“I grew up in a fanatical Muslim household in Lahore, Pakistan. My father was the mosque leader, and he trained me to be a Muslim leader.

But in 1997 I met a Christian family for the first time. They welcomed me into their home. They offered me tea. Their love influenced me.

The second time I visited them they invited me to their Christian church. My mind got frightened, and I said no. What if I got drunk in the service like the other Christians? My father had said Christians were a cursed people. Allah would punish me.

But their love was so strong. They said, “Please come.”

Siddique

Crazy Christians and Jesus’ blood

The next weekend, I went with that family to church, wearing my Islamic cap and clothes. I sat on the end pew. I saw people clapping and singing. My head was spinning, and I started to feel a headache. My father was right! They were doing bad things in church.

But I went back the next Sunday. During that week our eldest daughter had become very unwell, with a high fever, joint pains, and vomiting. The hospitals couldn’t help her. Every day, she was becoming thinner and weaker. On that Sunday I went back to church again secretly.

At one point in the service, they were singing about the blood of Jesus: it can heal us. The words were beyond my understanding. How could the blood of Jesus heal us? My father was right. They must be crazy people.

In the middle of the song, I thought I would challenge Jesus. I said, “Jesus, you are not there. I cannot see your blood. But if your blood has power – if your blood can heal people – please heal my daughter before I get home. If you heal her, I will think about you and your blood.”

I still knew the Bible was corrupted, and Christians were cursed, but maybe there was a little bit of good in Jesus.

Church finished, and I went home. The first thing I saw was my daughter sleeping quietly on her bed. Her face looked fresh and peaceful. I put my hand on her forehead, and it was cool. Her hands were also normal temperature.

I asked my wife, and she said that while I was out, at about 10.30am that morning, our daughter suddenly stopped crying and went to sleep. It was the same time I prayed to Jesus and challenged him about the blood. My eyes began to fill with tears. I decided that perhaps there was a little bit of good in Jesus. I still knew the Bible was corrupted, and Christians were cursed, but maybe there was a little bit of good in Jesus.

Seeing his glory

After a few days, I got out the Bible from the newspaper in my bag and I started reading it again. This time, my wife saw me. She said, “Why are you reading this?”

I said, “I am just trying to find contradictions.” It was not the truth of course. I wanted to read more and more about Jesus. Over the next few days and months, I read the Bible and the Quran together, trying to compare them. I was reading and reading, day by day. I even bought extra books from the Christian bookshop in Karachi.

One day I was reading the book of Jeremiah. After some time I felt something happen in my room. It was not visible, but there was a powerful presence in my room – a glorious presence. I leaned back on my chair, and closed my eyes. When I opened them, after a couple of minutes, my room was totally changed. There was a powerful light in the corner of the room, flashing at me. I started to cry. I called out to God, asking him to stop it, otherwise I might die. The light felt overwhelming, and I knew that if it moved towards me, I would die. It was like nothing I had experienced before.

In the Islamic faith, Allah is very far away. You can never have a personal encounter with him. But the Bible says God himself became flesh.

Immediately, I called the Christian family, and they said, “Please come and see us.”

They took me to see the pastor of the church, and he bowed his head and prayed for me. Afterwards he read from Acts 9. He spoke about Saul, who saw the glory of God, and became the Apostle Paul, preaching the gospel of Jesus to the Gentiles.

Michelangelo’s The Conversion of Saul Sailko / Wikimedia Commons

That night I couldn’t sleep. I felt the same glorious presence with me, and it made me feel peace and happiness. I was smiling. It became a turning point in my life. It was the Holy Spirit!

I kept studying the Bible. The Gospel of John inspired me a lot, especially the beginning, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

In the Islamic faith, Allah is very far away. You can never have a personal encounter with him. But the Bible says God himself became flesh. He came to us.

My heart got melted that day, thinking about it. I can talk to God! We can have a personal relationship with God, through Jesus! By July 1998, I was convinced. I was ready to accept Jesus as my personal Saviour.

But I knew that if the news came out I could be killed or sent to jail…”

This is the second part of Siddique’s story. Come back next Wednesday for the third and final part.

Siddique’s story is part of Eternity’s Faith Stories series, compiled by Naomi Reed. Click here for more Faith Stories.