Khadijah 'Sue - Former pastor,
missionary, professor. Master's
degree in Divinity
"What happened to you?" This
was usually the first reaction I
encountered when my former
classmates, friends and co-
pastors saw me after having
embraced Islam. I suppose I
couldn't blame them, I was a
highly unlikely the person to
change religions. Formerly, I
was a professor, pastor,
church planter and missionary.
If anyone was a radical
fundamentalist it was I.
I had just graduated with my
Master's Degree of Divinity
from an elite seminary five
months before. It was after that
time I met a lady who had
worked in Saudi Arabia and
had embraced Islam. Of course
I asked her about the treatment
of women in Islam. I was
shocked at her answer, it
wasn't what I expected so I
proceeded to ask other
questions relating to Allah and
Muhammad (pbuh). She
informed me that she would
take me to the Islamic Center
where they would be better
able to answer my questions.
Being prayed up, meaning-
asking Jesus for protection
against demon spirits seeing
that what we had been taught
about Islam is that it is
Demonic and Satanic religion.
Having taught Evangelism I
was quite shocked at their
approach, it wa s direct and
straightforward. No
intimidation, no harassment, no
psychological manipulation, no
subliminal influence! None of
this, "let's have a Qur'aanic
study in your house", like a
counter part of the Bible study.
I couldn't believe it! They gave
me some books and told me if I
had some questions they were
available to answer them in the
office. That night I read all of
the books they gave. It was the
first time I had ever read a
book about Islam written by a
Muslim, we had studied and
read books about Islam only
written by Christians. The next
day I spent three hours at the
office asking questions. This
went on everyday for a week,
by which time I had read twelve
books and knew why Muslims
are the hardest people in the
world to conver t to
Christianity. Why? Because
there is nothing to offer them!!
(In Islam) There is a
relationship with Allah,
forgiveness of sins, salvation
and promise of Eternal Life.
Naturally, my first question
centered on the deity of Allah.
Who is this Allah that the
Muslims worship? We had been
taught as Christians that this is
another god, a false god. When
in fact He is the Omniscient-All
Know ing, Omnipotent-All
Powerful, and Omnipresent-All
Present God. The One and Only
without co-partners or co-
equal. It is interesting to note
that there were bishops during
the first three hundred years of
the Church that were teaching
as the Muslim believes that
Jesus (pbuh) was a prophet
and teacher!! It was only after
the conversion of Emperor
Constantine that he was the
one to call and introduce the
doctrine of the Trinity. He a
convert to Christianity who
knew nothing of this religion
introduced a paganistic
concept that goes back to
Babylonian times. Because the
space does not permit me to go
into detail about the subject
insha'Allah, another time. Only
I must point out that the word
TRINITY is not found in the
Bible in any of its many
translation nor is it found in the
original Greek or Hebrew
languages!
My other important question
centered on Muhammad
(pbuh). Who is this
Muhammad? I found out that
Muslims do not pray to him like
the Christians pray to Jesus.
He is not an intermediary and
in fact it is forbidden to pray to
him. We ask blessing upon him
at the end of our prayer but
likewise we ask blessings on
Abraham. He is a Prophet and
a Messenger, the final and last
Prophet. In fact, until now, one
thousand four hundred and
eighteen years (1,418) later
there has been no prophet
after him. His message is for
All Mankind as opposed to the
message of Jesus or Moses
(peace be upon them both)
which was sent to the Jews.
"Hear O Israel" But the
message is the same message
of Allah. "The Lord Your God is
One God and you shall have no
other gods before Me."(Mark
12:29).
Because prayer was a very
important part of my Christian
life I was both interested and
curious to know what the
Muslims were praying. As
Christians we were as ignorant
on this aspect of Muslim belief
as on the other aspects. We
thought and were taught, that
the Muslims were bowing down
to the Ka'bah (in Mecca), that
that was there god and center
point of this false deity. Again, I
was shocked to learn that the
manner of prayer is prescribed
by God, Himself. The words of
the prayer are one of praise
and exaltation. The approach
to prayer (ablution or washing)
in cleanliness is under the
direction of Allah. He is a Holy
God and it is not for us to
approach Him in an arbitrary
manner but only reasonable
that He should tell us how we
should approach Him.
