₦airaland Forum

Wordsmith:
Amen to that, ma.


umm, you've got a link to pilgrim's story?

Thank you again, Queenisha, for this invitation. Actually, a lot of people (including Catholics, non-religious friends and a few Muslims) who visit the forum in this section have hinted the same thing, but I was not quite sure if the time for me to do so was ripe enough.

All the same, I shall try between times to make inputs - although it may not be chronological in order of events. First, I would like to say a few things from the limited perspective of my own experience (so readers should please understand that I do not speak for the whole Muslim ummah). Then going on from there, develop my naratives with a few highlights that are germane to what I ultimately will share. Perhaps, it might help a few who may not be conversant with Muslim terms if I offer simplistic paraphrases where applicable. . . yada-yada-yada.
Okay, here:

I count myself a very fortunate person, having grown up from a humble background, the 3rd child out of 5 brilliant minds from my wonderful parents. Ours was a moderate Muslim family who believed the Quran with all our hearts as the literal word of Allah, and Muhammad as the most noble and last prophet among all those who were prophets. Consequently, we kept our muslim rites with diginity and pride; and whenever any misfortune befell anyone, we simply did not question it and ascribed it to the will of Allah. Certainly, we were very proud to be among "the best of mankind", for our sect in Islam held that very belief as a core value.

Growing Up

My dad was very protective of us children. I never saw a man who was as loving towards his family, or yet as religious in his devotions. He inspired us with his example of deep hunger for knowledge, never boasting of his credentials even though he was widely read. Naturally, I had warmed my way to his heart and 'overthrew' my siblings in the competition for his affection and attention - mostly because I was the most troublesome, rascally, argumentative and often screamed with loud sobs until I got my way. Ironically, I was often bullied in school and would run home to cry my eyes out, instigating my elder brothers to go slap some heads around. often, they would pretend to make a lot of noise but left me to fend for myself.

Our relations with neighbours were cordial. Since our parents respected people, we were brought up never to speak derogatorily about anyone. Trust us, while I and my siblings said 'amin' to that injunction, we would run around and abuse everyone in the neighbourhood. Our parents knew how to handle us - very gently reminding us of being thrown to hell with unbelievers - the kafir/infidel. For me, it was worse than that - because as a young female, it was only from my dad I heard that women far out numbered males in hell. All the same, we had the fortune of being loved by our parents.

We lost almost everything when the then Lagos State government relocated people from Maroko because the place was to be developed for new residents and businesses. I was away on holiday in the north (Kano) and arrived Lagos as a lost child. The cohesion we enjoyed in the Muslim community in Eti Osa easily helped me reconnect with my family, and we found a place to settle in Ipaja.

I was looking forward to returning to school when the fortune came for us to travel abroad. Briefly, I've travelled extensively around Europe, visited home several times and then finally . . em. .  fell in love. The problem was that he was a Christian, and for a Muslim lady to date a Christian man was just simply a violation of our belief in Islam. But that incident opened my eyes to the realities of my faith - where do I go from here?


To be continued. . .

So, I fell in love with a Christian, not so much because he was unashamed to be identified as one; but more because he was intelligent, terribly handsome and everyone was talking about him. It wasn't long before I also  drove away all my rivals with assertiveness and got him to notice me.

the big thing, however, was that I was too scared to let anyone at home know. I also thought that if I could get him to be devoted to me (not that I was even that pretty like Beyonce), then he would soon want to propose and then be converted to Islam.

We kept our "secret" going for a while; but sooner than later we got talking about our faith and God. The thing that struck me was that he never argued back. Smiling, he would listen to my rants for ages, and I could see his European face blush with embarrassment, and then when I was done, we talked about other things. . especially about Nigeria. He had always wanted to see Africa, and here was the girl that was pumping up his adrenaline towards that visit.

It was never to happen. They moved to another state in the USA - and he had not even stopped by to let me know. I was so embarrassed in class when someone else broke the news, and thought within myself: "ye right! the Christian he was!" Moments later that very day, I got a letter from him, explaining why he could not come to our house to speak to me - because of my "radical father".

That semester was tough for me, and I spent too much time thinking about him that I failed my exams. But I had woken up to ask a lot of questions about why we were so divided if we believed in the same 'God'?

