Why does a person find contradictions in all the religions?
And he doesn’t find any in Quran?
My name is Hugo
I’m 25 years old
I’m from Sweden
And I’m studying to be a doctor
I’m married and I have a daughter
Raised with an atheist father and a christian mother
He didn’t like the contradictions in the Bible
The Muslim doctor, Hugo
Who used to recite the Fateha in church before converting to Islam
When I was a teenager before coverting to Islam, I had two different sides
The conservative christian mother who takes me to church and friends who take me to do bad things
I didn’t have the characteristics of a true christian to stop myself from doing bad things
You had a very close relationship with your grandmother
Did your grandmother influence you in any way to know about Islam and converting?
Yes! I was raised in a family which wasn’t very religious..or the level of religion was normal
My grandmother was the most religious person in the family
And she was the one who taught me and my brother to pray before going to bed
And even though we were Christians but I’ve never heard or discussed with my family the concept of trinity! So I’ve always believed that there was only one God
And I stayed like this till I grew up as a Christian and became a Christian
Brother Hugo
The theory of the Big Bang made you question a lot of things!
We would like to know these questions..
As I grew older and went to school, I drifted away from religion and God, but in middle school when I was about 13 or 14 years old
We started taking science as a subject and we talked a lot about the Big Bang
And at that stage in my life I started asking “what hapened before the Big Bang?”
Even if the bang resulted in expansion and creation there must’ve been something before that to create the substance!
The bang, explosion, expansion and creation only explain to us that there must be something before them to create the substance!
And that’s what I thought about as I grew older
At that time I started thinking about some things in Christianity that I never questioned before!
For example, trinity, if the Bible was the words of God or witnesses or if someone heard that it was God’s words and wrote it down
And the other issue was if pork was allowed in Christianity..
But I felt that I haven’t gotten a satisfactory answer
What was the reaction of the priest towards these questions?
One time we were speaking and I asked if the Bible was God’s words or the words of a witness
because when we read the Bible we find that it says “one person says that another person said that Jesus said”
So this is clear proof that it’s not directly from God!
He got very angry and said that the priests have discussed this issue a 1000 years ago!
And they have reached that it’s like this and I don’t want to continue our discussion!
And from my many questions about pork he said “ok then don’t eat pork!”
I noticed afterwards that my questions about the Bible upset him because they were in front a group of guys
And I became a Muslim a year later after the priest told me “then don’t eat pork!”
Hugo’s mother was upset with the way the priest treated her son!
Especially that he wasn’t convinced by his answers and rejected them..
And that was mental preparation for his family to approve his conversion to Islam
Because he completely avoided pork before he became a Muslim
You became the leader of the youth at the church
At that time, how did you see Islam?
When I wanted to become religious I didn’t think of Islam or any other religion! I just wanted to believe in God so I became christian
And I thought that it was what’s available for Swedish people
But at the church they coincidentally talked about Islam and they said that Quran is the work of Satan
Yes! and even one of them said “that’s why it’s so good because it’s from Satan!”
Many Swedish people converted to Islam by the hands of Al Sharqawy family
And especially the students of Medicine
Because they used to gather in their house and discuss religions
Hugo was Mahdi’s friend, Mahdy
He was Mahdi’s friend and they went to school together
In middle school and high school they studied English together
And they had a close friendship and most of their discussions were about religions
Hugo’s characteristics were like most of the Swedish people
Who are kind and noble
Hugo had a friend who’d converted to Islam recently
Because of the discussions they had at university
Which encouraged Hugo to search more for the truth
And this really surprised me because I knew a side of him that had no relationship with religion
And also because he’s Swedish and I never heard of a Swedish Muslim!
And what’s interesting is that he converted to Islam when Mahdi and his brothers were talking about Islam with another person
So they were sitting together discussing and he was in the next room eavesdropping
And as he was listening he gets up and walks over to them and says “I want to be a Muslim! I want to convert to Islam!”
