The day that I read that book The True Message of Jesus Christ, by Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillips was the biggest turning point in my life.
I literally felt like a light had been dropped on top of my head, or should I say my mind had been filled with such a light that I could now finally see. Subhan Allah and I didn’t even know that I had been blind.
From a young age I had a love for Islam and Muslims that wasn’t a secret. I loved the different cultures, languages, food and friendships of Muslims. I loved their hospitality. I loved the fact that I got fed whenever I visited any of their homes. I loved that I was treated like part of the family.
I loved Muslims so much that I pitied them.
All these wonderful people, I thought, are going to hell because they don’t accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal saviour.
Little did I know that they accepted him in the way that he should be accepted. Loved him the way that any Messenger of Allah should be loved. They also worshipped in the way that Jesus taught us to worship none other than the Creator of the heavens and the earth, not himself, the man, the Prophet of Allah.
The day I read that book my whole life was given meaning in a way that I had always felt within. However, being only in my teens I had believed that there was still time to start living in a way that fulfilled the purpose of my creation.
You see I had always believed in God as an African Caribbean girl raised up in the church. I wanted to be the best Christian I could be, but not then, later. I was still a teen and had lived such a restricted and strict life I needed to enjoy myself first.
Islam put an end to all of that. When I had that epiphany or realisation of Tawheed and the Oneness of Allah I knew that my play days were over. How could I come upon such a revelation and continue to foolishly ‘enjoy’ the rest of my teen years going out clubbing and wasting my time?
I was gambling with my life. Every day that I wasted throwing away my precious youth for the sake of short lived thrills was a gamble. I could have died living foolishly.
I knew that there was a Creator and that my purpose of living was to worship Him.
Now with this new realisation of tawheed, the Oneness of Allah I knew the correct way to do it. There was no excuse for me to keep living as I was. I believed that there was a reason Allah guided me in that particular time in my life. Enough was enough. It was time for me to submit to Allah.
It would be a big change and no going back but I knew that I wouldn’t regret it because I always knew that God was real. Without any doubt. Now the belief was solidified even more because I understood what His message was for me and the purpose of the existence of not just myself but all mankind.
I had known that God had created me to worship Him alone, but in believing that He had a son called Jesus and that He was part of a trinity I would never be able to truly fulfil that purpose.
Furthermore learning that Jesus was a Prophet of Allah and not His God son self I could finally really love and appreciate Jesus and respect him in the correct way.
I say that because I used to hear people in church talk about how much Jesus suffered to die for our sins and I would think, what was the point in that when every day people are still suffering? Believer in Jesus or not, believer in God or not human beings suffer in a variety of ways. It made me feel that for a god Jesus hadn’t done anything that was a big deal.
Learning about the Oneness of Allah automatically clarified everything about my path in life and what I should be doing.
Tawheed taught me that I should not only respect and care for others but I should respect and care for myself.
When Allah guided me to Islam He saved me from myself. He saved me from my foolish, whimsical, senseless desires.
Alhamdulillah for Islam.
