From Islam to Christianity
My name is Ahmad Mustafa Abaza, the son of the famous business man Mustafa Abaza from the Abaza family, the most famous family in Egypt that play an important role in the economy and politics in Egypt and in the Middle Eastern Arabic countries. I have found the light of God finally and became one of Jesus Christ's witnesses on his miracles in my life and many others.
This testimony I write to those who are earnestly searching for the truth
and in response to the invitation of God, the Truth Himself. I responded to
the call of Christ to carry my cross without fear of what I would face by
leaving my earthily religion. Was it the Lord who said “Do not fear of those
who kill the body? I followed the Lord carrying my cross knowing that in the
Cross of Christ, I will find not only my salvation but also my strength and
it is the road to his kingdom. In the Cross we have eternal life, virtue,
sanctification and the source of day to day abundant life. Carrying the
cross, no matter how hard it is, will lead my way to the eternal peace which
I longed for all my life. Think of all the saints and martyrs of
Christianity. Had any of them lived without carrying his cross? Was it easy
to do so? But look how the eternal peace flowed from their faces as they
face torture and death. Even the Lord of glory himself lived through pain
every minute of his life on earth. “For Christ also must suffer and die then
rise from the grave……..
Thus if we suffer with Him we shall reign with him also. When we follow Christ in his suffering we will share with him in his glory. What a blessed thought!!.Should we ask then for a life of complacency and comfort here? Or could there be any joy and comfort without Jesus on this earth? Of course not!.
My friend! Be prepared to receive Christ knowing that this world which hated your savior and Lord will hate you also. “The servant is not better than his master”. The lord Jesus carried his cross and suffering because his love to you and me. Should I refuse to carry my cross for Him? Be ready my friend to carry you cross and follow Him knowing that the suffering of this world ………
Respond to his call “if anybody loves me…………
I say the truth before heaven and earth, telling only a part of what I have to go through after I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and have been freed from the darkness of religion.
I do not know what crime I have committed when I accepted Jesus as my Lord. Is it a crime to receive freedom after imprisonment? Or to receive light after living in darkness? Is’nt it the right of every human to search for the truth, to learn, to think to know and to speak? Would anybody listen to my cry and give me an answer??
Let us go back in history to meet the unlearned young nomad who lacked in love and humanity, and who called himself a prophet. Let us review what he said in his book which he claimed to be inspired by the “merciful god” who has no mercy. This book which intends to burry the human brains in old fables and false imaginations. This book which talks about freedom of faith on one hand and urge the Muslims to fight and kill nonbelievers on the other hand. Let me share with you one chapter from the prosecution and suffering which I have faced after confessing Christ as my God and Savior in the presence of my family.
I shall share with you only one chapter which would expose the corruption of Islamic rules in my beloved country Egypt, which was called “blessed” by our God. These rulers who use religion for their own benefit and are scared of truth but love lies, who reject the right and follow the wrong. Those who pretend to be pure and godly while their goal is to govern at any cost. They are willing to kill their followers, their brothers, and even their children to reach their goal making the remains of the faithful the bridges to walk over to their goals.
I cry with a loud voice” it is time to use our minds to study and analyze” to reach courageous conclusion and to present the truth, the plain truth. I can surely say that the road to search for the truth is not easy, and only brave men and women would be willing to go through it. (The Lord names it the narrow road). I am humbled to confess that the Lord has honored me by making me one of those who was looking for the truth at any cost
And although the light which I carry is feeble, its oil my tears. Even after my tears dry up, my heart will send its blood to replace them. It is only Jesus, the Truth himself, kept giving me the victory.
After I accepted Christ as my savior, and after I took off my old clothes and put on Christ, I continued to live among my beloved family. I prayed and cried to the Lord to give me courage, strength, and wisdom that I may bring happiness to my family and that they may receive the light, life, and truth. I started talking to them gradually. Sometimes they ignore me. Other times the threatened me. Several times they called me crazy and threatened me. The Holy Spirit in me continued to prompt me to talk to my family despite their ridicule to me. To my surprise I never became angry at them despite their attitude towards me. In January 1987, I was able with the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome the satanic spirit in my father and brother and was able to announce to them that I became a Christian and that I have one God and one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ.
