From Darkness to Light By Yaqeen Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander

Life is a complex blessing of Allah. We Muslims are divinely ordered to cherish it and to use it in the best possible manner. Of course with utmost Imaan or Faith. According to a Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), Every child is born on Fitrah or the natural state (of Imaan). It is then his parents who make him a Jew, Christian or a Magian (Bukhari & Muslim). Further Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) reported that Allah said, I created My servants in the right religion but the devils made them go astray (Muslim). So in Islam every human beings soul is naturally imprinted with the Belief in Allah but as he grows up his parents and his environment mould this natural belief into their own fashion and way but the soul always craves to be purified and to be returned to its original state (Fitrah). As a Muslim I have a strong belief in the concept of Fitrah and recently my faith in it got more firm and reinforced when I came across a person whose soul craved to accept the truth and the light of Islam in order to return to the fitrah The natural state of Imaan. It started like this. I was chatting online with this friend of mine through some Social Networking site. I asked him how he had reverted to Islam and what attracted him to it? So he began to reply, Its a long story. First of all I have been always attracted by religions. I was born a Catholic but at the age of twenty two I became a Protestant but I was unsatisfied. Both Priests and Pastors were not able to explain to me why God was three persons. In my heart I always believed that God is one. So I started studying Judaism but it did not convince me. So in 1987, I spent a week in Tunisia. And from that moment my family and I decided to spend our vacations there. Some years ago I was in a city called Kairouan in Tunisia. It is the most religious city of Tunisia. I was purchasing carpets there from a seller. But all of a sudden the seller heard the Adhaan and left for the Mosque. I was upset but I decided to stay. As soon as he came back, I asked him why he left me that way and he answered me back that nothing for him was more important than the Prayer. I was literally shocked and I thought about it. So I started talking to Ali, the seller and after that I started reading the Quran and also some books about Islam and I was more and more attracted by that Religion.

Finally, in 2007, I started hearing a voice calling me and I answered No, I am not ready yet. Why me? Some months passed by and that voice was stronger and stronger by now. Finally I said Yes. You are calling me and I cannot refuse. I am coming, I said. And since all my good friends were in Tunisia, I understood that I had to make my Shahadah there. So I left immediately. And I did my Shahadah there and the Imam said that my name had to be Muhammad and I was so happy about that name... This is the story of my friend Muhammad Mahmoud and he was crying while narrating me his story. His earlier name was Francesco. He is 55 year old now, a lawyer by profession, currently living in Italy along with his children. This is the Guidance or Hidayah of Allah which leads from the depths of Darkness towards the Light. It is really nothing except Allahs Hidayah which guides mans faltering steps in the Spiritual turmoil which is gripping us today. The Quran mentions: Allah is the Protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are the evil ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (For ever) (Al Quran Surah Baqarah, Verse 257) And say: "Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish." (Al Quran Surah Israa, Verse 81) (Yaqeen Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander is a student at International Islamic University Malaysia. He can be reached at http://www.yaqeenulhaq.info or can be mailed at yaqeen@ymail.com )