Allah, Almighty, had taken me out …from darkness into light
Your heart was dark..
and now it is bright
light, great illuminant…
before asking for Jannah…
we want a great thing
So many people forget that..
First we want to please Allah SWT
Pleasing Allah is greater
The jannah is not our aim, but Allah, Almighty and closeness to Him.
Oh Allah, keep them steadfast on the path of Eman
And grant them the highest ranks in Paradise
Just as you gifted them the guidance of the Qur’an
Guided…. through the Qur’an
‘Guided through the Qur’an’
‘Living it is the sweetness of life’
‘Longing to the Lord, coming to Him’
‘To Him I submit my soul’
‘It is the light of the body and the heart’
‘I declare submission to Allah’
‘His verses are becoming lightening candles’
‘And the brightness overflows from my heart’
‘It is the light of the body and the heart’
‘I declare submission to Allah’
‘His verses are becoming lightening candles’
‘And the brightness overflows from my heart’
My name is Mark, this is my original name.
Now, I am 22 years old.
I live in the city called Marcq-en-Baroeul
It is a city close to the big city called Lille
At the north of Francel
Mark,
He called himself Abdul-Aziz
He entered Islam when he was 17 years old
We met him at Lille city, France
The meeting was full of surprises!
I want to know about the life of Abdul-Aziz before Islam
How is it if you are in darkness?!
like someone who doesn’t see!
He walks but with no destination..
He walks but he doesn’t know where he is in the first place!
This is the life of the nonbelievers.
At the religious aspects of life,
The Church on Sundays…
and sometimes during the week.
Reading the Bible sometimes..
One day…
I was with a friend of mine..
we were on a motorcycle..
Then…
we had an accident and the motorcycle flipped
Then..
After leaving hospital..
The accident was serious..
So…
It made me think about life…
The purpose of life..
What surprised me most is that..
Abdul-Aziz learned abut Islam at the barber shop
Then, a month later..
Allah, Almighty..
guided me…I was with my friends..
they wanted to go to the barber shop..
So, we went inside the shop, the waiting room was at the basement..
there were Muslims and non-Muslims waiting for their turns
They talked about Jesus… Moses..
But, from Islamic prospective..
They don’t pronounce it as in French, Jésus
they say Isa..
They don’t say Moïse.. they say Mosa..
and so on..
I’ve always been a curious person..
If I encounter something… I would work so hard to understand it!
So, I asked them .. I didn’t understand what were you talking about?
Did he explained to you?
yes, but as much as he can..his knowledge wasn’t enough..
So, we stopped at a limit..
I was amazed..
because…
I always believed …and it is well known here too
that Muslims are bedouins
did you understand what I mean..?
The Muslim is the one who…
fasts during Ramadan..
He doesn’t eat pork..
Does circumcision…
And the females are to wear Hijab.
That’s all..
That was the farthest thing I knew about Muslims..
I was ignorant!
Then..
my questions became more difficult for him to answer..
he said..
I don’t know… I am not a knowledgeable person..
go to the masjid..
When Abdul-Aziz went to the Masjid, there as a tafseer class going on
and the sheikh was talking about surat Al-Layl
and it had a great impact on the heart of Abdul-Aziz
“As for he who gives and fears Allah”
“And believes in the best [reward],”
“We will ease him toward ease.”
and the reverse!
“But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need”
… difficulty.”
Till that moment our brother, Abdul-Aziz felt that he was a stranger…
before I enter the masjid…
I had a specific image for Muslims in my mind..
And I was in a state of ignorance..
about the real thing
Then after I went inside the masjid..
I saw a different image..
‘The path seemed filled with thorns’
‘Until it was quenched with the morning moist’
‘So did the heart that pleased You ’
‘..Oh Allah, when it absorbed Your guidance’
There, he met, and for the first time, a French man who was Muslim!
Abdul-Aziz was thinking that Islam is for Arabs only!
When he saw the Muslim French man, he was surprised!
His name was Mahdi..
this is his name now, not his original name.
I asked him…
Why…what are you doing here?
He said..
I am Muslim..
I participate in the classes
Are you Muslim?
You are French!
He said…that’s how it is
You can be Muslim and still you are French!
or English man and so..
he explained things to me simply
As..
he was Christian before becoming Muslim
He used to live here like me ..in France
He gave me many answers…
He gave me books for Ahmad Dedat
I have read them all..
