Why Islam is my choice — Page 80
80 informed me that the translation that I had, was not the true representation of the Qur’ ā nic verses. I also purchased a copy of the prayer book. This helped me learn the Muslim prayer by heart in a matter of a few days. As I have stated earlier, I was mentally very perturbed because of my past sins. On the day of ‘ Ī d-ul-Fi ṭ r, I thought that I should perform the Ḥ ajj. This was inspired by two reasons: One that I had heard that the Ḥ ajj washes away all of one’s past sins and second that somehow, I was afraid that my end was near and that I was going to die very soon. Having decided that, I proceeded to make a travel plan. Since I did not have enough money, I decided to hitchhike my way through Spain, cross over to Morocco, and along the northern coast of Africa, try to reach Arabia. This was a strange plan indeed, but I could not find a better alternative. So a few days later, I took whatever little money I had, my sleeping bag, some food, and quietly slipped out of my mother’s house. I made my way into Spain hitch-hiking, and from time to time, getting rides from people driving in that direction. Everything was fine until I reached the border of Morocco. The Moroccan authorities would not let me cross the border. They sent me back, perhaps because I looked like a hippie. I showed them my copy of the Holy Qur’ ā n which contained the Arabic script alongside the translation. I even recited S ū rah Al-F ā ti ḥ ah to them to assure them that I was a Muslim but, unfortunately, they would not permit me into the so called ‘Land of the Muslims. ’ I was deeply hurt. I started to ponder over my past sins for some times and then realized that I should prostrate before my Lord, my All ā h, and ask for His forgiveness. Since I was in the town of Ceuta in Spain, where the Moroccan border just touches, I knew that there had to be a mosque in that town as some Muslims do live in that town. Therefore, I set out looking for a mosque. I asked a young boy who showed me the way to the