At the end of that week after
having spent eight (8) years of
formal theological studies I
knew cognitively (head
knowledge) that Islam was
true. But I did not embrace
Islam at that time because I did
not believe it in my heart. I
continued to pray, to read the
Bible, to attend lectures at the
Islamic Center. I was in earnest
asking and seeking God's
direction. It is not easy to
change your religion. I did not
want to loose my salvation if
there was salvation to loose. I
continued to be shocked and
amazed at what I was learning
because it was not what I was
taught that Islam believed. In
my Master's level, the
professor I had was respected
as an authority on Islam yet his
teaching and that of
Christianity in general is full of
Misunderstanding. He and
many Christians like him are
sincere but they are sincerely
wrong.
Two months later after having
once again prayed seeking
God's direction, I felt
something drop into my being! I
sat up, and it was the first time
I was to use the name of Allah,
and I said, "Allah, I believe you
are the One and Only True
God." There was peace that
descended upon me and from
that day four years ago until
now I have never regretted
embracing Islam. This decision
did not come without trial. I
was fired from my job as I was
teaching in two Bible Colleges
at that time , ostracized by my
former classmates, professors
and co-pastors, disowned by
my husband's family,
misunderstood by my adult
children and made a suspicion
by my own government.
Without the faith that enables
man to stand up to Satanic
forces I would not ha ve been
able to withstand all of this. I
am ever so grateful to Allah
that I am a Muslim and may I
live and die a Muslim.
"Truly, my prayer, my service
of sacrifice, my life and my
death are all for God the
Cherisher of the Worlds. No
partner has He, this I am
commanded. And I am the first
of those who bow to Allah in
Islam."
(Holy Qur'aan 6:162-163)
Sister Khadijah Watson
Sister Khadijah Watson is
presently working as a teacher
for women in one of the Da'wah
(Invitation To Islam) Centers in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
more stories
http://www.islamdoor.com
http://www.thetruereligion.org/
priests.htm
..............
Answers to FAQ about Islam
1. What is Islam?
The word "Islam" means peace
and submission. Peace means
to be at peace with yourself
and your surroundings and
submission means submission
to the will of God. A broader
meaning of the word "Islam" is
to achieve peace by submitting
to the will of God.
This is a unique religion with a
name which signifies a moral
attitude and a way of life.
Judaism takes its name from
the tribe of Juda, Christianity
from Jesus Christ, Buddhism
from Goutam Buddha and
Hinduism from Indus River.
However, Muslims derive their
identity from the message of
Islam, rather than the person of
Muhammed (P), thus should not
be called "Muhammadans".
2. Who is Allah?
Allah is the Arabic word for
"one God". Allah is not God of
Muslims only. He is God of all
creations, because He is their
Creator and Sustainer.
3. Who is a Muslim?
The word "Muslim" means one
who submits to the will of God.
This is done by declaring that
"there is no god except one
God and Muhammad is the
messenger of God." In a
broader sense, anyone who
willingly submits to the will of
God is a Muslim. Thus, all the
prophets preceding the
prophet Muhammad are
considered Muslims. The
Quran specifically mentions
Abraham who lived long before
Moses and Christ that, "he was
not a Jew or a Christian but a
ōuslim," because, he had
submitted to the will of God.
Thus there are Muslims who
are not submitting at all to the
will of God and there are
Muslims who are doing their
best to live an Islamic life. One
cannot judge Islam by looking
at those individuals who have a
Muslim name but in their
actions, they are not living or
behaving as Muslims. The
extent of being a Muslim can be
according to the degree to
which one is submitting to the
will of God, in his beliefs and
his actions.
4. Who was Muhammad? (P)
In brief, Muhammad (Peace be
upon him) was born in a noble
tribe of Mecca in Arabia in the
year 570 AD. His ancestry goes
back to Prophet Ishmael (P),
son of Prophet Abraham (P).