I did that fast in a short time..
because…
I was like a hungry person!!
Hungry for the truth!
What a word… hungry for the truth!
Glory to Allah.
He and the barber man were trying to teach me surat Al-Fatiha
I memorized it before I enter Islam!
I also prayed before being Muslim!
The Surah which impressed me much was….
It is the same Surah that I memorized first.
Surat Al-Fatiha…before saying the shahada
The one influenced you.
Because the meaning of the verses is great!
It reminds us of the mercy of Allah, Almighty
reminds us that He is the Sovereign..
He is the Lord..
The Lord is the One Who arranges each matter
Gives to whom He wills, and takes from whom He wills
And this verse,”It is You we worship and You we ask for help.”
This verse..
is the best…because..
we used to say, before I become Muslim…
we claim that we are Christians…
and in the Book of the Christians the oneness is mentioned..
and we used to say in my country that Ibrahim PBUH
is the father of the Unitarians..
He is one who destroyed the idols
So, when you read:”It is You we worship”
exactly!
Why do we worship idols?
Why do we worship so ..and..so..?
Worship the Lord.
Pray to the Lord.
‘Oh You, who descended the Qur’an’
‘As brightness upon Ahmad’
‘I felt peacefulness when the clarity began’
‘Oh Allah, keep me steadfast on the righteous path’
‘Guided through the Qur’an’
‘Living it is the sweetness of life’
‘Longing to the Lord, coming to Him’
‘To Him I submit my soul’
‘Guided through the Qur’an’
‘Living it is the sweetness of life’
‘Longing to the Lord, coming to Him’
‘To Him I submit my soul’
‘This is indeed the most beautiful and precious path’
‘And it’s the intercessor, it is the companion’
‘Oh heedless, won’t you wake up’
‘And see the way for happiness and salvation’
few weeks later…one day
Brother Mahdi called me..
Hi… how are you?…ma’sha’Allah…glad to talk to you…
tell me… what do you have in mind about Islam …
At that time.. in my heart and in my believe…I was Muslim…
I was praying..
I found out…. now Islam is the truth.
He said, O.K. but you need to say the shahada
So, I said it..
The brother said it and I repeated after him..
with no difficulty …I said:
I bear witness there is no deity worthy of worship except for Allah
Alone with no partners.
And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger
That’s how I became Muslim!
Allah, Almighty had taken me out… from darkness into light
‘The grace of guidance blessed my heart’
‘It is the start of my joy and of my life’
‘So, I decided to depend on the Entirely Merciful’
‘And followed the footsteps of Taha’
Now..
you feel this feeling ..you don’t know why…
but …the feeling is great inside the heart!
Then some years later..
you understand..
Your heart was dark…
and now it is bright..
light, great illuminant…
That’s why…as I think so !
this explains the feeling..
the feeling is huge…. inside.
The person who says the shahada is like…
like..
A blind person…
Then he is able to see again
How can you describe his feelings..
Think…
‘I lived with the habit of doing mistakes routinely’
‘But I never found happiness’
‘Till finally I discovered the worship’
‘How relieved I became when I am on the right path’
When you say the shahada..
Then you gain a key..
the key of the truth..
the key of happiness
the key of success..
‘Oh Allah, forgive me doing these sins’
Ma’sha’Allah, praise to the entirely merciful
Abdul-Aziz speaks Arabic and French
also, he knows..
other languages as Italian, English, Hebrew, German
This indicates how he is knowledgeable and likes to learn..
I am curious..
when I see a foreigner…
I ask him..
about different things….
He learned the Arabic language very fast..
because he was anxious to learn the Deen..
Ma’sha’Allah, praise to the entirely merciful
I was shocked!
I saw many people..
Very few people, here in Europe…even after 10,12,15 or 20 years in Islam
But they don’t learn Arabic!
You…Ma’sha’Allah, praise to the entirely merciful
within 5 years…
I didn’t need any one to translate for me during our talk
Praise to the entirely merciful
Not only language..
But talking deep about the meaning of verses and reflection upon them
also, connecting a verse with Hadeeth and the reverse..
This is amazing..
How did you do that, exactly?
First..
What is the Arabic Language?
Yes.
It is the Language of the Noble Qur’an!
After I became Muslim.
The French brother..
between Maghreb and Isha prayers..
and within 4 days..
