who have converted to Islam.

Q: No doubt you have helped many American men and women to convert to Islam; the number is going up so quickly, could you tell us how many?

Dr. Dirks: I believe that conversion to Islam is something that occurs between an individual person and Allah Almighty and that no third party can claim credit for that conversion. Having said that, I have no way of knowing how many people might have been influenced by my books and lectures in deciding to accept Islam.

I do know that about a year after "The Cross and the Crescent" was published, a brother who worked full time in Da‘wah told me that he had successfully used that book to make 200 persons utter the testimony of faith in the prior year.

In addition, I am occasionally contacted by brothers and sisters who tell me that one or another of my books was helpful to them in accepting Islam.

‘Abdur-Rahmān: Great! Thank you so much. May Allah reward you!

Dr. Dirks: Thank you. It has been my pleasure.

The interview conducted by ‘Abdur-Rahmān Abu al-Majd with Dr. Jerald Dirks is found on the alukah website[8].

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An American Muslim Woman Tells the story of her Islam, and Blame Muslims for not telling the world about Islam.

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Our American Sister Lu relates her story with Islam and that she was searching for the truth and confusedly moving between the different Christian sects until she got tired, and then she turned to Allah, saying: "I want the truth no matter what it takes."

Perhaps her sincerity in pursuing the truth at any cost and her full devotion to this cause made the Creator respond to her call. She did not care about how people looked at her or the material losses she might incur or opportunities she might lose. Rather, she put the matter of the religion above all else.

This aunt had a daughter who had already converted to Islam, but she did not know. The daughter, Lu, named herself Nūr after embracing Islam. It happened that Nūr came to visit her mother, as she turned to Allah and implored Him for three consecutive days. The aunt asked her: "What do you think about the Trinity belief?"

Nūr replied: "I will answer you after your sister has slept," lest she might disturb their focus.

After she had slept, both sat together and Nūr spoke at length about the numerous Christian sects which she followed and then departed from over the years of her life.

Then, she talked to her about Islam and explained to her verses from the Qur’an. As soon as she had finished, the aunt, who had long suffered from spiritual thirst, held the Qur’an's translation and began to kiss it, saying: "Why did not anyone tell us about that?" O Allah! How painful this phrase is! Why did not anyone tell us about that?

Concluding her speech, the aunt told about how a noble verse had deep impact on her heart.

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My name is Yusuf Estes, after Islam. Before converting to Islam, it was Joseph Edward Estes.

I was born in a very strict Christian family, who lived in the Midwest of America. Our fathers and forefathers did not only build churches and schools, but they devoted themselves to serving Christianity.

I began my theologian study when I discovered that I had little knowledge of my Christian faith. I started to ask questions, without finding adequate answers.

I studied Christianity until I became a priest and preacher, so was my father. In addition to that, we had business in musical instruments, which we used to sell to the churches.

I used to hate Islam and Muslims, as the distorted image that reached me and settled in my mind about them was that they are idolatrous people who do not believe in Allah and worship a black box in the desert, and that they are barbarians and terrorists who kill those who have different beliefs.

My search in the Christian religion did not stop at all. I also studied Hinduism, Judaism, and Buddhism. Over the next 30 years my father and I worked together in many business projects.

We had entertainment programs, shows and attractions. We opened piano and organ stores all the way from Texas and Oklahoma to Florida. I made millions of dollars in those years, but could not find peace of mind that can only come through knowing the truth and finding the real way of salvation.

My story with Islam is not a story in which someone gave me a copy of the Qur’an or Islamic books which I read and then converted to Islam. In fact, I was an enemy to Islam in the past and did not slacken in spreading Christianity. And when I met that person who invited me to Islam, I was keen to convert him to Christianity, not the other way around.

It happened in 1991 when my father began doing business with a man from Egypt and told me that he wanted me to meet him. This idea came to my mind and I imagined the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the River Nile, and all this. I was glad and said: We will expand our business and make it an international trade that extends to the land of that huge thing, i.e. the Sphinx.

Then, my father said to me: But I want to tell you that this man who will come to us is a Muslim, and he is a businessman.

I was annoyed and said: Muslim! No. I will not meet him.

My father said: You must meet him.

I said: No, never.

I could not believe it... a Muslim!

I reminded my father of what we heard about those Muslim people and the fact that they worship a black box in the desert of Makkah, i.e. the Ka‘bah.

I did not want to meet this Muslim man. But my father insisted that I should meet him and reassured me that he was a very nice person. So, I surrendered and agreed to meet him.

Nonetheless, when the time of the meeting came, I wore a hat with a cross on it and a necklace with a cross therein and hung a big cross on my belt and held a copy of the Gospel in my hand. I came to the meeting table in this way.

However, when I saw him, I felt awkward. This could not be the Muslim we set out to meet. I expected him to be an old man wearing a gown and a big turban on his head, with his eyebrows crossed. But he had no hair at all on his head (bald).

He began in a welcoming manner and shook hands with us. All this did not mean anything to me. I still conceived them to be terrorists. During our talk, we touched upon his religion, and I attacked Islam and Muslims based on the distorted image I had for them. Meanwhile, he was calm and managed to absorb my ardency and rush with his calm attitude.

Then, I asked him:

Do you believe in God?

He said: Yes.

I further asked: What about Abraham? Do you believe in him and that he tried to sacrifice his son for the sake of God?

He said: Yes.

I said to myself: This is good. It will be easier than what I thought.

Then, we went to a small café to have some tea and discuss my favorite topic: beliefs.

We sat and talked for hours at that café, and I spoke the most. He was very nice, calm, and shy. He listened attentively to every word and did not interrupt me.

One day, Muhammad ‘Abdur-Rahmān (this friend of ours) was about to leave a house he was sharing with one of his friends, and he intended to live in the mosque for a while.

I talked to my father and asked whether we could invite Muhammad to come to our big house in the town and stay with us there.

My father invited him to stay with us in the house, where my father, my wife, and I lived.

The Egyptian man came, and we also hosted another person, a Catholic priest. Now, there were the five of us: four Christian scholars and preachers, and one ordinary Egyptian.

My father and I were followers of the Protestant doctrine, whereas the priest was of the Catholic doctrine, and my wife was of a strict doctrine with Zionist inclinations.

It should be noted that my father read the Gospel from childhood and became a preacher and priest acknowledged by the church. On the other hand, the Catholic priest had 12-year experience of missionary work in the two Americas. And my wife followed that doctrine with Zionist inclinations.

As for me, I studied the Gospel and the Christian doctrines and adopted some of them over the course of my life. Moreover, I obtained a PhD in Christian theology.

Thus, he came to live with us. There were a lot of missionaries in Texas, and I knew one of them, who was being treated in the hospital. After he recovered, I invited him to stay with us too.

On our way to the house, I talked to that priest about some concepts and beliefs in Islam. To my surprise, he told me that Catholic priests study Islam and sometimes obtain a PhD in this area.

After we settled in the house, we all began to get together around the table after dinner every night and discuss religion. Each of us held a copy of the Gospel different from the others. My wife held the copy of Jimmy Swaggart, the contemporary religious man.

Ironically, when this Jimmy Swaggart took part in a debate with the Muslim Ahmed Deedat in front of the people, he said: "I am not knowledgeable of the Gospel!" How could a man write a complete version of the Bible while he is not knowledgeable of it and then claim it is from Allah!

The priest certainly had the Catholic Bible, as well as seven other books of the Protestant Gospel.

My father had the version of King James Bible at the time, and I had the Revised Version, which states that King James Version contains a lot of errors and blunders. When the Christians found too many errors in the version of King James, they were obliged to rewrite it and correct those errors.

Hence, we spent most of the time trying to choose the more correct version among those different Gospels, and we focused our efforts on persuading Muhammad to become Christian.

Each one of us, the Christians in the house, held a different version of the Gospel, and we had a roundtable discussion on the differences in the Christian creed and in the different Gospels. Meanwhile, the Muslim was sitting with us and wondering at the difference between our Gospels.

On the other hand, the Catholic priest was in disagreement with his church and the contradictions in his Catholic creed and doctrine. Although he had preached this religion and doctrine for 12 years, yet he did not firmly believe that it was a correct creed; rather, he disagreed with some key elements of it.

Also, my father believed that this Gospel was written by people and was not revelation from God; yet, they wrote it and thought it to be a revelation.

Likewise, my wife believed that her Gospel contained lots of errors, but she thought that it was originally from God.

As for me, there were certain things in the Gospel that I did not believe, as I saw the numerous contradictions therein. For example, I used to ask myself and others: How can God be one and three at the same time?

I asked the world-renowned priests about this matter, and they gave me very absurd answers that no sane person can believe. I said to them: How can I be a missionary who calls people to Christianity and teaches them that God is one and three at the same time, while I am not convinced of this; how can I convince others?

Some of them said to me: Do not explain this matter or shed light on it; rather, tell people that this is a vague issue and they should believe in it.

