David Roy Woelke, a Canadian English language instructor at King Abdulaziz University, reverted to Islam at the World Assembly of Muslim Youth’s (WAMY) headquarters in Riyadh on Mar 28. Abdul Elah Al-Ajlan, deputy director of Dawa programmes at WAMY, assisted Woelke to recite the Shahadah (LailahaIllallah Muhammad Rasulullah “there is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God”) during a brief ceremony at the organisation.
Woelke, whose new name is Dawood, said he embraced Islam after he was fully convinced that it is the true divine religion. He conducted a comparative study of Islam and his former religion Christianity and noticed a lot of differences. “When I came to Saudi Arabia I realised how wrongly the Western media portrays Islam as a religion of violence and terrorism. In fact, it’s a religion of peace and universal brotherhood,” he said.
Woelke said it was this biased portrayal of Islam that prompted him to learn more about this religion and read the Holy Qur’ān. “When I came to know that Islam is the true religion I decided to cut my relation with Christianity.” The Canadian said he saw a totally different picture of Islam and Muslims in Saudi Arabia, adding that it was quite opposite of what has been projected in the Western press.