FROM CHRISTIANITY TO ISLAM - a chat with Amr

team HAQ: What was going on before islam? With what were you occupied?

Amr: I was interested in history. I didn't do something special, but I loved cycling.

Were you a religious person?

It appears to me now that I always believed in God, but I didn't go to church. They told me that Jesus was poor and there were a lot of unlogical facts.

How did you meet islam?

I visited Egypt and there I met islam. The thing that attracted me most about islam was the gratefulness to Allah – 5 praying times. This is the only religion that teaches  that you have to thank God by falling with the forehead on the floor. That does not exist in any other religion. Also this that you have to say thank you God for every glass of water. Then when I accepted islam, I saw that in islam all things are logical and that the religion itself brings you peace.

Where did you accepted islam? Who heard your shahadah?

I think that two brothers heard me say the shahadah in Ljubljana.

How did you meet them?

I just went to the mosque. I told myself: »I have to go!«

You didn't know anything like a surah or something else, did you?

I heard the Qur'an in Egypt, but the athan I heard many times.

And what you just went to them?

You know…I was feeling quite lonely. Before islam I didn't have many friends and everyone talked to me very nicely. They had great manners. In Slovenia I felf that everyone is dead.

Did you have any problems with pronouncing the surah?

I learned the arabic alphabet and then a brother, who knows very good arabic, taught me and so I didn't have any problems.

Why did you decide to go to Medina?

Because I wanted to know my religion better.

Anything else?

You can go to hajj.

So you are a hajji?

Yes!

Were you studying anything, when you decided to go to Medina?

Yes, I studied. I was attending a faculty, but I left the whole thing because I wanted to go to Medina.

What about your friends? How did they accept your new faith?

They accepted it very positively. There were no problems with them, but only one friend wasn't satisfied with my decision. They were surprised that I chose islam, but they all knew that I loved history – and that I was very interested in islam.

What about your family?

From the start there were some problems, but then they saw that what I was doing, was good.

What do you think would be the best way for the Slovenians to get to know islam better?

For me it was easy, because I read a lot of Croatian literature and their comics. It is necessary to know bosnian language. As regards the masjeeds…I have to be honest on this one…the best mosque in Slovenia is in Vrhnika. They follow that what Muhammed s.a.w.s. brought. Also Muhammed a.s. before the khutbah once said: The best way is the way of Muhammed a.s.

What can you say on the slovenian translation of the Qur'an?

I didn't read it, because I think that a muslim should translate it!

What are your goals in the future?

The first thing is Jannah (Paradise)! As regards to the Dunja: I want to get married.

What about the da'wa?

That is an obligation for every muslim. I hardly say what, but I hope that I would do my work!

24.8.2007

team HAQ