His father died before his birth
and his mother died when he
was six. He did not attend a
formal school since he was
raised first by a nurse as it was
the custom those days, and
then by his grandfather and
uncle. As a young man, he was
known as a righteous person
who used to meditate in a cave.
At age 40, he was given the
prophethood when the angel,
Gabriel, appeared in the cave.
Subsequently, the revelations
came over 23 years and were
compiled in the form of a book
called the Quran which
Muslims consider as the final
and the last word of God. The
Quran has been preserved,
unchanged, in its original form
and confirms the truth in the
Torah, the psalms and the
Gospel.
5. Do Muslims worship
Muhammad? (P)
No. Muslims do not worship
Muhammad (P) or any other
prophets. Muslims believe in all
prophets including Adam,
Noah, Abraham, David,
Solomon, Moses and Jesus.
Muslims believe that
Muhammad (P) was the last of
the prophets. They believe that
God alone is to be worshiped,
not any human being.
6. What do Muslims think of
Jesus? (P)
Muslims think highly of Jesus
(P) and his worthy mother,
Mary. The Quran tells us that
Jesus was born of a miraculous
birth without a father. "Lo! The
likeness of Jesus with Allah is
the likeness of Adam. He
created him of dust, and then
He said unto him: Be and he is"
(Quran 3.59). He was given
many miracles as a prophet.
These include speaking soon
after his birth in defense of his
mother's piety. God's other
gifts to him included healing
the blind and the sick, reviving
the dead, making a bird out of
clay and most importantly, the
message he was carrying.
These miracles were given to
him by God to establish him as
a prophet. According to the
Quran, he was not crucified but
was raised into Heaven.
(Quran, Chapter Maryam)
9. What is the purpose of
worship in Islam?
The purpose of worship in
Islam is to be God conscious.
Thus the worship, whether it is
prayer, fasting, or charity, is a
means to achieve God
consciousness so that when
one becomes conscious of
God, in thought and in action,
he is in a better position to
receive His bounties both in
this world and the hereafter.
10. Do Muslims believe in the
hereafter?
God is Just and manifest His
justice, He established the
system of accountability.
Those who do good will be
rewarded and those who do
wrong will be punished
accordingly. Thus, He created
Heaven and Hell and there are
admission criteria for both.
Muslims believe that the
present life is a temporary one.
It is a test and if we pass the
test, we will be given a life of
permanent pleasure in the
company of good people in
Heaven.
12. What is the dress code for
Muslims?
Islam emphasizes modesty. No
person should be perceived as
a sex object. There are certain
guidelines both for men and
women that their dress should
neither be too thin nor too tight
to reveal body forms. For men,
they must at least cover the
area from the knee to navel
and for women, their dress
should cover all areas except
the hands and face. The veil is
not essential.
13. What are the dietary
prohibitions in Islam?
Muslims are told in the Quran
not to eat pork or pork
products, meat of the animals
who died before being
slaughtered or the carnivorous
animals (as they eat dead
animals), nor drink blood or
intoxicants such as wine or use
any illicit drugs.
14. What is Jihad?
The word "Jihad" means
struggle, or to be specific,
striving in the cause of God.
Any struggle done in day-to-
day life to please God can be
considered Jihad. One of the
highest levels of Jihad is to
stand up to a tyrant and speak
a word of truth. Control of the
self from wrong doings is also a
great Jihad. One of the forms
of Jihad is to take up arms in
defense of Islam or a Muslim
country when Islam is
attacked. This kind of Jihad
has to be declared by the
religious leadership or by a
Muslim head of state who is
following the Quran and
Sunnah.
15. Was Islam spread by the
sword?
According to the Quran, "There
is no compulsion in religion"
(2:256), thus, no one can be
forced to become a Muslim.
