I have been sharing revert experience and each account was different and informative for me. But today I am sharing a revert account which for me was both different from all previous accounts but very soul inspiring. I came across this account while I was searching for material for a series of posts I write about Islam and Life of Muslims in Non Muslim Countries. And this account I came across while searching for input on Nicaragua.
This account of multiple reversions was shared in the Islamic Bulletin and I am sharing it as it appeared in its source:
The Nicaraguan government bans all missionary groups from Pakistan, India and other Arab or Islamic countries. After receiving requests for help, a group of brothers from the San Francisco area made travel arrangements to Nicaragua to reintroduce Islam to these forgotten brothers and sisters.
While in Managua, the capitol city of Nicaragua, the group was told about a Palestinian elder, named Mukhtar, who had been in a coma for three weeks and near death. Before going into the coma, this man had asked to be among Muslims as he died. He was located in the town of Chinandega, which is approximately 150 Km from Managua. So the group from San Francisco decided to go to the dying Muslim and fulfill his wish to be among the Muslims when he died.
As the group traveled to Chinandega, a local brother explained some background of the family. While the Palestinian Muslim had married Nicaraguan woman, she continued to be strong catholic. And obviously, due to the mother's influence their two sons and a daughter were all raised Catholic. It also transpired that the dying man's wife wanted her husband's burial burial as a Christian.
When they all reached the Palestinian Muslim's house, upon entering his home, they were surrounded by a plethora of Christian statues and large crucifixes everywhere. They felt as if they had been transported into a church. Ignoring these, they approached the dying elder brother. With his sons and daughter present they started reciting "Surah Ya seen" and made a collective dua (supplication to Allah) for the old gentleman.
They could see in the eyes of the sons and daughter the anguish and love for their father. At that moment one is filled with a sense of helplessness.
The brothers from San Francisco then proceeded to their drivers house for a late lunch and Dhuhr Salah (the midday noon prayer) along with the children of the dying man. It was the first salah for the children and they were instructed to make dua for their poor dying father. As the group prayed for the dying man with their hands raised to Allah, the phone rang...the father had passed away...in peaceful repose. How thankful the brothers from San Francisco were that they had delayed Dhuhr prayer and lunch for the sake of visiting the man who only had a short time left in this life.
They all then returned to the elders home and started the process of an Islamic burial. The eldest brother, the first of the family to accept Islam, was able to perform a final service for his beloved father by Islamically washing and preparing him for the final internment with the help of the San Francisco brothers. The wife of the deceased man later admitted that when she had left the house earlier, she had gone to her local priest and explained to him about this strange group of men who had arrived from nowhere and converted all her family and was in the process of burying her husband of many years the Islamic way. She explained to the priest what the brothers had been saying about Jesus and Islam. This priest agreed with the points the brothers had made and suggested that she submit to her husband's wishes. During the burial, the son's of Mukhtar were able to place him lovingly into his grave facing the Qiblah (Makkah) with their own hands and thus fulfilled their father's dying wish...to be among Muslims as he died. The greatness of Allah allowed him to be buried as a Muslim, by Muslims, and with those Muslims being his own blood family.
After the burial, the brothers from San Francisco stayed awhile and provided further Islamic information for the family. The family cleared their house of idols and crosses and made their big house into the 'Mosque of Chinandega'. It was then that the mother, who was deeply touched by her husband's funeral also accepted Islam before the brothers departed!
This account of multiple reversions was shared in the Islamic Bulletin and I am sharing it as it appeared in its source:
The Nicaraguan government bans all missionary groups from Pakistan, India and other Arab or Islamic countries. After receiving requests for help, a group of brothers from the San Francisco area made travel arrangements to Nicaragua to reintroduce Islam to these forgotten brothers and sisters.
While in Managua, the capitol city of Nicaragua, the group was told about a Palestinian elder, named Mukhtar, who had been in a coma for three weeks and near death. Before going into the coma, this man had asked to be among Muslims as he died. He was located in the town of Chinandega, which is approximately 150 Km from Managua. So the group from San Francisco decided to go to the dying Muslim and fulfill his wish to be among the Muslims when he died.
As the group traveled to Chinandega, a local brother explained some background of the family. While the Palestinian Muslim had married Nicaraguan woman, she continued to be strong catholic. And obviously, due to the mother's influence their two sons and a daughter were all raised Catholic. It also transpired that the dying man's wife wanted her husband's burial burial as a Christian.
When they all reached the Palestinian Muslim's house, upon entering his home, they were surrounded by a plethora of Christian statues and large crucifixes everywhere. They felt as if they had been transported into a church. Ignoring these, they approached the dying elder brother. With his sons and daughter present they started reciting "Surah Ya seen" and made a collective dua (supplication to Allah) for the old gentleman.
