Why Islam is my choice — Page 52
52 Raf ī q A ḥ mad Lake How I Accepted Isl ā m I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 18, 1944. My parents came to settle in the United States from Jamaica, in the West Indies. My Parents separated early in my childhood; therefore, I do not have much memories of my father. My mother was a very religious lady. One thing that I do remember about my father is that he was always reading a book. My mother never spoke ill of my father and always told me that he was a gentleman. We used to attend an Episcopal Church, but, later on, switched to the Roman Catholic Church. I attended both public as well as a Catholic school where I lived in the boarding house. During my stay at the boarding school, when I was about twelve years old, I stopped believing in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, peace be on him. My reason at that time was very simple. When I would read in the Bible, “Father, why hast Thou forsaken me,” (Matt. 27:46, Mark 15:34) I would ask myself: If Jesus was God then why was he so helpless as not to be able to save even himself from the cross. This was a troubling question for me which no one could adequately explain. I would present this particular verse of the Holy Bible to everybody that I considered had the knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures but no one could satisfy me. I had some good time at the boarding school but some of the things that I witnessed over there are of a nature that decency forbids me to write any further about it. I