Rashad

May Allah be Pleased with him

A Salaam aleykom brother, I am a 28 year old revert to Islam from Christianity. My parents are Church of the east Christians who are from Iraq. I left Iraq when I was young and my only knowledge of Islam was from all the wrong sources. I had heard all kinds of myths about the prophet Muhammad(sas) and i believed them while growing up. It was when I got to about 23 years old that I decided too look at Islam. I didn't have so many answers about life and for a long time I didn't think I could get answers. I lived my life as I felt, I believed I was good to go because I was baptized and a Christian. I never let it cross my mind that i could be wrong. I followed my desires and family tradition. I became a very big time racist and I hated Muslims only out of ignorance and what I had been falsely taught. I to insult Muslims and Rasulullah(sas) out of ignorance and I was always shocked when Muslims would not insult Christ(sas). It was after I read the Quran just out of being curious that everything made sense to me and I came to realize that Islam was not a new freligion made up by Muhammad(sas) but it was the same truth that all of the prophets preached.

I came to realize that in every age since the start of humanity there were always people who worshiped God and submitted to Him. Since I am an Assyrian, I always believed and still believe that the prophet Abraham(sas) was also an Assyrian since he was from modern day Iraq. So everything in Islam made sense and my questions about Jesus (sas) and the many questions I had about life were answered. After a while, money, parties, drinking, etc all get boring and old. There had to be something else but I never thought Islam would have it and I never even imagined taking a look at Islam. If someone would have told me I will become a Muslim one day, I would have killed him Subhan Allah. That is how much hate and bigotry I had in me toward Muslims and the so called Muslims I knew weren't a good example to begin with since they were far from the Quran and Sunnah. It wasn't until I moved to the U.S that I came to learn and accept Islam and I have been a Muslim for almost 6 years now, alhamdulillah.

I face problems and trouble with relatives and the rest of my people but I do not let that stop me because I know they won't help me on judgement day. They are brave now and talking big because they are healthy and prsperous in some things but they will not be this way on the day of judgement. They want to take Islam from me but they won't give me something better. They are too prejudice to even take a look at Islam and they would never be able to worship none but God because they are guilty of worshiping something other than him. They worship this dunya and creation instead of the Creator. All their attacks, hatred and bigotry toward me only makes me stronger. I remember the story of Abraham and his father, I also look at what all the Muslims went through in every age, and it keeps me strong. Jesus(sas) was also mocked and rejected by the disbelieving Jews and what will people do to me or the rest of us?

The Romans and the disbelievers from among the children of Israel were trying to kill Jesus(as) and Allah (swt) was also plotting. They weren't trying to kill him because he was claiming to be "God" or because he was supposedly preaching "lo0ve your enemy" and "pay your taxes to ceasar" as the corrupt gospels try to tell us but it was because of the message of "la ilaha ila Allah". We as Muslims know how the mushriks and kafirs reacted to the rasulullah(sas) when he began preaching la ilaha ila Allah. If these were just words with no meaning, they wouldn't have fought him but implies more than that. It means worshiping only God, and accepting Him as the lawgiver and they werent prepared to give up their previous ways and desires. So we should imagine how the Roman occupiers and those Jews who were not upholding the Torah would have reacted to Jesus(sas) when he said "oh children of Isarael, worship Allah, my lord and your lord, that is the straight path" and when he said "fear Allah and obey me". These would be fighting words because Jesus is asking them to worship Allah rather than bow a knee to Rome and neglect the Torah.

That is why he said those things and that is why he upheld the Torah. There would be nothing to cinfirm and to uphold if they were doing it. There would also be no purpose to say "worship God' if they were already doing it but it means more than praying to God. For the true followers of Jesus and the Torah, it was their goal to establish the law of God(torah) as the rule of the land and not bow a knee to Rome or blaspheme against the Law giver(Allah). So it is obvious why they would want to crucify him and that is what crucifixion was for. It was for people who caused sedition and were against Rome. This explains why they were angry and fearful of him. If he was only preaching the things the gospels tell us, they would have no reason to kill him and the Romans and the Jewish high priests, who were appointed by Rome anyways, would have loved a Messiah who is preaching "taqwa is only in the heart" "love your enemy" "it's okay they are persecuting you" and "pay your taxes". Who would be foolish enough to kill a Masih that is preaching those things? The only people that would be angry with him would have been the perseuted Jews(Muslims) those who were striving to be in devotion to God and uphold the torah. They were the ones that were over taxed, crucified by the thousands and waiting for the Masih.

If he was preaching those things they would have been angry with him and would have killed him themselves but they could never crucify him because they were not in position. The Romans hated them and would never take orders from those. This leaves us only with what I said above. The reason the Romans and the disbelieving Jews wanted to kill him was because he was a threat and not because he supposedly claimed divinity or because he failed to free the Jews. It was the group that was on the right path that were persecuted and rebelling against the occupation. I realized these things now and learned that the 4 gospels are not telling the accfurate story and we know that it is not the Injeel of Jesus(sas). It is a corruption and it goes against the histrorical reality.

The Quran tells us that Jesus was not crucified nor killed. God further tells us how he raised Jesus and the rest are following conjecture and have no certain knowledge. we know this to be true because paul came after Jesus and obviously was following conjecture and the rumor that the Masih was cruficfied. He obviously used this false rumor to start this new religion which conflicts with the religion of Jesus. The followers of Jesus hated him and even tried to stone him. It is in his own letters and he had to be rescued by Roman troops. Why would pagan Romans, who were persecuting the Jesus movement, rescue his follower? it is clear that he was not a follower of Jesus and he was teaching falsehoods but he was successful because he was a Roman citizen and he could freely travel while the true followers of Jesus in Palestine could not travel freely in the empire.

This is my conversion story and what I came to realize about Jesus and about how true Islam really is. Ahamdulillah that I was guided to the truth and may Allah guide us all amin. One of my Assyrian friends also reverted this past Ramadan and maybe he will also tell of his story inshaAllah.

Sincerely,

Sargon