Part 1 : A Girl On A Mission

"I am so very glad that I am a Muslim. Islam is my life. Islam is the beat of my heart. Islam is the blood that courses through my veins. Islam is my strength. Islam is my life so wonderful and beautiful. Without Islam I am nothing, and should Allah ever turn His magnificent face from me, I could not survive."

It all started with a computer glitch.

She was a Southern Baptist girl, a radical feminist, and a broadcast journalist. She was a girl with an unusual caliber, who excelled in school, received scholarships, ran her own business, and were competing with professionals and getting awards – all these while she was going to college. Then one day a computer error happened that made her take up a mission as a devout Christian. Eventually, however, it resulted into something opposite and changed her life completely around.

It was 1975 when for the first time computer was used to pre-register for a class in her college. She was working on her degree on Recreation. She pre-registered for a class and then went to Oklahoma City to take care of a business. Her return was delayed and she came back to college two weeks into the class. Making up the missed work was no problem for her, but she was surprised to find that the computer mistakenly registered her for a Theatre class, a class where students would be required to perform in front of others.

She was a very reticent girl and she was horrified to think about performing in front of others. She could not drop the class for it was too late to do so. Failing the class was also not a choice, for she was receiving a scholarship that was paying for her tuition and receiving an ‘F’ would have jeopardized it.

Advised by her husband, she went to her teacher to work out some other alternative to performing, such as preparing costumes, etc. Assured by the teacher that he would try to help her, she went to the next class and was shocked by what she saw. The class was full of Arabs and “camel jockeys”. That was enough for her. She came back home and decided not to go back to the class anymore. It was not possible for her to be in the middle of Arabs.“There was no way I was going to sit in a room full of dirty heathens!”

Her husband was calm as usual. He pointed out to her that God has a reason for everything and that she should think about more before quitting. Besides, there was the scholarship that was paying her tuition. She went behind locked doors for 2 days to think about. When she came out, she decided to continue the class. She felt that God gave her a task to convert the Arabs into Christianity.

Thus she found herself with a mission to accomplish. Throughout the class, she would be discussing Christianity with her Arab classmates. “I proceeded to explain to them how they would burn in the fires of hell for all eternity, if they did not accept Jesus as their personal savior. They were very polite, but did not convert. Then, I explained how Jesus loved them and had died on the cross to save them from their sins. All they had to do was accept him into their hearts.” They still did not convert, and so she decided to do something else: “I decided to read their own book to show to them that Islam was a false religion and Mohammed was a false God”.

At her request, one student gave her a copy of the Qur’an and another book on Islam. With these two books she started on her research, which she was to continue for the next one and half years. She read the Qur’an fully and another fifteen books on Islam. Then she came back to the Qur’an and re-read it. During her research, she started taking notes that she found objectionable and which she would be able to use to prove that Islam was a false religion.

Unconsciously, however, she was changing from within which did not escape the attention of her husband. “I was changing, just in little ways but enough to bother him. We used to go to the bar every Friday and Saturday, or to a party, and I no longer wanted to go. I was quieter and more distant.” She stopped drinking and eating pork. Her husband suspected her of having an affair with another man, for “it was only for a man that a woman changes”. Ultimately, she was asked to leave, and she soon found herself living in a separate apartment.

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Ini adalah salah satu petikan daripada satu kisah yang telah aku baca selama ini dan kisah beliau amat menyentuh hati aku. Setiap cerita yang diceritakan tadi ada membawa sesuatu yang tersirat yang ingin aku kongsi bersama.

Inilah dia sebuah kisah tentang seorang gadis kristian yang sudah berumahtangga tapi masih lagi melanjutkan pelajarannya dengan mendapat bantuan biasiswa. Bermulanya kisah beliau di zaman dimana computer bermula digunakan untuk pendaftaran. Dan akibat pendaftaran secara online ini masih baru, maka kesilapan teknikal pasti berlaku dan ia berlaku kepada beliau. beliau terpaksa mengikut kelas theater kerana sudah terlamba bagi dia untuk batalkan dan beliau tidak boleh gagal dan ponteng kelas kerana beliau telah berbiasiswa.

