Take one step towards Allaah, and He would take two towards you 26 year old Chris Abdur-Rahman Blauvelt, now a manager of a film-production company, decided to embrace Islam at a very young age. 8 years after accepting Islam and adopting the Muslim nickname Abdul-rahman, Chris discovered that his Muslim name was coincidentally the name of the Mosque next to the hospital he was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and whose Adhan his mother recalls hearing while in the hospital. As a child, Chris says his family was not very religious and that their visits to the church were very infrequent: “God only existed on Sundays, during Christmas, and Easter in my family, and not outside the church.” At the age of 11, Chris started thinking about God and whether He existed: “This question, I felt, was pushed on me by a clash between science and religion.” He says that rationality and religion in America have historically been opposing one another; a tradition which goes back to the Christian church in Europe. Being in favor of science and logic, Chris chose not to belief in God as he saw how the catholic church was in strife with scientific advancement. “I compared what I saw in the Bible and what I knew of the Trinity, and the other Christian beliefs compared to science, evolution, and evidence.Chris explains that is first exposure to Islam was in high school, when his friend, Michael Dan, who happens to be his neighbor, became a Muslim. Michael was apparently on the wrong path in his life. As he became 15, he was acquainted with Islam and decided to convert. Consequently, his life changed to the better and he picked up a lot of good habits. Michael explained to his friend, Chris, what is Islam. To his surprise, Chris found that Islam holds the same morals as Judaism and Christianity, and that it made more sense to have one God, and that messengers who were sent by God did not posses divinity but were rather humans likes us. Chris explains: “I did not really want to become a Muslim at that time, but it made sense to me logically.” Chris wanted to become a Muslim upon reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X, in which he explored how Islam presented solutions to racism and bigotry in America. He was amazed by the image Malcolm X provided of Islam, since it is a religion of peace and love. The young boy was deeply touched by a particular passage from the book that says: “If you take one step towards Allaah, He would take two towards you.” He decided to take that step so he stopped eating pork and some other issues prohibited in Islam “with the intention that God guide me.” Being the logical thinker that he were, Chris was astounded to find that the more he asked questions about Islam, the more answers he found, and they were always logical. Even when it came to miracles mentioned in the Quran, they were logical and scientific. Chris came to Jordan on a scholarship to study Arabic on a program called the Critical Language Scholarship in which they would spent two months in an Arabic country to study the language. Jalal, Chris’ roommate, explains that Chris’ conversion to Islam was, in his opinion, special, since it was based on knowledge and logic rather than sentimentality. Jalal says: “Chris is not a convert who does not know anything about Islam; he is one who is serious about studying Arabic and recites Quran on regular bases.” Chris recites Quran articulately and is very meticulous in pronouncing the words. His friends always see him reciting Quran before class and during his free time. Jalal describes his friend as “very open to dialogue and engaging in conversations when it comes to students who ask questions about Islam since it is a very interesting topic to American students.” Chris says that Islam is the most beautiful thing in his life and the source of all goodness. “It is a message that every soul finds tranquility with, a sense of purpose, and true happiness. I encourage everyone to take a step towards God and they will find God takes two steps towards them. Islam is a light from Allaah and anyway you look into the light, it turns out to be true. So if you ask questions and prefer to look at from a scientific, spiritual, or a social view, you will find that this is message you have always been looking for. youtu.be/tsPZg2jI-54
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 09:50:17 +0000
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