Some of them said to me: You can explain it with the example of an apple; it has a peeling from outside and a kernel and stones inside.

I said to them: This example cannot be given about the Lord. The apple has numerous stones, which means that there are numerous gods, and it may have worms or be stinking, and I do not want a god like this.

Some said: Like an egg, which has a shell, white, and yolk.

To this I replied: This is not an appropriate example for God. An egg can have more than one yolk, which means several gods, and it may be stinking, and I do not want to worship a stinking god.

Some others said: Like a man and a woman and their child. I said: The woman may become pregnant, and thus there will be more gods; and they may be divorced, and thus the gods will get separated; plus, one of them may die. I do not want a god like this.

Since I was a Christian, a priest, and a Christian missionary, I could not get convinced of the Trinity or find anyone who can convince a sane person of it.

One Qur’an and several Gospels:

I can remember that I later asked Muhammad: How many versions of the Qur’an did emerge over the past 1400 years?

He told me that there is only one version, which did not change at all. He maintained that the Qur’an was preserved in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people.

If you search over the course of centuries, he said, you will find that millions of Muslims memorized the Qur’an fully and taught it to the next generations. This did not seem possible to me. How could this sacred book be preserved and everyone can easily read it and understand its meanings!

We engaged in a dispassionate dialogue and agreed that whatever we got convinced of, we would adopt and embrace later.

This is how we began the conversation with him. What probably gained my admiration during this dialogue is that Muhammad did not resort to attacking or impugning our beliefs, Gospel, or persons. Everyone was comfortable with his speech.

Anyway, when we, the four religiously committed Christians, would sit with the Egyptian Muslim, Muhammad, and discuss issues of creed, we were keen to call him to Christianity by several methods. To this he gave a definite reply, saying: I am ready to follow your religion, if you have in your religion anything better than what I have in my religion.

We said: Of course, we have. The Muslim said: I am ready, if you can produce the argument and proof for that.

I said to him: Our religion is not based on proofs, argumentation, or rationalism. To us, it should be taken for granted. It is a mere sheer belief. So, how can we prove it to you by proofs and evidence?

Thereupon, the Muslim said: But Islam is a religion of belief, argument, evidence, reason, and revelation from heaven.

I said to him: If, in your religion, you rely on proofs and argument, then I would like to benefit from you and learn and know this thing.

Then, as we touched upon the issue of the Trinity, and each of us read in his version of the Gospel, and we did not find anything clear, we asked brother Muhammad: What is your belief about the Lord in Islam?

He said:

{Say: "He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is He begotten, and there is none comparable to Him."}

He read it in Arabic and then translated its meanings. His voice, when he recited it, touched my heart. His voice continues to ring in my ears, and I still remember it.

As for its meanings, there is absolutely nothing clearer, better, stronger, more concise, and more comprehensive than it. This came as a real surprise to us, in light of the errors and contradictions we were living in.

When I wanted to call him to Christianity, he said with all calmness and reasonableness: If you can prove to me that Christianity is truer than Islam, I will follow your religion to which you are calling. I said to him: I agree.

He further said: Where are the proofs that your religion is better and more worthy?

I said: We do not believe by proofs, but by our feelings and emotions, and we try to find our religion and what the Gospels talk about.

Muhammad said: It is not sufficient to believe by feelings and emotions, as well as our knowledge. Islam, on the other hand, possesses the proofs, feelings, and miracles which prove that the true religion in the sight of Allah is Islam.

Thereupon, Joseph asked Muhammad to produce these proofs which prove that Islam is the true religion.

Muhammad said: The first of these proofs is the Book of Allah Almighty, the noble Qur’an, which has not undergone any change or distortion since its revelation to Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) nearly 1400 years ago.

The Qur’an is memorized by so many people. Around 12 million Muslims learn this book by heart. There is no other book on earth that people memorize as Muslims memorize this noble Qur’an, from beginning to end.

﴿إِنَّا نَحۡنُ نَزَّلۡنَا ٱلذِّكۡرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحَٰفِظُونَ ٩﴾ [الحجر: 9]

{It is We Who have sent down the Reminder, and it is We Who will preserve it.}[Surat al-Hijr: 9]

This is a sufficient proof that the true religion in the sight of Allah is Islam.

From that time forth, I began to search for the sufficient proofs proving that Islam is the true religion. I spent three months in ongoing search. Thereafter, I found in the Bible that the sound creed, to which Jesus is affiliated, is monotheism, and I did not find therein that God is three, as they allege.

I also found that Jesus is a servant and messenger of Allah, and not a god. Like all other prophets, he came to call people to belief in the Oneness of Allah Almighty. The divine religions did not disagree over the essence of Allah, and they all called for the unchanging creed that none is worthy of being worshiped except Allah, including the Christian religion before it was subject to fabrications.

I knew that Islam came to seal and complete all the divine messages and bring people out of the life of polytheism into monotheism and belief in Allah Almighty; and that my conversion to Islam will complete my belief that the Christian religion used to call for belief in Allah alone and that Jesus is a servant and messenger of Allah; and whoever does not believe in this is not a Muslim.

I also found that Allah Almighty challenged the disbelievers with the Qur’an, asking them to produce the like of it or bring just three verses like Surat al-Kawthar; yet they failed to do so:

﴿وَإِن كُنتُمۡ فِي رَيۡبٖ مِّمَّا نَزَّلۡنَا عَلَىٰ عَبۡدِنَا فَأۡتُواْ بِسُورَةٖ مِّن مِّثۡلِهِۦ ...﴾ [البقرة: 23]

{If you are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down upon Our slave, then produce a chapter like it.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 23]

I found another miracle which proves that the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. It is the predictions foretold by the noble Qur’an, such as:

﴿الٓمٓ١ غُلِبَتِ ٱلرُّومُ٢ فِيٓ أَدۡنَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَهُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ غَلَبِهِمۡ سَيَغۡلِبُونَ٣﴾ [الروم: 1-3]

{Alif Lām Mīm. The Romans have been defeated in a nearby land, but they will gain victory after their defeat.} [Surat ar-Rūm: 1-3]

This did really come true later. There are other things mentioned in the noble Qur’an, like Surat az-Zalzalah, which speaks about earthquakes and can materialize in any region. Another example is man's ability to reach the space through science, which confirms the meaning of the verse that reads:

﴿يَٰمَعۡشَرَ ٱلۡجِنِّ وَٱلۡإِنسِ إِنِ ٱسۡتَطَعۡتُمۡ أَن تَنفُذُواْ مِنۡ أَقۡطَارِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَٱنفُذُواْۚ لَا تَنفُذُونَ إِلَّا بِسُلۡطَٰنٖ٣٣﴾ [الرحمن: 33]

{O assembly of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the realms of the heavens and earth, then pass; you cannot pass without [Our] authority.} [Surat ar-Rahmān: 33]

Authority here refers to science, with which man managed to penetrate the space. So, this is a true vision by the noble Qur’an.

Also, one of the miracles that had particular impact on me is the Qur’an's mention of ‘alaqah (a leech-like clot). Kosmar, a Canadian scientist, clarified it, saying: "‘Alaqah is that thing which clings to the mother's womb, after the sperms turn into hanging blood color therein." This is what the noble Qur’an actually mentioned before it has been discovered by embryologists at modern times - a clear testament to the disbelievers and atheists.

This followed extensive research lasting for three months, the period of Muhammad's stay with us in one house. Due to this, he won the love of many people. When I saw him prostrate to Allah and place his forehead on the ground, I knew that this is something extraordinary.

Muhammad is like angels:

Speaking about his friend, Yusuf Estes said: A man like this (Muhammad) only needs two wings and he will become like angels and fly.

One day, after I knew what I knew from him, my friend the priest asked Muhammad if we could go with him to the mosque to learn more about Muslims' worship and prayer.

We saw worshipers come to the mosque and perform the prayer and then leave. I said: They left without any sermon or singing! He said: Yes.

Days went by, and then the priest asked to go with Muhammad to the mosque again. Yet, this time, they were late in coming back, until the evening. We were somewhat worried. What could have happened to them?

Finally, they came back. As I opened the door, I saw Muhammad and another person with white clothing and turban who was waiting. I asked who he was. Behold! This was my friend the priest. I asked him: Have you become Muslim? He said: Yes, I have become Muslim since today.

I was amazed. How could he embrace Islam ahead of me? I went upstairs to give the matter some thought, and began to talk to my wife about it.

She said to me: I think my relationship with you will not last for long.

I said: Why? Do you think I will embrace Islam?

She said: No, it is because I will embrace Islam!

I said to her: In fact, I also want to embrace Islam.

I went out of the house door and fell prostrate on the ground toward the Qiblah and said: O Lord, guide me!

I went downstairs and awakened Muhammad and asked him to come discuss the matter with me. We walked and talked all night long, and the time of the Fajr (dawn) prayer came.

