Tauheed

Questions by : ahmad awwah
Answers by : tauheed

Q: assalamualaikum
A: walaikumaslaam

Q: dear brother I wanted to ask some questions to you for armughan urdu monthly magazine.
A: yes Brother, maulana told me about this. He asked me to stay back for the interview.

Q: please introduce your family background.
A: I was born in the year 1984 to Verma family in Shehvar distt. Of M.P. , I was named Dharmendra. While in school I befriended two muslim brothers – Shehzad and Azad despite of my family being staunch hindus and party to bajrangdal, shiv sena and sanatan dharma.

Q: tell us about how you came into islam.
A: there is a hadith saying that in the course of day and night there is a moment when, whatever you ask for is granted. My story is all about that moment.
I would often accompany those muslim boys to their home and eat with them. Whenever I would dine with them, it was a single plate that three of us shared. We were great friends and very fond of each other.
Once shezad’s father and mine got into a heated argument over some land issue since we were neighbouring farmers. While they were in the midst of the quarrel, Shehzad’s mother said, “you grown ups are fighting so fiercly and these kids, your sons are such good friends.” Addressing my father she said, “your son eats with us , drinks from the same glass of our son”; hearing which my father left for home. But he was not to sit silently. He scolded and beat me up badly saying you have eaten meat, your mouth ought be burnt for it. I retorted in anger saying, “you cannot stop me from going there. I’ll runaway from this house and become a muslim.”
I believe it was this moment that was destined to change my life for ever.
My dad was very angry on my befriending the muslim and so he started narrating stories of mughal emperors, mahmood ghaznavi’s and their tortures and barbarism to him to create hatred in his mind which ultimately bore fruits and he set out to join various anti-muslim schemes and programmes.
The familiarity towards muslims that had developed in my childhood days however did not leave me and wherever I worked I found a muslim friend.
While I was working in Bhopal, I befriended this guy named Waseem whom I would join for lunch and iftaar as well during Ramzan. There were times when people from Jamaat would come and talk on themes of After life , jannat and Dozakh (Heaven and Hell). It really had an impact on me and I would often listen with great interest wearing the handkerchief on my head.
Due to certain reasons I had to leave that job. I went to another factory and as luck may have it, found another friend called Javed who would take me home for iftaar. I would watch him offering Namaz after iftaar. One day, he said to me, : even you will have to die some day, you must also offer namaaz, embrace Islam” , to which I angrily replied that you are feeding me to convert? Javed politely said that it is out of love and I am telling you thing of benefit.
A few days back, I fell terribly ill and had to leave the factory due to long absence. In the same factory was Gita whom I called Gita Didi, meaning it sincerely. When I told her about Javed’s request, she asked me to accept. “islam is the true religion, the girls in my neighbourhood tell me about what will happen after death and they also read to me the interviews of the reverts from the armughan urdu magazine. You must also embrace islam and then do call me in. please don’t forget me my brother.”
I had called Gita didi in Noida where I was now working but my manager did not like it, he took it otherwise and fired me from the job. Gita did had returned to her home but left with me the decision that I had to become muslim now!
I joined another factory and met Sharif. I told him I wanted to become a muslim so he asked me to meet the Imam, when I went to the mosque and saw many people performing wudhu I dared not to enter and sat at the gate for three hours. Next day, I again went there in the evening and waited for the Imam. On knowing my motive of embracing islam he asked me to come on Thursday and then on Friday. Where Jamaat members had come. They asked me , my whereabouts, phone numbers and why I wanted to be a Muslim?
I said just like that. They did not take me seriously, since I had no reasons to explain and I did not like that. I kept asking people where is that Muslims live in large number nearby Noida. I came to know its Okhla and planned to go there. Coincidentally, Jamaat from Okhla came to Noida and my friend introduced me to them as a convert. They took me along for a 40 day Jamaat after my consent which I readily gave since I wanted to become a muslim so desperately. I sold off my watch and gold ring for the expenditure. We went to Sonepat and my companions mistook me for CID because I was habitual of making telephone calls every now and then. They discussed amongst themselves that I should not continue with them. One of them who was mureed of Maulan mohd. Kaleem Siddiqui Sb. Said, “ there is no need to fear when we our doing nothing wrong.” But until Maulana Sb. Himself took the responsibility on phone saying , “please keep him with you as if he was my son and I am responsible for whatever he does”; they settled down and kept me.
I was asked to meet Maulana Sb. In Okhla. The day came after much wait and finally when I met him, I told that nobody has converted me to Islam yet. He explained me the kalma and asked me to recite it. He also gave me a book to read and on my request named me “Tauheed”.