He taught me..
Mahdi…Yes..
He taught me the letters…All of them
Proximately, you learned the Arabic letters in 4 hours
Then you started to read from the Qur’an directly..
and kept reading Arabic till you learned the language.
“[All] praise is [due] to Allah,”
” to whom belongs…”
“[All] praise is [due] to Allah, to whom belongs…”
Then I worked so hard…
I was in my room with the Qur’an..
and with the paper..
and the pen..
I tried to write..
People at the masjid were astonished..
How..?
The week before..
I entered Islam!
and this week… I read..
‘My Qur’an’
‘The verses of my Qur’an made my soul delighted… My Qur’an’
‘My sorrow’
‘They shrank and the roses sent their fragrance on my banks’
‘I recited it, and the scent of the letters’
‘went in my blood, my tears and all my body’
Did any of your friends like to know about Islam from you?
One of my school friends..
Alhamdulillah…he entered Islam..
You showed him Islam
Yes.
How?
He was like me before..
He was Christian..
I explained him the wrong things in his believe..
then I showed him the video of Sheikh Ahmad Dedat
Then he asked me some Questions..
I explained every thing…Alhamdulillah..
he entered Islam!
You try to invite them to the truth..
Even more to the morals..
Manners..
It is the thing which is very evident..
If you have good manners..
Ma’sha’Allah, It is enough!
for Dawa..
The starter..
As for my mother..now she is thinking..
Islam or her original religion..
Do you talk to her ..like daily..?
e.g. if I ask her what is oneness?
She answers, one God..not to worship except God..etc…
What is the Taghut?
Taghut is so…etc.
She knows?
Yes she knows every thing.
Some times..
We ignore this great grace..
The Grace of having Muslim Parents..
The thing which Abdul-Aziz wishes most to have
This is tough..
For example… someone…calls
Brother…your mother… died…
Glori to Allah, she died and she is a disbeliever
We can’t pray on her…
Glory to Allah.
But..
These are life tests..
And we accept this Qadar..
Allah, Almighty, guides whoever He wills and leads astray whoever He wills
I ask Allah to guide her… Ameen
and my father.. and all the lost people..
I ask Allah, Almighty to guide her.
and to be with you in Dunya righteous and Muslim
and in Jannah, by the will of Allah, Almighty
I would like to say to the Muslim
The Jannah is under the feet of your mother!
Be kind to her..
My Muslim brother…you have..
a great bounty..
your mother..Muslim..
your father..Muslim..
Abdul-Aziz is always smiling..
Abdul-Aziz is very happy with his life after Islam..
He says, Life is no longer of a value for me..
After Islam..I want Jannah..
Before Jannah..
we want a great thing
So many people forget that..
First we want to please Allah SWT
It is a great thing to have..
The jannah is not our aim, but Allah, Almighty and closeness to Him.
‘Oh Allah, keep me steadfast on the righteous path’
‘Because what I fear most’
‘is the to have a bad ending tomorrow’
I noticed here in this country..
many of the Muslim young men
They do not speak the classical Arabic accent
This is a big problem..
I want to have a place…a center specially constructed for the purpose of teaching
Arabic..the classical Arabic accent
for all the Muslims in this country
So, when you go to any masjid here
Muslims would speak Arabic in Fusha.
This is really important..
Muslims should speak that way only..
By the will of Allah, Almighty
Your brothers at the website nquran.com
Which is specialized in recitations..
This beautiful site which is doing much efforts
to support and serve reciters of the Qur’an
By the will of Allah..they will share to fulfill this wish to you..
May Allah bless you..
I ask Allah that you be with me with the people of Jannah, by the will of Allah
By the will of Allah, Almighty…
‘I walk on the path of my Qur’an’
‘And see its kind dawn shines’
‘I recite it and memorize it and reflect upon it’
‘I walk on the path of my Qur’an’
‘The spring and the joy of my days’
‘My friend, the one who knows my dreams’
‘The cure for my sorrow and my complains’
‘It heals my bleeding wound’
‘The spring and the joy of my days’
‘My friend, the one who knows my dreams’
‘The cure for my sorrow and my complains’
‘It heals my bleeding wound’
‘Then when I repent and come back’
‘To the path of the words of the Lord of the Bait’
‘I find the grace and the comfort’
‘I was guided through the Qur’an’
‘I was guided through the Qur’an’