At that point, I became certain that the truth finally appeared and the opportunity was there before me. The call for the Fajr prayer was made. I lay on a wooden board and placed my head on the ground. Then, I asked my Lord if there was something to guide me. After a while, I raised my head and did not notice anything; I did not see birds or angels descending from the sky, hear voices or music, or see lights. I realized it was the right and opportune time for me to stop deceiving myself and that I should become an upright Muslim. I knew then what I had to do.

At 11am, I stood between two witnesses - the former priest, who was earlier known as Father Peter Jacob, and Muhammad ‘Abdur-Rahmān - and uttered my testimony of faith. A few minutes later, my wife, after learning about my conversion to Islam, did also declare her conversion to it.

My father was more reserved about this matter, and he waited for months before uttering the testimony of faith.

Shaykh Yusuf said: I see that the conversion of all of us to Islam was due to Allah's grace in the first place and then the good example of this Muslim who conducted Da‘wah in a pleasant way, and before all, he was well-mannered. As our saying goes: Do not tell me, show me.

We embraced Islam all together.

We, three religious leaders from three different sects, did convert to Islam all at once, and we followed a path quite different from our previous belief. The matter did not stop at this. At the same year, Joe, a baptized student at a theological institute, from Tennessee, did embrace Islam after reading the Qur’an.

It did not stop at this limit. I saw many bishops and priests and followers of other religions convert to Islam and leave their previous beliefs.

Is this not the strongest proof that Islam is the true religion? Earlier, the mere thought about entering Islam was not only improbable, but inconceivable under any circumstances.

All these above-mentioned proofs that the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam made me return to the straight path upon which Allah puts us since our birth. In fact, everyone is born with this state of natural disposition, then his family makes him a Jew, a Christian, etc.

My conversion to Islam was not an individual case, but a collective one comprising all my family, after the short stay of an Egyptian Muslim with us in the house. Through his presence, his way of life and order, and thanks to our discussions with him, we discovered new things that we did not previously know about Muslims, and we were deprived of for being Christians.

My father embraced Islam after he had been holding fast to the church and inviting people to it. My wife and children became Muslims too.

Praise be to Allah Who guided us to Islam and made us Muslims and members of Prophet Muhammad's Ummah!

My heart became deeply attached to the love of Islam and the love of monotheism and belief in Allah Almighty, and I came to feel jealous about Islam more than what I used to feel with regard to Christianity. I embarked on the journey of calling people to Islam and presenting to them the pure image which I learned about this religion, the religion of tolerance, good morals, compassion, and mercy.[9]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae_YnXRGjnM&t=61s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLg8lvh23WI

Dr. Gary Miller (‘Abdul-Ahad ‘Umar) is a mathematician and a former Christian theologian and missionary.

He points out how we can establish true faith by laying down certain criteria for the truth, and he gives a simple and effective way for finding the right direction during the search for this truth.

During some period of his life, Dr. Miller was active in the Christian missionary work. But early on, he began to discover numerous contradictions in the Gospel.

In 1978, it happened that he read the noble Qur’an, expecting that it also comprised a mix of the truth and falsehood.

But to his amazement, he found out that the message of the noble Qur’an is consistent with the same essence of the truth he derived from the Gospel. So, he converted to Islam and ever since became active in introducing it to the people, including using the Radio and TV shows.

Moreover, he authored several articles and Islamic circulars, like: "A Concise Reply to Christianity" - "A Muslim Perspective."

"The Amazing Qur’an"

"Some Thoughts on the Proofs of the Alleged Divinity of Jesus"

"The Basis for Muslim's Belief"

"The Difference Between the Bible and the Qur’an"

"The Christian Missionary - A Muslim Analysis"

https://studio.youtube.com/video/XCxBKNEe7Gk/edit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTVD2aytlww

He obtained PhD in international and comparative law and was the president of Harvard International Law Journal; an advisor to the former US president Nixon for foreign affairs; deputy director of of the United States National Security Council; and founder of the American Muslim Bar Association.

He converted to Islam in 1980.

Criticizing the media attack on Islam in the US, Dr. Robert Crane (Farouk ‘Abdul-Haqq) said:

"If people read newspapers in the US, they will undoubtedly feel scared of Islam."

Being confident about the future of Islam, he said:

"Islam is the only solution. It is the religion that contains justice in its objectives of Shariah, in its entirety, detailed teachings, and its necessities."

Dr. Robert Crane (who changed his name to Farouk ‘Abdul-Haqq) was an advisor to the former US president Nixon and the deputy director of the United States National Security Council. He held PhD in the study of civilizations and was a prominent figure there. He worked in the State Department and the White House for 30 years.

When Nixon wanted to write his book, he asked the US intelligence to provide him with a file on Islamic fundamentalism, which they did. Because he had not enough time to read it, he referred it to Robert Crane, who read it and embraced Islam right away.

It should be noted that the file he read, and which caused him to convert to Islam, was written by the US intelligence, not with Islamic hands. Nonetheless, Crane converted. Now, he writes a series of articles in one of the most prominent Western periodicals.

Dr. Crane is one of the leading political experts in the US.

He is the founder of the Center for Civilization and Renovation in America.

After he obtained his master's degree in the comparative law systems from Harvard University, and after he founded the Harvard International Law Journal and became its first director, he worked for a decade in what is called "Consulting Centers for Policy Makers in Washington".

In 1962, he co-founded the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

From 1963 to 1968, he was the chief foreign policy advisor to the former US president Richard Nixon.

In 1969, Nixon appointed him as the deputy director of the White House National Security Council.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan appointed him as the US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

After converting to Islam, Dr. Crane worked as the director of the law department at the American Muslim Council and was the founding president of the American Muslim Bar Association. In 1959, he obtained a PhD in law. He is a father of five children and speaks six living languages fluently.

He published ten books and fifty specialized articles on comparative law systems, the global strategy, and information management.

"In 1980, following the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran, people in the West developed an increasing interest in Islam. Their interest was not out of admiration, but they regarded it as a threat. Hence, several intellectuals and think tanks called for holding symposiums and conferences on this issue.

I attended one of those conferences to see the nature of the presented studies and papers.

In the fall of 1980, the conference was attended by numerous Islamic thinkers, one of whom spoke a number of times and gave adequate explanation of Islam, as I was searching for it. I realized that he possessed advanced thought.

Then, I saw him pray and prostrate himself. I used to oppose the idea of prostration, as I believed that a person should not prostrate to anyone, for this constitutes an insult to him and his humanity. I realized, however, that the Shaykh was bowing and prostrating to Allah. I thought it was more appropriate for me to bow and prostrate too. I did so and embraced Islam from that day, at the hands of the Shaykh."

He had certain suspicions and then found the answers for them in Islam. About this, he said:

"My father was a professor at Harvard University. He taught me to care about and defend the right thing and to avoid what is wrong. I spent most of my time searching for justice, before I became Muslim.

During a symposium, which Professor Roger Garaudy and I attended, in Damascus, I heard him speak and attack Capitalism. He was a Communist at the time. We both had the same goal, i.e. supporting justice. And both of us were against the focus on amassing wealth, for hoarding wealth contradicts justice.

Garaudy adopted the Marxist principles that seek to destroy ownership, whereas I considered ownership a key to freedom. But both of us believed that ownership ultimately leads to injustice and prevents the spread of justice. The two of us were advocates of a system that establishes justice and grants it to everyone.

Therefore, we found that Islam is the only solution and it is the religion that contains justice in its objectives of Shariah, its entirety, its detailed teachings, and its necessities. As a lawyer, I was searching for principles not laid down by humans."

As Dr. Crane continued his talk, he touched upon the West and how they took this virtue - the objectives and ends - from the East and then expanded it and turned it into major urbanism, in pursuit of power. This power enabled them to control the world. At that point, the West lost the motives behind its civilization and urbanism.

In fact, the pursuit of justice is not an objective in the West. "Hence, I began to explore and search for justice. Ironically, when I went to Harvard University and obtained my degree in law, I stayed there for three years, during which I did not hear the word 'justice' even once."

About how he was chosen to be the foreign affairs advisor to the US president, he said:

"In 1963, I wrote a long article about Russia-US conflict. After President Nixon read the article in the plane, he sent for me and assigned me to write a book about the US foreign policy and about Communism.

Then, I worked as a foreign affairs advisor, since 1968. And thanks to that book, I was appointed as deputy chairman of the White House National Security Council. The president had four deputies. I was one of them.

In 1969, when Henry Kissinger became secretary of state, he terminated my job due to 25 papers in my book. In those 25 papers, I speak about the issue of Palestine and propose the creation of two states, Jewish and Palestinian.

This issue was studied for several years at the highest levels within the US circles and at the White House. Kissinger, however, was opposed to any person addressing this topic.

Kissinger stood on my way in every field or work I entered. Later, Nixon appointed me as deputy director of the affairs of one of the states at the White House. I also worked on the Watergate issue.

After the Watergate scandal, I saw that I could not have real impact on the US policy from inside the administration.

