I was comparing Islam and Christianity basically, not that I doubt my islam i just wanted to show them that they're wrong. I ended up giving my life to Jesus Christ. Suddenly one day I come and I find almost everybody I know is there and then they said, "Rachid, sit." And I was like, "Okay." "Are you Muslim or a Christian?" My mom she was like, "Just tell them just tell the Shahada and make everybody know that you are a Muslim. Just say to in front of everybody!"
It took me like 10 seconds, I was thinking about it because I didn't want to be in trouble. I didn't see it coming. Then I said, "Mom, I cannot say it."
I received direct threats. Even the mosque next to my apartment was preaching against me and every time I got out from my apartment I look right and left because I was expecting somebody to come with a knife and stab me or something.
Leaving Islam Make My Life In Danger - Brother Rachid's Story. Shallom, this is the story:
My name is Rachid and I was born and raised in Morocco to a devout Muslim family. My dad was actually the Imam of the local mosque. He was very devout his religion, it was 24 hours in his life, so that's all what he did for a living and that's all what he believed.
My dad wanted somebody to take over when or follow his steps so he took me to the mosque when I was four years old and he started teaching me the basics of Islam. His joy was that I have a son who's gonna learn all what I know and he's going to lead also in teaching people about Islam and the Quran.
So I started memorizing the Quran at a very young age because usually you have to finish when you are 10 or around that age, you have to finish memorizing the whole thing. That was my life and I was happy with it I see people around my dad kissing his hands and inviting him to big celebrations, he's in the front always I'm just holding his hand and proud of him and I like the status of being a son of an Imam. It gave me a lot of pride. All what I know, Islam was THE religion and the path to God.
I thank God for my mom. She fought with my dad for our education because my dad wanted us to be just in a mosque and she said no they have to go to normal school as well and actually my dad, he did beat my mom for that several times because he said the Quran is the best, they don't need secular education, secular education will ruin their lives.
When I was 12 years old, I had to move outside of my village and I had to go to Casablanca to continue my secular studies. It was a good thing for me because I learned something new other than religion and another thing I would be away from my dad and his authority, it would be like a little bit freedom a little bit of freedom for me.
The solution was that I would stay with my uncle in Casablanca. Casablanca is a big city. So I'm moving from a village of hundreds of people to millions of people it was like a different world and when I moved there my uncle promised my dad that he will continue the same thing with me. He will make sure that I will do my religious duties. I'll go to the mosque I will follow everything he did at home and he also will take care of me with my studies.
And when I moved to Casablanca there are there are tools of entertainment and stuff like that, and one of them was radio. I was tuning then I hear something in Arabic, I stopped because it's Arabic and then I heard something about Jesus the first time I hear other than what I learned from the Quran and that he was crucified and crucified for our sins and then I continued listening. It was all blasphemy for me back then he is the son of God?
And he came to this earth in a human, as a human being to save us and I was trying to just close my ears because I don't want to hear that, it's blasphemy. Its against my beliefs, and I was really mad because these guys speak Arabic. So I was listening and at the end of the program they gave an address and I quickly I wrote it on my hand because I want to write them and I want to challenge them.
So out of zeal out of curiosity I wrote to them and I put all the verses I know from the Quran and I thought, "Yes, I will show them that they were wrong" and I wrote everything I know about Jesus from Islam.
That was a new door opening for me. 4 years of correspondence courses with people there, they changed over the time. Several people I corresponded with and they answered my questions. I was comparing Islam and Christianity basically not that I doubt my Islam, I just wanted to show them that they're wrong. I ended up giving my life to Jesus Christ instead.
I wrote to my friends, virtual friends and I told them that, "I think I'm a Christian," and they were like, "Yes, that's a good decision and you have to give your life to Jesus," and "How do you do that?" So all these kind of questions and you have to imagine it's not an email it's a letter that takes weeks to go there and weeks to come back and some of the some of them never made it because they try to send me the Bible for example more than 20 times and I never received it and every time I complained they said, "We sent one, we sent one," and one day the mailman brought a Bible without the cover or the envelope, so I got it and I was happy, I went to my room.
That was my best treasure I kept it in a very special place every time I come back from school that was my secret that I will read and just follow the stories from the old testament and so I finished the whole Bible. It was really like a nice and that an eye-opening also because I saw similarities with Islam and also big differences with Islam.
Trans World Radio actually connected me with a missionary in Morocco, an American missionary who lives there they just sent him my address, he sent me a local letter. When I opened it he has his phone number and his name he introduced himself, he said "We will meet." We made an appointment downtown Casablanca.
We went to a coffee shop and he started asking me questions. I think to test me if I'm really a true believer or not. He said "Who is God for you?" God is the Creator. "Who are us?" We are just human beings, His creation. He said, "Well tell me then, who is Jesus?" I said, Jesus is God Himself incarnated in the flesh. He said, "What did he do?" He was crucified for our sins. He said, "What is sin?" I said sin is that thing that separates us from God and he said, "And you accepted that?" I said yes Jesus died for me. He said, "Well I think you're a Christian."
I told them they don't believe me? They're sending you to test me or something? Then he was like, "no, no I just want to make sure you understand." Okay. He said would you come with us? I said, who are you? He said, "There are people like you." I thought I'm the only Moroccan that had this revelation and knew the truth and the others didn't know and then I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "Yes." I said, "When?" He said, "Tomorrow."
When I went I was really scared because I don't know what's going to happen and I saw these moroccan guys in a in a room holding their Bibles singing in Moroccan language. I couldn't believe my eyes it was really something like a dream and then they have Moroccan tea. They have the Moroccan cookies and they are just like me and all of them the same story, "I was listening to radio. I did correspondence courses I accepted Christ." Two almost identical. There's different backgrounds, different families but almost the same story repeated and when I saw them it was really a big encouragement to me.
