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True Life Story of Chaplain Yusuf Estes
Former Christian &
Federal Prison Chaplain.
How It Happened
My name is Yusuf Estes and
I am the National Muslim Chaplain for American Muslims, sponsored by a
number of organizations here in Washington, DC. As such, I travel around
the entire world lecturing and sharing the message of the Christ of the
Quran in Islam. We hold dialogs and discussion groups with all faiths and
enjoy the opportunity to work alongside of rabbis, ministers, preachers and
priests everywhere. Most of our work is in the institutional area,
military, universities and prisons. Primarily our goal is to educate and
communicate the correct message of Islam and who the Muslims really are.
Although Islam has grown now to tie Christianity as the largest of
religions on earth, we see many of those who claim Islam as Muslims, that
do not correctly understand nor properly represent the message of
"Peace, Surrender and Obedience to God" (Arabic = 'Islam').
Dear me, I am afraid that I
got a bit ahead of myself. I was trying to give a bit of background on my
own personal experience to see if it would in anyway benefit those who may
being going through what I experienced while trying to resolve some of the
issues in Christianity. This may seem quite strange, while we perhaps may
share a few different perspectives and concepts of God, Jesus, prophethood,
sin and salvation. But you see, at one time I was in the same boat as many
folks are today. Really, I was. Let me explain.
I was born into a very
strong Christian family in the Midwest. Our family and their ancestors not
only built the churches and schools across this land, but actually were the
same ones who came here in the first place. While I was still in elementary
we relocated in Houston, Texas in 1949 (I'm old). We attended church
regularly and I was baptized at the age of 12 in Pasadena, Texas. As a
teenager, I wanted to visit other churches to learn more of their teachings
and beliefs. The Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Charismatic
movements, Nazarene, Church of Christ, Church of God, Church of God in
Christ, Full Gospel, Agape, Catholic, Presbyterian and many more. I
developed quite a thirst for the "Gospel" or as we say;
"Good News." My research into religion did not stop with
Christianity. Not at all. Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Metaphysics, native
American beliefs were all a part of my studies. Just about the only one
that I did not look into seriously was "Islam". Why? Good
question.
Anyway, I became very
interested in different types of music, especially Gospel and Classical.
Because my whole family was religious and musical it followed that I too
would begin my studies in both areas. All this set me for the logical
position of Music Minister in many of the churches that I became affiliated
with over the years. I started teaching keyboard instruments in 1960 and by
1963 owned my own studios in Laurel, Maryland, called "Estes Music
Studios."
Over the next 30 years my
father and I worked together in many business projects. We had
entertainment programs, shows and attractions. We opened piano and organ
stores all the way from Texas and Oklahoma to Florida. I made millions of
dollars in those years, but could not find the peace of mind that can only
come through knowing the truth and finding the real plan of salvation. I'm
sure you have asked yourself the question; "Why did God create
me?" or "What is it that God wants me to do?" or
"Exactly who is God, anyway?" "Why do we believe in 'original
sin?" and "Why would the sons of Adam be forced to accept his
'sins' and then as a result be punished forever. But if you asked anyone
these questions, they would probably tell you that you have to believe
without asking, or that it is a 'mystery' and you shouldn't ask.
And then there is the
concept of the 'Trinity.' If I would ask preachers or ministers to give me
some sort of an idea how 'one' could figure out to become 'three' or how
God Himself, Who can do anything He Wills to do, cannot just forgive
people's sins, but rather and had to become a man, come down on earth, be a
human, and then take on the sins of all people. Keeping in mind that all
along He is still God of the whole universe and does as He Wills to do,
both in and outside of the universe as we know it.
Then one day in 1991, I
came to know that the Muslims believed in the Bible. I was shocked. How
could this be? But that's not all, they believe in Jesus as:
* a true messenger of God;
* prophet of God;
* miracle birth without human intervention;
* he was the 'Christ' or Messiah as predicted in the Bible;
* he is with God now and most important;
* He will be coming back in the Last Days to lead the
believers against the 'Antichrist.'
This was too much for me.
Especially since the evangelists that we used to travel around with all
hated Muslims and Islam very much. They even said things that were not true
to make people afraid of Islam. So, why would I want anything to do with
these people?
My father was very active
in supporting church work, especially church school programs. He became and
ordained minister in the 1970s. He and his wife (my stepmother) knew many
of the TV evangelists and preachers and even visited Oral Roberts and
helped in the building of the "Prayer Tower" in Tulsa, OK. They
also were strong supporters of Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker,
Jerry Fallwell, John Haggi and the biggest enemy to Islam in America, Pat
Robertson.