I found that the only way to eliminate injustice is to establish an intellectual movement meant to bring back ideals in the US and call for restoring the American heritage that was about to be lost; this heritage that was actually lost.

These ideals no longer exist in America. However, I found them in Islam. So, I see that the way for reviving the American heritage will be through Islam. This is what I have been doing since my conversion to Islam in 1980."

Regarding this point, and with some detail, in the 24th conference of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), held between August 29 and September 1, 1986, in Indianapolis, on the future of Islam in North America, Dr. Crane presented a comparison of the preludes that determine the directions of the US foreign policy and the ideal image upon which it was established.

Therefore, the US policy remains unchanging, for these preludes are fixed. As for Islam, its policy rests upon justice. Justice can be defined as the will of Allah."

Hence, he sees that there is a need for finding Islamic thinkers who explain to the Americans how the US should manage its foreign policy and demonstrate to them that justice is the long path which the US should follow.

Whereas Dr. Crane (Farouk) is not worried about the continuity of Islam in America, there should be focus on building high-level thinking for the Islamic concept, among youths in particular:

"They should understand the modern world and find Islamic answers to all the problems of the society. On the other hand, we should develop an intellectual leadership among Muslims and in all spheres of knowledge. The aim in both things should be to support justice in the world. This will make Islam a positive power for the sake of goodness worldwide. These priorities apply to the West as they apply to the Muslim world."

Dr. Farouk ‘Abdul-Haqq also has profound views and ideas regarding the major issues and challenges facing the Muslims in today's world.

While he criticizes the West for their deficient and biased outlook on Islam, he does not forget to blame some Muslims in the East or the West who lack proper understanding of the Islamic teachings.

As he said, it is difficult to make the Westerners understand the reality of Islam, because many Muslims living in the West do not practice Islam or lead their lives according to its teachings.

Dr. Crane (Farouk ‘Abdul-Haqq) passed away on December 12, 2021, aged 92.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYT3p_vgX64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZyAoZW5ufo

The hero of the story entered the sphere of theology since his tender age. He began as a deacon assistant and then rose up the ladder until he became a deacon. His mission was to expose the so-called contradiction and inconsistency between the verses and chapters of the Qur’an and to shed light on verses that are seemingly contradictory with the aim of establishing misconceptions that can be utilized in debates.

He started to study the Qur’an in search of errors and contradictions which he expected to find within the verses, so that he could offer them to the church leaders as a dowry for appointing him a deacon, a dream he had long wished.

Jamal Zakariyya (Armanious) was born in Minya Governorate, Upper Egypt, in 1956. He grew up in a family that had been Christian from one generation to another. His grandfather was one of the most famous priests in Egypt. So, he and others in the family dreamed of reaching status like that of his grandfather and becoming a prominent priest.

Since he was 18 years old, he was very keen to join the church and volunteer therein until he becomes a priest like his grandfather.

He began his work in the church as a deacon assistant. His job was to help the deacon, who served the church, with the rituals and prayers.

Armanious was an active young man who was engaged in study and research patiently and relentlessly. That is why he rose up the ladder quickly until he was made a deacon at the Church of Virgin Mary, in Cairo.

Driven by a far greater ambition than this, he exerted more effort to become a priest as soon as possible.

Then, the awaited day arrived, and they informed him that his object of pursuit was just a stone's throw away from him. Now, he could obtain the post of the priest he had long dreamed of. They, however, set a condition for him that he should present a research that sheds light on the errors and contradictions in the noble Qur’an.

The ambitious deacon felt he was so close to his dream, and he was only required to do something quite easy and simple. All he had to do is to read the Qur’an and search for errors and contradictions.

And he began his journey with the Qur’an with so much vigor and resolve that he would read it three times a month. He would even carry the Book of Allah with him wherever he went, and he would read it in public transport with such passion envied even by Muslims.

Jamal did not only focus while reading the Qur’an, but he was also keen to ponder its meanings carefully. This enabled him to memorize many of its verses. He, however, noticed something that initially struck him with awe and later gave him relief.

Yes! He noticed that once he recited a verse, he would feel that it directly entered his heart just like an arrow that was thrown with utmost precision.

Jamal found that his passion for reading the Qur’an increased by the day. He would read the whole of it in ten days and then repeat the process again.

Although he was affected by all of the verses of the noble Qur’an, the second verse in Surat al-Baqarah - in which Allah Almighty says:

﴿ذَٰلِكَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبُ لَا رَيۡبَۛ فِيهِۛ هُدٗى لِّلۡمُتَّقِينَ٢﴾ [البقرة: 2]

{This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for the righteous}[Surat al-Baqarah: 2]

had such profound impact on him. He said of it:

"Each time I read this verse, I would feel as if the Qur’an wanted to tell me that there is no use in searching and that this verse provides the adequate answer to my search."

Jamal was taken aback by the absolute confidence in this noble verse, which cannot be possessed by any human, no matter how great his knowledge may be!

In the introductions to their books, authors usually apologize to the readers for any shortcoming, error, or omission that may exist in their writings. As for the Qur’an, it is the only book that declares it from the beginning and with all confidence that it is a book.

﴿ذَٰلِكَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبُ لَا رَيۡبَۛ فِيهِۛ هُدٗى لِّلۡمُتَّقِينَ٢﴾ [البقرة: 2]

{about which there is no doubt.}[Surat al-Baqarah: 2]

There is no error, discrepancy, defect, or contradiction in it. It is the book that contains the sure knowledge that eliminates doubt and suspicion.

"But I did not find what I was searching for. By contrast, when I read the Gospel and examined it closely, I discovered five thousand errors and inconsistencies!"

Jamal noticed that it happened for three consecutive times that when he opened the Qur’an, he would find himself face to face with this verse from Surat al-An‘ām:

﴿فَمَن يُرِدِ ٱللَّهُ أَن يَهۡدِيَهُۥ يَشۡرَحۡ صَدۡرَهُۥ لِلۡإِسۡلَٰمِۖ وَمَن يُرِدۡ أَن يُضِلَّهُۥ يَجۡعَلۡ صَدۡرَهُۥ ضَيِّقًا حَرَجٗا كَأَنَّمَا يَصَّعَّدُ فِي ٱلسَّمَآءِۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَجۡعَلُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلرِّجۡسَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ١٢٥﴾ [الأنعام: 125]

{Whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam; and whoever He wills to lead astray, He makes his heart tight and constricted, as if he were climbing up into the sky. This is how Allah punishes those who do not believe.}[Surat al-An‘ām: 125]

He would feel that this verse addresses him personally. He would pause each time and ponder its meaning for long. This caused him to adopt a different course in his thinking. He had a pressing desire to read the Qur’an in a different way and different purpose for which he was assigned by the church. He found himself in need of some books of tafsīr (the Qur’an's interpretation) to make it easier for him to understand.

When the time came for Jamal to submit his research "The Contradictions and Errors of the Noble Qur’an", the church leaders supervising his endeavor were eagerly waiting to read his research along with the Qur’an's contradictions contained therein, after which they would promote this deacon to be a clergyman or priest.

However, the church leaders were surprised and frustrated when Jamal submitted his research in one blank paper, which was empty except of these words: "I didn't find any contradiction in the Qur’an." Below these words, he signed "Jamal Zakariyya" instead of "Deacon Jamal Zakariyya Armanious", the name and title they expected would prominently appear at the beginning of the research.

In a large church gathering, he held the microphone and said:

"Dear brothers, you asked me to perform a specific task, namely, to look for the contradiction in the Qur’an. I was honest with you. I opened the Qur’an before me and read it and read Surat Mariyam. Let me tell you truthfully: I did not find any contradiction in the Qur’an."

The deacon shocked the church leaders with this strange conclusion which he derived from his months-long study of the noble Qur’an, as he did not find therein any contradiction or error, despite reading it scores of times!

As a result of his honest and brave stance, Jamal paid a heavy price. He lost his hopes, ambitions, future, and source of living. However, he felt deep within himself that he did achieve the real win, despite the apparent loss in the eyes of his fellows.

Later, Jamal began to think about converting to Islam. When the church leaders noticed that, they blocked all ways and outlets before him and fought him in his house and accused him of terrorism!

As the stick failed with him, they tried the carrot. The bishop approached him with a very alluring offer: to be officially appointed as an exceptional priest who has the right to choose the monastery he wants to work at.

They offered him huge sums of money. But he did not care about the carrot and rejected all the allurements his peers would drool over.

Thereafter, the church learned that he officially converted to Islam in Al-Azhar University with the head of the Fatwa Committee. As a result, they stripped him of everything: his house, car, and possessions. They even took his clothes!

The matter did not stop at this limit. But they smuggled his Christian wife and children to the US and he was the target of three assassination attempts, at the church's behest, for they lost one of their loyal priests.

All this, however, did not dissuade him from his fateful and brave decision and or deter him from proceeding in the true path to the end.

We wonder what the reaction of his mother would be!

