Portal of Hope

"Come, come again, whoever you are, come!
Heathen, fire worshipper or idolatrous, come!
Come even if you broke your penitence a hundred times,
Ours is the portal of hope, come as you are."

~ from: 'Turkey: A Primary Source Cultural Guide' (2004) by Martha Kneib. "This poem is wrongly considered to be Rumi's work, it is actually from Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr. The original poem in Farsi is باز آ باز آ هر آنچه هستی باز آ گر کافر و گبر و بت‌پرستی باز آ این درگه
"ما درگه "نومیدی نیست صد بار اگر توبه شکستی باز آ

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"Having served in the British army, I ended up in prison because I made the wrong choices in life. It was no one else’s fault, not my parents, not societies, it was all mine, therefore I was In-prisoned for a very long time.

Whist in custody, a friend of mine called ‘Daz’, Embraced Islam and we all began to see a massive change in him. He usually had a fiery character and he was always up to stuff, however this all began to stop after he accepted Islam, so much so that he even tried to get me to attend Friday prayers with him, however at that time, I said no.

Eventually after weeks of nagging, I agreed to go with him to prayers in order to see what all the fuss was about. I remember going into the little room at the back of the prison library that was our designated prayer room. There were not that many Muslims in prison at that time, but I still felt as though I was coming home when I stepped into the room.

I remember everyone embracing me they said “as salaam alaykum”. All of them asked if was going to except Islam, but I told them ‘no not yet’ though I knew this was a lie, I was kidding myself and I felt as though I had always belonged here, although it felt right, I was still hesitant.

Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! The call to prayer began and the hairs on my neck stood to attention, by the time the brother got to hayya as salah! I was sure this was right for me. The imam led the prayers and I listened to his words, not knowing what he was saying, but somehow feeling what he was saying, it’s strange but true. I knew I was going to walk away different, as the experience was too much. Allah reached out to me in that room behind the wire and walls of that high security prison and for the first time in a long time, I was free.

After I had taken my shahada, everyone hugged me and then one of the brothers shouted “takbir”and the rest replied “Allah Akbar” it was truly an amazing experience. That day I was shown how to pray and there timings. I was then shown how to wash. That evening, alone in my cell, I performed my first solo prayer to Allah and I’ve never looked back.

After been released from Prison, I was introduced to the Dewsbury New Muslim Project, in which they became a valuable support network in my transmission from prison to the outside world. I also started a prison project to help those who had reverted to Islam in prison. I also involved myself in the various courses on offer at a local Islamic centre. This year, I start a 3 year course in Islamic Sciences. I am really looking forward to doing this course as the centre and its tutors are welcoming and very approachable. I am looking forward to going back to basics and learning about our beloved messenger of God Muhammad (Saw). I was also recently married at the centre and looking forward to my future as a Muslim Dad."
~ Brother Muhammad Amin, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, UK