Participants: Shakeela Yasuf
Series Code: DOA
Program Code: DOA000011
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00:40 As-Salaam-Alaikum
00:41 to our Muslim brothers and sisters, 00:44 shalom to our Hebrew cousins, 00:46 and peace be upon you our Christian friends. 00:50 Welcome to "The Descendants of Abraham." 00:53 On our program today we have a special guest, 00:57 a young man, who is going to share with us 00:59 his journey to discovery of the God of Abraham. 01:04 I'm sure, you will be encouraged 01:08 and blessed by the story 01:12 that he is going to share with us. 01:14 At this time I'd like to welcome Anwar to the show. 01:19 Anwar, thank you for being with us. 01:21 As-Salaam-Alaikum. Walikum Salam. 01:23 Thank you so much for joining us. 01:25 It's a privilege to be here. 01:27 Why don't you share with us a little bit of your story 01:30 of growing up as a Muslim? 01:33 Okay, well I grew up in a Sunni Muslim family. 01:38 You know, we did normal things 01:40 that Muslim you know children do. 01:43 I went to the Masjid. I learned. 01:46 you know, about all the traditions 01:48 and ways of praying and I, you know, learned to read, 01:51 you know, the Quran in Arabic 01:54 and I had a, you know, fairly normal life 01:58 growing up as a Muslim child. 02:01 Ah, my family is you know, very close, you know 02:04 and very loving and so you know, I grew up, 02:11 you know, there wasn't much wrong 02:13 when I was growing up. I had a fairly happy childhood. 02:17 A normal Muslim childhood that most of us grow up in. 02:20 And what was your relationship with God like at that time? 02:26 Well, I learned lot of things that God, 02:32 you know, we had to do a lot of things, 02:34 you know, in order to please God. 02:37 And I learnt mostly God was more, 02:41 He was out there, He was far, He was really unknowable. 02:46 And it's and it's actually 02:50 a lot of things you know started, 02:52 you know, as I got older started to develop 02:54 and started really troubling me. 02:58 I was raised also by my aunties and my uncles. 03:01 And I'll never forget when I was 9 years old, 03:05 my uncle told me, you know, he told me 03:07 that I had two angels sitting on my shoulders. Yes. 03:10 One wrote the good deeds I did 03:12 and one wrote the bad deeds I did. 03:14 Now on the Day of Judgment 03:15 if I did more good deed than bad deeds, 03:18 you know, I would enter a paradise or heaven. 03:22 And even at 9 that troubled me 03:25 because, I knew God could see everything 03:28 I did, everything I thought, it's everything. 03:32 And I knew and I had the lot of misgivings 03:35 about whether I would go to heaven or not 03:37 and that frightened me. 03:39 Right, yeah, I remember those times in my own life, 03:43 the two angels and the deeds, and so. 03:46 Yes, I can understand, 03:47 I can relate to that about being afraid. 03:50 But, you know, why were you afraid that, 03:53 you know, that God is seeing, He is looking at the deeds. 03:57 Why would you be afraid? 03:59 Well, the reason I was afraid which is-- 04:04 you know God, you know, being judging and all knowing 04:08 and I just thought that he was very judging. 04:10 And that you know in a sense it was hard to go to heaven. 04:16 And I always thought, felt 04:18 and thought that he was going to punish me. 04:21 I thought you know actually I was talking 04:23 with the very punishing God. 04:26 He was in a sense you could say capricious. 04:29 You know, He was essentially out to get me. 04:34 Right, right, just waiting. 04:36 Yeah, just waiting, just waiting for me to mess up 04:39 and there was a lot of times I messed up. 04:40 Right, and don't we all. Yeah. 04:42 And I remember the same thing, 04:44 he's just waiting for us to mess up 04:46 and that would be it.. Yes. 04:51 There was no chance of heaven or paradise. 04:55 And, you know, even there were times like 04:58 when I was younger I was so. 05:02 You know, I was, I was actually so scared 05:05 because that would actually-- 05:07 there was a couple of times when I was younger. 05:09 You know, I tried to fast because in Islam they have to be 05:13 in the month of Ramadan the 30 days of fasting. 05:16 And there were two instances, where I actually broke my fast 05:21 and I didn't tell anybody. 05:23 And I thought God was for sure going to punish me. 05:25 And it actually, for the next year of my life 05:28 everyday I woke up just in fear. 05:31 And I really kind of developed pattern 05:33 in my life of always living in fear. Right. 05:40 And how long did you really follow this God. 05:45 How long, did you stay in Islam 05:48 and you know-- Where you contented? 05:52 No, I wasn't contented. 05:54 And as a matter of fact the older I got, 05:57 the angrier I got. 05:59 By the time I was a teenager 06:02 I wanted nothing to do with Islam 06:06 or my people, I was angry. 