Why Islam is my choice — Page 12
12 all my efforts, I could not find a job in that field and, as a result, I stayed with music until I accepted Isl ā m. My primary source of income, then, came from odd jobs. I finally became a painter and I retired a painter. When I first started to paint, I had very little knowledge of it, but my employer trained me well. I never had any kids from my marriage. However, my wife asked me to adopt some abandoned children. I gladly accepted that suggestion. In the end, we had three children; all from the same mother. Although I still stay in touch with them, but it is very disappointing to see that they have no interest in Isl ā m. I was raised in a religious family, but nothing the church said appealed to me. It was not until I found Isl ā m that things started to make sense to me. At first, even I was very skeptical about Isl ā m. As a musician, I used to hear people talk about Isl ā m, but every thing I heard about this religion, sounded so foolish that I did not care much about it. Then, one day in 1947, a friend gave me a book, “The Life of Mu ḥ ammad,” written by Ṣū f ī M. R. Beng ā l ī. I was in tears after reading that book. What hurt me so much was that I wanted to be so much like Mu ḥ ammad, peace and blessings of All ā h be on him, but I knew that I could never be like him. Then I was introduced to some people who brought Isl ā m to Harlem. One of those men, Ṭā lib Daw ū d, explained many things to me. He, then, asked me if I was ready to accept Isl ā m. I told him that I was not. He surprisingly asked, “Why!” I said that I was not worthy of being among the Muslims. He asked me to at least accept it on a trial basis, to which I agreed. I was then brought to Missionary Ghul ā m Y ā s ī n, who formally initiated me into A ḥ madiyyat by having me fill out a form. He read out the ten conditions of bai‘at (Initiation) to me. I prayed to All ā h for forgiveness of my past sins and took a solemn pledge to live a life of piety. My