Why Did They Become Muslims

moment for me. When the performance of the namâz and the
khutba was over, Abd-ul-Hayy held me by the hand and took me
to the Minbar. As we were edging our way towards the Minbar, I
was extremely careful lest I should disturb the worshippers
squatting on the floor. At last, I reached the Minbar and began to
climb the stairs. No sooner had I taken the first step than I saw
myriad faces under white turbans like in a field of daisies turn
towards me. The scholars surrounding the Minbar were
encouraging me with heartening looks. This look of theirs gave me
the strength that I needed. I looked around. A tremendous sea of
people lay before me. With their heads raised, they awaited my
speech. I began to talk slowly in Arabic, “O you the highly
respectable people who have assembled here! I have come here
from a very distant country in order to learn what I could not learn
there. I have attained my goal here, and my soul enjoys full peace
now.” Then I went on, explaining the high position Islam occupied
in history and the various miracles which Allâhu ta’âlâ had created
through the hands of His great Prophet Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm’,
and adding that the recent decline of power observed in
Muslim states was consequent upon the general laxity that
Muslims had been showing in their religious obligations. I
continued my speech by stating that some Muslims had been
putting forth the pretext that an individual’s efforts would have no
effect on events because everything depended on the Will of
Allâhu ta’âlâ and therefore it would be futile to work, and that, on
the contrary, Allâhu ta’âlâ declared in the Qur’ân al-kerîm,
“Nothing shall be corrected unless men correct themselves, and
nothing shall be accomplished unless they exert themselves,” and
that He had promised to help anyone who worked. I quoted âyati
kerîmas from the Qur’ân al-kerîm commanding that people
should avoid helpless situations by working hard, and I explained
them one by one. Finally, conducting a general prayer, I
dismounted from the Minbar.
As I left the Minbar, an extremely loud expression,
“ALLÂHU EKBER” [1] , articulated in chorus, thundered in the
mosque. My intense excitement had built to such a climax that I
could not see my whereabouts. All I could sense was that my
friend, Aslan, was holding my arm and trying to pull me out of the
mosque as soon as possible. “Why are we in such a hurry,” I
wanted to know. “Look round,” was the warning reply. I turned
[1] Allah is the greatest.
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