Dad and his wife worked
together and were most active in recording "Praise" tapes and
distributing them for free to people in retirement homes, hospitals and
homes for the elderly. And then in 1991 he began doing business with a man
from Egypt and told me that he wanted me to meet him. This idea appealed to
me when I thought about the idea of having an international flavor. You
know, the pyramids, sphinx, Nile River and all that. Then my father
mentioned that this man was a 'Moslem.'
I couldn't believe my ears.
A 'Moslem?'
No way!
I reminded my dad of the
various different things that we had heard about these people, how they are
-
Terrorists;
hijackers; kidnappers; bombers and who knows what else?
Not only that but:
They don't believe in God
They kiss the ground five
times a day and
They worship a black box in
the desert.
No!
I did not want to meet this
'Moslem' man. No way!
My father insisted that I
meet him and reassured me that he was a very nice person. So, I gave in and
agreed to the meeting.
But on my terms.
I agreed to meet him on a
Sunday after church so we would be all prayed up and in good standing with
the Lord. I would be carrying my Bible under my arm as usual. I would have
my big shiny cross dangling and I would have on my cap which says:
"Jesus is Lord" right across the front. My wife and two young
daughters came along and we were ready for our first encounter with the
'Moslems.'
When I came into the shop
and asked my father where the 'Moslem' was, he pointed and said: "He's
right over there."
I was confused. That
couldn't be the Moslem. No way.
I'm looking for a huge man
with flowing robes and big turban on his head, a beard half way down his
shirt and eyebrows that go all the way across his forehead.
This man had no beard. In
fact, he didn't even have any hair on his head at all. He was very close to
bald. And he was very pleasant with a warm welcome and handshake. This
didn't make sense. I thought they are terrorists and bombers. What is this
all about?
Never mind. I'll get right
to work on this guy. He needs to be 'saved' and me and the Lord are going
to do it.
So, after a quick introduction,
I asked him:
"Do you believe in God?"
He said:
"Yes."
(Good!)
Then I said:
"Do you believe in Adam and Eve?"
He said:
"Yes."
I said: "What about
Abraham? You believe in him and how he tried to sacrifice his son for
God?"
He said:
"Yes."
Then I asked:
"What about Moses?"
"Ten Commandments?"
"Parting the Red Sea?"
Again he said:
"Yes."
Then:
"What about the other prophets, David, Solomon and John
the Baptist?"
He said:
"Yes."
I asked:
"Do you believe in the Bible?"
Again, he said:
"Yes."
So, now it was time for the
big question:
"Do you believe in Jesus? That he was the Messiah
(Christ) of God?"
Again the said:
"Yes."
Well now:
"This was going to be easier than I had thought."
He was just about ready to
be baptized only he didn't know it.
And I was just the one to
do it, too.
I was winning souls to the
Lord day after day and this would be a big achievement for me, to catch one
of these 'Moslems' and 'convert' him to Christianity.
I asked him if he liked tea
and he said he did. So off we went to a little shop in the mall to sit and
talk about my favorite subject: Beliefs.
While we sat in that little
coffee shop for hours talking (I did most of the talking) I came to know
that he was very nice, quiet and even a bit shy. He listened attentively to
every word that I had to say and did not interrupt even one time. I liked
this man's way and thought that he had definite potential to become a good
Christian.
Little did I know the
course of events about to unravel in front of my eyes.
First of all, I agreed with
my father that we should do business with this man and even encouraged the
idea of him traveling along with me on my business trips across the
northern part of Texas. Day after day we would ride together and discuss
various issues pertaining to different beliefs that people have. And along
the way, I could of course interject some of my favorite radio programs of
worship and praise to help bring the message to this poor individual. We
talked about the concept of God; the meaning of life; the purpose of
creation; the prophets and their mission and how God reveals His Will to
mankind. We also shared a lot of personal experiences and ideas as well.
One day I came to know that
my friend Mohamed was going to move out of the home he have been sharing
with a friend of his and was going to be living in the mosque for a time. I
went to my dad and asked him if we could invite Mohamed to come out to our
big home in the country and stay there with us. After all, he could share some
of the work and some expenses and he would be right there when we were
ready to go to out traveling around. My father agreed and Mohamed moved in.
Of course I still would
find time to visit my fellow preachers and evangelists around the state of
Texas. One of them lived on the Texas -- Mexico border and another lived
near lived Oklahoma border. One preacher liked to a huge wooden cross that
was bigger than a car. He would carry it over his shoulder and drag the
bottom on the ground and go down the road or freeway hauling these two
beams formed in the shape of a cross. People would stop their cars and come
over to him and ask him what was going on and he would give them pamphlets
and booklets on Christianity.