I healed from it, fell in love again with yet another Christian. This time, I didn't waste anytime breaking the news to my mum. She wisely asked me to speak to my dad about it. Three weeks passed before I did. Smiling, he only asked his name. I had barely pronounced his name before he said that I needed to prepare for a very important trip with him to Pakistan. The thing about my dad is that he never forced us to do anything; but this time I saw the stern warning and knew better than to object. I'll skip the visit to Pakistan and come back to it later. Suffice to say that I had to swallow my words when I witnessed the hudood law, and that again brought serious questions to my mind.

I hate you!

My boyfriend's place was one of my first port of calls when I returned to Georgia, USA. Being a moderate muslimah wasn't a problem mingling in school with friends in the democracy of the West. He welcomed me warmly, shook my hands and accorded me all the respects. I didn't waste time presenting my souvenirs to him - an English translation of the Quran by Yusuf Ali. Thanking me, he did what most Muslims find very offensive - he placed the Quran on his coffee table! But that was my mistake, because I belonged to the sect in Islam who believed that the hands of a kafir/infidel should never touch the Quran. I snatched it up, walked out and promised myself I was never going back to their home.

A few weeks passed, he always tried to call but I never answered. Meanwhile, I had begun to wonder about the strange appearance of Christian literature in my dad's study. I never questioned him about this, but thought he was arming himself with information to deflate Christian apologists. There were churches all over Atlanta where we lived, and I thought some fellows had been trying to make an impression on my dad - they were in for serious shock (or so I thought).

My Christian boyfriend went away to Afghanistan, having been conscripted to fight the tyrannical taliban. Not that it was any concern of mine, but I begged him not to go, giving the excuse that killing a muslim was seriously earning him hell from Allah. He thanked me, but his mum persuaded him to obey the call of his government. When I discovered what had happened, I prayed for him every single day - but 2 weeks on the battlefield, and he was dead!

Typical of my mindset, I called the mother. When she picked the phone, I yelled into the receiver: "I hate you! You killed my only love!!" She thanked me, and hung up. As a muslim, I didn't attend the funeral (although the democracy of USA was protective enough for me to have done so). However, his sister persuaded me to visit them - and I did. After we settled, the mother (with tears in her eyes and a painful smile), began by saying - (I can't remember everything she said though):

                 "I'm sorry that *Kylie went to war. And I'm sorry he was your love.
                  But I'm his mother, and I have no one to share my hurt. People have
                  said the same things to me; but I can understand your own hurt -
                  because he was the man you had fallen in love with."

Then she gave me a letter Kylie had written shortly before he left:

                  "Dear **pilgrim.1 (**actually he used my name),

                   Life is strange, but whatever happens,
                   I want you to know that I may not come back
                   but I love you so so much it hurts to leave you.

                   Yea, I like your Nigerian accent. . . funny.
                   but I want you to know I and your dad have been talking
                   - ask him, he would tell you. The man loves Jesus more than you know!
                   I do as well, and I deeply long for you know the Jesus you never met!

                   *Kylie, in pure love from Christ."

I left without a word, and went home to ask my dad a question: "Has Kylie been talking church with you?" "No," he said, "he didn't talk church, he talked about Jesus Christ!"

*Kylie was his pseudonym, not real name.



How come my dad is speaking of Jesus this way? There was something warm and genial in his voice as he spoke; but I thought he was trying his best to help me heal after Kylie's demise.

I made so many friends and didn't really care where they came from - Muslims, Christians, Mormons, atheists, adherents of the Grail Message (learnt from several of them that they don't like people referring to them as Grail Messengers). After my elder brother graduated, he quickly got a job as an analyst in a computing firm. The money was big, and he soon settled. But his success also meant that I could get whatever I wanted - still in school, the 'baby' of the family, dady's girl, etc. But, of course, I faced temptations such as was common to everyone. The difference was that by religious convictions, we were encouraged to pursue modesty, but quite in a legalistic manner.

It Begins to Heat Up!

One good thing about the democracy of the West is that people are free to be themselves. Democracy was not a gift of Islam to anybody; but in such an engalitarian culture, I was free to attend masjid (mosque) in the section for women and pray, perform my rites. . . and on very few occasions try to listen to preachers give lectures. At this point, unfortunately, the real issues of my belief system had begun to be seriously questioned.

