A.H. Salaam- Personal Testimony from Mohammed to Jesus Christ!
I was a forty-five yr. old drug addict addicted to cocaine. I was in an eleven yr. old battle with this disease since 1989, the year my ‘Mother’, the best human friend I ever had passed away. In 2000, I was at my hopeless end, I had allowed my addictions
to destroy every valuable relationship in my life – a thirteen yr. old marriage, a rich and beautiful relationship with my five children, and a thriving and productive home improvement business that gave me the privilege of building community relationship with reputable business establishments. Roaming the streets and alleyways of San Diego in April of 2000 in the wee hours of the morning looking for my next high, I was broke, disgusted, and couldn’t even trust in myself. I cried out to God for help. His reply in a small, still voice was a call to Ronald, my brother. He was two years younger than me, had become a ‘Christian’, and had advanced in his church to the position of Minister to the Bishop on numerous churches. It was around 2:00 am in the morning when I called. He answered and told me that he would come, but that it would take a while since I had woken him from sleep. While waiting for my brother, I was going through a very intense internal battle in my mind because I was under attack with thoughts to leave from the place my brother And I agreed he would come and pick •me up from. Thoughts of fear, doubt, and shame were bombarding me to give up my hope that God would help me see my way out of this awful condition I had fallen into. This my wait seems like a lifetime when it was only about an hour. By the grace and mercy of God, I somehow was able to resist the temptation to go on another mission to get high. Finally, my brother Ronald arrived and I confessed to him that I was sick and tired of this diseased life and since I had tried everything else, I was even willing to try ‘Jesus’ at this point in my life. Ronald was elated and told me he was going to see my older sister who had also been a Christian since 1972, the same year I became a Muslim at age seventeen. My sister’s car was not there when we first arrived; however, a few minutes later she pulled up and was very happy to see I was with my brother Ronald. She then went on to explain she had been awakened from sleep thinking I was in deep trouble so she got into her car and drove to places she knew I would frequent on the streets, disappointed that she had not found me and this was the reason she was happy to see me. After my brother Ronald explained to her my confession to accept to except Jesus as my Savior, they both offered up prayer to God thanking Him for me and then led me into the Sinner’s Prayer. Immediately after I lifted up my heart to God in the Sinner’s Prayer, I experienced a great removal of a great burden or weight off of me that I knew I had been carrying for a long while. I experienced a relief or release from my diseased life of addictions, and I knew the relief came directly from God. After my brother and sister gave thanks and praise to God, I went home with my brother who asked me to attend Church in the morning to be baptized.
It was still very early, around 4:00 am, when I arrived at my brother’s house. Before going back to bed, himself, he pulled out one of his suits from out of his closet and said I could wear it this morning to church. He said for me to get some rest and he would wake me early enough to shower and get dressed. I went to sleep. I don’t know how long I had slept before I was awakened with a burning desire that directed me to shower and get dressed that very instant. By the time was finished I was directed to head on foot to my brother’s church which was not too far away. Without saying anything to my brother or his family, I headed out the door to be baptized. With this strong burning desire directing me on, it came to me that I was to proclaim to anyone I saw that early morning that Jesus is Lord. So, everyone I saw in front of me, or behind me, or even on the other side of the street from me, I announced, “Jesus is Lord” loud enough for them to hear. Continuing to make my way to my brother Ronald’s church, my ex-wife’s new husband, who also was a pastor at the church, was directly in front of my journey. Without hesitation and as though directed by a burning desire to say Jesus is Lord,
I entered the church where my ex-wife’s husband was addressing his congregation (which also included my very own children who only knew their father as a Muslim.). When I entered, all eyes focused on me. Pastor Ronald, who likewise has the same first name as my brother Pastor Ronald, stopped talking and looked my way. Without hesitation, I proclaimed to them for the first time in my life, “Jesus is Lord!”. Still directed by this burning desire, I turned and walked out the door continuing on to my destination. As I headed down the street, I heard my oldest daughter calling, “Dad, Dad, wait up.”. When she caught up with me, she asked where I was going so I explained to her I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and I was going to her uncle’s church to be baptized; so she accompanied me the rest of the way. After the service, the Bishop performed several baptisms in which one was mine. He announced to the congregation that I had believed in Islam for 28 years and after an eleven-year-old battle to drug addiction, I accepted Jesus as my Savior earlier that morning. The church was elated because many of the members knew I was the brother of one of the pastors. After Bishop McKinney performed the baptism as was his practice, he put the microphone to the person baptized and asked if they had anything to say. To me he did the same when he asked me if I had anything to say. Still under this burning desire, the famous saying of a beloved Christian flooded out. I proclaimed emphatically, “FREE at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I am Free at last!”. The day I accepted Jesus was April 22nd, the year 2000, which was resurrection Sunday that year. John 8:36.
I attend regularly Sunday morning Christian Protestant Services conducted by Claudia and Dr. Timothy Emerick. Please share my testimony with other how I went from Mohammed to Jesus Christ!