Of course, this chain does not have only one channel, but is interwoven into a giant network. Someone becomes Muslim through someone else who brings again someone to Islam, and this person again is the reason that a new person becomes Muslim. It happened like this in the past and will continue until the last day of humanity.
For most of those who were born into a Muslim family, it is quiet impossible for them to find out which of their ancestors it was who converted from another religion to Islam. By trying to find it out, one can learn where he comes from and additionally learn by which means and ways Islam had spread and came to the lands of his forefathers.
Other families have only been Muslim for a few generations and will have less difficulty discovering the last links of the chain. A new Muslim, on the other hand, knows of course exactly how he came to Islam and generally which person played the most important part in his reverting from darkness into the natural religion of Islam. He is obliged to thank this person and should strive in the same way to spread the message of Islam and to communicate it to the people of understanding who have not yet embraced Islam. This chain reaction we are talking of may not have intervals, it may not show generation -- it may have long interruptions – otherwise, the single chain links start to rust and weaken.
Over the course of centuries, the most different persons from the most varying origins have decided for themselves to accept Islam as their choice of religion. Their biographies are often moving and emotional, because diametrical changes have happened in their lives which made them new and better humans. Let us read some examples from these life stories of how people found persons who were the reason why they accepted Islam and thus became a new link in the chain.
Abd al-Hayy Moore, for example, a writer and poet from the USA, used to be an extensive traveler, both on earth and on psychedelic drugs. He wrote about one of his trips to Morocco:
“But soon our encounter was to become extraordinary, leading to a revolution in my life from which I have never recovered and never hope to. It was the day of my birthday, just to make it that much more dramatic. I chose Islam.”
A former Christian priest and active missionary, Abdullah Faruq, became Muslim in Saudi Arabia. It was his thirst for the truth and knowledge which lead him to Islam:
“I requested books from one of the brothers who was active in calling people to Islam. I was supplied with all of the books that I could possibly want. I read each and every one. I was then given the Holy Qur'an and read it completely several times within four months. I was then given a video cassette of a debate between Shaykh Ahmed Deedat and Reverend Jimmy Swaggart. After seeing the debate I immediately became a Muslim.”
So, in this case, not only the brother who gave him the books will receive his reward from Allah, but also the people who wrote the books and Shaykh Ahmed Deedat especially who engaged in the debate on the video cassette.
Dr. Hamid Marcus, a German Muslim, tells us about his story:
I had the opportunity of working together with Muslims and listening to the enthusiastic and inspiring commentaries which the founder of the first German Muslim Mission in Berlin and builder of the Berlin Mosque made on the Holy Qur'an. After years of active cooperation with this outstanding personality and his spiritual exertions, I embraced Islam.
Fathima Ranshiz, a former Catholic woman from the Philippines, also became Muslima through the combined action of reading and conversations with a Muslim:
“My head at the place of work gave me a book regarding the status of women in Islam. After reading it I felt a big difference in me. In my thirty years of life span I have never come across such a book. Further I read more about Islam and discussed the things with my head at the office. These discussions and studies cultivated in me a great appreciation towards Islam and a desire to embrace it.”
Another lady, Sabrina C. from Sri Lanka, was invited to a mosque, and this day changed her life:
“One day I got to know by a friend about a mosque, ladies could visit and I visited this beautiful place (Dewatagaha Mosque, Town Hall, Sri Lanka). From the day I went to that mosque and prayed, I couldn’t resist learning more about Islam. I prayed that Allah send me some source of learning. After that, I bought myself a translation of the Qur’an and read it and the tears that sprang into my eyes were the most precious tears I had ever cried. I felt a happiness that I cannot put into words right now.”
There are countless stories, one more beautiful than the other, and in the end, let us read how a former white racist, member of the Ku Klux Clan and an extremely delinquent and violent person who spent a large part of his life in different prisons, became Muslim through the effort of a Black Muslim man:
“It began upon my arrival to federal prison. An African American offered to assist me in my cosmetic needs. He said he was a Muslim and Muslims are commanded to help those in need. It struck my interest to check this Islamic thing out. However, I was under the impression that this was a religion exclusively for African Americans. I was thinking, no way I can become a Muslim, I'm white! This brother invited me to Jumu'ah service, I was given a Qur’an, and as I read the translation I felt the purity of it, and the truth of it. There was no hocus-pocus, no spookism, no mysticism, just plain, simple understanding "Truth." When I heard the Adhan (the call to prayer) I felt a closeness to God that penetrated my heart and soul. After some research and study of the Qur’an, I discovered its total infallibility, no contradictions in it. After years of falsehood, half-truths, following others on the road, and then, from within a place (prison) where more than one million people are cast away, the same environment that once honed my anger and hate to a razor sharpness, was now the place where Islam greeted me and proceeded to change me into a "Servant of Peace." -- Abdus Salam Sipes (Formerly Clinton)
Reading these biographies, I must be honest and admit that I can’t prevent my eyes from getting wet. The stories make me wish I also could be the reason for many people embracing Islam, so that the chain which had reached me several years ago would continue to grow and never stop to do so.
I want to express my serious concern for the state of the present-day Muslims, most of whom have neglected their duty of inviting others to Islam. The above lines shall be reminders for them not to dwell in stagnation but to start the Da’wa and not to give up. For the non-Muslims reading this, they should know that the truth in the form of Islam is out there, and I hope honestly that through my writing I can reach some of them so that they become Muslims in order to keep the chain reaction going.
AL/HG
End
MNA