Weather was inclement since morning and I had to stay at home. Someone knocked at the door in the evening. I opened the door to find a friend who had recently reverted to Islam. He seemed to be disturbed and apparently was afraid. Worry was writ large on his face. One could feel by looking at his face that some calamity had struck him. After initial greetings I asked him to sit down and feel comfortable. He was tearful and unable to speak. I consoled him and politely inquired about what had happened. He was silent for a while. He drank some water which I offered him and after having gained some control, he spoke about the worries he had courted.
He was being harassed from different quarters since he had accepted Islam. Outsiders were causing a lot of problems more than his family members. He told me that some influential people of the city and extremist organisations were trying to harass him with the help of police. He was being called to the police station on a daily basis and made to sit there for the whole day. He was being forced in various ways to discard the true religion which he had accepted and revert back to his ancestral religion. He was even threatened by the police personnel that he would be killed if he did not listen to them. They addressed him with foul and filthy names. Though they did not harm him physically, he was subjected to mental torture in various ways. This was going on for many days now and there did not seem to be any way to get rid of this calamity. My friend told me that he was totally devastated by this situation and had come to me so that I could show him some way out.
I was already aware of his situation and the ordeals he was facing from time to time. But this was new to me. The constitution of our country grants liberty with regard to the choice of religion and because of this the opponents and even the police cannot take any legal steps in cases of change of religion. But they can always resort to illegal, unethical and inhuman methods to terrify the persons who accept the religion of truth in order to reverse their decision. Sometimes they try to trap in false cases and create pressure on them. Many people are forced to migrate to other places because of these problems.
Another deplorable aspect is that no voice is raised against such unconstitutional and illegal methods. Non-Muslims would obviously never object to it but even Muslims do not come out openly in such delicate and touchy situations. People of status and influence among Muslims avoid such sensitive issues which may cause any damage to their interest. In such situations a new entrant to Islam finds himself extremely helpless. My friend was in a similar situation. It does not mean that a person who embraces Islam has to spend his entire life in such desperation. If this were true, no one would dare embrace Islam and Islam would have perished soon after its emergence.
I heard his story with utmost attention and felt his pain. For a moment I thought if he was harbouring second thoughts about his decision and had come to inform me of his intention to revert back. I gathered courage and asked him about the status of his faith. He understood what I meant and told emotionally that he was by the grace of Allah steadfast in his faith and would under no circumstances renounce Islam.
I felt relieved to hear this but his problem remained to be solved. I was not in a position to help him except to advise him to migrate to another place since remaining steadfast and saving the faith was of paramount importance. But I knew well that my friend was not in a position to migrate to a new place.
I placed before him a proven advice which had never failed. I told him that he was not willing to relocate to a different place and Muslims of our city were not willing to help him out. At the same time he had to be saved from the situation of suffering and torture he was facing. There was only one way out and that was to pray to the Lord Almighty. (Praying to Allah SWT is essential in all situations along with our struggle, and invoking this mercy and seeking His help in all humility is the only answer.) It was important to keep his spirits high and to save him from his present state of fear and desperation. I consoled him and advised him to pray to Allah. I recounted to him many such situations from the history of Islam when Allah had rescued the people of faith from dreadful and despairing situations. I told him that when Allah had guided him to His deen, he would certainly protect him. Allah is ever with us and ever watchful of our situations. Nothing happens without His knowledge and without His consent. All the calamities will be over in no time if he wishes. I assured him that this is not just a philosophy and a whimsical belief but a fact which has been witnessed by people in the past and even during the present times.
Together we lifted our hands and prayed to Allah the Almighty for his guidance and help. After the prayers I felt that my friend looked relieved and relaxed. Signs of anxiety and despair had vanished to a large extent from his face. After a while he left. I asked him to keep constantly praying to Allah and I hoped that his next day would be more peaceful.
On the third day after my friend’s visit, a police van stopped in front of my house. Two police officers alighted from the van and advanced towards my house. Having noticed them I proceeded to meet them. They greeted me with a loud ‘assalamualaikum’ when they saw me. I returned their greetings and they extended their hands for a hand shake. They expressed their wish to sit with me for some time and chat. Though I was perplexed with their visit, I requested them to sit in my drawing room. They said that they were Muslims and had been transferred to the police station in our area only the day before. They gave their names and designations. One of them was an Inspector and the other was a sub-inspector.
They said that after taking charge they were perusing important files when they came across files and pertaining to us who had embraced Islam, they were very happy and wanted to meet us at their earliest convenience and be of any help to us. They extended their hands again and promised every possible help. They also said that they would stop by my house and have a cup of tea whenever they came that side. During the conversation I came to know that one of them had studied the literature of the Jama’at and was impressed particularly with the works of Ma’elKhairabadi.
I thanked the officers for their kind concern towards us and told them that by the grace of Allah we had crossed all the hurdles. But one of our friends had recently embraced Islam and was facing many problems. He was being harassed in their police station daily. They said that no such incident had taken place since they took charge and they assured me that it would never happen again. They met all the members of our family. We served them with tea and snacks. They maintained cordial relationship as long as they stayed in our city. I provided them the abridged Tafheemul Qur’an and other books on Islam.
When someone suffers from a calamity and is unable to escape from it, prayers are the only solution. Allah verily reaches out to him. When I and my friend prayed to Him in distress, Allah SWT arranged to send two police officers to our rescue. “Verily He is near (us) and listens (to us)” and “Is not the help of Allah close (to you)?” Therefore we should never be heedless of the importance and necessity of prayers and remain close o Him and seek His help.
Remember the occasion of the migration of the Prophet to Madina when Prophet took refuge in the cave of Thaur. The enemies reach the cave and Abu Bakr feels that they were captured and expresses his fears to the Prophet, he says,” Do not grieve, verily Allah is with us.”
Surely when the slave calls upon his Lord and prays to Him, Allah listens to his call and reaches out to him.
(Translated by Mohamed Haneef Katib)