Attracting more people to Islam

Last Friday, for the first since I bought it, I drove our E200K to KL. It was our annual Eid's family shopping trip.

True to her manufacturer, she performed as expected. Even our Amalia noticed the smooth acceleration and corner-taking.

We put up a night at The Zone, Ampang. The two-room suite was a bit stale and not-so-properly-looked-after. But, it was spacious enough for the six of us.

So far we have tried both PNB suites and The Zone. We preferred PNB suites better, but this time around it was fully booked.

I joined the big crowd at Al-Syakirin's mosque for Friday prayers. The congregation of prayers was so huge that it overflowed the mosque into the park.

I was so jubilant seeing so many KLites performing their prayers so earnestly. I saw a few Whites tourist clearly awed by the huge crowd. They must have been surprised to see Muslims so obedient despite of living in a busy city like KL.

I still remember how an American embraced Islam a week after after accepting my invitation for a dinner in our house.

I still remember vividly how he was so impressed with the way I brought up my family. He even went as far as asking us who we really were! I told him that we were Muslims and that was how Muslims should live.

A few things that he was impressed with our family. One was how our eldest had to get my permission to go on a school's field trip. "You mean your daughter has to get your approval for a filed trip?" "Yes! As long as she is still living with us, she must get our permission, even when she is already above eighteen!"

Two, he looked at my wife and asked," Your wife cook everyday?" "Yes, she cooks four times a day! Cooking for her family is what she loves most."

He was one of the many Americans who unashamedly joined us in our weekened barbecues. He knew that my wife's barbecue was far more delicious than their normal salt-and-black-pepper bbq.

We even invited him to see how we perform our jumaah prayers, with me as the Imam.

After all that, one fine afternoon he came to see me and said that he was ready to embrace Islam. So, one equally fine day I brought him to the Islamic centre and he said his shahadah there, clearly and with full of sincerity and humbleness.

IN our short two-year stay in Athens, Georgia, we had, in one way or another, influenced seven Americans, both Whites and Blacks, to become Muslims. They all did it on their own will.

To me US is a land full of potentials for attracting more people to Islam. All we have to do is to show how Islam really is - the way of life, and not just over emphasizing on what to eat and what not to eat, this is haram and that is haram, at least initially.