It was as if 'The Scales had lifted from my Eyes'
Saudi Gazette
Now, as a Muslim, I cannot understand the attractions of pubs, discos,
nightclubs, expensive holidays and so on. If you are amongst a community of
believers you derive your pleasure from sitting with them, discussing the
wonders of our creator, or by enjoying with your family and doing things
together, living in a closely knit environment of mutual love and respect.
Non-Muslim households miss these benefits with everyone in the family looking
for their own personal enjoyment. - Sufyan Gent
SUFYAN Gent was born Maurice Alexander Gent; incidentally, the name “comes from
the word Moorish and the moors”, who were Arab Muslims. Prior to embracing
Islam, he tried various Christian sects but nothing ever seemed quite right.
Whilst working as a civil servant in London, he met a Muslim lady who later
became his wife. She had been brought up as a Muslim, but was sadly not
practicing her religion. Nevertheless, she had enough faith to insist that her
future husband embraced Islam before marrying him. After living several years as
a notional Muslim, not having the slightest idea about praying, fasting or
Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), he attended a Muslim study circle with an idea of
getting an academic knowledge of Islam to impart to his son. On listening to the
obvious, plain and simple truth of Islamic teachings he became fascinated with
the religion. He started to practice and from there took the religion to his
wife. Their life was transformed from weak belief to a life dedicated to
worshipping God alone.
Sufyan has organized several weekend conferences and Islamic exhibitions and is
currently involved with the Islamic Society of Britain.
“Before I became aware of Islam I had a strong belief in God, but I could not
find an exact expression of that belief in any of the churches I attended. There
always seemed to me to be a hypocrisy about church-goers, a sanctimonious
‘holier than thou’ attitude which contradicted the kind loving nature that I saw
in Jesus. I could never understand why you needed to go through Jesus or a
priest or vicar to get to God. It seemed like taking
insurance through a broker; providing work for someone but not getting anything
extra in return.
I tried to live as I felt a Christian should live; caring for my family, working
hard, trying to be honest, and not interfering with others. Then, in 1977, I met
my future wife who was a student in London, where I lived at
that time.
She explained to me the Islamic belief that there is none worthy of worship but
Allah and that all old and new testament Prophets were simply telling the same
simple truth, that there was only one God and that mankind was born to worship
Him. She explained that there was no difference between working and praying, as
everything was an act of worship to be carried out according to God’s will.
Consequently, I gladly accepted Islam in 1977 and we were married. However, my
lifestyle did not change, I just went on living as I had before the Shahadah,
and this state of affairs continued until 1987. It was then that I started
reading about Islam with a view to trying to teach my son about his religion
before he started school. He was about three years old at the time.
When I began to read I realised how I had not been fulfilling my obligations to
my creator. I thought that by declaring “There is none worthy of worship but
Allah” I had done enough. Very soon I started to realize that I had to pray,
fast, pay Zakat, go on pilgrimage when I could afford it, and become part of the
Muslim community.
So, Alhamdulillah, (“thanks to God”), I started to do these things. It was, as
stated in the holy Qur’an, as if the “Scales were lifted from my eyes.” Now, I
long for the time for prayer, I love the month of Ramadhan, I gladly
pay Zakat, and I completed my Haj in 1992, all thanks to God.
It is difficult not to get bloated with your own importance as a new Muslim. You
get used to being given special treatment by your Muslim brothers, and this is
something we should try and avoid, as there is no difference between the
believers. The devil will try to exploit human weakness and make you think you
are special, and so we must pray to avoid this trap.
I look froward to the time when the Muslim take the message of Islam to the
non-Muslims here. We must lead by example, as we are the best of nations so we
must behave as such.
Through honesty, truthfulness, polite behaviour and caring for all mankind is
how Islam spread in the beginning. We must get out of a getto mentality and we
must also avoid the other extreme of becoming so anglicized that we lose Islam
altogether.
Islamic teachings show us that everything is in balance; we must make our
presence felt by helping to provide a moral lead to society, but at the same
time keep an Islamic identity as opposed to a nationalistic one.
Now, as a Muslim, I cannot understand the attractions of pubs, discos,
nightclubs, expensive holidays and so on. If you are amongst a community of
believers you derive your pleasure from sitting with them, discussing the
wonders of our creator, or by enjoying with your family and doing things
together, living in a closely knit environment of mutual love and respect.
Non-Muslim households miss these benefits with everyone in the family
looking for their own personal enjoyment