When Jamal turned his face away from the church and its leaders, he began to think of his family and felt confused about the way to inform them of his conversion to Islam!

So, he decided to begin with his mother, the closest and most compassionate person to him. He was extremely kind to her. He went to her, dragging his feet, to tell her that he intended to embrace Islam, while he already embraced it.

He wondered how he could inform her of this grave decision and how her reaction will be towards it!

Jamal sat in front of his sick mother in a polite and humble manner. He tried to pick his words carefully, given the seriousness of the matter and the great status of his mother in his life and within his soul.

Expecting a hostile, severe reaction from his mother, Jamal said to her, almost whispering:

"My beloved mother, I have become Muslim to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. I do not want to make you angry by this. But I knew the truth. Do not get angry at me. I hope you understand my situation."

To his surprise, she replied in a very quiet manner:

"Finally, my son Jamal. You have been so late!"

Jamal was dazzled and overjoyed to know that his affectionate mother had converted to Islam long before him.

"My son, you have been so late!" A few but profound words. They contain a host of meanings and feelings that need volumes to explain.

These words uttered by the mother took Jamal high to an orbit of pure light. Since his tender age, he heard lots of nice words from his mother. Yet this phrase "My son, you have been so late" was the nicest ever, in wording and meaning.

Jamal felt extremely happy when his mother told him she had embraced Islam a long time ago; that she felt he would become Muslim one day; and that the higher he rose up the ladder of positions in the church, she would know for sure that he would diligently search for the truth and ultimately reach it by himself.

The case of Jamal's mother, who converted to Islam and hid this matter even from the closest people, is a common phenomenon that the Egyptian church studied carefully and arrived at key results and facts.

In 2009, some of these results were leaked to the public. They revealed that there are thousands of Christians who convert to Islam secretly and keep their matter hidden out of fear from harsh reaction by their relatives and the church, and they perform the rituals of their new religion in secret.

In this regard, Bishop Maximus, the former head of the Holy Synod for the Churches of Saint Athanasius in Egypt and the Middle East, maintained that the average number of Christians who convert to Islam annually is 50,000, in Egypt alone.

This figure is supported by the records of Al-Azhar, which reveal that the number of officially recorded conversions from Christianity to Islam amounted to one million and a hundred and fifty thousand over the period from 1995 to 2016, i.e. an annual average of more than fifty-four thousand cases.

The phenomenon of Christians converting to Islam at these increasing rates is a great concern to the leaders of the Egyptian church. Hence, they seek, by all means, to cast doubts into the hearts of ordinary Muslims regarding their religion, and they form specialized committees for this specific purpose.

Jamal Zakariyya stated that he had been chosen as part of a committee whose mission was to fight Islam by Islam. They handed a copy of the noble Qur’an to every member of this committee, so that they could read it and derive chapters and verses with more than one meaning. They are taken out of context, wrongly interpreted, and taught to the Christian kids and youths in Sunday School. So, if a Christian discovers any contradiction in the Bible in the future, he will already be aware that the noble Qur’an, Muslims' sacred book, also contains contradictions, as they claim.

Jamal Zakariyya Armanious changed his name to Jamal Zakariyya Ibrahīm. For two years after converting to Islam, he maintained having the cross tattoo on his hands.

He would feel embarrassed when going to the mosque with this mark on his hands, which only zealous Christians carry. That is why he began to put bandages on these two crosses to hide them. This continued till he managed to have them erased altogether by a surgery - after patience for two years.

As soon as Jamal entered Islam, he began to engage in the effort of Da‘wah among Christians, his former fellows. During a short period of time, 15 Christians embraced Islam through him.

Concluding this story, we note that Preacher Jamal Zakariyya Armanious released a book titled "Why Did I Choose Islam?" In the book, he relates man's journey in search of the truth and points to the difficulty of this search, especially when it comes to the creed. It is quite hard for a person to change his religion in which he was born and raised, unless the change and conversion rest upon total conviction.

This is exactly what happened to him personally. He was not an ordinary Christian. Rather, he was one of the loyal clergymen of the church. Therefore, when he reached the truth, he decided not to keep it to himself, but to pass it on to others so that perhaps it may help guide those whom Allah Almighty wills to guide to Islam.

In fact, the journey in search of the truth is the most important journey in a person's life. It is the journey from which he takes the needed provisions for the journey of eternity. What matters is that he should arrive at the right destination before his worldly life comes to an end!

Such arrival is a favor from Allah Almighty. So, ask Him for guidance. Indeed, through Allah we are guided to Allah.

Sources:

- TV interviews with Armanious. We have put its barcode link at the start of the article.

- Jamal Zakariyya Armanious' book "Why Did I Choose Islam?" Cairo, An-Nāfizah Bookshop, 2006.

You can access it through this barcode:

https://www.muslim-library.com/arabic/%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B0%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%9F/

https://postimg.cc/SJNwxJ3B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf6IX57WHCQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be8nC5qR7KY

The profession: Pastor of the Standard Wesleyan Church and an honorary president of the Egyptian "Souls Salvation Society" in Africa and West Asia. He was born on May 3, 1953, in Minya, Egypt.

I was born in Bayyādiyya village, Mallawi, Minya Governorate, to Orthodox Christian parents. Since we were little kids, they planted in our souls hatred towards Islam and Muslims.

As I began to study the life of prophets, the intellectual conflict arose inside me. My questions would provoke problems within the students, which led Pope Shenouda, who succeeded Pope Cyril, to issue a decision to appoint me a priest, two full years before the original date of my appointment, so as to allure me and keep me silent.

That is because they felt I was supportive of Islam, though the appointment was supposed to happen after nine years of theological studies.

Then, I was appointed as Pastor of the Standard Wesleyan Church, Sohag, and an honorary president of the Egyptian "Souls Salvation Society" (A very powerful missionary society that has roots in many Arab countries, particularly in the Gulf region).

The Pope was giving me money so generously, so that I do not discuss those ideas again. Nonetheless, I was keen to know the reality of Islam.

The Islamic light that illuminated my heart and filled it with joy did not fade with my new position; rather, it increased. I began to form relationships with Muslims in secret and study Islam and read about it.

I was asked to prepare a master's thesis on comparative religion, supervised by the bishop of academic research in Egypt, in 1975.

It took me four years to prepare the thesis. The supervisor would object to some of its content, such as the trueness of Muhammad's prophethood, his illiteracy, and the Messiah telling about his coming.

Finally, the thesis was discussed, for nine hours, at the Evangelical Church, Cairo.

The discussion focused on the issue of prophethood and Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), noting that the verses explicitly refer to his prophethood and the fact that he is the seal of prophets.

At the end, the Pope issued a decision to withdraw the thesis from me and not acknowledge it.

I began to think about Islam in a deep way seeking to reach absolute certitude, to be the basis of my guidance. I, however, could not obtain Islamic books, because the Pope ordered me and my personal library be closely guarded.

On 6th August 1987, I was traveling to Alexandria to celebrate the Mawlid (Birthday) of Virgin Mary. I took the train of 3:10 pm, which starts from Asyut Station heading to Cairo.

After the train arrived at around 9:30 pm, I took the bus No. 64 from ‘Ataba to ‘Abbasiyyah.

As I was riding the bus, with my clerical clothes and a 250-gram cross of pure gold, as well as my large staff, an 11-year-old boy got in the bus. He was selling booklets, which he distributed among all passengers except for me.

Here I asked myself: Why all the passengers except me?

I waited until he finished the distribution and collection of the booklets. He sold what he sold. Then, I asked him: Son, why did you give it to all those in the bus except for me?

He said: No, father, you are a priest.

I felt as if I was not worthy of carrying these booklets, despite their small size.

﴿لَّا يَمَسُّهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱلۡمُطَهَّرُونَ٧٩﴾ [الواقعة: 79]

{None can touch except the purified.} [Al-Waqia: 79]

I pressed him to sell some of them to me. But he said: No, these are Islamic books.

The boy got off the bus, and I felt as if I was hungry and thirsty and only these booklets could quench this hunger and thirst. I got off behind him. He ran away, fearful me. I forgot who I was and ran after him, until I managed to get two booklets.

When I arrived at the major church in Abbasiyyah (the St. Mark Cathedral) and went into the bedroom allocated for those officially invited, I was too tired from travel; but when I brought out one of the two booklets - Juz' ‘Amma - and my sight fell on Surat al-Ikhlās,

it awakened my mind and shook my soul. I began to repeat it until I memorized it. I found in its recitation such relief, tranquility, and spiritual happiness.

While I was in this state, one of the priests entered and called me: Father Is'haq! I went out shouting to his face:

﴿قُلۡ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ١﴾ [الإخلاص: 1]

{Say: He is Allah, the One.} [Al-Ikhlas: 1]

I did so subconsciously.

Thereafter, I went to Alexandria to celebrate the Birthday of Virgin Mary, on Sunday, and perform the usual Mass prayer. During the break, I went to the confessional to hear the confessions of those ignorant people, who believe that a priest can forgive their sins.