What was I taught while growing up? So many things about life in genral. In specific terms, we believed that our ummah (the entire Muslim community in contrast to other religious groups) were the "best among mankind". Others were going to hell for rejecting Allah and Muhammad; and it doesn't matter what we as Muslims did, we shall enter jannah (paradise). I liked the sound of all this, until the real question of my place in Islam made me think deeply; especially because as a woman, our sect in Islam believed the doctrine that those who were more in number in hell were women. I never liked discssuing that point; so I acoided it as much as possible.

However, there were other sects in Islam that were more condescending than our sect. They didn't believe in demonizing women, nor were they inclined to the grey areas of human reality. I had friends in such sects; generally, whether or not we said it openly or privately, we all belonged to the group which saw Jews and Christians with seething disaffection.

As I grew up and wasn't running after oyinbo boys anymore (they came chasing me now), those I met were often interested in their faith. I learnt so many things from a lot of them, but up until now I don't know what was attracting me to Christians even though I knew deep in my heart I so hated them. My excuses were that they were responsible for all the evil of the West, all the degradable things in humanity was brought about by their corruption. . . and one day, they would all be vanquished: it was a matter of time! Please note: there are genuine Muslims who are not belligerent, and up until now I have so many friends among them. But while our parents were serious in their devotions and moderate with extreme issues, I had the sad misfortune of being steeped into some extremist elemtal thinking. I'm sorry, but that is the truth (although, thankfully, our sect never encoraged women to participate directly in Jihad).


Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!!

Fast forward. After several debates with a few people, I had quickly been recognized as a local champion, most feared more because of my very saucy language in debates than for my intelligence. I was praised by my friends, and was so deluded for a moment enjoying the ridicule I put Christians to. The Jews I encountered, surprisingly were very intelligent and did not believe in shouting. They, like the Christians, showed a bit more respect and love. So, how was I able to shut the mouths of Christians? Well, I simply spent hours on end at skeptic and atheistic websites to harvest loads of very demeaning quotes and arguments against them!

During this time, my dad was no longer attending masjid (although I don't know when exactly he converted and became a Christian). As children, we didn't bother to ask him about it, because there were many muslims around us as well who were not too keen about attending masjid (mosque). What people don't realise was that even in Atlanta, there were evidently extreme elements who made it their duty to "eliminate" defecters and "apostates". I knew all this - I knew that it only would take just a report and the 'apostate' is quitely 'removed' from daylight.

So, I kept on with this attitude, castigating Christians and Jewish beliefs with more vehemence. You see, what was even giving me this cowardly boldness (oxymoron) was that we could say anything against others; but they could not do the same to Islam! Although no one cried about a blasphemy Law in Atlanta, we believed that we were well protected in the USA culture to slur Christianity and threaten them if they dared do the same to our belief!

Yet again, I had a softspot for another Christian. His father was an atheist, but they yet lived happily and peacefully among themselves. I look back with tears in my eyes and regret for the many evil things I did personally to him, his family and his belief as a Christian. His father liked me so much he would invite me to upset this gentleman. But hey, he never for one day stop praying for me. I challenged him with a rhetoric: "Since you started praying for me, has you Jesus answered you? Don't you see that you're so **$(%** to be a Christian? Christianity does not work - as prophet Muhammad said!"

His answer? It shocked me - and it happened in just that manner. This is what he said:

           "I know Jesus has answered me. He only asked me to be patient
            and to keep praying for you. He said the sign you will see is that
            your dad will call Me "Lord" with his lips. You will hear him say this,
            and you cannot stop him!"

I was scared, but laughed him to scorn. His atheist father liked my scorning; and I left home more dazed than when I began. There was something so unmistakable in his voice that I just couldn't woosh it away.

Then one day, I heard he was terribly ill. What surprised me was that he had requested to see me. What's he up to?

I delayed to go and see my ill  boyfriend. I was in love; but I had been driven more with hate for his being a Christian than for his being a human being. Please understand: this was just me, it does not mean that is the very same attitude every Muslim takes.

When I finally went over, my plan was to ridicule and cajole him  more that his prayers have failed him - and it was time to convert to Islam! I knew he was in love with me; here was my chance to pressure this guy to be a Muslim so that we would be married.

