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Martin Guevarra Abella, Ex-Catholic, Philippines
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Description: My untiring search for the truth.
By Martin Guevarra Abella
Published on 04 Jul 2011 - Last modified on 11 Sep 2011
Viewed: 3954 (daily average: 6) - Rating: 4.9 out of 5 - Rated by: 10
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Category: Articles
> Stories of New Muslims
> Men
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I am Martin Guevarra Abella. I was born
in Manila, Philippines in1966 to Catholic parents. I was baptized
a Catholic when I was two weeks old! My family rarely
missed Sunday mass and we never failed to observe different Christian, or shall
I say “Catholic” activities like Christmas,
All Saint’s Day, Holy Week/Easter, etc. By the time I was 12, I was a devout
Catholic. I even attended masses devoted to the “Virgin Mary” on Wednesdays and
prayed the “rosary” daily.
I was deeply interested in religion and
read the Bible cover to cover but it never strengthened my Catholic faith and
instead only rocked my faith. I started questioning
Catholic practices of worshipping/praying to graven images and having one God
with three personas? I mean, how can 1=3? I questioned
the different sacraments of the Catholic Church like baptism, wedding
and mass, for all were completed with their due “fee”Even prayers
for the dead and blessings for the dead with a sprinkling of “holy water” were not exempted.
I turned to my distant
relatives who are priests and nuns and I questioned them about these matters
whenever I had the opportunity. They could not answer my questions and I could
see from their eyes that they just simply dismissed me as a “Catholic who sings
a different tune, a thorn in the side of an established order.”
I questioned the doctrine of limbo
regarding the status of unbaptized infants/individuals who die without being
freed from “Original Sin” (as Catholics believe). Medical personnel can baptize
patients who are in critical condition (near death) and this was believed to be
sufficient if the patient/individual dies. But if the patient survives, he still
needs to go to a priest for baptism! Now this did not make sense, how
would this be considered in one instance, ‘sufficient’ and in another insufficient?
Relatives of the dead who are rich can
offer unlimited masses to remove the souls of their loved ones in “Purgatory”
(an invention of the Catholic Church) of course for a hefty fee, again, paid to
the Church. This made it possible for the rich to buy his/her way to “Heaven”
while the “poor” souls whose relatives cannot afford to pay, is sure to rot in
purgatory or much worse go straight to Hell. Even the
tolling of church bells to announce the death of someone in the community has a
related fee.
When I got married at age 21 and had a
family of my own, I ceased to be a Catholic. I stopped attending masses. I
began my search for the true religion as I no longer believed in the Catholic
faith. This led me to study the faith of those who profess to be Protestant
Christians - who believe that mere acceptance of Jesus as your personal Savior
will lead you to salvation. Protestants believe that “faith alone” is necessary
for salvation. I find that odd. Sorry, but I thought that this must be the
religion of those too “lazy” to do good deeds for the pleasure of God!
I then studied the Bible with Jehovah’s
Witnesses who insist that God’s name is Jehovah, despite admitting themselves
that Yahweh must be the more proper name of God as there are no vowels in the
Hebrew language!
I also became a member of the Iglesia Ni
Cristo (INC). Again, I had many questions regarding
their practices inside the INC that made me continue my search
for the true religion.
It was during my work in the island of Mindanao for two years, specifically, Cotabato City in
the late 1980s that I first came into contact with Islam; although, I
didn’t get a chance to study Islam, this exposure would later draw me to Islam.
Christians see our Muslims brothers as
troublemakers, polygamous terrorists, murderers, kidnappers, drug traders,
suicide bombers such that there is really a well-known saying “A good Muslim is a dead Muslim” Being a Muslim during this
stage in my life was the last thing on my mind, for I believed that there must
be an intermediary between God and man (due to my two decades of struggling in Christianity) and that religion should not foster violence (though I am also aware of
the history of Catholic inquisition).
All in all, it took me more than two
decades or 23 years to be exact, when I stopped using the Bible as a standard
of measure of what I consider should be the true religion. I began reading the
Holy Quran and made countless searches on the web to satisfy my curiosity. The
deepest questions in my mind were answered one-by-one when I learned of this
site, IslamReligion.com. There are many helpful articles readily accessible
for one searching for the truth. A seeker of the truth must be very
careful when searching online, there are many sites that propagate lies, twist
facts or try to deviate from the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, may God praise
him.
With God’s mercy, my eyes were opened. My
zeal to search for the truth was further awakened. I realized a very
important lesson, not every Muslim upholds Islam as they should; so it isn’t
fair to judge Islam based on what Muslims do.
I learned that Islam is a religion of
peace and that violence is farthest from the mind of a true Muslim. I learned
the six pillars of faith and the basic beliefs and practices in Islam. I had
the conviction of finally saying the Shahada (The Testimony of Faith) and enter the fold of Islam.
Life is not just being born, studying
worldly knowledge in some university, earning money to spend for one’s needs,
and then old age, sickness and eventually death. For if this was the meaning
of life, then life would truly be miserable because “even if you win the rat
race, you still remain just a miserable rat.”
Without embracing Islam and spending one’s
life purely for the pleasure of God life
will remain meaningless and full of troubles.
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