06:09 You know, and I just couldn't believe that, 06:12 you know, this angry God could really exist. 06:15 So essentially I became an agnostic. Interesting. 06:18 Yeah and so you know probably by that time I was 16, 06:22 you know, I really started to rebel, 06:26 you know, against everything I knew 06:27 and everything I was thought 06:29 because it was just, I couldn't live up to it. 06:32 And, you know, I started using drugs 06:35 and alcohol and my hate and my anger 06:39 really just took over my life. 06:40 All that fear that caused hatred it just took over my life. 06:43 Got the better of you. Yeah, at that point. 06:46 And you think that this was all 06:49 because you were trying to please a God 06:51 that could not be pleased. 06:53 Initially in the beginning yes, yes. Okay, okay. 06:57 How did you come to know about Christ? 07:01 You know your journey to that point. 07:06 By that time I was 19. 07:08 And the alcohol, you know, it gotten the better of me. 07:12 I knew I couldn't keep living my life 07:14 as I was in the complete darkness 07:17 and despair, you know. 07:19 God had actually used all those bad things, 07:23 the alcohol and everything to put me into a place 07:29 where I was so despairing that I knew I needed something. 07:33 You know, I was willing to look at this point for God 07:38 and you know, growing up as a Muslim. 07:42 I was taught a lot of things 07:44 and one of things I was taught is, 07:46 you know, especially about Christians as you know. 07:49 They worship three gods and later I come to understand 07:53 what I was taught was incorrect. Okay. 07:56 You know, Christians do not worship three gods. 07:59 And so I actually I used to make fun of and scoff, 08:04 you know, at Christians and their religion. 08:05 But at this point of my life I was pretty desperate 08:09 and God had put a Christian man in my life. 08:11 And the first time, you know, he put, you know this man, 08:15 when I actually started to listen to him. 08:17 He would talk, you know, 08:18 because he went through hard times too. 08:20 And he would talk about what Jesus said 08:22 and what Jesus did. 08:24 And he would tell me what Jesus did in His life. 08:26 And it started to make sense, things started to click. 08:29 And I could tell, you know, that this man had faith 08:32 and this faith he had worked for him. 08:36 And he would, he would talk about Jesus 08:39 so much, I finally, you know sometimes 08:41 I would spend the night 08:43 and I would spend the night on his couch. 08:45 And I would read his Bible. 08:48 And I loved it so much. I got my own Bible. 08:52 And you know I still at this point 08:54 you know, I was a student I lived at home with my parents. 08:58 And you know I was, I was scared. 09:01 You know, I was always scared 09:02 that my dad will find out that I was reading the Bible. 09:04 That you have a Bible, yes. 09:05 So late at night what I would do is 09:07 I would actually hide underneath my coverage, 09:09 hide the Bible underneath my coverage and I would read it. 09:12 So that if anybody came in 09:13 and I could just put it down. Right. 09:16 And nobody would know. 09:18 The thing that the reason I loved 09:21 reading the Bible so much is 09:23 essentially the words of Jesus impressed me so much. 09:27 I have never heard anything 09:30 like the words of Jesus in my whole life. 09:34 And, you know, so it just meant a lot to me. 09:39 Okay, you know, you mentioned about 09:43 not wanting your parents to find out 09:44 that you're reading the Bible. 09:46 I know I went through that, I was-- 09:48 we're afraid to pick the Bible. 09:50 We're afraid to look at it because we're told up 09:52 like you said about the three gods 09:54 and that the Bible is corrupt and so on. 09:57 So we are afraid to let them see us read the Bible. 10:02 How has your life changed 10:05 since accepting the teachings of the Bible? 10:10 Well, before I talked about how it has changed. 10:13 I want to talk about something in particular. Sure. 10:16 About Jesus and the saying of Jesus 10:18 and how this transformed me. Right. 10:21 In Matthew 6, Jesus, He says a lot of things 10:25 and these things were profound to me. 10:28 See I was thought, it's okay an eye for an eye, 10:31 a tooth for a tooth and that's okay. Right. 10:33 I was taught that. 10:34 Jesus said, it's not okay 10:37 what Jesus said is when somebody strikes you, 10:40 turn the other cheek 10:42 or when somebody steals your coat, 10:46 go the extra mile and give him another one. 10:49 And He also said you know, when you pray, 10:54 pray into, you can pray in secret. 10:56 Don't pray so everybody can see you 10:57 but pray in secret. 