My beloved father (who will remain my beloved the rest of my life) continued to ridicule me and call me names on one hand and try to bribe in the other hand to convince me to denounce Christ. I never denied my Lord .How could I turn back to darkness after receiving the Light? My father called the family council to meet to discuss this dangerous and very important matter which will reflect on the family name and its social status (as he called it). In this meeting were present my uncles Dr M.A. the ex. Minster of Hydro Egypt, F. A. the famous writer and historian, Th. A. the beloved of all, and W. A. the wealthy business man an famous car dealer. Also were present my father M. A. and my brother R. A. The women had no say in this serious meeting. Discussion started between my beloved and educated family quietly. After a little while it turned to screams and mutual accusations. My beloved father was in hot water because of the family’s honor. My father turned on me because I was the one who placed him in this position. The meeting ended up without decision. The family delegated my father to deal with me and work on restoring the family’s honor. However I have noticed the silence of my uncle F. who seamed convinced with my answers. Suddenly my father stood in the middle of the room and vowed to solve this problem from its roots, even if he had to kill me and burry me in his garden. First he denied my son ship saying that I am a bastard. In the next few weeks our house turned to hell. This house which was filled with false peace and love, was turned upside down showing its real face when it was exposed to the light of Christ. The darkness could not withstand the light.
My father started following the tricks of his maser to turn me back to Islam. He brought Sheikh El Shaarawy to convince me. (I recorded our discussions in a booklet, which will be published soon), with no results. Then he tried to bribe me with presents and promises. This also failed. Then he started using his last resource, which are the threat and the torture.
My beloved father started beating me with his hands, which, used to be my resting place for my little head when I was a child. These hands which presented to me the symbol of strength and protection. These hands which I loved to kiss to prove my love and respect to my father. Now these hands became the tools of torture. These hands which used to carry the expensive cigars which became my fathers tool to threat me. This cigar which have entered the history similar to the sword of Mohamed who killed all his opposition.
Mercy didn’t know way to my beloved father’s heart, he burnt my body –me, his son- no for mercy, yes for cruelty, yes to contempt the others, torturing them under the name of Islam, and for the sake of Islam. Unreal slogans to gain money, to keep authority and chairs, where is the real fatherhood in my fathers’ heart.
My father despaired of me, some times he was breaking anything next to him, even the valuable things, he turned to a monster…. he lost his beloved son …. He allowed his devil to steal the best meaning in this world from his heart –the sacred fatherhood- he was pleased to hang me by chains, torturing me sometimes by electricity, and by iron in another’s, his voice was raising priding with my torment and misery. But if he tried to kill the body, the soul is still alive with Jesus, still beats and cheers saying “glory to the Lord”.
Believe me, I know you’ll understand me, these torments, no matter how painful they are, II received them with joy, because He too –Our Jesus Christ- suffered for us.
My father and my brother, kept using this tactic till my body collapsed, full of wounds and injuries, and turned to a dead body, but my soul was clinging to hope and trust in God.
Full four months, fever got my body, but couldn’t get my soul –I don’t like here to speak a lot about these merciless pains I faced in my family’s home, but when I remember and think in these events, I can’t believe or imagine –despite I lived with all of it- how can I imagine my father pleased to torture me, and his laughs were raising to fill the whole palace when hearing my shouting and yelling because of much pain and wounds, how can I imagine my beloved father screaming to deny me, shouting that death is better for me than bringing a scandal for the family. He, my beloved father, who was lavishing on us everything in this world, even the most expensive things, now he is resisting everyone, refusing their requests, specially my mother, to mercy me, he even was not concerned with their petitions and their tears to bring me a doctor to bandage my bleeding wounds.
How can I imagine my beloved father, cruel, missing the sacred fatherhood for some vain worldly whims, it is not new, he followed his master, Mohammed from Korish, who sacrificed his sons to the devil, who gave Aesha as a sacrifice, how can I imagine a father with no mercy, no humanity, no feelings.
Dear father, who gave yourself easily to the devil, who tried to kill your beloved son, I love you from my deep heart, I love you for ever, and when you read these words, you’ll know one day what means these words “love never fails”.