Hold on, let me here say that before this time, I knew or had the feeling that my dad was slipping away from his muslim faith. He read the Quran less, read more of the Bible (I don't know if my mum or any one of my siblings knew, as I was always very free to play in his study). I was so filled with such hate that for Allah's sake I would blew the whistle if I was the first to know that he was a Christian. Night after night, I would spy on him. . . he would either be reading the Bible; or would simply be studying for his Ph.D. I remember asking him for some notes in his Bible study so that I could be better armed to shoot the killer bullet at Christian apologists. But he would often smile and dismiss me.

Then one day, I went downstairs after having been suddenly woken up. I saw my dad bent over on his knees - arms spread out, and I knew he was not praying to Allah! Muslims surely did not bow the way he was bowed! So, I crept silently towards him and saw his face. .  glsitening with tears. His eyes were so gently shut, but he was evidently out of this world. You only need to be there to understand that there are times when people who are filled with the Spirit are so disconnected and fearless that they are too confident nothing around them can harm them!

But here was the shocker: I heard my dad praying to Jesus!! I was dazed, angry, and yet too powerless to even move! What betrayal! What wickedness! What blasphemy! I thought. As I grimaced at both what I was hearing and seeing, I made to move, and yet there was this inexplicable power that stood me there and drew my interest to keep listening to what my dad was saying. then I heard what broke me:

              ". . . even though I cannot preach, I trust You to save my family, Lord Jesus!!"

That was it! Now, this guy is going to pay with his. . . his very life! And I was the one who's going to blow the whistle on him! So I crawled away, my thirst was gone even though I had not drunk the water I came down for in the first place, and I slumped on my bed! What was I going to do? Please forgive me - that was the past me before I became a Christian. I was filled with hate that wee hour of the morning that I cursed and swore at him till daybreak. When we went down for breakfast, my mum knew that something was wrong - my face said it all. But I was determined to tell on "him". This "him" was my dad, but I didn't care one scooby!  I was so filled with hate that I wonder that I was ever delivered from it!

Now back to my boyfriend. I had planned to go over and mock the daylight out of him. Afterall, his Jesus had "failed" him, and it was his misfortune that his dad was an atheist. When I get there, I would simply smile sarcastically and ask him to beg Jesus to heal him. I was so sure it would fail to avail him. . . but I went anyways.

When I arrived, the sight of my boyfriend melted my heart. You would have to be a stone to see such a sight and not be able to extend some sympathy. We talked lightly about other things. I asked if there was anything I could do for him - like make him something light to eat so his medicines would work. He looked pointedly at me and that was when he said that the Lord wanted me to pray and see what He would do!

Was this guy crazy, stupid or plain delirious? His dad an I glanced at each other, and for the first time I saw that he had been crying. What for, I didn't know nor do I know now (although his son hinted me that when his situation got worse that morning and I had not come to spend time with them, he burst into tears because he feared he was about to lose his only surviving son from a bitter divorce). Anyway, I obliged to pray, but that was when he stopped me and asked me to pray as a Christian. For heaven's sake, I am a muslim and proud of it! I almost screamed. But he insisted and said calmly:

               '. . . He wants you to see what He can do; because He said your dad called Him "LORD!"'

Just as more of a joke than anything else, I obliged to pray as a "Christian". . . the only problem was that I would never call Jesus "Lord", and I yet I did not know how to pray a Christian prayer. My boyfriend said Christian prayer was not a ritual; I could pray just as I would have a frank conversation with Jesus.

So, I closed my eyes and (although being sarcastic in my heart), I blurted out: "Jesus, please heal *Joe." I paused, not knowing what next to say. . . and I was about to stutter the subsequent sentence when Joe rolled off the couch and started slowly jumping up! He ran and hugged me and started shouting praises to Jesus Christ! What?!? What was happening here? Whether I believed it or not, Joe had been instantly healed!

Confused, scared, and defeated, I ran home, flung myself to the floor and half-cried and half-prayed that Jesus should be my Saviour. I craved peace, love and deliverance! I wanted Him for real. Please! Please! O pleeeeease!

Thanking Him, I rose up, went to the bathroom and washed my face. I tried to be good to everyone, helpful and very nice to whomever I came across. It went on for a while, I became very close to *Joe, but was too scared to be caught attending church. Oh, life must be so sweet. . . but in reality, it wasn't!