10:59 See, it has to do with the relationship 11:02 that I have with God. 11:03 See, I pray when I pray I'm sincerely talking to God. 11:07 I actually have a relationship 11:09 with the Creator of the earth, the one who created me. 11:12 I'm in relationship with Him. 11:14 I'm praying and I'm talking to Him. 11:16 Directly to Him. And He talks back to you. 11:18 And He talks back, amen. Yes, yes. 11:21 You also mentioned that you found 11:25 the Book of John in the Injeel, 11:26 the Book of John 1, interesting. 11:29 Can you tell me a little bit about that? 11:30 Yeah, I was telling you earlier 11:32 that it was difficult for me to understand, 11:36 you know, the trinity because, you know, 11:38 I always been taught that Christians worship three gods. 11:42 And in the Gospel of John in the first chapter, 11:46 it explains it so beautifully. 11:49 It says in the beginning, 11:51 what's the word, the word was with God. 11:53 I'm not going to do for obeying him 11:55 but you know, this word that is talking about 11:59 it was the word of God, which God spoke 12:03 when the universe came into being, 12:05 He just spoke it. 12:06 Now there is no difference between God and his word. 12:10 He is His word. 12:12 And then it goes on to say, 12:14 how His word became flesh and dwelt among us. 12:18 And that word that became flesh 12:20 and dwelt among us was Jesus Christ. 12:24 He was fully human and fully God, 12:26 this is what the Bible says. 12:28 And that to me was so profound 12:32 and it made so much sense. 12:35 And so that really impacted you. 12:37 Oh, absolutely, absolutely 12:39 because, you know, at this point, 12:42 you know, in my studying, in my journey, 12:45 you know, I came to understand, 12:46 you know that, you know, Jesus being 12:48 fully God and fully human. 12:52 There was only see-- 12:54 when I talked about my rebellion and my hate 12:57 but that's what you know the Bible calls sin. Right. 13:01 And, you know, that sin was in my life. 13:03 And God, you know, I come 13:05 to understand he is very holy God. 13:07 And, you know, He wants relationship with us. 13:12 But He can't if, you know, we don't accept Him, 13:20 because, you know, the fact that He is a holy God 13:23 and He cannot be around sin. 13:25 You know, sin cannot enter His presence. That's right. 13:28 You know, on the Day of Judgment 13:29 if we have sin in our life, 13:31 He will cast us in the outer darkness. 13:33 You know we growing up as a Muslim 13:35 everything was about works. Right. 13:38 And I couldn't do enough. 13:42 And that's difference between 13:44 the big difference between Islam and Christianity is that 13:48 I just couldn't do enough. 13:49 You know, now in Christianity Jesus goes on the cross, 13:54 takes my punishment for my sin 13:57 that I committed and He takes that upon Himself. 14:02 And God pours His wrath out on Him instead of me. 14:07 And so He died for my sins. 14:09 And henceforth does that make you feel 14:10 because you know, we, you know, we grow up in Islam 14:14 and I'd never heard of a forgiving God. 14:20 I never heard of a God that forgives my sin 14:23 or you know, we hear of a merciful God 14:27 but I never really saw a merciful God. 14:31 So you know when you look at the God we grew up to know 14:38 and the true God of Abraham. 14:41 What are some of the difference that you see? 14:45 Well, first of all, primarily 14:46 forgiveness unmerited forgiveness. 14:49 Forgiveness I did not deserve because I sinned. 14:51 The Bible says, when I sinned 14:54 I sinned against God and only God. That's right. 14:57 You know, there is nothing I can do it 15:00 to merit His forgiveness 15:02 and there is nothing I can do it to merit eternal life. 15:06 He has given that to me. It is a gift. 15:10 It is a gift of grace by God 15:12 and God alone through Jesus Christ. 15:15 And how does that make you, you feel toward Him? 15:21 I can't put in the words. 15:25 I just, I can't put it in the words, 15:27 it makes me feel. 15:29 I couldn't even describe it, 15:30 I mean wonderful obviously. Yes. 15:33 You know, I want to tell everybody about Jesus 15:37 and I tell a lot of people about Jesus. That's right. 15:40 And He means so much. Yeah. 15:43 How, since you have discovered this Jesus. 15:49 How has it changed you life in some other ways. 15:53 Well, first of all, I understand God 15:57 as a loving God, He loves me. 16:00 And I understand that through the concept of the cross 16:03 that He loves me. 16:05 And the other things that's changed is 16:07 I'd actually have a personal relationship with God. 16:11 I read the Bible daily, I love it. 16:14 You know, it's just like God He just, 16:17 He keeps telling me things, 16:19 revealing things to me about Himself. 