Abdullah DeLancey, Ex-Christian, Canada
- Categories: Da'wah to Non-Muslims -
My name is Abdullah DeLancey. I am Canadian and I am employed as
a Patient Service Worker at the local hospital. I have been married
for almost 20 years and we have 3 wonderful children.
Alhamdulillah, I am now a Muslim. I wasn't always a Muslim, though.
Previously; I was a Protestant Christian for all of my life.
My family brought me up in the Pentecostal Church until I was an
adult at which time I moved to a fundamental Independent Baptist
Church.
As a faithful Christian I was very involved at Church, giving
lectures for the Adult Sunday School and other duties. I was
eventually elected as the Deacon of the Church. I really wanted to
further my dedication to God and decided to pursue a career as a
Minister.
I was awarded a scholarship to help me start taking a degree in
Divinity. My goal was to be a Pastor of a Church or a Missionary.
However, becoming a Minister would commit me and my whole family to
the Church full time for life.
So just before attending Bible College, I thought it best to look
at Christianity critically and ask some very serious questions
about my faith. I questioned the Trinity, why God would need a son,
and why the human sacrifice of Jesus, as stated in the Bible, was
needed to provide me with forgiveness.
I questioned the Christian belief of how all the righteous people
in the Old Testament were "saved" and in heaven if Jesus wasn't
even born yet. I pondered serious questions about Christianity that
I had neglected to ask my whole life.
The answers I received from Christians on these theological issues
"which are the basis of the faith in Christianity," defied all
reason and were absolutely beyond any logical thinking.
Why would God give us a wonderful brain and then expect us to
temporarily stop using it? Because that is what Christianity is
asking people to do when they say you just must have faith. That is
blind faith.
Realizing that I had always accepted Christianity, with blind faith
for my entire life and never had questioned it was perplexing to
me. How could I have not realized this before?
I could not find the answers in the Bible. Once I realized that the
Trinity was a myth and that God is powerful enough to "save"
someone without the need for help from a son or anyone or anything
else. Things changed. My entire faith in Christianity fell apart. I
could no longer believe in Christianity or be a Christian.
I left the Church for good and my wife dutifully left with me, as
she was having trouble accepting Christianity too. This was the
start of my spiritual journey. I was now without a religion but
believed in a God.
This was a very hard time for me and my family as Christianity was
all we had ever known. I had to search for the truth. I began
studying various religions and found them as false one after
another. Until, I heard about Islam.
Islam!!! What was that? As far as I could remember, I had never
known a Muslim and Islam was not heard or spoken of "as a faith" in
my part of Canada. Unless, of course, it was news stories talking
bad about Islam. For me at that time, Islam was not even a
consideration. Not on my religious radar at all.
But then I started to read a little about Islam. Then, I kept
reading a little more. Then, I read the Quran. This wonderful
revelation of truth changed my life forever. I immediately started
to study every piece of information pertaining to Islam I could get
my hands on.
I discovered the nearest mosque was about 100 miles away from my
city. So I promptly loaded the family van and drove my family to
this mosque. On the way, I was very nervous but also very excited
at the same time.. I asked myself, was I even allowed in the mosque
because I wasn't an Arab or a Muslim?
However, after arriving at the mosque, I quickly realized I had
nothing to fear. I was greeted by the Imam and the Muslims with a
most warm greeting. I found them very nice. Nothing like the bad
things the news always said about Muslims.
They gave me a book by Ahmed Deedat and assured me I could be a
Muslim. I studied all the material on Islam they gave me. I
appreciated these books very much because our local library had
only 4 books on Islam.
After studying I was in shock. How could I have been a Christian
for so long and never heard the truth? I now believed in Islam. I
knew it and I wanted to convert.
I was put in contact with the small Muslim community in my city. On
March 24th 2006 I went to the Mosque. Just before Friday prayer
started and with most of the local Muslim Community present as
witness; I testified that" La illaha ill Allah, Muhammadur Rasul
Allah": "There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah. I was now a Muslim. It was the best day of my life. I love
Islam and have peace now.
Difficult times have come since I became a Muslim. When people
started realizing I was now a Muslim they would shun me or laugh at
me, most of our old Christian friends have never talked to us
again. My parents have all but disowned me.
I love being a Muslim and it doesn't matter if some of my fellow
Canadians think of me as odd for becoming a Muslim. Why? The reason
is that I alone, am the one that will have to answer to God after
my death.
God is the giver of strength and Almighty God has helped me through
all the rough times after my conversion to Islam. I have many, many
Muslim Brothers now.
I have legally changed my first name to Abdullah, which I like very
much. I am now the first and only Muslim Chaplain approved to work
at the local hospital in my City. I am a Muslim and I am truly
happy. All thanks be to God.
Abdullah DeLancey is the founder of Muslimforlife.com.
By Abdullah DeLancey
The Religion of Islam