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“What happened to you?” This was usually the
first reaction I encountered when my former classmates, friends and co-pastors
saw me after having embraced Islam. I suppose I couldn’t blame them, I was a
highly unlikely the person to change religions. Formerly, I was a professor,
pastor, church planter and missionary. If anyone was a radical fundamentalist
it was I.
I had just graduated with my Master’s Degree of
Divinity from an elite seminary five months before. It was after that time I
met a lady who had worked in Saudi Arabia and had embraced Islam. Of course, I
asked her about the treatment of women in Islam. I was shocked at her answer,
it wasn’t what I expected, so I proceeded to ask other questions relating to God
and Muhammad [may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him]. She informed me
that she would take me to the Islamic Center where they would be better able to
answer my questions.
Being prayed up, meaning-asking Jesus for
protection against demon spirits, seeing that what we had been taught about
Islam is that it is Demonic and Satanic religion. Having taught Evangelism, I
was quite shocked at their approach, it was direct and straightforward. No
intimidation, no harassment, no psychological manipulation, no subliminal
influence! None of this, “Let’s have a Quranic study in your house,” like a
counter part of the Bible study. I couldn’t believe it! They gave me some
books and told me if I had some questions they were available to answer them in
the office. That night I read all of the books they gave. It was the first
time I had ever read a book about Islam written by a Muslim, we had studied and
read books about Islam only written by Christians. The next day I spent three
hours at the office asking questions. This went on everyday for a week, by which
time I had read twelve books and knew why Muslims are the hardest people in the
world to convert to Christianity. Why? Because there is nothing to offer
them!! (In Islam) There is a relationship with God, forgiveness of sins,
salvation and promise of Eternal Life.
Naturally, my first question centered on the
deity of God. Who is this God that the Muslims worship? We had been taught as
Christians that this is another god, a false god, when, in fact, He is the
Omniscient-All Knowing, Omnipotent-All Powerful, and Omnipresent-All Present
God - The One and Only without co-partners or co-equal. It is interesting to
note that there were bishops during the first three hundred years of the Church
that were teaching as the Muslim believes, that Jesus [may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him] was a prophet and teacher!! It was only after
the conversion of Emperor Constantine that he was the one to call and introduce
the doctrine of the Trinity. He, a convert to Christianity who knew nothing of
this religion, introduced a paganistic concept that goes back to Babylonian
times. Space, however, does not permit me to go into detail about the subject,
but God willing, we will another time. Only, I must point out that the word
TRINITY is not found in the Bible in any of its many translation nor is it
found in the original Greek or Hebrew languages!
My other important question centered on Muhammad
[may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him]. Who is this Muhammad? I
found out that Muslims do not pray to him like the Christians pray to Jesus. He
is not an intermediary and in fact it is forbidden to pray to him. We ask
blessing upon him at the end of our prayer but likewise we ask blessings on
Abraham. He is a Prophet and a Messenger, the final and last Prophet. In
fact, until now, one thousand four hundred and eighteen years (1,418) later
there has been no prophet after him. His message is for All Mankind, as
opposed to the message of Jesus or Moses (peace be upon them both) which was
sent to the Jews. “Hear O Israel” But the message is the same message
of God. “The Lord Your God is One God and you shall have no other gods
before Me.” (Mark 12:29)
Because prayer was a very important part of my
Christian life I was both interested and curious to know what the Muslims were
praying. As Christians we were as ignorant on this aspect of Muslim belief as
on the other aspects. We thought and were taught, that the Muslims were bowing
down to the Kaaba (in Mecca), that that was there god and center point of this
false deity. Again, I was shocked to learn that the manner of prayer is
prescribed by God, Himself. The words of the prayer are one of praise and
exaltation. The approach to prayer (ablution or washing) in cleanliness is
under the direction of God. He is a Holy God and it is not for us to approach
Him in an arbitrary manner, but only reasonable that He should tell us how we
should approach Him.
At the end of that week after having spent eight
(8) years of formal theological studies, I knew cognitively (head knowledge)
that Islam was true. But I did not embrace Islam at that time because I did
not believe it in my heart. I continued to pray, to read the Bible, to attend
lectures at the Islamic Center. I was in earnest asking and seeking God’s
direction. It is not easy to change your religion. I did not want to loose my
salvation if there was salvation to loose. I continued to be shocked and
amazed at what I was learning because it was not what I was taught that Islam
believed. In my Master’s level, the professor I had was respected as an
authority on Islam yet his teaching and that of Christianity in general is full
of Misunderstanding. He and many Christians like him are sincere but they are
sincerely wrong.
Two months later after having once again prayed
seeking God’s direction, I felt something drop into my being! I sat up, and it
was the first time I was to use the name of God, and I said, “God, I believe
you are the One and Only True God.” There was peace that descended upon me and
from that day four years ago until now I have never regretted embracing Islam.
This decision did not come without trial. I was fired from my job as I was teaching
in two Bible Colleges at that time, ostracized by my former classmates,
professors and co-pastors, disowned by my husband’s family, misunderstood by my
adult children and made a suspicion by my own government. Without the faith
that enables man to stand up to Satanic forces I would not have been able to
withstand all of this. I am ever so grateful to God that I am a Muslim and may
I live and die a Muslim.
“Truly, my prayer, my service of sacrifice,
my life and my death are all for God the Cherisher of the Worlds. No partner
has He, this I am commanded. And I am the first of those who bow to God in
Islam.” (Quran 6:162-163)
Sister Khadijah Watson is presently working as a
teacher for women in one of the Da’wah (Invitation to Islam) Centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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