16:21 All I want to know is God. 16:24 That is the most central part of my life 16:26 and almost the only. 16:28 Everything else you know the Bible says 16:31 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God 16:33 and the rest will be added." 16:36 So since I'm seeking God, 16:37 I'm going after God with the passion. 16:40 Because of what He has done for me 16:42 and in that seeking 16:44 He just keeps revealing Himself to me 16:46 and revealing more and more 16:47 and more of His love, His mercy. 16:49 You know, even the passion He has for me. 16:54 You know that's wonderful I see it in your eyes. 16:56 I see it in you face. 16:57 I see that love and that passion for Him in you. 17:02 And that wasn't there before. 17:06 Absolutely not, absolutely not. 17:09 What do you think it's different? 17:10 I was an empty shell. Uh-huh. 17:12 I was an empty shell. 17:14 And, you know, and I was also like I said full of hate. 17:20 I realized after reading the Bible 17:26 and just seeing what the love of God looks like 17:30 and actually how much He care for me. 17:33 I came to understand that I saw my sin for what it was. 17:39 So and so what I did, you know, I repented. 17:42 I turned from my sin 17:44 and I put my trust in the Savior, 17:47 in Jesus Christ on His work on the cross. 17:51 Isn't that a wonderful thing. 17:52 Not my work-- Not your work. 17:54 Nothing that we can do, nothing that we can do. Yeah. 17:57 To earn the salvation. But He has done it. 18:03 Does your family know that you're Christian now? 18:05 Well, you know, my dad he is the head of the family. 18:09 You know, coming from a patriarchal society. 18:11 He is the head of the family. 18:14 I have been a Christian now for 13 years. 18:18 And when I was about, 18:20 you know, four years into my journey. 18:23 I told my dad I sat him down and I said dad. 18:25 I'm the follower of Christ. 18:28 And in so many ways and he still does. 18:31 He knows that but he denies it. Right. 18:35 You know, one of those things he doesn't want to talk about, 18:37 he never wants to talk about it. 18:40 And you have tried talking to him. Yeah. 18:43 Was he angry, upset. He was angry. 18:45 He was angry, he was very upset. 18:47 You know, he thought, 18:49 he thought I was being brainwashed. Right. 18:51 But I wasn't being brainwashed, 18:52 as matter of fact, only the Bible led me to Christ. 18:56 Right. To the true God of Abraham. 19:00 Yeah and only, you know, 19:02 God's word is the inherent word of God. 19:04 And it speaks, it's the only book that I read 19:09 that actually read my heart back to me. Yes. 19:13 I have heard and said that God, 19:15 the Bible and the word is 19:18 God's thoughts made audible. Absolutely. 19:21 So what you're saying, it speaks back to us. Yes. 19:25 You know, it's not just the one way worship 19:29 or one way relationship. 19:31 Absolutely, you know, there is this saying that I have heard. 19:34 It's--if you want to hear the audible voice of God, 19:37 open up the Bible and read aloud. Yes, yes. 19:42 You told me little bit about your dad. 19:45 What is he doing now? 19:47 You said, he is still in the community. 19:51 Yeah, he is still in the community. 19:54 He is very active in the Islamic community. 20:00 And a leader. Yes, and he is a leader as well. 20:02 He is still a leader. And he still loves you. 20:06 And you know what he does. 20:08 He does as a matter of fact, 20:11 you know, a lot of, you know Muslims 20:15 get ostracized by their family. 20:17 But, you know, God has actually blessed me 20:20 because my family still loves and accepts me. 20:24 But the change, the change is undeniable. Yes. 20:27 The change that Christ has done in my life, 20:29 it's undeniable. 20:31 And that can be a witness to them. It is. 20:34 To the family as they see it. 20:36 They will question it. Absolutely. 20:38 And wants to know more. 20:41 If--and let me ask you what would you like to say 20:47 to our brothers and sisters? 20:50 I'd like to say 20:51 probably the most important thing I can say. 20:54 And this was told to me when I was 14. 20:56 I didn't like it very much. 20:57 It was actually from a Christian man 21:01 and you know and but I heard what he said. 21:05 He told me, and then I want to tell everybody else. 21:09 The ones who have accepted Christ 21:13 and they put the trust in Christ. 21:17 If we're not sure who God is, 21:21 when you lay your head on your pillow tonight. 21:23 It doesn't matter if you're married 21:25 or you're not married but you're there alone 21:27 and you're there alone and God is listening. 