The Junior Encyclopaedia of
Canada says:
"Islam is the fastest growing
religion world-wide" (The
Junior Encyclopaedia of
Canada, Hurtig Publishers,
Canada, 1990, Vol2, p396)
What explains this
phenomenon? Who is forcing
anyone today to become
Muslims? Muslims are not even
engaged in active preaching in
any noticeable degree. People
are voluntarily coming into
Islam because they find Islam
makes sense.
Huston Smith discusses in his
book entitled The World's
Religions, on page 256, how
the Prophet Mohammed, on
whom be peace, granted
freedom of religion to the Jews
and Christians under Muslim
rule. The Prophet had a
document drawn up in which
he stipulated that Jews and
Christians "shall be protected
from all insults and vexations;
they shall have an equal right
with our own people to our
assistance and good offices,"
and furthermore, that they shall
"practice their religion as
freely as the Muslims"(Quoted
in the World's religions by
Huston Smith, Harper Collins,
1991, p256) Smith points out
that Muslims regard that
document as "the first charter
of freedom of conscience in
human history and the
authoritative model for those of
every subsequent Muslim
state"(p256)
So, was Islam spread by the
sword? The following short
answer comes from Ira ZeppJr,
a non-Muslim, in his book
entitled A Muslim Primer:
"It is unfortunate that Islam has
been stereotyped as the
'religion of the sword' or that
Islam was spread by the
sword.' The historical reality is
that the expansion of Islam was
usually by persuasion and not
by military power. In any case,
Islam cannot be forced on
anyone; if profession of the
shahadah (i.e. the declaration
of Islam) is forced on someone,
it is not true Islam" (A Muslim
Primer by Ira Zepp, Jr., 1992,
Wakefield Editions, US, p134)
16. Does Islam promote
violence and terrorism?
No. Islam is religion of peace
and submission and stresses
on the sanctity of human life. A
verse in the Quran says,
[Chapter 5, verse 32], that
"anyone who saves one life, it
is as if he has saved the whole
of mankind and anyone who
has killed another person
(except in lieu of murder or
mischief on earth) it is as if he
has killed the whole of
mankind." Islam condemns all
the violence which happened in
the Crusades, in Spain, in WW
II, or by acts of people like the
Rev. Jim Jones, David Koresh,
Dr. Baruch Goldstein, or the
atrocities committed in
Bosniaby the Christian Serbs.
Anyone who is doing violence
is not practicing his religion at
that time. However, sometimes
violence is a human response
of oppressed people as it
happens in Palestine. Although
this is wrong, they think of this
as a way to get attention. There
is a lot of terrorism and
violence in areas where there
is no Muslim presence. For
example, in Ireland, South
Africa, Latin America, and Sri
Lanka. Sometimes the violence
is due to a struggle between
those who have with those who
do not have, or between those
who are oppressed with those
who are oppressors. We need
to find out why people become
terrorists. Unfortunately, the
Palestinians who are doing
violence are called terrorists,
but not the armed Israeli
settlers when they do the same
sometimes even against their
own people. As it turned out to
be in the Oklahoma City
bombing, sometime Muslims
are prematurely blamed even if
the terrorism is committed by
non-Muslims. Sometimes those
who want Peace and those who
oppose Peace can be of the
same religion.
17. What is "Islamic
Fundamentalism"?
There is no concept of
"Fundamentalism" in Islam.
The western media has coined
this term to brand those
Muslims who wish to return to
the basic fundamental
principles of Islam and mould
their lives accordingly. Islam is
a religion of moderation and a
practicing God fearing Muslim
can neither be a fanatic nor an
extremist.
18. Does Islam promote
polygamy?
No, polygamy in Islam is a
permission not an injunction.
Historically, all the prophets
except Jesus, who was not
married, had more than one
wife. For Muslim men to have
more than one wife is a
permission which is given to
them in the Quran, not to
satisfy lust, but for the welfare
of the widows and the orphans
of the wars. In the pre-Islamic
period, men used to have many
wives. One person had 11
wives and when he became
Muslim, he asked the Prophet
Muhammad (P), "What should I
do with so many wives?" and
he said, "Divorce all except the
four." The Quran says, "you
can marry 2 or 3 and up to 4
women if you can be equally
just with each of them" (4:3).
