Irony...
I first started working at Sears when I was going into my senior year of high school in the summer of '99. I was in the mens department and I had a pretty fun group of guys who worked with me: Jeff, Matt and Ryan. Jeff was a crazy guy who dreamed of one day becoming a Marine and though I was not really a practicing Muslim, I still had a pretty strong sense of reality and I used to warn him of joining the military of this most corrupt country.But ive never been a good caller to Islam.
I dont know what it is but ive never successfully brought someone into Islam as hard as ive tried, but truely Allah swt is al Haady and He alone guides to the truth. But though I didnt have the hottest dawah skills, I still used to make clear right from wrong and express my disapproval for things like drugs and such, and I think this used to be my only success in dawah: Making clear a difference between Muslims and Non Muslims in terms of habits, norms, acceptable behavior, etc.
So a couple years back Jeff and I reunite, he comes and searches me out at work, and I find out that he had gone over and fought in Afghanistan. He comes and tells me sad stories of what kind of stuff he had scene and how he was told that when he did return as a civilian that he not tell us of what type of stuff they took part in, but he did anyway. He had no choice but to affirm what I had warned him about earlier, recognizing that it wasnt the brightest idea to join the Marines. As usual we have some talks about stuff he has done that we as muslims dont do, so as he would tell me about his escapades I would nod yet my facial expression would tell him clearly how I really wasnt trying to hear what he was talking about. Then again we lost contact.
Last week I get another call from Jeff.
"Ibrahim!"
"Yeah?"
"This is Jeff from Sears!"
"Wassup Jeff!"
"Dude im chillin..I need you to do me a favor"
"Wassup?"
"I need you to get me a Quran"
"Sure bro, no doubt"
I had my doubts as to exactly why he wanted a mushaf, yet I did my best to get one.
By the will of Allah swt I could not get my hands on a translation Quran in time so I instead got Surah Shu'ara on cd with the translation (a beautiful dawah tool made by my boy Kareem at www.qurannow.com) and I got some Why Islam packets together so that when I met him id give him the whole package.
So I went to his job this past Friday and we talked.
"So Jeff..whats up?"
"Im kind of on a search for my Lord dude"
"Yeah? Exactly what is it that you are looking for?"
"Hapiness. Ive done everyone ive wanted to in my life and I just dont feel happy. Im not content. I want to have a relationship with my Lord, and I knew I should call you."
"You know what Jeff, everyone ive met who has converted to Islam, as different as everyone's story is, they have one thing in common: That the were seeking their Lord, and the thing that seperates Islam from other religions is the fact that Islam establishes a direct connection between you and your Lord without having to go through anything else."
"Yeah man, I just wanna know exactly what it is that the Lord wants from me"
Subhan Allah! This amazing statement affirmed to me that insha Allah this guy is sincere in his search for Allah swt because hes not just looking for some easy way to hapiness, he wants to put in work and find out exactly what it is that ALlah swt wants from him!
"You know Jeff, there is a precise necessity in everything of our being. We need water to survuve, we cant just say we're only gonna drink soda and never drink water and then somehow stay alive. It is precisely water that allows us to live. Just like it is oxygen precisely that we must breath in order to live, the same way there is only one true way to God."
"Yeah, its like i go to church and I ask questions and I dont feel like I get the answer im looking for. I went to a gas station the other day and this Pakistani man starts talking to me about Islam. He says that he is content with what he has, and hes just an oil changer. I want to be content like that!"
" You know Jeff, when you get to the status of having a special relationship with your Lord then you know that everything that happens to you is going to be good for you in one of two ways. 1) there is an immediate good that is gonna happen or 2) there is something good that will come later. So you know that everything that does happen is always gonna be good."
So then we started talking about other stuff and questions he had about just life, and I gave em the cd and pamphlets, giving him one last piece of advice.
"No one prays to God saying 'oh God make me a Christian, or oh God make me a Muslim' what you need to do is stay sincere and say 'Oh God guide me to that which is true, and guide me to you' and you should be fine."
He took the stuff and I told em to call me if he has any questions on the material, but ima call him tomorrow iA and follow up with em to see how hes doing.
Ya Allah! Ya arhamar rahimeen! Ya Haady ya Allah! if Jeff is sincere in seeking the truth then facilitate his search! Make easy for him his path, and if he deserves guidance then guide him by my hands! Ameen Ameen Ameen wa akhiru da'waana anil hamdulillahir rabbil 'alameen...
posted by Iboo LaL @ 11:28 PM
Comments: 8
