Why Did They Become Muslims

have belief in Allâhu ta’âlâ, the very being who is worthy of being
worshipped, and to attach oneself to Him. And attaching oneself
to Him, in its turn, requires adapting oneself to the norms
described by His great Prophet, Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. Now,
whenever I remember that modest boatman, who showed me
Islam’s lightsome way and the true forms of worship and guided
me to my Allah, though in the beginning I had thought he was a
mere simpleton, I feel deep respect for him. I am trying to lead a
life of a true Muslim, like him. And I see that doing so protects a
person from harmful things.
Now, among Muslims, I am, alhamdu-li-l-llah’ (thanks and
praise be to Allah), another Muslim. And after performing each
prayer, I never forget to invoke a blessing on my Murshid, Shaikh
Alî Efendi the boatman, to recite the Fâtiha Sûra and send the
blessings to his already blessed soul, for by now he might have
attained the eternal compassion of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
25
HUSEYN ROFE
(G.B.)
When a person decides to abandon a religion that has been
infused into him since his childhood and choose another religion,
there should be some reasons, which are either emotional or
philosophical or social. The zealous aspirations I had been feeling
were impelling me towards a belief that would satisfy at least two
of the above-mentioned needs. Consequently, as soon as the
educational period of my life was over, I embarked on a
comparative study of all the world’s existing religions with a view
to determining the one that deserved a true belief in it.
Both of my parents were devotedly religious, one of them a
Catholic and the other a Jew formerly. Later, they both
abandoned their religions and became Protestants and began to
attend the Anglican Church. When I was in school I regularly
attended the rites performed in the Anglican Church and listened
to the lessons given by the priests. Yet the Christian credal tenets
that they were trying to teach me contained a number of elements
that I did not understand and which seemed quite irrational to
me. First of all, the tripartite godhead which consisted of Father,
Son and the Holy Ghost sounded so silly to me that it was
impossible to accept it. My conscience rejected it vehemently.
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