Selepas mendapat nasihat suaminya, dia tetap teruskan kelas tersebut. Tetapi apa yang lebih mengejutkan beliau adalah kelas tersebut dipenuhi dengan bangsa arab. ini telah menyebabkan beliau tidak mahu ke kelas lagi daripada duduk bersama golongan arab yang dianggap "camel jockeys".

Dan sesungguhnya suami beliau seorang yang amat tenang lalu menerangkan yang semua yang berlaku pasti ada sebabnya. selama 2 hari mengurungkan diri dan akhirnya beliau memutuskan untuk teruskan kelas itu dengan azam baru "mengkristiankan golongan arab itu".

Dan bermulalah misinya. Dia menceritakan balasan bagi golongan ingkaryang akan dibakar dalam api neraka dan kasih sayang Jesus kepada umatnya. Usaha beliau sia-sia kerana mereka masih berpegang kepada agama Islam. Lalu dia mengambil keputusan untuk melakukan kajian terhadap Al-Quran dan buku² agama islam bagi membuktikan Islam itu agama yang salah.

Salah seorang bangsa arab membenarkan beliau pinjam kitab suci dan satu buku islam. selama setengah tahun beliau mengkaji dan membaca Al Quran dan membaca 15 buah buku berkaitan islam dan beliau mula mengambil nota dimana nota tersebut boleh menyangkalkan islam itu agama yang benar.

Tetapi, walaubagaimanapun, beliau mulai berubah sikap dan suaminya perasan. beliau mula tidak minum arak dan makan daging babi. Suami beliau menyangkakan isterinya telah mempunyai lelaki lain kerana "hanya lelaki sahaja yang mampu mengubah hati wanita". Lalu dia disuruh keluar dan tiak lagi hidup bersama suaminya.

Bersuaian dengan tajuk, kisah ini mengisahkan seorang gadis beragama kristian yang telah mendapat hidayah daripada Allah. Pada mulanya belaiu angkap dia diberi misi oleh "tuhan"nya untuk menkristiankan bangsa arab islam tetapi hakikatnya ini adalah hadiah Allah kepada beliau untuk mengenali jalan yang benar.

Sesungguhnya Allah itu maha pemberi hidayah kepada sesiapa sahaja yang Dia kehendaki.

Kita seharusnya mempunyai iman yang kuat kerana suatu hari nanti kita pasti akan diuji oleh Allah seperti mana Allah menguji bangsa Arab tadi. Bangsa arab itu telah bertemu dengan beliau yang masih lagi kristian menceritakan kebaikan dan kemanisan agama kristian.

Malahan kita juga perlu mencontohi bangsa arab tersebut di mana bangsa arab itu bersikap sopan dan baik walaupun beliau telah bertungkus-lumus untuk memurtadkan orang. (Kita seharusnya cuba untuk menghormati usaha golongan kafir yang cuba mengkafirkan kita walaupun kita tahu dia salah kerana dia adalah golongan yang tidak mengetahui dan memerlukan bimbingan. kita harus juga sedar bahawa kita adalah seorang khalifah dimana telah ditugaskan untuk membimbing golongan kafir ke jalan yang benar. Kalau kita hormat usaha dia, maka dia pasti hormat usaha kita.)

Ini adalah nilai² murni yang perlu ada dalam diri kita kerana sikap mahmudah juga adalah satu cara untuk menarik orang kafir kejalan Allah. Ia merupakan salah satu jihad.

Dalam kisah ini telah menceritakan mukjizat Al Quran. Selama beliau mengkaji Al Quran unutk mencari bukti untuk menunjukkan islam agama yang salah, sikapnya mulai berubah, beliau tidak lagi mengamalkan perbuatan jahiliyah. Walaupun niatnya untuk membuktikan Islam itu agama yang salah dengan menggunakan Al Quran, tetapi dengan kuasa Allah, air yang keruh boleh menjadi jernih.

Dan setiap yang berlaku pasti ada dugaan yang Allah turunkan untuk uji hambanya. Sejak perubahan sikap beliau, suami beliau menuduh beliau ada hubungan dengan lelaki lain sehingga dihalau oleh suami beliau sendiri. Dan kisah beliau tidak tamat disitu sahaja...

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