They could see in the eyes of the sons and daughter the anguish and love for their father. At that moment one is filled with a sense of helplessness.
"Then why do ye not (intervene when the soul of the dying man) reaches the throat...and ye the while (sit) looking on... But we are nearer to Him than ye, and ye see not." (Qur'an 56:83-85)The group comforted the grown children with mention of the greatness of Allah and the principles of Islam, some points about the Prophet Eesa (Jesus, peace be upon him), and tried to give them a little of what they had missed of an Islamic upbringing. As they were listening, the oldest brother removed the cross from his neck and at once accepted Islam and said the Shahada (declaration of faith), followed by his brother, and together they invited their sister to do the same, which she did. The Mother, listening to this conversation, became upset by what was happening and left the house.
The brothers from San Francisco then proceeded to their drivers house for a late lunch and Dhuhr Salah (the midday noon prayer) along with the children of the dying man. It was the first salah for the children and they were instructed to make dua for their poor dying father. As the group prayed for the dying man with their hands raised to Allah, the phone rang...the father had passed away...in peaceful repose. How thankful the brothers from San Francisco were that they had delayed Dhuhr prayer and lunch for the sake of visiting the man who only had a short time left in this life.
They all then returned to the elders home and started the process of an Islamic burial. The eldest brother, the first of the family to accept Islam, was able to perform a final service for his beloved father by Islamically washing and preparing him for the final internment with the help of the San Francisco brothers. The wife of the deceased man later admitted that when she had left the house earlier, she had gone to her local priest and explained to him about this strange group of men who had arrived from nowhere and converted all her family and was in the process of burying her husband of many years the Islamic way. She explained to the priest what the brothers had been saying about Jesus and Islam. This priest agreed with the points the brothers had made and suggested that she submit to her husband's wishes. During the burial, the son's of Mukhtar were able to place him lovingly into his grave facing the Qiblah (Makkah) with their own hands and thus fulfilled their father's dying wish...to be among Muslims as he died. The greatness of Allah allowed him to be buried as a Muslim, by Muslims, and with those Muslims being his own blood family.
After the burial, the brothers from San Francisco stayed awhile and provided further Islamic information for the family. The family cleared their house of idols and crosses and made their big house into the 'Mosque of Chinandega'. It was then that the mother, who was deeply touched by her husband's funeral also accepted Islam before the brothers departed!
This was really amazing and very motivating to read this first account. But that was not all. The group from USA had more miraculous stories to tell as they continued their journey to neighbouring El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala!!
One of the brothers of the San Francisco group visiting Central America was asked by his secretary to deliver some items to her mother, Mrs. Molina, then living in the little town of Granada, close to Managua. It seems that the brother's secretary, a non-Muslim, had been criticized by mother and other members of her family for her Islamic leanings due to working for our friend. She did not eat pork and liked to read the Qur'an "because it made her feel good". The mother had been accusing the good brother of 'brainwashing' her daughter.
Well, the brother delivered the parcel to Mrs. Molina as promised. By that time it was time for the Maghreb prayer and he asked her permission to pray there, and she allowed him so. After praying, our friend started answering Mrs. Molina's questions about Islam and before he knew it...she asked to become Muslim, made Shahada, and even asked him to speak to her neighbors and friends about Islam! A very enthusiastic convert! Well, needless to say...the brothers secretary no longer heard about 'brainwashing' from her mother, and was even a little surprised by this turn of events. The problem though...now her mother is criticizing her again...wanting to know what is taking her daughter and son-in-law too long in accepting Islam too!
The presence of the group in Nicaragua reinvigorated the spirit of Islam in the Islamic community of Managua and a masjid which was virtually empty during salah times when the group first arrived, started attracting Muslims to it. The hearts of the Muslims of Managua were again united in brotherhood. As a result of their visit, many of the Muslim residents of Managua again started attending Fair and Isha prayer in congregation. The San Francisco brothers also provided a yearly prayer schedule which the Managuans did not have previously, having to rely on a schedule they had received during Ramadan which they had not adjusted for the course of the year.
These descendants of the early immigrants are hungry for information about Islam. Almost 60 people accepted Islam as a consequence of the group from San Francisco. Spanish Qur'an and literature are continually in demand. It's the responsibility of all of us to remember these Muslims far away. Please help if you assist with Islamic literature in Spanish language to share with Muslims of Nicaragua.
Disclaimer: The data for this post has been collected from the source as given below. If any one differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the reference and its author.
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