Alhamdulillah....

My road toward truth has been tricky but resolute. I was born in a simple family, where my father was an atheist and my mother a devout but not persistent Christian i.e. she attended church services only during big Christian holidays.

My grandmother, whom I am very close to, since my early childhood tried to build in me the faith in The Only God. Even though she was not a very active Church member, her faith was sincere and came from her ‘personal’ belief and ‘direct’ God worshiping rather than traditional Christian dogma.

She told me about her insistence to get me and my brother baptized. My parents did not agree with her idea, because my paternal grandfather was a high ranked official in the bureaucratic hierarchy of the then communist Czechoslovakia.

When I became 12, religion started to be taught at schools so I was among the first students to enroll. I was very eager to be baptized, hoping that only this way I could be “saved”. Even though I was not very enthusiastic about catechism classes, I insisted in my decision to enroll, earning the laughing and sarcasm of my schoolmates and close family as well. I prayed, read Bible, participated in masses and helped the clergymen.

After two years of catechism classes I was told that because my parents haven’t married in church, I couldn’t be baptized. This broke my faith in Catholicism, definitely. Meanwhile, my brother was born and I tried to help my parents as best as I could. My faith passed with time. At secondary school, I rather chose classes on ethic while trying to develop within me a faith similar to that of my grandmother. I felt that in order to believe in God, I didn’t need baptism, church masses, so I stopped praying and reading Bible. I come from a mixed marriage, so I had always to face racist behavior of my schoolmates, neighbors, teachers, or ordinary citizens in the streets, busses, everywhere. To most of them I was simply a dirty gypsy. I’ve lost most of my childhood friends, because later they felt uneasy about being my friends.

As a 16-year-old teenager, I quarreled with my parents and subsequently left my home, submitting myself to a certain decadent living style. One day however, I met with three young Muslim students from Sudan. This meeting changed the course of my life. Subhanallah! (Glory be to God). One of them told me that if I really wanted to cope with my mounting problems, I had to stop living the way I was until than. I was surprised by their words because on the other hand, all my ‘friends’ supported and encouraged me in that lifestyle. These Muslims, on the contrary, told me that God does not like this. Since that moment, we spent a lot of time together, abandoning though my old party and camaraderie. I started attending school again and time to time went to see my parents at home. I did not felt handicapped because of my skin any more, I did not feel inferior at all and I’ve got friends whom I could trust, I could deal the Slovak society related racist problems with.

Always I talked to my friend Ahmed about God, I learned a lot and realized how little I knew about the subject. Once, overcome by emotions and with eyes full of tears, he told me how much he wanted to see me become a Muslim and confessed that he prayed to God about this in his regular prayers. I was surprised …and impressed. I knew that my beliefs were not in contradiction with Islam teachings. I always believed in the Oneness and Uniqueness of God, always knew that God is One and Only. The conception of Trinity (God – The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit) as it stands in Christianity has been always confusing and vague to me. Islam appeared so straightforward, free of nonsense claims, free of unanswerable questions, free of unquestionable or irrational dogmas and opinions forcedly imposed on believers. I promised to my friend to step up my efforts and learn more on the subject and he replied enthusiastically that he would help me with the literature.

After a year, my Muslim friends had to go and study elsewhere. Consequently, my faith went downward, afterwards. I found myself in the whirl of decadent lifestyle and sin. In despair I visited a couple time the Baptist Community where I was told that in ordered to be saved I didn’t need to be baptized. However they couldn’t respond to some crucial questions.

Allah helped me again: I met another Muslim student, Omar from Yemen who helped me. He was a very devoted believer and worshiped God above all. He obtained the necessary literature that I started reading in order to understand Islam. He taught me how to pray to God and show my gratitude to Him, how to avoid sin, how to show respect to parents, brothers and sisters in faith. He was the witness of my declaration of faith – Shahada, and took me to my first visit of a mosque. My heart was filled with calm and balance. I was sure that I found the truth while many live in a self-deception. I was sad, because most of my relatives are non-Muslims, however I was grateful to Allah for my new direction and felt His blessing.

Alhamdulillah (thank God), I accepted Islam when I became 18. I still remember that feeling when I declared my faith - Shahada, I remember myself trembling and worried while learning its words and the following tranquility and self-fulfillment after spelling them. What joy and pleasure I witnessed in the eyes of my new brothers in faith! God blessed me! Many times afterwards, Allah showed me the accuracy and consistency of this miracle and that how right was my decision, strengthening this way my faith.

Alhamdulillah, thank God the following three years I had the opportunity to live with devoted Muslims, learning from them, understanding and accepting them. My life changed completely since that moment. Inshallah (God willing) my faith stays strong. I ask and pray to The Only God (Allah) that in Slovakia and Czech Republic more people could find the truth, hoping that my relatives could find this blessing, too. O Allah, please, may Your rewards and blessings pass over all those brothers that helped me finding the truth!

Bandar Brano from Slovakia (2004)

--ALHAMDULILLAH--