I knew I wasn't saved. The same wicked heart, hate and pride against Christians and Jews were present in me. I tried not to betray these feelings and declined to debate any Christian after that incident. But what happened? It didn't take long before I ran out of gas! I knew I was still lost but was covering up with religion.

So, why is it that my "prayer" didn't work? My father and I (though having a strained relationship on my fault) shared questions and answers! My goodness - Kylie was right! My dad knew and loved Jesus much more than I could ever have known. he wasn't too concerned about theology, even though he has so much insight - but for him it was rather a pratical reality of life in Christ, or nothing else will do. I asked him why I was not born again. His answer? He asked me never to doubt my salvation. But when I argued that I didn't "feel" it and knew that I was still filled with hate towards Jews and Christians in particular, he asked me to take my arguments to Jesus directly - and he would also help to pray for me.


*Joe - a pseudonym used for his real identity here.



I continued that way, but by this time, I had so many questions. My faith in Islam was being seriously shaken to its foundations by the evidence of a miracle I could not deny! I had prayed to Jesus whose deity I formerly denied; I just couldn' understand the Trinity; surely the Bible was corrupt and no one could know for sure where the originals were? Etc., etc., etc.

Even then, I read widely while studying for my MA in Sociology. This course helped broaden my thinking process - and I had access to many materials in respected libraries. I was now a seeker - reading about as many religions as I could find materials on. My dad even feared for me because I was devouring too much information at my "tender age". Then, I saw it! We had been mistaking catholicism for Christianity!!

Please understand me: I am not castigating Catholics here. But you could imagine my shock when I first discovered that contrary to what we as Muslims believed, MARY was not part of the Trinity! Another thing was that we were speaking about Tritheism and not Trinity - and that was how I got it all mixed up.  So many other issues came to the surface:

           - Why did I hate Christians and Jews?

           - Why did I encourage myself to LIE against the Bible when I knew our mullah was not telling the truth?

          - If I believed that the Quran was faultless, how could I defend the idea that Allah created seven earths when we all know there's only one?

All these were the basic theological concerns that drove me to study more. But to make a long story short, there was just one question that was bothering me, and it had to be settled:

          ~ Was Jesus Christ truly LORD?

I thought deeply about it, and after searching seriously for answers, I asked Allah to help me find the truth for myself. The case of the miracle came constantly to mind. . . but my stubborness would not let me see clearly.

However, a strange event moved me to fnally kneel and submit to the power of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It was not theology that settled it for me, not any scholarship on my part, not anything I knew or did not know: it was just one thing I could not deny - the unmistakable change in my dad's life. I then realized that the reason why I was not born again was because I had refused to call Jesus "Lord". I consequently did pray and opened my heart to Him as both Lord and Saviour - and that moment I knew I was saved!!

All my hate for my dad had melted at that instant. I just coulnd't wait to run to him and fling my arms around him! We cried, praised God together, and prayed. My conversion led to further blessings that astounded me:

(a) my dear mother received Jesus Christ as her Lord the very next day! My dad was shocked. Why? Because she also had been going along as a "Christian" when she learnt of my dad's conversion. Since she did not want a fiasco or divorce, she played the "Christian" wife but later confessed that she never read the Bible since my dad gave her a copy! She had been secretly reading the Quran and praying that Allah would bring us all back to Islam.

(b) but what powerfully convinced my mum was not my change or conversion. I did not know that *Joe had called earlier that afternoon and since no one was at home, he spoke at length with my mum. She had no idea that *Joe was no longer my boyfriend, and as they spoke he told my mum that he missed me and was inviting me to his wedding. Then he told her that his atheist father had become a Christian a month before he died! That news made my mum shudder because she knew this man so well - a very hard-nosed atheist that ridiculed everything about God or Allah. What power could have made this man into a Christian?

(c) when I openly confessed to my family that I had become a Christian, my mum was expressionless that day, just watching me and my dad in that hug and crying our hearts out in thankfulness to our wonderful master Jesus. But the next day she told us all how she came to Christ from all the evidence she had experienced under 24 hours. The very day she gave her life to Christ, my elder brother who had been suffering from mental relapse and had been bed-ridden for years at home through abuse of drugs was healed the moment she prayed for him! Currently, he is in Egypt and serving the Lord as a missionary!