And my cousin, my family, my uncle everybody at home started noticing that things changed big time in my life and they were like, "Rachid, what's going on?" And suddenly one day I come and I find almost everybody I know is there and then they said, "Rachid, sit." I was like, "Okay." "Are you Muslim or Christian?" Its like, it hit me. You know I was like, "Well let's start from the right, ask everybody this question!" I wanted to make it a joke but nobody was laughing and I ended up, I knew it was very serious so I said, "It's not your right to know. It's between me and God nobody has the right to know what's in my heart and you actually should not ask that question."
My mom she was like, "Just tell them, just tell the Shahada and make everybody know that you are a Muslim, just say it to in front of everybody!" It took me like 10 seconds. I was thinking about it because I didn't want to be trouble, I didn't see it coming.
Then I said, "Mom, I cannot say the Shahada." And then you can see the whole room it was surreal for me, it was something that I remember now it was like a dream. I don't see it as a fact because I was in denial at first. I didn't accept that my family would hurt me so everybody was shouting at me and all when I remember now is noises from everywhere and I can see my mom crying and, and she's shouting and crying and, and some of them spit on me, some of them cursed me just get out of here we don't want to see you and it's like a dog, filthy always you can think about so I was crying and I left without knowing where to go because I was still a kid.
So I lived almost two years homeless just going from one place to another sometimes I slept even in the street because I didn't know where to go. I lost my study I lost everything and I didn't have anything in my life. I lost my family.
So a friend of mine he said, "Just come to rest and to learn about God and the Bible and we have a center in Cyprus." "We can stay here if you want." So I went to Cyprus just to take time for myself and it was a really refreshing because I met with other Muslim background believers from Egypt, from Jordan, from Lebanon, from different countries and that was very encouraging because I saw how God's working among other people like me.
And when I had a place where to live that changed everything. I started going back to school. I searched for a job. I was doing side jobs and then I was able to go to college. I was studying there and my life started getting better and better and then after three years I rented an apartment and that's where I met my wife in one of those summer Bible schools and we say we're gonna get married.
We married in '97 and she was working in a school. I was trying to do accounting for a company and the same in the same time studying and we were hosting meetings in our apartment and started helping others like me who are going through trouble because I said I understand them more than everybody else because I went through that.
So I said this is my ministry now. I'm just going to help MBBs, Muslim background believers and I'm going to stand for their rights and defend them and try to find them jobs them and have them at home sometimes they eat with us all together in one meal we we didn't have much but we were happy.
One of the guys who came had pretended that he is one of the believers he was an insider and then he sold all our information to secret police and to newspapers and that began another trouble. I had to leave Morocco because I received direct threats even the mosque next to my apartment was preaching against me and every time I got out from my apartment I look right and left because I was expecting somebody to come with a knife and stab me or something.
I didn't understand what God wants me to do and sometimes during the few early months I was I regretted coming out of Morocco. I said at least if we died we could have died doing something but what is the purpose of your life? Is it just to live a good life? That's not a purpose itself. It should be a purpose and so with my wife, we were struggling with this question and we were like did we do the right thing? And she was like yeah probably you can work and can send money to MBBs who are in trouble.
I said that's not what I feel...like you can help the church here where we are and you go help them in the service, I said that they have so many people to help they don't need me. Our people need us so at that time I received a phone call from a friend of mine he said, "Would you like to join us in a TV ministry?" And I said, "I'm not a TV person," actually my wife was laughing and I, he said, "You have a month to pray about it and think about it," and I said, "If we, Muslim background believers don't preach the Gospel to our people who's going to do it?"
So we took the decision based on that. We say, we will do it, no matter what it costs. We will appear on TV. We will share our faith even if we give our lives for that. So I went on TV and that's how we started the ministry our goal is to encourage Muslims to ask some questions.
When i called my show, "Daring Questions" so it's to dare to ask because I believe that the right start in the path is to start asking the right questions. When we started this show the phones shut down because of so many callers.
The first hour we did it live were like more than 800 phone calls came in. Our website shut down because the server was couldn't handle it. So there is a huge thirst. The first time I read the first email and I shared my testimony and one guy who said I had the same doubts you had I had the same questions and when you gave your testimony I accepted Christ.
And I was crying and I told my wife it was if it was only for this that's worth it. Every day now I can say I receive at least an email from a person who says I accepted Christ. Only Jesus can change hearts and bring people together.
So these stories I repeated all over the Muslim world. The harvest is there we just need workers. Muslims they are just like other people, um we should love them we should feel with them. They are the first victims of their religion, they are not monsters you don't bite they're not criminals or terrorists. It's their religion who changed so many of them and actually deformed their humanity so many So many of them because of the image of God they have, they have a god of violence, god different than them biblical God, God of love we have we don't have it. So it's our duty to reach them with the Gospel, with the message of love.
What's happening in the world now we bear some responsibility in it. Refugees are everywhere. You go to every state in the United States you will find people talking about refugees somewhere and the church just started asking questions what should we do now? Reach to them, talk to them, preach the Gospel to them and I'm sure so many of them are like me they are ready to receive the Gospel, they just don't know.
Muslims I just say I love you because so many times you don't understand and I know that because I came from the same background. Sometimes we confuse the person with his doctrine so if you criticize his doctrine, he will say you are insulting me. Well you are not your doctrine, you're a human being created in the image of God and God loves you and so we do, we love you too as Christians.
Source:
When you read about Jesus your life changes so I tell every Muslim give yourself a chance to know Jesus, He will change your life.
--- Brother Rachid Testimony ...
- Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. - (John 14:6).
- I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. - (Philippians 4:13).
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