A woman came to me with a tremendous feeling of regret. She said: I committed the immoral act for three times. Now, I am before Your Holiness, confessing. I hope you forgive me, and I pledge not to do this ever again.

In such a case, the priest usually raises the cross before the confessor's face and forgives his sins. As I was about to raise the cross to forgive her sin, I suddenly remembered the wonderful Qur’anic phrase:

﴿قُلۡ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ١﴾ [الإخلاص: 1]

{Say: He is Allah, the One.} [Al-Ikhlas: 1]

I became speechless, wept vehemently, and said: This woman came to obtain forgiveness of her sins from me. So, who will forgive my sins on the day of reckoning and punishment?

At that point, I realized that there is One Who is greater than all those who are great, the One God, Who alone is worthy of being worshiped.

I immediately went to the bishop and said: I forgive the sins of ordinary people. So, who forgives my sins?

He replied uncaringly: The Pope! I asked: And who forgives the Pope? Thereupon, he bounced and shouted: You are an insane priest, and the one who appointed you is insane too, even if he was the Pope, because we advised him not to appoint you, lest you will spoil the Christian community with your Islamic inclinations and corrupt thinking.

After that, a decision was issued by the Pope to imprison me in Saint Mina Monastery, in Wadi El-Natrun.

They took me blindfolded. There, the priests received me in a shocking manner that involved different forms of torment, noting that, up to that point, I did not convert to Islam. Each of them was carrying a stick and beating me with it, saying: This is what should be done to anyone who sells his religion and church.

They used with me all methods of torture, signs of which still exist on my body, bearing testimony to the truthfulness of my words. Their inhumanity reached such a level that they would insert a broom stick in my anus seven times every day at the times of the priests' prayer. This continued for 97 days. They also compelled me to shepherd pigs.

Three months later, they took me to the chief priest to discipline and advise me. He said: O son, indeed Allah does not let the reward of those who do good deeds be lost. Whoever fears Allah, He makes a way out for him and provides for him from where he does not expect.

I said to myself: These words are not from the Bible, nor are they the words of saints. While I remained amazed due to these words, he added to my amazement by saying: O son, I advise you to hold to secrecy and concealment, until the truth becomes known, even after a long time.

I wondered what he meant by these words, though he was the chief priest! It was not before long that I understood the meaning of his confusing words. One day, in the morning, I went to awaken him. He was late in opening the door. I pushed it and entered. Inside, I saw the great surprise, which was a light that guided me to this true religion, the religion of monotheism. I saw an old man, aged 65, with a white beard, standing and performing the prayer of Muslims, the Fajr (dawn) prayer.

I stood as if pinned to the ground before the scene I was watching. But I quickly became alert as I feared that any of the priests might see him. I closed the door.

After a while, he came to me and said: O son, conceal my secret; may Allah conceal yours. I have been in this situation for 23 years. The Qur’an is my nourishment, and my belief in Allah's oneness and my worship of Him is what comforts me and keeps me company in this loneliness. The truth is worthier of being followed, son.

A few days later, a decision was issued by the Pope that I should return to my church, after I was transferred from Sohag to Asyut. However, what happened in relation to Surat al-Ikhlās, the confessional, and the priest clinging to his Islam had profound impact on me. But, what should I do? I am besieged by my family and relatives and prevented from leaving the church, at the Pope's order.

One year later, I received a letter - which is deposited within the file of my official conversion to Islam at Sharqiyya Security Directorate - ordering me to go to Sudan as the head of a committee on a missionary trip.

We went to Sudan on September 1, 1979, and stayed there for three months. As per the papal instructions, anyone who converts to Christianity at the hands of the committee should be given 35 thousand Egyptian pounds, in addition to the in-kind benefits.

The number of those deceived by the committee - under the pressure of need and deprivation - reached a total of 35 Sudanese, from Wau region, South Sudan.

After I handed them the papal grants, I called the Pope from the diocese of Om Dorman. He said: Take them to see the Christian sanctities in Egypt (the monasteries).

They left Sudan as workers hired for work at the monasteries, for jobs like shepherding camels, sheep, and pigs. Nominal contracts were made for this purpose, so that the missionary committee could bring them to Egypt.

After the trip came to an end, and as we were returning in the ship - Marina - through the Nile, I stood to inspect the new converts. When I opened the cabin No. 14, using the key of the ship's crew, I was surprised to see the new convert ‘Abd al-Masīh (formerly Muhammad Adam) performing the prayer of Muslims.

I talked to him and found that he was holding fast to his Muslim creed. He was not lured by the money or influenced by the luster of this transient worldly life.

I left him, and nearly an hour later, I sent one of the missionaries to him. Then, he came to me in the third ward. After the missionary left, I said to him: O ‘Abd al-Masīh, why are you performing the prayer of Muslims after you converted to Christianity?

He replied: I sold you my body for your money. As for my heart, soul, and mind, they belong to Allah, the One, the Vanquisher. I would not sell them for the treasures of the world. And I bear witness before you that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

After these incidents, which illuminated for me the path of faith and guided me to embrace Islam, I found many difficulties in openly converting to the Muslim religion, since I was a senior priest and the head of the committee of missionary work in Africa. They tried to prevent this by all means, for it would be a great scandal.

I went to more than one security directorate to officially convert to Islam. Out of concern about the national unity, they, at the Sharqiyya Security Directorate, brought a team of priests and bishops to sit with me. This is the usual practice in Egypt with anyone who wants to embrace Islam.

The delegated committee, consisting of four priests and three bishops, threatened to take all my money and property, the movables and immovables, and my balance at the National Bank of Egypt, the branches of Sohag and Asyut, which amounted to LE 4 millions, in addition to three jewelry shops, a gold manufacturing workshop in Haret El-Yahoud, and a ten-story apartment block (No. 499) in Port Said St., Cairo.

I conceded all these to them. Indeed, nothing equals the moment of regret I felt while I was in the confessional.

After that, the church took a hostile stance towards me and declared my killing to be lawful. So, I was the target of three assassination attempts by my brother and cousins.

They fired at me in Cairo and hit my left kidney, which was removed on January 7, 1978, in Kasr Al-Ainy Hospital. The incident was recorded in a report (No. 1762/1986) at Qasr El-Nil Police Station, Cairo Security Directorate, dated 11/11/1986.

Now, I had one kidney, the right one. Due to the hard circumstances I had been going through, and after the church stripped me of everything, and in light of the medical reports stating that I needed a cosmetic surgery to the basin of my kidney and to enlarge the ureter, and given that I could not afford those heavy costs,

I underwent more than 15 surgeries, including for the prostate, and none of them was a success, because they were not the required surgery, according to the medical reports with me. Moreover, when my parents knew about my conversion to Islam, they committed suicide, setting themselves on fire. May Allah help!

https://www.islamstory.com/ar/artical/21511/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%88-%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%81%D8%A9

He suffered tremendous tribulations due to his conversion to Islam. Yet, he endured patiently and expected the reward from Allah.

Many people converted to Islam at his hands, given his eloquent speech and unrelenting standpoints.

He came from a middle-class family in Tanzania. The dream of his parents was to see him a bishop in the church of their city. They baptized him at an early age and sent him to a boarding school.

His parents continued to provoke his desire to become a priest. Then, they made him the altar servant at the Mass, taking pride in him as he helped the priest receive the body and blood of the Christ!

After finishing his university studies, he joined the church, thus fulfilling the desire of his parents. When he reached the age of 25, his parents decided to send him to England to study theology as it should be studied and then return to Tanzania with a higher status.

He actually traveled to England in 1964, to obtain a diploma in church management. A year later, he went to Germany to obtain a bachelor's degree. When he turned back home a year later, he became a working bishop.

But Martin John Mwaipopo, the well-educated, who used his mind and did not follow others blindly, read extensively about the heavenly religions and Buddhism. He embarked on a journey in search of the truth, from which he could only return with guidance from Allah.

His third academic trip was to the US, seeking the doctoral degree. There, he delved deeper in the study of comparative religion and found that Islam is the religion of natural disposition.

Mwaipopo related: "When I opened the noble Qur’an, the first verses I read were Surat al-Ikhlās:

﴿قُلۡ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ١ ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ٢ لَمۡ يَلِدۡ وَلَمۡ يُولَدۡ ٣ وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدُۢ٤﴾ [الإخلاص: 1-4]

{Say: "He is Allah, the One;١ Allah, the Eternal Refuge. ٢He neither begets nor is He begotten, ٣and there is none comparable to Him."}[Surat al-Ikhlās: 1-4]

As if it was the key." At that time, the seeds of Islam began to grow in him, a religion with which he was not familiar. He also found out that the noble Qur’an is the only sacred book that remains untainted by people since its revelation.

Mwaipopo was hesitant about saddening his parents by leaving Christianity and losing the status awaiting him when he got back to the church.