Since it is very difficult to be
equally just with all wives, in
practice, most of the Muslim
men do not have more than one
wife. Prophet Muhammad (P)
himself from age 24 to 50 was
married to only one woman,
Khadija. In the western society,
some men who have one wife
have many extramarital affairs.
Thus, a survey was published
in "U.S.A. Today" (April 4, 1988
Section D) which asked 4,700
mistresses what they would
like their status to be. They
said that "they preferred being
a second wife rather than the
'other woman' because they
did not have the legal rights,
nor did they have the financial
equality of the legally married
wives, and it appeared that
they were being used by these
men."
19. Does Islam oppress
women?
No. On the contrary, Islam
elevated the status of women
1,400 years ago by giving them
the right to divorce, the right to
have financial independence
and support and the right to be
identified as dignified women
(Hijab) when in the rest of the
world, including Europe,
women had no such rights.
Women are equal to men in all
acts of piety (Quran 33:32).
Islam allows women to keep
their maiden name after
marriage, their earned money
and spend it as they wish, and
ask men to be their protector
as women on the street can be
molested. Prophet Muhammad
(P) told Muslim men, "the best
among you is the one who is
best to his family." Not Islam,
but some Muslim men, do
oppress women today. This is
because of their cultural habits
or their ignorance about their
religion. Female Genital
Mutilations has nothing to do
with Islam. It is a pre Islamic
African Custom, practiced by
non Muslims including coptic
Christians as well.
20. Is Islam intolerant of other
religious minorities?
Islam recognizes the rights of
the minority. To ensure their
welfare and safety, Muslim
rulers initiated a tax (Jazia) on
them. Prophet Muhammad (P)
forbade Muslim armies to
destroy churches and
synagogues. Caliph Umer did
not even allow them to pray
inside a church. Jews were
welcomed and flourished in
Muslim Spain even when they
were persecuted in the rest of
Europe. They consider that
part of their history as the
Golden Era. In Muslim
countries, Christians live in
prosperity, hold government
positions and attend their
church. Christian missionaries
are allowed to establish and
operate their schools and
hospitals. However, the same
religious tolerance is not
always available to Muslim
minorities as seen in the past
during Spanish inquisition and
the crusades, or as seen now
by the events in Bosnia, Israel
and India. Muslims do
recognize that sometimes the
actions of a ruler does not
reflect the teachings of his
religion.
21. How should Muslims treat
Jews and Christians?
The Quran calls them "People
of the Book", i.e., those who
received Divine scriptures
before Muhammad (P). Muslims
are told to treat them with
respect and justice and do not
fight with them unless they
initiate hostilities or ridicule
their faith. The Muslims
ultimate hope is that they all
will join them in worshipping
one God and submit to His will.
"Say (O Muhammad): O people
of the Book (Jews and
Christians) come to an
agreement between us and
you, that we shall worship none
but Allah, and that we shall
take no partners with Him, and
none of us shall take others for
Lords beside Allah. And if they
turn away, then say: Bear
witness that we are those who
have surrendered (unto Him)."
(Quran 3:64)
What about Hindus, Bahai,
Buddhists and members of
other religions?
They should also be treated
with love, respect, and
understanding to make them
recipients of Invitations to
Islam.
-------------------------------------------
----------------------------
Almighty God is
Compassionate, Loving and
Merciful. The essence of
falsehood is the claim that God
cannot deal with and forgive
His creatures directly. By over
-emphasizing the burden of sin,
as well as claiming that God
cannot forgive you directly,
false religions seek to get
people to despair of the Mercy
of God. Once they are
convinced that they cannot
approach God directly, people
can be mislead into turning to
false gods for help. These
"false gods" can take various
forms, such as saints, angels,
or someone who is believed to
be the "Son of God" or "God
Incarnate".
