Why Islam is my choice — Page 78
78 him. Of course, I did not become a Muslim right away as I did not know what Isl ā m was and what was required to become a Muslim. Months of horror and difficulties followed. After a long journey, I managed to return to Frankfurt, Germany, my home town. There, I did not wish to re-associate with those hippies again. I soon came across a book on Yoga, while I was visiting a friend’s apartment. I thought it to be wise to adopt this line of mental training for myself. I then proceeded to exercise Yoga for some weeks. By the way, I also carried a Mandala, a kind of a picture used to maintain concentration during meditation. One day I sat on my bed to start my breathing exercises. I turned on a music cassette to help me with my exercise. That was the only kind of music that I liked in those days. This music was produced by some Pakistani musicians who had visited London in 1967. The music was known as Pakistani Soul Session. Suddenly I saw a calligraphy in the shape of ‘OM’ (Hindu word for Unity, All, or God). This shape lit up and turned into a beam that was pointing straight towards my library on the wall behind me. It seemed as if that beam of light was trying to show me something. I got up in amazement and followed the beam. My books were lying in a disarray as I had lost interest in reading the books and had therefore not cared to keep the books in any particular order. To my surprise, I saw the light entering one particular book and did not emerge from the other side. I immediately pulled the book. The beam of light suddenly disappeared. The book was a copy of the German translation of the Holy Qur’ ā n that was given to me as a Christmas present by an uncle, many years ago. My hands were trembling from what I had just experienced. I opened the book at once and having read only two or three of the lines, I was instantly convinced of its truth. My heart started pounding loudly as if to testify to that truth. I could not but admit that I was a Muslim.