Mohammad Abdul Aziz

As I remember into my life, I can truly say at the start, Allah (Subhannahu Wa Taala) has really blessed my soul, Insha Allah. This is my feeling because Allah took me from the jungles of the streets in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and brought me to the Holy Land of Islam to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on December 2, 1987. Since I didn't know anything about the religion of Islam, I soon found out about it and the beautiful way of life the Muslims had, such as no alcohol, no bars, no disco's, no drugs, very little crime, and the penalty system that I agree with 100%. After working in Taif, Saudi Arabia my first three years, I read a few books on Islam and observed the traditions and customs of the Muslims with much delight.
In 1987, when I first reported to work, a Saudi military worker who I had contact with everyday, named Fawzi Al-Kamal, asked me, did I know anything about Islam. My remarks to this question was "I am too old to change to another religion." That I was a Christian for 49 years and it was too late for me change in this stage of my life. As I thought, but Allah had better plans for me that I later discovered and now realized that Allah guided me to this Holy Land of Muslims for a definite reason. It was not about just to make money and to enjoy my life, but to learn about the truth and the true religion of Islam. Of course I had known about or had seen a little portion of the nation of Islam on TV in the United States about the Muslims whom I did not want to associate with since their concept was, that to be a Muslim, you could not be white and that it was only for Afro-Americans. I couldn't buy that philosophy and that's why I never paid anymore attention to the religion of Islam, because my belief was that God created all human beings regardless of color race or creed to join His religion for His praise and worship only and that's what I found in Islam.
On the other hand, I really didn't pay that much attention to my religion of Catholicism anymore, because I could not come to any logical concept that there were three gods in one, even though there was only one God. So I stopped attending church service altogether and some how kept God to myself and in my heart. In my early teens years in the 1950's, I sensed that there was a higher being than man since the beauty of creation, the birds, the mountains, the arrangement of the stars in the sky, the many phases of the moon and the rising and setting of the sun. The majesty of their appearance fascinated my imagination and I just knew that man could not possibly create or be the master of these wonders. This was a mystery to me that I always pondered about in my everyday thinking. I believed in one God, but I didn't know much about religion since my family was not practicing any type of religion and I never attended any churches in my early youth before the age of 14.
As time went on, I became involved with many bad characters in my life circle, but I was never influenced by their bad conducts because I knew right from wrong at an earlier age. I knew that I didn't want to wind up in jail or be involved in any crimes or anything like it, so I never participated with any gangs or hung out with bad people, even though I grew up around them and was in their circles of life many times. When I was of legal age to enlist in the U.S. Military forces, I immediately signed up with the United States Air Force after graduation from high school, June 7, 1956, I was 18 years old. From that day onward my life became a struggle in my trials in life to test my fortitude and patience and other good virtues that I had little of and you could say my life at that time was a failure. I had a drinking problem with alcohol and a few cases of bad marriages. But my life was not entirely lost since Allah saved me from further snares of satan who is my avowed enemy. Deep in my heart, I always felt that I never wanted to treat anyone bad or do any harm to anyone and what I preferred to see was a world to be a peaceful habitation for all human beings. I soon found out that this was an impossible reality because of man's ignorance toward their fellow beings and no morals in worshipping a divine power with little or no sincere feelings at all. I also discovered that this was a hypocritical world we live in since man's words are only talk, without sincere meanings. It always appeared from the beginning of time and even to this day that the strong will always try to take advantage upon the weak, and figuratively speaking, "a dog eat dog world."
I learned a lot from my experiences in my travels and since being a member of the United States Air Force and meeting different people and adopting certain customs in many countries. I always felt that something was still missing in my life, I wasn't happy. It seemed I was still searching for a missing connection in my life that I knew one day I would find. I wanted to know why I was born, and who am I, and what my purpose in this life was. Then after embracing Islam on November 26th 1990, finally I found out all the answers to my questions and about myself and life in general. Islam brought me out from the darkness and into the light. My life was completely changed 360 degrees to an upright obedient servant of Allah Subhanhu Wa Taala. I now have a meaningful goal to pursue, and that is to follow the glorious road to the kingdom of heaven and that one day (In Sha Allah), I pray that on the day of Judgement I will be able to meet my creator. This is the reason I strongly believe that life has only one meaning, and that is a movement toward a definite end, which is Allah Subhanhu Wa Taala.