A revert story from Finland

I am a Finnish boy, born to a Christian family living in a Christian country in a Christian city in which there were no Muslims, or Mosques 5 years ago. When I was young, my mother used to take me a lot to the church services and attended a Christian kindergarten school. I grew up with a fear of God in my heart since I was young. When I was 15, I went to a confession camp for two weeks. It is a tradition in our church after which a young person will earn the right to get married in the church.

What I used to know about Islam was mainly what they taught us in school and what I heard on TV. I used to believe that Islam is a religion of terrorism where the rights of women are neglected. After September 11 I wanted to know more about Islam. I felt that it was crazy that someone would want to kill himself in an aeroplane to bring down a massive building. I wanted to know what drove this man to do such a thing.

There were no Mosques near my city, nor any Muslims, I could talk to. So I went to the internet and found a Muslim originally from Jordan and started asking him about Islam. I also used to read articles about Islam. Finally I found my answers. I learned that in Islam women don’t cover their legs and hair because of oppression from men, but for respect and chastity.

I also learned what Prophet Muhammad said before going to battle -"Don’t harm trees or animals, don’t kill any women, or children, or seniors who are not fighting". I also learned about the situation in Palestine. And of course I learned about the moral values in Islam which affected me deeply.

One night when I was reading articles about the mercy of Allah all alone in my room, something amazing happened. I suddenly became very happy. My heart started beating very fast and it was as if my heart was pumping love all over my body. I started to cry. I became from that moment happier than I had ever been before. But later on I started thinking that maybe this wasn't really from God. I was taught since I was a small child that there is God, who is One in Three and Three in One. Now I found people, who were teaching something else. They were teaching that there is One God and no other God, but Him. I started praying every night before sleeping

That God will guide me to the truth. I started having dreams about God and dreams about heaven. I was now convinced and decided to recite my confession of faith.

But I still didn’t know how to pray, or to practice Islam. Eventually I stopped eating pig meat and later on told to my family that I had become a Muslim. But still at that time I knew nothing about the prayers. Sometimes I would pray all five prayers in a row at 11 o'clock at night.

By the time Iraq was invaded, I have learnt how to pray properly. I have also started to know in my heart the reason why Muslims are suffering all over the world is because our Eemaan is weak. So I bought a plane ticket, took all my money and left school and go to Jordan to learn more about Islam and how to speak Arabic. I went to live with my Jordanian Muslim friend who I met on the internet. We live in Al-Bayaader, Amman. On my very first day there, I met another Muslim brother, who became a true friend.

One night after Isha prayers he came to me and said that he is going to a Mosque. They will eat and sleep there and listen to lectures and he asked me if I wanted to come with him. I thought that maybe this was some Muslim custom and that maybe it was rude to say no, so I went with him. I heard some amazing speeches. When I was a Christian, I had always been taught that God was imperfect and that He needed 6 days to create this world. But they told me that ALLAH is perfect and that He does not rest.

I started to feel more at home with these people. Soon I threw away my jeans and shaved off my marine cut. I started wearing clothes according to the Sunnah of our Noble Prophet. I also started growing my beard. We went to different Mosques encouraging people for prayer and good deeds. That was so difficult for me. I used to cry those days so much. I cried to ALLAH, asking Him to open the heart of my mother, father and my little brothers to Islam.

Then one day I went to the gate of a church and started making Dua. I asked God to make these gates to hell become gates to heaven. I asked God to give these people guidance. The Christians saw me and they called the police, but a brother from our group saved me from their hands. The next day we went to another Mosque and two Japanese tourists came to us and said they wanted to embrace Islam. We taught them how to make Dua and they recited the declaration of faith and prayed two rakaat with us.

One night I had a dream where I heard a voice saying in the darkness that Jesus, Moses and Muhammed are only prophets. After that I heard the voice saying: "You will go to paradise." Then I woke up.

Later on I went to consult with the elders of one huge Mosque, asking where I should go and learn Arabic. They advised me to go to Pakistan. I have been in Pakistan for only 1 and a half years and have already learnt Arabic. During this time my grandmother and father told me that they were ready to embrace Islam. When I return to Finland, I am planning to teach them the confession of faith and how to pray. And I am also planning to tell rest of my family and relatives about Islam. I especially hope to make lots of efforts to bring my mother to Islam. I ask anyone, who read this story to make Dua for my entire family so that ALLAH will guide them to embrace Islam.