After my body collapsed with fever, and wounded, my father left me with no mercy to die, and stayed watching me dying, torturing me with his cigar and beating me with a strap. He left me dying, but my mother didn’t, she left all her engagements to stay near to me, her soul was close to mine, trying to console my soul. The greatest condolences were from God, who talked to me, and showed me many revelations (all of these will be published in another book called “How I learned in the ways of Christ” to be published soon”.
At the night of July 13, 1987, the night I will never forget, God glorified and raised my weak, poor body, asking me to move, I looked at him saying “I can’t my Lord”, “he said: wake up, give me your hands”, and with his blessed hands I held and a great power revived my dead body. It was the day I escaped from the palace of captivity, from my family house, the place where I spent 19 years, 3 months, and 17 days with my beloved family.
I put my hands on the steering wheel, but I didn’t know where to go, which road to go through, and with no thinking I found myself knocking Professor. (G.M.)’s door, who hugged me with a deep passion; I missed this feeling for more than 7 months.
Days and months went with peace and freedom at my Professor’s home, but my father’s soul appeared again in another shape, this time they were the guards of Islamic guards who don’t sleep for one hour, they are like soldiers, their mission is only to destroy the truth, entomb the right, and assassinate any idea opposes their thinking. This day I’ll never forget too, how much horrible it was, how much painful it was for my doctor’s family, I lived to that day as a beloved son, and welcomed guest in Dr. (G.M.) house, but on this day, when he opened the door, he knew the comers from their faces, despite that he welcomed them and faced them with confidence and love, but they ignored his gentle treatment. I asked them what they want. The officer answered me with cunning and devious “Ahmed Bye, we need to talk… but not here, your father is sick and dying and he asked to see you, I looked at him with tearful eyes saying “give me five minutes and I’ll be with you”. Actually I entered my room to pray and to ask God to lead me, I decided to go but my Professor followed me to the room and I felt he wants me not to go, not to believe those people, he read my intention, then he hugged me and cried. This was the last time to see these tears and this kind man. I said to the officer “let’s go”. At the door I looked at my Professor and I hugged him again, I wished if I could stay in his hug forever, I put in his pocket a piece of paper asking him to keep my belongings in a safe place. These were the books I found in my car after escaping from my family home, they are precious Islamic books, and very rare too. I don’t remember from where I got them, it seems I was reading them and left them one day in my car.
It was 2 O’clock when I reached the Public Security Building, there I found a Brigadier waiting to me with a false smile on his face and deep rage in his heart. Forgive me if I forget some of these events, many years passed, and I trained myself to forget all what behind specially these pains, it’s better to look ahead, towards the aim as St. Paul, the Apostle taught me.
The trip of suffering and torments started and lasted for 17 months with Public Security men, those people who cover themselves with the name of religion, everyday I had a visitor, a sheikh, various committees from Al Azhar, many faces, famous names to advice me, and to get me back, they tried a lot of friendly ways, tried to tempt me to obey them, to fulfill their job and to get the charge from my family, but they fizzled out.
And because of their failure and disappointing with me during the first three months, I was surprised with two soldiers and an officer with furious, and boiling faces are opening my cell’s door (which was some how luxurious than the other cells), I understood that they will torture me. I was horrified when I saw how many tools they use. Thick canes of bamboo, tormented a lot of innocent bodies, these canes fell on my body accompanied with a lot of curses, and abuses, I got a beat on my knee, then I fell on the ground yelling “Oh, Jesus, the great lord”, when they heard that, they boiled and stormed me with a lot of beats, I didn’t feel them, I found myself hung by my legs to the ceiling, like a sacrifice, and my eyes glared at the ceiling, and I’m yelling. I can’t account how long I spent in this condition, and the soldiers are happy to abuse my body, as if it is shouting “hey, Islam is the right way, you faithless”.
I don’t know how many days I spent suffering and wounded, I waked up to find that they replaced the luxurious cell with a dungeon, like a dog cage, contains a small pail of water, and another to pee in.
