My Un-Da'wah Story: Part 3

Bism Illah wa as salaamu alaykum.

Sometime in the early part of 2007, my father told me that he had been reading one of the books I left there and he had a great feeling of peace. He was living alone and had a lot of time on his hands, so it seems that it was a time for him to reflect. I asked what book it was, and he told me, "Lasting Prayers." I used to keep a Quran, an easy hadith book, and a few other books that were easy reading there so I would have something to read and refer to whenever I visited. I always thought that if they were interested, they might pick one up to read, but forgot about them for the most part.

For the next couple of phone calls, my father kept talking about the Lasting Prayers book, which is very beautifully made and has chapters that tell the prayers of each of the prophets (alayhum as salaam). He could see what Ibrahim (as) prayed with the direct quote from the Quran and explanation, as well as many other prophets (as). He mentioned that he was planning to visit the Islamic Foundation to see if they had some other book that he could read next. We took the initiative and put together a package of a couple of books by the same authors that I thought he would like, one an explanation of Surah Al Fatiha and the other on Surah Ikhlaas. I think we included another simple basic Islam book too and sent him a copy of the Lives of the Prophets series, which we knew he had enjoyed hearing parts of during his visit. We sent them all off and I called after a week or so to see if he had received them. When I called to check he told me that he had just been to the Islamic Foundation and they gave him a big pile of material to read the day before he received our package. He didn't know where to start! I told him to simply have a look and see what interested him and just go from there.

He returned to the Islamic Center again, to pick up a different translation of the Quran and have a little tour. He said that they told him he needed to learn to pray and gave him some paper to complete in the event he chose to embrace Islam. Finally, my husband had a chat with him and asked him what he believed. He stated that he was pleased with what he was learning and with Islam. I was about to faint!

Well, as we were off on Thanksgiving day, we gave my father a call to see how he was. He told me he'd just gotten back from the Islamic Foundation and did the ceremony. I asked what he was talking about, and after a bit of real confusion on my part I realised that he had said his shahadah! He said there was a group that gathered in the prayer hall and they all hugged him and he received all manner of welcome gifts and support. Al hamdu l'Illah! My father had embraced Islam, just a month before he turned 69 years old wa subhaan Allah wa bi hamdihi! The person I thought would be too resistant to change to ever accept Islam, even if he thought it was right, had changed. Allah (subhaana wa taala) had shown me the reality of, "Kun fa ya kun!" (Be and it is!)

Well, I'm crying now. It's been over three years since Daddy reverted and I'm still overwhelmed by it. We went to visit him over the summer and it was the first time to see him since he'd accepted Islam. To see my 72-year-old father pray was indescribable. Allah, yet again, has shown me His All-Encompassing Power. Anything is possible when Allah Wills it. We can never know His Plan or who He will gift with the faith of Islam next.