He once stared in the eyes of the professor supervising his thesis and suddenly asked him: Which religion is the more correct?

The Christian man boldly replied: Islam.

Thereupon, Mwaipopo asked him: Then, why do you not convert to it?

The man frankly said: So as not to lose all the privileges you see and earn the hostility of my followers when they turn against me.

Mwaipopo returned to Tanzania with the PhD, not a bishop this time, but the archbishop. His parents were overjoyed and his townspeople received him warmly and proudly. However, the light had already permeated his heart and the veil had been lifted off his eyes, and everything became easy to renounce for the sake of the truth and the true word.

He met one of his Muslim acquaintances, namely Shaykh Ahmed Shaykh. He told him about what he intended to do, and he encouraged him.

On the night of December 23, 1986, during the celebrations ahead of the Christmas, Mwaipopo told the worshipers that he would leave Christianity and embrace Islam.

The crowd of worshipers was in a state of complete paralysis due to the shock they felt upon hearing this news, to the extent that the assistant bishop rose from his seat, closed the door and windows, and told the church members that the archbishop had lost his mind.

The worshipers called the police to take the crazy man, whom they kept in custody till midnight, when Ahmed Shaykh came and secured his release.

Martin John Mwaipopo, who changed his name into Hajj Abu Bakr John Mwaipopo, in Wyebank Islamic center, Durban, recounted tremendous circumstances he had to go through, but he showed patience in pursuit of Allah's reward.

The church stripped him of his house and car, and his wife could not bear it and packed her bags and took her kids and left him, despite his affirmation to her that she was not obliged to convert to Islam.

When he went to his parents, they asked him to criticize Islam publicly. He related:

"They were old and did not have knowledge. They were even unable to read the Gospel. I pardoned them. I asked them, however, to stay in the house for one night.

The following day, I set on a journey to Kayila, a town on the Malawi-Tanzania border. I stopped on the way and met the family of a Catholic nun called Sister Gertrude Kipoya, who is currently known as Sister Zaynab. They hosted me for one night.

In the morning, I made the Adhān (call to prayer), which made the villagers come out of their houses and ask my hosts as to how they could entertain a mad man. The nun explained to them that I was not mad, but Muslim.

I asked her: Why do you wear a cross in a chain around your neck? She replied: Because Christ was crucified on it.

I said to her: Let us say that someone killed your father with a rifle. Would you move around carrying a rifle around your neck?

This prompted the nun to think and she could not find a definite answer. I proposed marriage to her, and she accepted. We got married secretly and traveled together to Kayila."

Mwaipopo moved from the life of luxury to a house made of mud, and instead of his big salary as a member of the World Council of Churches, he began to earn his living as a woodcutter and cultivator of others' land.

Outside his hours of work, he was openly calling people to Islam, which brought him short sentences in prison for lack of respect to Christianity.

Moreover, as he was performing the obligation of Hajj, in 1988, they blew up his house, burning his three triplets. Their mother survived the attack. However, this did not kill his resolve, but motivated him to do more, as the number of those converting to Islam at his hands was increasing, and among them was his father-in-law.

In 1992, he was detained for 10 months along with 70 of his followers. They were charged with treason in the wake of blowing up some pork shops, against which he had spoken out. He did actually speak out against them. His innocence was proven. Shortly thereafter, he was banished to Zambia.

The message of Alhājj Abu Bakr/Mwaipopo to Muslims:

"There is a war against Islam. They filled the world with prints (serving their purpose). At present, they specifically work to make Muslims feel ashamed when they describe them as fundamentalists. Muslims should not stop at their personal ambitions. They should unite. Indeed, you should defend your neighbor if you want to be safe yourself."

Sources:

The Muslims Newspaper, released on June 19, 1992.

The website of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMtSdjXr9ko

The story of Sily the priest was mentioned in an article by His Highness Dr. ‘Abdul-‘Azīz Sarhan, the dean of the faculty of education in Makkah. In it, he said:

This story may seem strange to anyone who did not personally meet its hero, hear what he said with his own ears, and see him with his own eyes. This is a story that looks imaginary but in fact is real. It took form right before my eyes as its hero was recounting to me what happened to him personally.

To know more, or rather to know all the interesting incidents, let me take you on a journey to Johannesburg, the South African city of gold mines, where I used to work as a director of the bureau of the Muslim World League there.

It happened in 1996. We were in the winter, which was so cold in that land. One day, the sky was cloudy and it seemed we were in for a strong winter storm.

As I was waiting for someone I was scheduled to meet and host as an honorable guest, my wife was in the house, preparing lunch.

That person was a relative of Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa. He was a person who devoted particular attention to Christianity and was promoting it. That was Priest Sily.

The meeting was scheduled through the secretary of the bureau of the World Muslim League, ‘Abdul-Khaliq Mutayr, who told me that a priest wanted to come to the office for something important.

At the appointed time, Sily came along with someone called Sulayman. He was a boxer and became a member of the Boxing Association after converting to Islam,

thanks to a tour by the Muslim boxer Muhammad Ali Clay. I met all of them at my office and was extremely happy to meet them.

Sily was of a short height, very dark-skinned, and always smiling. He sat in front of me and began to talk in a very gentle manner.

I said to him: Brother Sily, would you relate to us the story of your conversion to Islam?

Sily smiled and said: Yes, sure.

He related: I was a very active priest, serving the church most diligently. Not only that! I was also one of the leading missionaries in South Africa.

Given my activeness, the Vatican chose me to do missionary work funded by them. So, money began  reaching me from the Vatican for this purpose. I was keen to employ all means to reach this goal.

I used to make successive and various visits to schools, institutes, hospitals, villages, and forests and would pay from these amounts of money in the form of benefits, grants, charity, and gifts, with the aim of reaching my goal and converting people to Christianity.

The church was giving money to me lavishly. I became rich and had a house, car, and good salary, as well as high prestige among priests.

One day, I went to buy some gifts from the shopping center in my town, and there the surprise happened!

In the market, I came across a man wearing a headdress. He was a trader selling gifts. I was wearing the long priest clothing with a white collar that distinguishes us from others.

I began to negotiate the price of gifts with that man. I knew he was Muslim. In South Africa, we call Islam "the religion of Indians", not the religion of Islam.

I bought the gifts, or rather the snares into which we drag naïve people and those suffering from religious and spiritual voidness. We would also exploit the poverty of many Muslims and South Africans to lure them into converting to Christianity.

Thereupon, the trader asked me: You are a priest, aren't you?

I replied in the affirmative.

He further asked: Who is your god?

I said to him: Christ is God.

He said: I challenge you to bring one verse from the Gospel saying that Christ personally said: I am God, or I am the son of God, so worship me.

The Muslim man's words struck me like a thunderbolt, and I found nothing to say in reply. I tried to delve with my good memory into the Gospels and the Christian books in search of an adequate reply, but in vain.

There is no single verse in which Christ says that he is God or the son of God. I stood aghast and embarrassed and felt anguished. How did I not think about questions like these before?

I left the man and wandered aimlessly. I was only aware of myself as I was walking for long with no specific direction. Then, I determined to search for verses like these, at any cost. I failed, however, and felt defeated.

I went to the ecclesiastical council and asked to meet with its members. They agreed. In the meeting, I told them about what I had heard. In response, they all attacked me and said: This Indian deceived you. He wants to mislead you with the religion of Indians.

I said to them: Then, give me an answer!

They gave no answer!

Then, there came Sunday on which I gave my sermon and lesson in the church. I stood before the people to speak, but I could not. The people wondered at me standing in front of them and not speaking.

I withdrew inside the church and asked a friend of mine to take my place. I told him I was exhausted, whereas in fact I was collapsed and mentally broken.

I went home in a state of complete amazement and great distress. Then, I headed to a small place in my house and sat there and began to weep loudly. After a while, I raised my gaze to the sky and set out to supplicate. But, whom should I supplicate?

I turned to the One I thought He was Allah, the Creator, and supplicated, saying: My Lord, my Creator, all doors have been closed before me, except for Your door. Do not deprive me of knowing the truth. Where is the truth and the true way? Lord! Lord do not leave me in this confusion. Guide me to what is right and lead me to the truth!

I fell asleep, and during my sleep, I saw a very big hall, where there was none except me. At the front part of the hall, a man appeared. I did not see his face clearly because of the light that was radiating from him and around him. I thought this was Allah whom I asked to lead me to the truth. But I was sure this was a radiant man.

The man began to point to me and call out: O Ibrāhīm! I looked around to see who Ibrāhīm was, but I found none with me in the hall.

Thereupon, the man said to me: You are Ibrāhīm. Your name is Ibrāhīm. Did you not ask Allah to know the truth?

I said: Yes. He said: Look at your right. I looked at my right and saw a group of men walking and carrying their luggage over their shoulders and wearing white clothes and white turbans. The man proceeded: Follow these men to know the truth.

I woke up with a great feeling of happiness. But I comfortably asked: Where will I find this group of men I saw in the dream?

