Why Islam is my choice — Page 97
97 from someone next to me said, “Come on and join the Prayer. ” I saw a number of people dressed in different colors, lined up for Prayer along the ocean front and out over the ocean the leader of the Prayer was a man that was hovering over the ocean as if he was sitting on the clouds and a bright light was glowing where his face was supposed to be. After this experience, I again pushed the issue onto ‘Abdus-Sal ā m to take me to the source of knowledge that he had been giving me piecemeal so far. That is when he took me to meet the A ḥ mad ī s, the most beautiful people I ever met. This was at the Archer St. Mission house in Queens. These people looked like what I had imagined righteous people should look like. They reminded me of the righteous people of ancient times. My impression or reaction I felt from them towards me was “Love. ” There I met Mu ṣṭ ph ā Dilleo, Bash ī r Afzal, Mu ḥ ammad Ṣā diq, Da’ ū d A ḥ mad, H ā d ī N ā sir, Y ū sef Lateef, Mu ḥ ammad ‘ Ī s ā ‘Abdul-Jam ā l, N ū rrud ī n ‘Abdul-Lat ī f, ‘Abdul- Ḥ ameed, Mub ā rik Jam ī l, and Khal ī l A ḥ mad N ā sir. ‘Abdus-Sal ā m had taken me there for the purpose of accepting A ḥ madiyyat but Bash ī r Afzal, the A ḥ madiyyah Muslim Jam ā ‘at president, gave me the bai‘at form and said, “Take this home and study these conditions for a week,” before allowing me to sign. But I was ready to sign the bai‘at form the first day I came to the mosque. I finally signed the bai‘at form in 1969 under Ḥ a ḍ rat Mirz ā N āṣ ir A ḥ mad, Third Successor to the Promised Messiah. I did not know until much later that there were many different sects in Isl ā m. When I did come to know of the differences, however, I knew I was among those who practiced the true Isl ā m. The two people who were really the role models for me and who I tried to learn as much from were the late Bash ī r Afzal and late Mu ḥ ammad Ṣā diq. Bash ī r Afzal was a key person in the Renaissance of Isl ā m among the African Americans. He