We thought that he only wants to know about Islam!
But it turned out that he was searching for the truth!
He was originally a Christian
And he was a regular at the Church
And that’s when we started talking a lot about Islam and Christianity
And we did comparisons between the Bible and the Quran..the discussions were long and competitive and we always tried to win!
Brother Hugo, what’s the verse that greatly influenced you?
I believe it’s AlFateha when I heard it in Arabic
And I think it’s because I had read its translation in Swedish before and other parts of the Quran
But when I heard it in Arabic from my friend while he was praying and from other recitations on the Internet it affected me a lot!
And it was very different when I heard it in Arabic and the organization and rhyme in it were very beautiful! I had never heard such a thing!
The verses in Swedish translations are short and not as rhythmic as in Arabic
When I heard the Quran in Arabic I felt that it was very beautiful and organized like it had further meaning to it..which was a turning point
And what pushed me to memorize it before converting to Islam and saying Shahada
And I took deep interest in it for its importance and how it included the whole of Islamic beliefs
So I listened to it a lot in Arabic and I spent a long time trying to memorize it and revising it before converting to Islam
Surat Al Fateha (The Opening)
The opener of hearts to Islam!
The opening of chapters in the Quran!
The opening of prayer!
The opening of healing!
It is the greatest Sura in Quran!
The Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) says
“I swear by Allah, that there has’t been a sura in the Gospel, Torah, Zabor or Farrakhan as great as Surat Al Fateha!”
After all those questions to the priest and the discussions with your friends and the search you’ve done..when did you say the Shahada?
Since our discussions about Islam took about a year and the pace was slow I felt in the end that I know a lot about Islam
And I believed in Islam and Quran but I was still between two things
because I didn’t announce that I was Muslim but I felt in my heart that I was Muslim
And I remember that when we were close to summer and Ramadan I decided that I will fast Ramadan
And it’s time I pray but I can’t pray or fast without saying the Shahada!
So I decided to keep it a secret
And it reached that I went to Church and when everyone was praying I was reading Al Fateha in my mind
So at that time I started asking myself..what am I doing? I’m sitting in Church and I’m reading Al Fateha and pretending to not be Muslim?
I’m only fooling myself! so I decided to say Shahada and I went home, told my father and I said it in front of Mahdi and other friends
An astonishing story! At the time of his search and he was already believing in Islam he reached a point where he was reading Al Fateha at Church!
He did it all on his own!
We only answered the questions, but Hugo was searching for the truth on his own!
And Allah is the one who blessed him with this religion!
and we were very happy for this!
I remember when my mother said “Why Islam? be a Catholic or a Buddhist! Why Islam?”
Thanks to God I know of a lot who got threats or hit or cut off but my family accepted it easily
“The Hour has come near, and the moon has split [in two].”
“And if they see a miracle, they turn away and say, “Passing magic.””
“And they denied and followed their inclinations. But for every matter is a [time of] settlement.”
“And there has already come to them of information that in which there is deterrence -”
“Extensive wisdom – but warning does not avail [them].”
He’s very patient and very responsible
And I say this because it’s not normal for a Swedish to marry and open a home at a young age alongside his studies and work!
So this is a lot of responsibility and requires a lot of patience especially with a child at this age!
And for a person to balance between studying Medicine, working, taking care of a baby and a family is very difficult but he’s always courageous and optimistic
He never complains about anything but always happy and positive!
Brother Hugo, you deserve a lot!
And you deserve a lot of gifts!
But at the end of each episode of Guided by the Quran we give a from some girls in Jordan
Their name is Banat Fena Khair
They gift you this gift and ask you to pray for them!
You deserve much more! God bless you!
Quran is guidance to me! You can read it and listen to it but you always need it for guidance!
We must read the Quran every day even if it was just a little bit so we could benefit and be guided in our life
Because it’s easy to get lost if you’re away from it for a long time!