Two soldiers came and took me to another Brigadier’s office; I entered bounded to see Sheikh Shaarawi catching his beads, looking at me in hatred and contempt. This wasn’t the first time to meet this famous Sheikh, I met him over 12 times as I remember, but this time was different, he was looking at me as an enemy not as an advisor, I saw his real face which I already know very well since I was a child. This Sheikh, who sold himself to the devil, he did the same like his great, double faced, Sheikh Abu Horayra, his master and his teacher too. Sheikh Shaarawi who is a drunken man, who was addicted to wine and pretty young women. This Sheikh who was an easy tool for the Public Security hands, this Sheikh I need a lot of books to tell you about him, to unveil all his secrets, his shameful stories.
Thanks God, there are still some people who know the real face of this Sheikh, and one day they will tell all the truth about him. My father and my brother too, even his son “Sami Shaarawi”, and most of the employees in his farm at El Mariouteya, one day they will say the truth.
More than 150 Christians slaved by this sheikh and his net, they were captured under pressure, by disgracing their daughters, by invention false offences against them, and many other ways to get Jesus’ followers, and capture them to obey their desires, and to execute their targets.
The great witness for all of these deeds, are the men of Public Security, who covered all of these offences, and blessed it. There are many files with hundred secrets for this Sheikh and his net, which was established to abuse poor Christians and to change their faith.
I believe that the history is always honest, as he showed all the secrets of Mohammed and his Koran, and his missionary, one day he will do the same and open all the files of Shaarawi, and spread his papers everywhere to tell his secrets for everybody.
It’s time for slack minds which lie in the spot of corruption, it’s time to liberate from this captivity, to break the rails of prison, the rails put by Mohammed to slave these minds inside it, and be sure that you will repeat his words when he conquered Mecca, you’ll say like him “the virtue has come, the evil has left”. Forgive me if I disturbed you by this marginal speech, I feel this is the subject’s core.
The visits of Shaarawi didn’t produce anything, this one, and the others, didn’t serve their aims. I know that all of these visits were charged by the President himself; he sent me the Secretariat of his office and the Secretary of his office for Religious Affairs and others like the secretary of my father’s office, the secretary of my uncle’s office (M.A.), or even the visit of my uncle (Th.A.) himself which ended his visit with tears when he didn’t recognize me, either his sight has weakened or my look have mangled.
I hoped to see my father coming to see me, but this was just a wish. Anyway thanks God (glory be to Him) he gave me all this power to overcome this world and all of these trials to flex me, all these visits didn’t produce any success for the enemy, and victory was for Jesus.
Many of the prison keepers became my friends after they have understood what it means to be faithful to the truth despite the increasing torture. They told me about the hundreds or may be thousands whom they have witnessed tortured for the sake of Christ. These dear souls are filling the Egyptian prisons and suffering from sickness, pain, and torture. Why? So that their bodies and blood would act as the bridges for the unjust to reach to higher places in authority.
Seventeen months has passed. Christ was my only companion in my prison. His closeness was sufficient to shorten this period for me despite my suffering. The prayers of the saints were my support. I felt the real presence of my Lord and was comforted. In his time I was released from prison to see the sun for the first time after seventeen months. By the grace of god I was able to summarize my experience, my conversations with the Lord, and his great comforts in a book “How I learned in the ways of Christ” (to be published soon). In another book, I will share about the period when I was baptized, the period I have spent in the monastery in the Egyptian desert, and how I fled from my beloved country hidden inside a container, as well as other precious memories.
And to my loved ones who are protectors of Islam and keepers of the satanic inspired book through Mohamed of Korish, to them I say “the time has come for the whole world to know the truth about Islam. The time has come to face our Muslim friends and tell them “enough killing, enough torturing the innocent”. The time has come to cry in their faces we want the full freedom and not part of it. Release the prisoners for their faith. It is time to remove the dirt from the history books and purify the minds from that shameful period of time.
My call to every free writer and free thinker to turn his eyes towards Egypt and see the crimes against human rights. I cry to all human right societies around the world. “We need a courageous stand and a living conscience to save the Egyptian Christians, who are treated as infidels, From the Islamic tyrants. I challenge the human right societies to inspect the Egyptian prisons, police stations, and state security agents against Christians to verify my claims.