We had an opportunity to hear the world famous Islamic preacher,Shaikh Yusuf Estes Salam give a talk on Islam and its relationship with other religions a few days back.It really was an evening to remember... for many reasons.
For one, it was held within the precincts of the Grand Mosque, truly the most magnificient structure in all of Oman.Two, Shaikh Yusuf Estes, himself was a Christan preacher, who chose to convert to Islam many, many years back.
Then, it was the sheer numbers of people present there.
Even though there were no estimates, I'd put the people that evening at about a thousand...all silent, then reactive and then interactive, all as the moment demanded.
Most memorable of all will remain the fact that I saw my first real life conversion to Islam take place in front of me. It was that of Marcos, (pictured above with Shikh Yusuf Estes), who has chosen to follow Islam as his new way of life and living.He smiled, he laughed and he also cried..
Almost twenty years of living in the Gulf and I finally understood what it really was-
It is only when there is a call from within, then and only then, does someone feel the need/desire to convert from one religion to another
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