I determined to continue the path of search for the truth, as described to me by the one who came to direct me to it during my sleep. I became sure that all this happened according to Allah's plan.

I took a leave from work and embarked on a long journey of search. I wandered in several cities, searching and asking about men who wear white clothes and white turbans. My search and wandering continued for long. I would only see Muslims wearing trousers and putting headdresses on their shoulders only.

I continued to wander until I reached Johannesburg. I even went to the reception office of the committee of Africa's Muslims. I asked the receptionist about that group of men. He thought I was a beggar and extended his hand with some money. I said to him: I am not asking you for this. Do you not have a place of worship nearby?

He directed me to a nearby mosque. I headed to it, and there a surprise was awaiting me. On the door of the mosque there was a man wearing white clothes and a white turban. I was joyful. He was like the men I had seen in the dream.

I headed directly toward him, feeling glad because of what I was seeing. Behold! Before I uttered a word, the man started talking to me and said: Welcome, Ibrāhīm!

I was surprised and amazed at what I heard. The man knew my name before I introduced myself to him!

He continued: I saw you in a dream looking for us and seeking to know the truth. The truth lies in the religion which Allah has approved for His servants (Islam).

I said to him: Yes, I am searching for the truth. The radiant man I saw in the dream directed me to follow a group of men wearing clothes like yours. Can you tell me who the person I saw in my dream was?

The man replied: That was our Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, the true religion - the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).

I could not believe what happened to me. Anyway, I headed to the man and hugged him while asking: Was that really your Messenger and Prophet? Did he come to direct me to the true religion?

He replied in the affirmative and began to welcome and congratulate me that Allah guided me to know the truth.

When the time of Zhuhr (noon) prayer came, the man made me sit at the rear of the mosque and went to pray along with the other people. Now I watched the Muslims and many of them were dressed like him.

I watched them as they bowed and prostrated themselves to Allah. I said to myself: By Allah, this is the true religion. I read in the books that the prophets and messengers would place their foreheads on the ground in prostration to Allah.

After the prayer, I felt at ease and tranquil due to what I saw and heard. I said to myself: Allah Almighty definitely guided me to the true religion.

The Muslim man called me to declare my conversion to Islam. I uttered the testimony of faith and began to weep copiously out of joy about the guidance Allah Almighty bestowed upon me.

Then, I remained with them to learn Islam. Later, we set out on a journey of Da‘wah that lasted for long. They used to travel far and wide to call people to Islam. I was so glad in their company.

I learned from them prayer, fasting, voluntary night prayer, supplication, truthfulness, and honesty. I also learned that Muslims are a nation whom Allah assigned with conveying the religion of Allah. And I learned how to be a Muslim who calls people to Allah and how to do so in a wise manner. They also taught me patience, forbearance, sacrifice, and simplicity.

Several months later, I went back to my town, to find my family and friends looking for me. When they saw me returning to them with the Islamic clothing, they expressed their disapproval.

The ecclesiastical council called me for an emergency meeting with them. In the meeting, they kept rebuking me for leaving the religion of my forefathers and kinsfolk. They said: The Indians deceived and misled you with their religion.

I said to them: No one deceived or misled me. The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came to me in a dream to direct me to the truth and the true religion. It is Islam, not the religion of Indians as you call it. I now call you to the truth and to Islam. They were dumbfounded!

Then, they began to use a different approach with me, trying to allure me with money and authority. They said to me: The Vatican asked that you stay with them for six months, in prepaid secondment - in addition to a new house and a new car for you, and a sum of money to improve your living, as well as a higher position in the church.

I refused all this, and said to them: After Allah has guided me, do you want to lead me astray? I definitely would not do this, even if I was cut to pieces.

After that, I advised them and called them to Islam again. As a result, two priests converted to Islam - praise be to Allah. When they saw my insistence, they withdrew from me all ranks and positions. I was glad about that. Then, I returned to them all the money and trusts I had, and left.

Now, I am the preacher Ibrāhīm Sily. I call people to the true religion of Islam.

Sources:

Al-Najah Charity - The series of the stories of the newly guided famous people (20): Sily the Priest, a former leading missionary in South Africa.

The Saudi Okaz newspaper (January 21, 2000): A remarkable story of conversion to Islam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4bsLtdITFE

http://www.way-to-allah.com/en/journey/khadija.html

Mary Watson was her name before converting to Islam. She related her story in an interview, saying:

"I studied theology for eight years and was guided to Islam in one week. The day I embraced Islam was the day of my birth. Muslims need strength of faith."

"I have seven children, sons and daughters, from a Philippino husband. I was born in Ohio, the US, and lived the greater part of my youth between Los Angeles and the Philippine. Now, after embracing Islam, praise be to Allah, my name is Khadijah. I chose that name because Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) was a widow, and so am I, and she had children, and so do I, and she was 40 years old when she got married to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and believed in what was revealed to him, and likewise, I was 40 when I converted to Islam. I also like her personality very much, because when Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) received the revelation, she supported and encouraged him unhesitatingly; that is why I like her character."

Ironically, Mary, before embracing Islam, used to write articles aimed at defaming Islam and spreading fear and hatred of it, something she came to regret after becoming Muslim.

In one of Dr. Khadijah Watson's campaigns in the Philippines, she met a Filipino lecturer who had recently come from an Arab country. She noticed considerable changes in him and his attitude which she had not seen before. She persistently asked him, and he finally admitted that he converted to Islam at the place where he had come from, and that he did not tell anyone about it.

Numerous curious questions came to her mind: Why did he embrace Islam? Why did he change his religion? What is the secret in this religion that prompted him to abandon his own religion?

Following that, she began a journey of search about Islam. She communicated with her Filipino Muslim friend, who had earlier worked in Saudi Arabia. She went to her and asked her many questions about Islam.

Initially, she asked her about the treatment of women in Islam, in addition to other misconceptions about this religion. After receiving her friend's answers, Watson said:

"I really felt great relief at my friend's speech. I began to ask her at length about Allah Almighty and Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). After she had answered my questions, I found out that all the books I had previously read - written by non-Muslims - were packed with misunderstanding and misconceptions regarding Islam and Muslims. This made me ask her about the Qur’an and about these touching words repeated in the prayer."

Mary continued to read Islamic books so voraciously that by the end of a week, she had read 12 books, after which she reached a complete conviction that Islam is the true religion and that Allah Almighty is the One God Who has no partner, that He is the One Who forgives sins and misdeeds, and that He alone is the One Who saves us from the punishment in the Hereafter.

Despite these convictions, however, Islam was yet to settle in her heart. So, she implored to Allah Almighty to guide her to the right path.

Mary related how the light of Islam sneaked into her heart. She said:

"During an unforgettable night, while laying in bed and I was about to sleep, I sensed something strange settling in my heart. I sat up immediately and said wholeheartedly: O Lord, I believe in You alone. After that, I uttered the testimony of faith and felt great relief and tranquility which I never had before. I praised Allah Almighty for the favor of Islam and considered that day to be the day of my real birth. I named myself Khadijah instead of my old name, Mary."

About the only one among her children to embrace Islam, she said:

"When I worked at the Islamic center in the Philippines, I used to bring some booklets and magazines to the house and leave them on the table, on purpose, in the hope that Allah might guide my son Christopher to Islam, for only he was living with me. And actually he and his friend began to read in these books and would leave them exactly as they were. I also had an alarm for the Adhān, which he kept listening to time and again while I was not in the house. After a while, he told me about his interest in entering Islam, which made me overjoyed. I encouraged him. Then, some brothers from the Islamic center came and discussed Islam with him, after which he declared his conversion to it. He is my only child who embraced Islam, to this day. He named himself ‘Umar."

After converting to Islam, Khadijah quit her previous work, a university professor. She was asked to organize sessions or symposiums on Islamic studies in an Islamic center in the Philippines, where she stayed. She gave lots of lectures on Islam in the universities and faculties in the Philippines.

She continued to work in the Philippines for a year and a half. Then, she moved to work at the Center for the Awareness of the Communities, in Al-Qassim, at the women's section, as a special Muslim preacher speaking in the Filipino language, in addition to English, her mother tongue.

Throughout her life of Da‘wah, Dr. Khadijah Watson, in her lectures, symposiums, and TV interviews, would affirm the following:

"My reading about Islam, after converting to it, helped me know the secret reason behind all people combating this religion. Islam is fought because it is the fastest growing religion worldwide."

She would always urge Muslims to display the spirit of Islam and its noble morals. She used to say in her lectures:

"We, Muslims, badly need to exhibit Islam and highlight its strength and beauty within the environments where there is blackout or media interference."

In the area of family, everyday dealings, and economic life, she would call for making.

"Islam the ideal way of life and the compass that correctly directs all aspects of life - economic, social, etc - and even family life and the relationship between family members."

Sources:

Muslim World League Journal.

US Islam web site.

The End

Tuesday, Ramadan 4, 1443 H.

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