Why Islam is my choice — Page 112
112 It can exist at any time. R: I agree, it can exist. In fact it is already existing now. Because the Serbs are basically Christian. The Pope has not, from my knowledge, spoken out against what is going on in Bosnia to bring this thing to an end, because these people are fighting Muslims and Muslims are a threat to the Christian religion. So therefore if they can find some way to weaken Isl ā m or to weaken the Muslims, they’ll use some excuse to do it. And Saddam Hussein, another point of interest, I would think, in that respect. W: Before we diverge too far from where we started, I want to come back and discuss again your introduction to and your embracing of Isl ā m. You mentioned that these factors drove you towards an alternative. That before you knew of Isl ā m there was no other alternative that you were aware of. You became aware of this alternative, and you liked what it taught, and therefore you embraced it. But this alternative, why did it become available to you only in the city? Was that something that was linked to an awareness of Isl ā m that was generated by immigrants in this country from the Middle Eastern countries? Or how did this awareness start to be preached in America so that it became common knowledge to many many Afro-Americans, and they embraced Isl ā m in large numbers. Where did this start from? R: Well, this is historic, from Ḥ a ḍ rat Muft ī Mu ḥ ammad Ṣā diq Ṣāḥ ib, who was the first missionary to be sent to the United States by the second Khal ī fah of the A ḥ madiyyah Movement, Ḥ a ḍ rat Mirz ā Bash ī r-ud-D ī n Ma ḥ m ū d A ḥ mad (radiyall ā hu ‘anhu). At that particular time, the information had spread from my area but it emanated from him ( Ḥ a ḍ rat Muft ī Mu ḥ ammad Ṣā diq Ṣāḥ ib) and there were other people, in Chicago and New York, who had already accepted Isl ā m in large groups. When the American musicians started accepting Isl ā m—they traveled a lot—and when they came to