The original, unchanged
revelations given to Abraham
and other prophets(like Moses
and Jesus ) reaching back to
Adam all came from the One
True God(The Creator). This
common origin explains their
similarities in many beliefs and
values
However, over time the
teachings of the various
religions, due to a variety of
reasons, have become
distorted and mixed with made
-man ideas.
The last Prophet and
Messenger of God, Muhammad
, who is a direct descendant of
Abraham through his first born
son, Ishmael, was sent with the
Last Guidance, Revelation and
Testament, the Holy Qur'an
(koran) to amend and correct
the changes and corruption
made to the the "Torah" which
was sent to Moses and theTrue
Gospel of Jesus.To say the
truth ,God preserved all the
other Holy Books plainly by
preserving His Last Book the
Holy Qur'an(koran)which
contains the right and the truth
of all that was changed in those
other Books.
This is why this last Revelation
which was sent 1423 years ago
has remained unchanged, not
even a word or a letter has
been altered.
There is not even one word of
difference between two Arabic
Qur'ans, anywhere in the
world. There has been no
disagreements in history
among Muslims as to what
should and should not be in the
Qur'an. However, in the case of
the Bible, even the most
ancient manuscripts conflict
with one another so that no two
are identical. Footnotes in all
modern versions of the Bible
prove this fact.
These revisions serve as
concrete proofs that all the
Biblical books are not at all
divinely inspired. This is
because it is beyond man's
ability to correct the work of his
Creator, who alone is Almighty
and perfect
It was only natural for Almighty
God to preserve the scripture
revealed to Prophet
Muhammad, because he was
the last Prophet and Final
Messenger of God.
Islam teaches us that we must
pray directly to God without an
intermediary and no soul can
bear the burden of another and
that the nature of humanity is
good, and we did not inherit sin
from Adam. Each soul comes
into being free of sin.in Islam
there are no priests or clergy --
each worshipper, man or
woman, has a direct
relationship with their Merciful
Creator -- Almighty God. Since
God is the Owner and
Sustainer of everything, as well
as the only one who can
provide true and complete
forgiveness, it is completely
futile to try to approach Him
through anyone else.
The oneness and universality
of God's message requires that
people accept all the
messengers of God. Rejecting
one of them amounts to
rejecting them all. The Jews
reject Jesus's mission and
Muhammad's mission; the
Christians reject Muhammad's
mission; whereas the Muslims
accept them all, but reject
incorrect historical
interpretations and human
elements in these missions.
As the Qur'an is the final
revelation and Muhammad is
the final prophet, humanity is
obligated to accept it: "If
anyone desires a religion other
than Islam, never will it be
accepted of him; and in the
Hereafter he will be in the
ranks of those who have lost all
spiritual good" (3:86).
The Final Prophet Muhammad
said: "Whoever believes there
is no god but God, alone
without partner, that
Muhammad is His messenger,
that Jesus is messenger of
God, and that Paradise and
Hell are true, shall be received
by God into Heaven."
you can do that now as you are
reading these lines is to
pronounce the two
confirmations and attestations
of faith, here it is
I BEAR WITNESS THAT THERE
IS NO GOD WORTHY OF
WORSHIP EXCEPT ALLAH (
ARABIC WORD MEANS ONE
GOD-THE CREATOR). AND I
BEAR WITNESS THAT
MUHAMMAD IS HIS SERVANT
AND MESSENGER. I BEAR
WITNESS THAT JESUS IS HIS
SERVANT AND MESSENGER.
The right picture of lslam is
conveyed in the Qur'an, which
is exemplified by Prophet
Muhammad peace be upon
him. The reality is that it is not
fair to judge a religion by the
actions of its followers alone
because there are good and
bad followers in every religion.
The correct thing to do is to
judge a religion by its
documented revelation from
God and the prophet who
brought that revelation.
I encourage Christians and
other religions to learn about
Islam from Muslim sources and
The Basis Of The Muslim Belief
and not rely on second hand
information which in many
cases is distorted or contains a
deep seated anti Muslim
agenda. This is indeed a more
scholarly approach