Journeys of Faith Part 1

On 4th January 2019, Maulana Hifzur Rahman Seoharvi Academy-Jeddah organized the Annual Reception-2018 in the honour of the new Muslim sisters in the famous Lasani Restaurant, Jeddah. A few days ago they organized such an event for the new brothers in Islam.

The Seoharvi academy has been very active for the past 7 years in welcoming the newly reverted Muslims into the community. They are playing a very important role in making the new Muslims feel welcome and accepted as well as appreciated by the Muslim community. They encourage them to speak out and share their journeys of Faith and enlighten the listeners. This lets them feel that they are not alone in their hard journeys and the audience also gets to understand the value of Islam as a Faith. Inviting them over to share their stories and giving gifts is a beautiful way of making them feel at home.

The function started with the beautiful recitation of the Noble Quran, (Chapter 59: Al Hashr, verses 21-24) by a young girl named Fatima. She had memorised the Noble Quran at the tender age of 8 and half years. Now she is studying in the second grade. Her mother read out the English translation of the verses recited by her which was as follows:

If We had sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah . And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought.

He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him.

He is Allah , the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

After the recitation of the Noble Quran the host of the event, sister Farhana, introduced the new Muslim sisters and called all the speakers upon the stage. The president and the chief guest from the new Muslim sisters were seated on the stage and some of the speakers joined them. 

The host, Sara Altaf, a Hafiz e Quran and a medical student, then called upon the first speaker to come up to the podium and share her story with the audience.

This new Muslim sister, Emaan, is a dentist by profession and belongs to the Philippines. She was earlier a Christian. When she came to work in Saudi Arabia she observed and understood Islam. Her perspective toward life changed. She started fasting with the Muslims and later accepted Islam. She told the audience that while giving anaesthesia to her patients during treatment she recites Surah Al Ikhlas which is one-third of the Noble Quran. She wants to earn the reward and it also helps her keep connected with Allah.

She suggested that if the Muslims want to invite others to Islam they should show them the essence of Islam that is good manners and best attitude in dealing with others. Her story clearly shows that all human beings are created upon fitrah or nature and they have the search for Truth inside them. When they seek the Truth and search it they get it and understand who the True God is.

The second guided sister was Batool. Her earlier name was Betty. She is also from the Philippines. She was such a devoted Christian that she had built a church behind her house in the Philippines. She even served as an assistant to the Ministries to Born Again Christians. Nevertheless, she always wondered about the purpose of life. Questions like “Who is Jesus?” bothered her. She went to Australia and worked in a Muslim family from the embassy of Kuwait. However, the family did not treat her well. She wondered why Muslims treated Christians badly. But eventually, she met a good Muslim man, which made her think that she must not look at Muslims, rather see what Islam is all about. The man proposed to her and they got married. After marriage, she took her Shahadah, and memorised Surah Al-Fatihah shortly after.

Another sister named Ayesha, formerly named Angeles, came to Saudi Arabia as a domestic help to a Saudi employer. Her employer used to share books about Islam with her. Her madam’s sister asked questions about why there was the concept of trinity in Christianity. This made her question her belief in the concept of trinity. Before coming to Saudi Arabia in May 2015, she went through a lot of trial and tribulation in life. One of her colleagues made Shahadah in the meantime. When she recited Surah Al-Fatihah for the first time, her heartbeat increased due to the effect of the words of Allah and she couldn’t put into words that feeling. This consequently led to her accepting Islam. With the help of IEF (Islamic Education Foundation), she took Shahadah on the phone. Now, she has a faith different from her family, but she hopes that when she stays with her family again, she can show them her faith by her good manners and one day, they will understand why she accepted Islam. She is concerned about her family’s faith but now in her eyes the life of the hereafter is much more important.

Yet another sister Aleena, is also a Filipino. Her earlier name was Eleanor. She came to Islam in 2010 through a friend. Earlier she stayed in Jizan till the year 2008 and worked as a nurse in the King Fahd Hospital. Her colleagues used to give her books on Islam but she used to keep them on one side and go off to sleep. She did not have any interest whatsoever in knowing about Islam. In fact she did not even like the way Muslims prayed, especially the position of Sujood made her laugh. She used to joke and say that if Allah tells her to come to Islam she will accept Islam. Her past life was completely different from what she is now as a good Muslim. She was a disco goer and used to wear miniskirts and shorts as dresses.  But gradually she realized that Islam is the true religion. Soon she was ready to take shahadah. This was the most unexpected thing in her life. Those who knew her from her past were surprised and shocked to see the change in her. She now wears hijab contrary to her improper way of dressing before Islam. She was invited by the Islamic Centre at Balad where she accepted Islam. The best thing she finds about Islam is the way of prayer! This is a drastic change of heart as she disliked this very aspect of Islam! This can be possible only by the will of Allah.

She regrets why she did not come to Islam earlier so she could call her parents to Islam. Her family is still not Muslim but they show her respect when she visits them and avoid cooking the haram food that she does not eat. Her sister is still a nun. She is very happy with her religion Islam and is greatly thankful to Allah that He opened her eyes to the Truth.

The takeaway lesson from her story is that we all regret something from our pasts but this is in fact a blessing in disguise. This regret actually leads to repentance and amendment of our situation at present.