Friday, 9 November, 2012 | THE BRUNEI TIMES

B7

Sharing A True Story: A Short Journey Into Islam

Pg Hj Abd Rahman Pg Hj Omar BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
N my ight back to Brunei from Mekah via Kuala Lumpur, after performing Haj, a Malaysian Chinese businessman sitting beside me asked me if I just returned from Haj. I said Yes. He then asked me whether it is true women are being suppressed in Islam, as this is what the Taliban are doing. I told him, I will give him $20,000 if he can nd in Al-Quran a verse which instructs Muslims to suppress women. I then explained to him that Islam instructs men to protect women as they are made special. Then he asked me about spreading of Islam by force. I told him that there is not a single verse in the Noble Quran which says or encourages the spreading of Islam by force. The Islam bashers took a verse out of the context. The actual story in the Al-Quran is about the disbelievers (kars) who broke the truce/treaty and attacked the innocent Muslims, thus Muslims were told to nd and kill all those disbelieving attackers. (In this case Muslims were just reacting to provocation by the disbelievers). After answering all his questions about Islam, I then asked him what his religion is. He told me he is a Catholic. I then asked him to explain the Trinity. He said, the Holy Ghost, Jesus and God is One. I then asked him if a twin who shares one body can be considered as one person.

His response was: No. When I asked him why, he said because they have different brain and way of thinking. Then I asked him if Jesus has the same way of thinking as God. If the answer is yes, then why did Jesus complain to God when he was at the cross as per the Bible Mathew: My God, My God why have you forsaken me!. I also asked him about a verse in the Bible Matthew which says no one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Thus no way Jesus is the same as God. I further explained to him, no where in the Bible Jesus admits he is God. If the bible does say Jesus is Son of God, then the Bible also says to the followers of Jesus in Deuteronomy You are the children of the LORD your God. I then asked him if he knew that the instruction to stone adulterers to death is not in the Quran but it is in the bible Deuteronomy. Selling of daughter as slave, spreading religion by sword, etc are not in Quran, but they are all in the bible. I also told him that most Muslims follow the teaching of Jesus (peace be upon him) better than the Christians, such as worship only one God not three, not eating pork, not taking alcohol, not making idols and so on. After explaining to him the logic in Islam and the truth based on Al-Quran and

Hadith, and not based on the action and words of bad Muslims, I could see tears dropping from his eyes. He then asked me what Muslims name could he use as he has made up his mind to convert to Islam. I told him he can choose any Arabic name which has a good meaning as it is also a dua, as long as its not a word which has a dirty meaning. Then I asked him if he accepts that God is One and not three, and that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was indeed a servant and a messenger of God (Allah SWT). He said Yes. I then said to him: Then youre already a Muslim. I explained to him about Rukun Iman (the six pillars of faith) and Rukun

Islam (the ve pillars of Islam) which he must follow in order to be a perfect true Muslim. I also reminded him that its not because of me nor anyone else that he accepts Islam. It is God who can see all those good things deep inside his heart and thus chooses to open his heart to Islam. Before we left the aircraft, he told me: God must have also planned our meeting, as he was supposed to y the next day, but then decided to y that same day as me, and he could not explain why he made that last minute decision. May Allah The Almighty always guide him to the truth. Amin The Brunei Times

(rahimahullah) Imam al-Syafii (rahimahullah) declared that: For every matter that I have spoken about, when there is a sahih (sound) narration from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassalam alongside hadith, the ulama of hadith, I retract those statements while I am alive or after my death.
al-Muwaqqiiin) (Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, Ilam al-Muwaqqiiin)