INTRODUCTION
In The Name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful
Peace be on our Prophet who was sent as mercy for Mankind, the Master of all creatures and Messengers, Abi Al Qassem Mohammad and his pure and chaste Household.
Since the very beginning, when the Prophet of Mercy - Al Mustafa Al Amjad (Peace be upon him and his Household) - made public the call for Islam - the religion of righteousness and guidance - following the orders of his Lord who armed him with the honor and power of faith and made him high hold the banner of jihad to raise the word of Allah Al Mighty on Earth, Allah forcefully and decisively supported his steps towards the predestined goal which is achieving victory over the enemies of Allah and humanity and establishing the pillars of Islam and its colossal edifice. This is made clear by the noble Ayah:{ It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate others with Allah dislike it} .
Following the victorious conquer of Holy Mecca, people started embracing Islam in groups; no soon did Islam grow strong and mighty. Tribes, peoples, and states - known historically for their might and tyranny - fully accepted Islam. It was also greatly welcomed by many peoples from around the world who found in it a savor from the yoke of oppression and servitude. All evidences and given that depend in their conclusions on the strong-woven doctrine of Islam, the vitality of its codes and regulations, the strength of its influence on the souls, and its capability to polarize give the impression and enforce the conviction that the religion of Islam must have manifested itself more over the various prevalent doctrines, religions, and social systems. It must be more spread among peoples and places, and it must have a more positive influence and presence in all the general domains and the courses of global events and civilized developments. However, the faithful believers have drunk the bitter glass of sorrows since the early ages - with the emergence of dangerous perversities that led to preventing the people of righteousness and the proper method from occupying the positions Allah had entitled them to - meaning the leadership of Muslims. The bitter taste remained the drink of the following generations over the consecutive ages and the successive rules of perverse leaders except for few. These leaders had many a time exploited the power they usurped for worldly profits and interests for themselves and for their followers and men; perversions were deeper, and weakness and feebleness spread in the body of the nation and the countries of Muslims leading to this state of great degeneration which was exploited by the enemies who were seeking the opportunity to tear the nation apart and tighten their control on it. Nevertheless, the elements of strength in Islam are perpetual, and they are represented in its tolerant doctrine and the biography of its faithful men and in the brilliant, intellectual, scientific, and cultural achievements made by Muslim scholars that have imposed themselves even on the western controllers becoming among the pillars of their modern scientific and intellectual renaissance. In fact, many fair western scholars and men of intellect have acknowledged that; furthermore, some well known westerners have expressed their great admiration of Islam and its Prophet (Peace be upon him and his Household) as well as its regulations and codes which - in their view - address all the crises and negative aspects of the western civilization.
Thanks to the contributions of these men of intellect and the efforts of the activists and callers in Islamic communities in western and other countries, a procession of conversion to Islam started marching with quick accelerating steps surpassing all obstacles represented first in the deep influences of the materialistic western civilization that glorifies religious dissolution and sanctifies immoral conduct in the name of individual freedom, and second, in the incessant media, cultural, and political campaigns that aim at distorting the image of Islam and Muslims with the goal of besieging the phenomenon of conversion to Islam that is growing in the West.
Still, western countries and cities witness on daily basis the conversion of many men and women of various religious and intellectual origins and diversified cultural and social classes to Islam who by declaring their Islam wrap their voyage of discovering the true religion that satisfies their minds and soothes their souls. They find in the doctrine of Islam the convincing answers to their questions on the existence and The Creator and the relation of man with Him that harmonizes with the sound human instinct. They also seek and find in it factual solutions for many social, psychological, and spiritual troubles that western societies suffer from.
Figures speak about the great number of these converts to Islam. In some countries, they are tens of thousands; in others, they are hundreds of thousands; and in one of the major countries their number has become over one million. Most of these converts perform their religious duties with great enthusiasm and much care, and many of them have become callers who mastered the language of communication with their environment and societies making great influence and considerably enriching the presence of Muslims and Islam in their countries.
To shed light on this valuable international Islamic phenomenon that asserts the integrity of this religion and its brilliant presence in all squares while equally highlighting the persistence of the divine promise of the manifestation of Islam on all religions and doctrines when Allah Al Mighty permits Imam Mahdi, His great Caliph on Earth, to achieve this complete and absolute manifestation, and with the sake of introducing vital and real samples of these brothers and sisters who accepted the religion of Allah with content and conviction, the Islamic cultural magazine, Noor Al Islam , which is issued by Imam Hussein Foundation in Beirut since 1988 up till now, insists in specifying in each of its issues an article entitled« Welcome to Islam « in which it presents a special interview or the story of one of these new men or women who were guided to Islam in the various countries and continents. The new convert would introduce us to his identity, environment, and religious and intellectual background and talk about the reasons and circumstances that led him to the new religion and his experience in his quest for the facts latent in it and which drew him to be convinced and actually to embrace Islam. Mostly, he would mention the difficulties he faced in his path and how he controlled them while trusting in Allah Al Mighty. Then he would talk about his contribution to the call to Islam in his environment while giving his viewpoint and remarks to this effect.
To spread the benefit and in response to the hopes of some brethrens working in the domain of the call to Islam (May Allah support them), Imam Hussain Foundation had decided to gather these richly emotional interviews and stories and present them in a way that facilitates reading them all to fill with joy the hearts of these who are happy with seeing the guidance of Islam and its brilliant light that radiates everywhere. It also aids the heart of everyone who aches when seeing these falling in the abyss of corruption and perversion, for these new converts who come to the bosom of Islam and faith willingly and consciously from antagonistic or opposite backgrounds are strong evidences on corrupt Muslims. Perhaps the stories of the former would be a moral to the latter that would awaken their consciences and enlighten their hearts.
Allah’s content is all what we seek, and Him we seek for assistance.
Imam Hussain Foundation