21:33 Ask God who are you truly because He wants to tell you. 21:39 He wants you to know. 21:42 And pray that you have ears open to listen 21:44 to what He has to tell you. 21:47 And the ones who are on the fence who know that-- 21:51 See Jesus said, "I'm the way, the truth in the life." 21:54 And nobody enters you know, 21:57 nobody comes to the father except but through me. 21:59 And the people who know that and are still on the fence, 22:03 they want to live their life their own way, 22:05 do their own things. 22:06 My words would be to them is to repent of their sins. 22:11 Turn from their sins and put their faith in Christ 22:13 right now because tomorrow is not promised. 22:16 That's right. Thank you. 22:18 You know, you mentioned repentance quite a few times. 22:22 Did you hear about repentance 22:23 when you were growing up as a Muslim? 22:25 Did you hear that word much? Did you understand? 22:31 You know, I didn't, I didn't really. 22:36 Yeah, I know I didn't. I didn't hear about that. 22:39 When you, you know when I sin 22:42 when I was growing up it was in the book. 22:46 It was you know it was in the books 22:48 and that was that. There's no going back. 22:50 Right, there's no, there's no way of erasing it. 22:53 And that's a horrible way to live. 22:55 And that's what got you to that point. 22:59 Are you happy now with Jesus in your life? 23:07 You know, I'm and one of the truth 23:14 I have come to understand it's, if it's not being about, 23:20 it's not about being happy you know. 23:23 And we're fulfilled or you know, 23:26 what kind of car you drive, 23:27 what kind of money it's not about that. 23:30 It's about following that one true God 23:33 and only peace comes through Jesus Christ, true peace. 23:38 You know, I thank you so much for coming 23:43 and sharing your story with us. 23:47 I know that are lot of people will be blessed by this 23:51 and the way you have encouraged them to search, 23:59 search for the true God 24:01 and He will find you if you seek Him. 24:05 Anything else you would like to share 24:07 before we close the program. 24:10 It's just been a really, real blessing, 24:13 you know, to be here and it's, you know, 24:15 like I said it in the beginning, it's a privilege. 24:17 Anytime I get to share about Jesus, 24:21 it's a privilege. 24:22 Because you know there is point in my life 24:24 where you know I didn't want to live, you know. 24:29 Okay, well, you know, thank you so much, Anwar, again. 24:34 I'm blessed by your story, really. 24:38 And I hope you'll come back on 24:43 and share how your life is going. 24:45 And we can pray that we can bring Jesus 24:50 to the rest of our families. Amen. 24:53 And they too can join us 24:56 following the true God of Abraham. 24:59 When you get to the Descendants of Abraham, 25:01 you can be sure that you're lighting the way for all 25:05 in search of the Creator God 25:07 and His message of love and forgiveness to all nations. 25:10 Thank you for your support and for your prayers. 25:14 All contributions are tax deductible. 25:16 Please visit us online today 25:18 at www.descendantsofabraham.org 25:22 or write to us at the address you see listed on your screen. 25:25 All correspondence will be kept confidential. 25:30 The holy word of God tells us that we should continually 25:34 offer the sacrifice of praise to God. 25:38 That is the fruit of our lips, 25:41 giving thanks to His name. 25:44 But do not forget to do good and to share 25:49 for which such sacrifices God is well pleased. 25:55 I would like to thank Anwar for doing 25:57 just that today by sharing his testimony with us 26:01 of what God has done in his life. 26:04 You know, it's one of those things, 26:06 you know, when something good happens, 26:08 you want to tell it to everybody. 26:10 It's just like, you know. 26:12 When I, you know, met my wife 26:14 and I got married my beautiful wife. 26:16 You know, I wanted to, you know, I wanted to take her 26:19 around to everybody to show and now God has saved me 26:22 and it's hard for me not to shout it from the rooftops. 26:25 Amen. Thank you so much. 26:27 You know it's also, 26:28 you know, like a parable Jesus talks about. 26:32 If a man finds a treasure in a field 26:34 he sell all that he has and buys that field. 26:37 Yes, and that's what you're doing. 26:40 That's exactly what I'm doing. 26:42 Praise God, praise God. Thank you so much. 26:46 Well, we still have a couple of minutes here to 26:51 in the program left. 26:52 I would like you to please go to our website 26:56 at www.descendantsofabraham.org. 27:00 You will find some resources there 27:03 that you can look at 27:04 and some more information and contact us. 27:07 All the correspondence is kept confidential. 27:10 Please, feel free to contact us. 27:12 And join us again next week 27:14 as we continue to reveal to his descendants, 27:19 the true God of Abraham. 27:22 Thank you again for being with us. 27:25 May you be blessed. |
Revised 2014-12-17