So many things have happened since I became a Christian that I often shy from using them in arguing against non-belief. I have learnt that no theology or philosophy adequately explains WHO Jesus is; it takes His grace to bring us to our senses and know the power of His Lordship and salvation. So far, I have avoided theological explanations here, because this thread is not a platform for arguments but rather what Jesus has done in my life.


I hope to come back and share more on issues where readers may have specific questions. For now, my prayers with you as a reader, that you may know Jesus Christ and His love. I know for definite, that Jesus is real. More than that, Jesus is LORD.

Shalom and God bless you all.




@Queenisha,

Thank you again for this invitation. Infact, if you recall, you had asked the same thing but I declined (that was when I took a long break from the Forum). Between times as I read from my email for others asking me if there was a God (atheists), to those who wanted to know why I left Islam (Muslims), and to others who were just curious as to why I thought Christianity made sense at all (other religious friends). I was tempted many times to just answer their request and oblige them a testimony like this. . . but I had to first pray and seek answers from the Lord Jesus Christ as to what to do.

I had peace all along to do so; but deeper in my heart was the silent voice that said "Wait a little more." I guess His time is always perfect; because if it was earlier than now that Abdul wrote me that email, I might have been irrational in my response. I apologise to everyone that I have ever let down with uncouth remarks, and I pray that you will know the peace I now know in my heart.

Like I said, I still maintain, and will remain so as long as I live: Jesus is Lord - he changed my life, and only to Him should all the glory be! He healed my brother instantly from mental problems, and now is using him in Egypt. My faith may not be as strong for being a missionary, but I never forget to pray for him wherever he goes in Egypt. If God could do that for him after so many years bed-ridden, what can He not do for anyone who would simply trust him?

I am so refreshed and blessed this moment that I just can't stop praising my wonderful Master Jesus Christ! To Him be all honour, praise and adoration.

God bless you all.

reindeer:
Thanks a lot chris, i hope you find your answers or better still i hope you find this same peace,
i mean it feels so good!
i still have questions of course , about God, about the bible , about jesus etc but i just know that something definite happened last night, people around me today noticed it(maybe i smiled a little more than usual),infact I'm not even sure i want the asnwers anymore, whoever this jesus is, he sure did a good job on me, rolling away my cares like that.
I only pray it lasts forever,I'm so scared of losing it,i mean i feel like my whole living now depends on him,
gotta stop now, i could go on and on,
chris, give him a try,you'll be glad you did, honestly!
gosh! is this me?or I'm dreaming?

It didnt take long for me to notice something, muslims hate and they hate, the language they use when they refer to christians and jesus, holy spirit etc were a little bit objectionable to me but it was ok i wasnt such a fan of those people either.
I also tried to learn from muslims but had a prob with their approach, they love to castigate other religions while getting really 'antsy' whenever any inconsistency in their religion was pointed out.

I thought i was doing great until last night when i stated reading the story by pilgrim.1, it was for me a turning point, for once in my life, i felt genuine peace', it occured to me that all my years of search was for this, for peace from someone i didnt care about but apparently he cared about me(my eyes are welling with tears again),
to my dismay i came here today and alas the topic has been locked,why?because the admin thought we were getting too heated(please spare me, i have seen more heated threads still ongoing on this forum).

My guesses are that either the admin had been threatened again by zealots who feel a 'loss' from someone leaving the religion or the admin is just trying to stiffle a great story of redemption.( i don't blame him, he can't feel what she must have felt and what i feel now).

so back to my question, what is islam trying to hide by stiffling any voice of dissent?

,  why is it that a christain community can tolerate mosques while it will be inviting trouble if you preach the christian way in a muslim community(NYSC had to repost a former classmate after threats were made to his life in katsina state for succesfully converting one muslim) why why must islam resort to voilence at the slightest provocation? why is it that theres aggression whenever anything is being pointed out as incorrect in the koran?

