Jamāl Boakye (West Africa)
A West African man discusses his encounter with Muslims at ʿĪd celebrations and his subsequent entry into Islām.
• West African
• Was a Christian
• Became Muslim in Dec. 25, 1993
While at university, I went to the Eid al-Fitr celebration — primarily for the food, but I got a lot more than that. I had an opportunity to speak with a Muslim. He told me about Islām and gave me a Qur’an. He told me how Muslims treated the Qur’an, so I felt its contents must be special. I read it and I was amazed by its immediate references to God and its focus on worshipping God alone.
At that time, I was having difficulties at university and found that the Qur’an told me how to deal with them. I found I read the Qur’an more and the Bible less. I related more to the Qur’an and its teachings and so my belief in it increased. When I came back to London, I told a Muslim friend I was interested in Islām. On Christmas day that year, he took me to the local mosque and I took my shahadah (testification of faith).”