Q: what happened after that?
A: Next day a few people of my district came over and asked Maulana send me along for with them so that we could work on family members. I was sent with them and then one day few people from my village saw me. They came upto me and told me that people in my village knew that I have converted to Islam, we are afraid there may be fight over the issue. They advised me to leave and so I came back to Phulat. There I said to Maulana that I had taken allegiance to live according to the tradition of the Prophet but I have not circumcised which is also a sunnah.
The very next day many of us underwent the operation and except me and another guy everyone healed. The infection was severe in my case and I suffered from fever as well. Some people started relating to me incidents of death in few cases but I was not scared and expressed my desire to die while practicing the traditions of the beloved Prophet.
Soon I was cured and then again took an oath of allegiance.

Q: What about Gita didi?
A: her family wanted to marry her off but she wanted to become a muslim. She went to a lot of people but none helped her out of fear. Her family engaged her to a drunkard and gambler, the marriage was to be ceremonised in the mass wedding. She gave me a call and requested me to take her away. I was free only on Sundays but her marriage was on Saturday. She went around to many muslim men saying she wanted to embrace Islam but nobody paid heed to it and so in the end, she resorted to suicide. She kept saying, “death is a better option than living like this;” and “my Allah Himself will make me a muslim.”
I got to know all this on reaching Bhopal, that Sunday and it’s a wound that would never heal in my lifetime. Just to save my job I did such a crime! May Allah forgive me my sins.

Q: Where did you settle after all this?
A: I was sent to Haryana, kept looking for a job when I got an offer from a factory but which I strongly refused to.
I could starve but not let go off the sunnah of my beloved Prophet.
Then I finally got a job in another factory where by God’s grace and my hard work I was made supervisor. The fellow workers did not like it. One day I found 5 Rupees on the ground and since I learnt from the jamaat I spent time with, one should announce it and let it reach to the one it belongs to, I put up a notice. The fellows provoked the manager and I had to leave the job.

Q: how do you feel after embracing islam?
A: I love everything about Islam, every Sunnah of the Prophet is dearer to me than my life. I have set my hairstyle according to his and love to see it in the mirror.
Once I went to the tailor to get my kurta stitched. He asked me which side do I want my pocket? A hafiz Sb. Was accompanying me at that time I put the question to him and he did not know; I asked Maulana Sb. And he said he would let me know after research. Maulana went for umrah. I gave him a call there and asked him to pray for me and tell me which side to get the pockets stitched? He had asked many a scholars but no satisfactory answer could be found. Till date I have not got my kurta stitched and will not get it done until it falls in line with the tradition of the Prophet.

Q: did you contribute to Da’wah field?
A: Alhamdulillah I have and how do you think its possible that I will not after all I have joined Maulana Sb. I have spread the message to many a fellow workers in the factory and they accepted Islam. Today as well I am traveling to Jhanjhana, there are a few villages. Inshallah by day after I will teach them the kalma. Guidance is His Holy Hand. But He blesses our efforts.

Q: Message for Armughan readers?
A: whatelse? It is for them to interpret the signs of God that when he can bestow someone of the background as mine with so much love of prophet’s tradition, then the innocent people who are a majority in the world, why will they not understand the message of Islam and why will they not love the messenger of Islam? We must keep trying.

A: thank you.