I also tried to learn from muslims but had a prob with their approach, they love to castigate other religions while getting really 'antsy' whenever any inconsistency in their religion was pointed out.
[b]I thought i was doing great until last night when i stated reading the story by pilgrim.1, it was for me a turning point, for once in my life, i felt genuine peace', it occured to me that all my years of search was for this, for peace from someone i didnt care about but apparently he cared about me(my eyes are welling with tears again),
to my dismay i came here today and alas the topic has been locked,why?because the admin thought we were getting too heated(please spare me, i have seen more heated threads still ongoing on this forum).[/b]My guesses are that either the admin had been threatened again by zealots who feel a 'loss' from someone leaving the religion
or the admin is just trying to stiffle a great story of redemption.( i don't blame him, he can't feel what she must have felt and what i feel now).

so back to my question, what is islam trying to hide by stiffling any voice of dissent?why is it that a christain community can tolerate mosques while it will be inviting trouble if you preach the christian way in a muslim community(NYSC had to repost a former classmate after threats were made to his life in katsina state for succesfully converting one muslim)
why why must islam resort to voilence at the slightest provocation? why is it that theres aggression whenever anything is being pointed out as incorrect in the koran?

Going by my experience out here in nairaland, id say I'm making the right decision following jesus(stil feels kind of strange saying that)instead of mohammed, id rather follow a God of peace than aggression, id rather follow love than fear and id rather spend the rest of my live in this peace that i have than keep searching.Last nights sleep was my best ever

We all saw the e- mail sent in the course of that discussion to pilgrim1

Wordsmith:
And to pilgrim.1, if you're reading this :

I be-lie-eve Yeshua (falsely called Jesus by Greeks, Teletubbies and evil whitey ) is LORD and SAVIOUR!

KarmaMod:
which one is this, sisi?

Nimshi:
Unless you have collected the relevant data or have arrived at this opinion from casual observation beyond this board and with representative numbers, then this opinion ought to be restricted to the observation set: perhaps just most (?) of the Muslims you have observed in the Religion section of the board? Note that I'm not trying to discount your finding, only that it ought to be restricted to those you have observed. But one thing: with violence, there're other issues involved; but you're correct that the first and loudest voices are those of the lawless mob; these people succeed in giving Islam a bad name; majority of Muslims are not like this. If time and space and temperament permits (temperament because not many people can tolerate this nonsense of deleting posts, banning people, and locking inspiring threads), perhaps we could discuss. Even if we disagree, perhaps, we could establish a common ground or two, and clear up some misconceptions

pilgrim.1:
@all,

Thank you for your prayers. Where do I start now? Things have moved on very quickly in the last 24 hours! But I still feel a little dazed from the effect my testimony has had on so many people, not least our dear reindeer!

pilgrim.1:
@plus_Queen,

I'm going to send you an email soon - I want you to see something for yourself. God bless you.

plus_Queen:
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Thursday, September 25, 2008 10:47 PM
From: [hidden]@yahoo.com>View contact details
To: [hidden]_ro***@yahoo.com


To***,
I am very disappointed in your story telling!! You see how very stupid you are? Who do you think you are deceiving with such stories? Tell me!! Will your father also support such deceit? Don't give me that rubish again O, because I will just make things worse for you!! Anytime I ask questions, you will refer me to nairaland, is that your second home? Rubish.

Now answer me this question. You said that Allah created 7 earths, not so? LIAR, LIAR, LIAR!! Show me where in the Quran you read it! You gutter LIAR and shameless animal!! You ******** !!! LYING against Allah is the reason he threw you away to christianity. May you and the Jews rot in your religion of LIES!!

Show me the verse where you read it, or thunder from Allah fire you 1 million times!

Abdul.

Well, Abdul. . how are you? I had not intended this thread to be an argument; so allow me to again refer you to Nairaland even though it is not my second home. I will just give the answer and leave it at that.Where did pilgrim.1 read in the Quran that Allah created 7 earths? This is the verse:
Sura 65 v 12. If you consult several English translations, you will find the same thing. So let me give you a few examples:·

Rashad Khalifa's translation:"GOD created seven universes and the same number of earths"·

Bewley:"It is Allah who created the seven heavens and of the earth the same number."·

Yusuf Ali:"Allah is He Who created seven Firmaments and of the earth a similar number"·

Hilali-Khan:"It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven)"Dear Abdul, instead of being upset with me, it might help to actually calm down and check before berating me.

If I had no such verses, then I would not have made such an assertion. Whatever the interpretation is, that is not my worry for now. I don't want this thread to be an argument platform, so there is your answer.God bless you with the love of Jesus Christ

reindeer:
please just don't stop praying for me, i have just dusted my old bible out of the store tonight. Any suggestions as to where to start?