Out of Pakistan: A Testimony of the Miraculous Hand of God in My Life
By Hashmat Shah
()
About this ebook
This book takes you into the spiritual journeys of two men: Hashmat and his father, Rahmat Ullah Shah. Their struggles and triumphs are shared in the hopes that you might find evidence of the hand of God in your own life.
Out of this spiritual journey, Hashmat has uncovered some startling parallels between Islam and Chrisitanity which bear further scrutiny. You, reader, are invited to share in these stories and revelations about Chrisitanity, Islam, and faith.
Hashmat Shah
Hashmat R. Shah is a retired pharmaceutical representative who has experienced a miraculous healing in his life. He was born in the city of Taxila, Pakistan, and has had the privilege of studying in English-language schools and colleges, before making his way to the West. Born into a Christian home, Hashmat's father (whose family is directly descended from the Prophet Mohammad) was actually a convert from Islam. Having lived in an Islamic country and been the son of a convert, Hashmat has a unique perspective on Islam and its teachings. His personal spiritual journey has been laced with many miracles which have enriched his life. For the past twenty-eight years, Hashmat has resided with his family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he continues to persue his spiritual life.
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Out of Pakistan - Hashmat Shah
© 2011 by Hashmat Shah. All rights reserved.
Hashmat Shah
615 Golden Hills Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
719-302-2944
matt.shah@juno.com
shah_h@msn.com
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
First published by AuthorHouse 07/07/2011
ISBN: 978-1-4634-2510-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4634-2509-8 (dj)
ISBN: 978-1-4634-2657-6 (ebk)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011910079
Printed in the United States of America
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
This book is dedicated to my parents,
Rahmat Ullah Shah &
Chiragh Bibi Shah,
for all their love and their countless sacrifices.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to acknowledge the constant help of my son Simon in editing and revising the text many times, as well as formulation of the family chart. His help has been paramount in completing this project.
My wife Yoncha also has been a great source of inspiration in selecting the title of the book, and reviewing the narrative from time to time.
Paster John Bang from Korea was also instrumental in inspiring me to take up the pen and share my story with others.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
PREFACE
At the urging of the Holy Spirit, friends and family members, I took up the pen to write down these stories that have affected my life in a very profound way. The spiritual journey that has taken me back over my life is worth writing down for the benefit of others. Some of the events may even inspire you to look back over your own life and find the hand of the Lord always protecting you and showering you with His blessings.
Last year, 2010, in the month of November I took a trip to Pakistan to visit my sister who resides there, in addition to visiting and getting acquainted with my father’s family, many of whom I’d not even met before. It was a very emotional experience for me. To my utmost delight and joy I was welcomed with open arms. Some of the information about my background came from my father’s living brother and his family, as well as two of my cousins.
While dealing with my own experiences, this book also discusses some of the struggles and triumphs of my father. His early memorizing of the Quran and the story of King Negus and J’afar bin Talib’s testimony, and his discovery that both the Bible and Al Quran call Jesus a Spirit and a Word of God, made it clear to him that Jesus was the one who could give him eternal life. This spurned me on to study both texts for myself. I have written a side-by-side comparison of the Quranic and Biblical accounts of Jesus, with my own thoughts on the subject as well. This was not meant to offend my Muslim brothers and sisters, but rather to elucidate the similarities between the two beliefs. I will leave it up to you to form your own opinion on the information I’ve presented.
May the Lord Almighty bless your effort in picking up this book and sharing in my miraculous experiences.
CHAPTER 1
THE MIRACLE OF SPIRITUAL HEALING
At 4 a.m. I awoke from a sound sleep with some rather unusual chest pain. It radiated out into my left arm, one of the ominous signs of a heart attack. I could feel the painful tightness in my outer chest muscles. I left my bed and came out to sit on the sofa in the family room. Though the pain persisted, it receded a bit and so I went back to bed and prayed to the Lord, hoping that this wasn’t the beginning of a cardiac episode. I kept praying to the Lord to spare my life if that was His will. What happened later will show that God Almighty can bring grace, mercy and amazing blessings into one’s life despite the frightening circumstances of an immanent heart attack.
After a few panic-filled moments of deliberation, I woke my wife and asked her to dial 911. Soon the paramedics arrived and quickly took my pulse, checking blood pressure and blood sugar levels, as well as my other vital signs. The paramedics gave me nitroglycerin and aspirin before placing me on the gurney and whisking me away down the dark and empty morning streets to Penrose Hospital’s E.R. in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In the emergency room the nursing staff immediately connected me to all kinds of monitors, and a technician arrived to take my blood sample and test it for enzyme levels. I was given more aspirin as I was quickly rolled into the Cath. Lab. The cardiologist on duty was called upon to come and perform angioplasty because there was clear evidence of a heart attack with at least one of my major arteries being partially blocked.
To my great fortune Dr. Robert Cadigan, M.D., a very experienced local cardiologist was on call. I had known Dr. Cadigan professionally since 1982 because I used to work for a pharmaceutical company promoting cardiology products. He immediately injected me with a dye to determine the site of the narrowing artery. With dexterity he inserted a catheter into my femoral artery and in no time reached the site of the obstruction. Ballooning it, he placed a medicated stent at the obstruction to keep it open. A stent is a medical device made of non-corrosive material, and once it is placed it keeps the site of obstruction open, thus allowing normal blood flow.
The procedure was a complete success. My chest pain subsided after placement of the stent and I was moved to the cardiac intensive care unit with all sorts of intravenous attachments that made me feel like some strange octopus, completely out of its elements.
I stayed in Penrose Hospital for three days and was discharged to begin my cardiac rehabilitation. During the procedure, Dr. Cardigan discovered that a second artery, the right descending artery was 60% narrowed at two places ; however, he decided to deal with it at a later stage for the fear of causing arrhythmia if all three stents were placed at the same time. I spent about a month in the Penrose Cardiac Rehab. Center doing treadmill and other exercise routine. The staff was vigilant and extremely helpful.
At home I continued on a routine regiment of exercise on a treadmill and soon I was making good progress. In the follow-up visit with Dr. Cadigan, he was satisfied with my progress. My EKG stress test (which shows the health of cardiac circulation) did not show any serious danger of further damage to the cardiac muscles. My initial heart attack, however, did leave a scar tissue on the left lower area of my heart muscle. In all probability, such damage to the heart muscles is permanent and doctors always worry about it because it increases the chances of having a second attack. But in the meantime I continued my exercise regiment and faithfully took medicine prescribed by my doctor, which included a beta-blocker to control the heart rate plus aspirin to thin the blood.
In September of 2009 Randy Clark ( Lord bless him abundantly), a well-known spiritual healer whose ministry is based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was coming to Loveland, Colorado for a four day event of sermons interspersed with spiritual healing sessions. My wife and I decided to attend the event. Healing, or impartation (as it is known in spiritual circles), would start around 6pm each day, and go