American Pastor to a Muslim Preacher in Saudi Arabia كيف قسيس اصبح داعية في السعودية

hi my name is Samuel Shropshire I'm an American citizen living in Saudi Arabia I came here in November 2011 not knowing anything about Islam or the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him most of what I had heard was extremely negative in America our news channels boosted their own air ratings by regularly sensationalizing breaking news of terrorism every 30 minutes one witnessed horrific scenes of bombings and bloodshed and murder often one Muslim group fighting against another Muslim group as killings and beheadings took place there were always the shouts of Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar god is great I was invited here to Saudi Arabia by Safi caskets to work on what was known as the q project dr. Costas wanted to produce a new easy to read American translation for the next generation of young Americans since I could not read or speak Arabic I wasn't doing any translation work I was simply invited here to check the English to make certain that this new interpretation of the Quran was easily understood my work of course required that I read the Quran over and over again well as you can imagine having no knowledge of Islam I had hundreds and hundreds of questions I was shocked as I read to find that Jesus peace be upon him was often mentioned in the Quran Jesus was presented as one of the greatest prophets and even the story of the virgin birth was mentioned there many of the miracles that Jesus had done I found them in the Quran there were even a couple of Jesus miracles mentioned in the Quran that were not mentioned in the Bible evenings were mostly spent alone in a bedroom that had been set up in dr. Sasaki's office at night I would stand on the balcony of that building and I would look across a very busy Boulevard to a mosque and I would hear the calls to prayer I would see men and women coming to coming to the mosque and leaving the mosque children were playing football in the mosque parking lot except for the minaret it appeared to me to look like a typical Christian Church in America my heart longed to be in that mosque I felt compelled by God to go there a few months later I got up the courage to walk down the street and to knock on the door of taqwa mosque now nobody knocks on the door of a mosque normally they just open the door and they walk right in but I was not sure what I would how I'd be received so I was stood there knocking knocking knocking until someone came to the door that person simply said may help you I said my name is Samuel I'm a Christian from the United States is it okay if I come inside that man Shafiq Zulia who was the caller to prayer he reached out and he hugged me and he said of course come in i sat in the back of the mosque during prayer times for three days I didn't understand what was going on I saw him in standing bowing putting their heads to the floors the Imam led them in prayer I had little knowledge about what was happening but I felt God's presence in that mosque and the men of taqwa mosque was so friendly to me after three days I asked Shafi if he could teach me the first surah of the Quran al-fatiha this was a necessary element in praying the five daily prayers I was memorizing sounds but I didn't know what the sounds meant so i started comparing them with an english translation i had and i realized that there was nothing in al-fatiha that was inconsistent with Christian teaching there I read the encouraging words that God was most merciful the distributor of mercy and forgiveness my heart was being strangely touched by the words of the crime and the love displayed by the men of taqwa must dr. Sadiq Malki would later drive me to the Islamic Education Foundation in Al Hamra neighborhood of Jeddah where I said of Shahada according to Islam we're all equal there's none above another there are scholars but their role is educational as for the relationship with God it's personal it's direct the faith itself is simple and clear it summed up in just six points there is one true God who is unlike any other being is neither born nor does he give birth he has neither spouse nor offspring nothing is comparable to him he's all-powerful he knows everything perfectly he is the most merciful secondly a belief in angels or indeed the servants of God they obey God's bidding and they do whatever they're commanded to do they don't have any free choice thirdly there's a belief in divine revelations Islam acknowledges that God revealed scriptures including the Torah the gospel the Psalms however down through the ages many of these divine revelations have become distorted and somewhat corrupt the Quran which also contains God's revelations is intact from it has a change from the very beginning the Quran which also contains God's revelations is still intact in its original form fourthly there's a belief that in all earlier prophets and God's messengers not just Mohammed they believed in Abraham and Isaac and Moses and Jesus and hundreds and hundreds of other prophets they believed that the prophets were the best of mankind Muslims believe in the last day that's to say this includes the belief in all that God and His Messenger told us about what happens after death including recording of good and bad deeds the resurrection and the gathering of all creatures the reckoning that will take place on the great Judgment Day the prophets intercession as well as heaven and he'll man's ultimate aim will be to save himself on that day Muslims leave in the divine destiny of predestination whatever God wills is certain to take place and what he has not willed will never take place this present life is a test for man a man should endeavor to pass this test these tenets of faith appeared to me entirely consistent with human nature and then I asked how can one become a Muslim my search showed me that one needs to fulfill five specific duties which are called the pillars of Islam these are first a declaration to believe and to say verbally I witness that there is no other deity other than God and that Muhammad along with all the other prophets is God's messenger prayer is an important part of a Muslims life Muslims seek to maintain the five daily prayers these are spread out over the day and night thirdly there's the zakat 2.5 percent of one's property is in obligatory charity provided that one owns more than a certain threshold and holds it for a year then there's fasting fasting is an important part of the Muslims life Muslims fast throughout the month of Ramadan they do this every year abstaining from all food drink and sex from dawn till sunset one must also refrain from funeral arguments and quarrels and forbidden things the month provides a unique spiritual uplift for all Muslims then there is the pilgrimage or Hajj this is performed in Mecca and its surrounding areas it's a duty to fulfill this pilgrimage once during ones lifetime provided that one is physically and financially capable of doing so people often ask me Sam how did you become a Muslim in the church was a library and in that library were children's books one of the books my mother got over and over again was called the God of Abraham in that book were beautiful color photos of Tamils and deserts she would read me the story of Abraham how he was commanded by God to leave his mother and father because they were worshipping idols she would pause and she would say Sami you always have to pray to the God of Abraham there is only one true God to God of Abraham my commitment to God has been strong and enduring since my younger years and now I have found absolute peace in Islam in a faith that I once thought was hostile I found friendship and hope amongst a fraternity of other Muslim brothers and sisters I have found a family of believers

Channel: Muslim Voice For Peace®

Views: 1,384,659

Keywords: islam, muslim, pastor, christainity, United states of america, USA, Washington DC, Donald Trump, Barrack Obama, peace, priest, religion, السعودية, السعوديين, اخلاق, المسلمين, الاسلام, قصة, اسلام, قسيس, قيطي, امريكي, امريكان, واشنطن, الحكومة, دعوة الغير مسبلم, الدعوة الى الله, hijab, america, convert, revert, Dawah, Preaching

Id: f1cx04DjvN4

Length: 9min 59sec (599 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 22 2017