When the truth
is revealed to you and you stand face to face with it,
how long can you refuse to accept it? How long would
you run away denying it?
There comes a
point in your life when you have to break free from
all the chains that hold you back from answering the
True Call.
It is a moment
where nothing else seems significant and equivalent to
the call of the Almighty God and His path of freedom,
bliss and satisfaction.
All the lies
with which you have been living with start fading and
your beliefs as a disbeliever fall like a pack of
cards. And what you witness is an Eureka moment, a
moment when you realize the truth, when you realize
the beauty of Islam.
Then you take no
time to accept it. You just have to take a bold step
lest fearing the societal pressure and disagreement.
For you should always fight for the Truth and stand
firm on to it, no matter be it against your own kin.
I remember the
day when I stood in front of the mirror in my room,
looking vaguely, trying to search for something but
failing to find an answer. In retrospect, I was never
an atheist,
I always
believed that God existed and being a Hindu it existed
for me in thousand forms: from a stone to a tree, from
a tree to a river, from a river to a well (funny but
true). All were objects of worship for me as I was
told by my family and other traditions.
I took pride in
being a polytheist, considering that all objects made
by God are worth worshipping and that there exists a
part of God in them, in every single being; so all are
worthy of worship. It could be a cow, a tree, a river
(as I said also a well), idols and even human beings
themselves.
I detested Islam
for being so rigid and stubborn on this. I found the
Muslims static, living in the past, while the world is
moving far ahead of them. For me all their beliefs
were unreasonable (maybe because I never looked for
reason), impractical, cruel and outdated.
Probably, it was
not my fault; I was made to look at them this way. It
was a pre-conceived notion, which I inherited from
this society which has often kept a negative image of
Islam in majority of its opinion.
My first
encounter with Islam was in high school where the
majority of my classmates were Muslims and during free
classes we used to have discussions on Islam (largely
because of the anti-Islam propaganda by the Hindu
Organizations post 9/11 and the Gujarat riots).
During these
talks they tried to clear various misconceptions that
I carried regarding monotheism, rights of women, their
status, and other popular myths which have become
clichéd more or less.
Yet, it was not
convincing for me, I still kept those beliefs and my
pride in being polytheist. Though I was not anymore
an anti-Muslim, I was moved by the sufferings of the
people who were one of us, simply dying because they
practiced a different faith. I became more secular in
my outlook.
I give the major
credit of becoming a monotheist to Arya Samaj, a Hindu
organization that believes that Hinduism preaches
monotheism and not rituals and idol worshiping. After
coming under its influence I stopped worshiping idols,
performing any sort of rituals and going to temples.
These are what I
call the steps I was taking to finally reach my
destination that is Islam. Though Arya Samaj has its
own flaws, I again found myself in the same cob-web;
where rituals and fire worshiping became an integral
part.
Reading Vedas,
Manu Smiriti, and other scriptures only confused me.
It was all philosophical, nothing material which could
help you precisely find an answer for your daily life
queries.
While in college
studying Law, it was the first time when the clarity
of Islam dawned over me. It was nothing but a small
course of Family Law - Hindu Law and Islamic Law
regarding marriages, divorce, succession, etc.
While Hindu law
was riddled with various technicalities, confusions,
differences of opinions and lack of stability, Islamic
law on the other hand was clear, precise and certain.
My opinion here
changed overnight. What I used to find static,
appeared stable to me. This made me curious to read
more in this regard; I spent hours online talking to
friends who used to tell me about Islam.
I read various
links and participated in forum discussions. My
outlook towards Islam started changing which was
reflected when I spoke with my friends or discussed
things with them.
Of course this
change was not appreciated by them, they warned me
against the so-called ‘brain washers' whose sole aim
is to divert Hindus to Islam.
All this used to
bother me, I felt scared of their disagreement. I
felt as though I were cheating my friends and family
by doing what they sternly disagreed of.
But, as I said
earlier, how long can you run away from the truth?
You cannot live with a lie and accepting the truth
needs courage. And as the Holy Quran says:
"Believers,
uphold justice. Always bear true witness, even if it
be against yourself, your parents, or your
relatives-and regardless of whether the person against
whom you are speaking is rich or poor. God is close
to people regardless of their material circumstances.
Do not be led by emotion, as this may cause you to
swerve from the truth. If you distort your testimony,
or refuse to testify, remember that God is aware of
all your actions." (Quran 4:135)
And that day all
the fears just drifted away, because if I wouldn't
have converted then I guess I would never had. I
would have stayed stuck in the complexities of of the
material world where false emotions stop us from doing
the right thing.
Though my
friends and family members are yet unaware of it, but
certainly I will tell them sooner or later and I hope
Insha'Allah (God-willing) that they will respect my
decision.
Alhamdullilah,
I'm a Muslim today, trying to learn more and more
about the Holy Quran and the guidelines of Prophet
Muhammad, may God praise him. Insha'Allah, I will
walk on his path in a better way.
With the help of
a few friends and an organization, I've learned to
pray; I'm praying 5 times daily alhamdulillah. I pray
to God to give me more strength so that I could always
stand firm on my decision.
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