One day my friend with the
cross had a heart attack and had to go to the Veterans Hospital where he
stayed for quite a long while. I used to visit him in the hospital several
times a week and I would take Mohamed with me with the hopes that we could
all share together in the subject of beliefs and religions. My friend was
not very impressed and it was obvious that he did not want to know anything
about Islam. Then one day a man who was sharing the room with my friend
came rolling into the room in his wheelchair. I went to him and asked him
his name and he said that it didn't matter and when I asked him where he
was from he said he was from the planet Jupiter. I thought about what he
said and then began to wonder if I was in the cardiac ward or the mental
ward.
I knew the man was lonely
and depressed and needed someone in his life. So, I began to 'witness' to
him about the Lord. I read to him out of the book of Jonah in the Old
Testament. I shared the story of the prophet Jonah who had been sent by the
Lord to call his people to the correct way. Jonah had left his people and
escaped by boat to leave his city and head out to sea. A storm came up and
the ship almost capsized and the people on board threw Jonah over the side
of the ship. A whale came up to the surface and grabbed Jonah, swallowed
him and then went down to the bottom of the sea, where he stayed for 3 days
and 3 nights. Yet because of God's Mercy, He caused the whale to rise to
the surface and then spit Jonah out to return back home safely to his city
of Nineveh. And the idea was that we can't really run away from our
problems because we always know what we have done. And what is more, God
also always knows what we have done.
After sharing this story
with the man in the wheel chair, he looked up and me and apologized. He
told me he was sorry for his rude behavior and that he had experienced some
real serious problems recently. Then he said that he wanted to confess
something to me. And I said that I was not a Catholic priest and I don't
handle confessions. He replied back to me that he knew that. In fact, he
said: "I am a Catholic priest."
I was shocked. Here I had
been trying to preach Christianity to a priest. What in the world was
happening here?
The priest began to share
his story of being a missionary for the church for over 12 years to south
and Central America and Mexico and even in New York's 'Hell's Kitchen.'
When he was released from the hospital he needed a place to go to recover
and rather than let him go to stay with a Catholic family, I told my dad
that we should invite him to come out and live with us in the country along
with our families and Mohamed. It was agreed by all that he would so, he
moved out right away.
During the trip out to our
home, I talked with the priest about some of the concepts of beliefs in
Islam and to my surprise he agreed and then shared even more about this
with me. I was shocked when he told me that Catholic priests actually study
Islam and some even carry doctors degrees in this subject. This was all
very enlightening to me. But there was still a lot more to come.
After settling in, we all
began to gather around the kitchen table after dinner every night to
discuss religion. My father would bring his King James Version of the
Bible, I would bring out my Revised Standard Version of the Bible, my wife
had another version of the Bible (maybe something like Jimmy Swaggart's
'Good News For Modern Man." The priest of course, had the Catholic
Bible which has 7 more books in it that the Protestant Bible. So we spent
more time talking about which Bible was the right one or the most correct
one, than we did trying to convince Mohamed about becoming a Christian.
At one point I recall
asking him about the Quran and how many versions of it there were in the
last 1,400 years. He told me that there was only ONE QURAN. And that it had
never been changed. Yet he let me know that the Quran had been memorized by
hundreds of thousands of people, in it's entirety and were scattered about
the earth in many different countries. Over the centuries since the Quran
was revealed millions have memorized it completely and have taught it to
others who have memorized it completely, from cover to cover, letter
perfect without mistakes.
This did not seem possible
to me. After all, the original languages of the Bible have all been dead languages
for centuries and the documents themselves have been lost in their
originals for hundreds and thousands of years. So, how could it be that
something like this could be so easy to preserve and to recite from cover
to cover.
Anyway, one day the priest
asked the Mohamed if he might accompany him to the mosque to see what it
was like there. They came back talking about their experience there and we
could not wait to ask the priest what it was like and what all types of
ceremonies they performed. He said they didn't really 'do' anything. They
just came and prayed and left. I said: "They left? Without any
speeches or singing?" He said that was right.
A few more days went by and
the Catholic priest asked Mohamed if he might join him again for a trip to
the mosque which they did. But this time it was different. They did not
come back for a very long time. It became dark and we worried that
something might have happened to them. Finally they arrived and when they
came in the door I immediately recognized Mohamed, but who was this
alongside of him? Someone wearing a white robe and a white cap. Hold on a
minute! It was the priest. I said to him: "Pete? -- Did you become a
'Moslem?'
He said that he had entered
into Islam that very day. THE PRIEST BECAME A MUSLIM!! What next? (You'll
see).
So, I went upstairs to
think things over a bit and began to talk to my wife about the whole
subject. She then told me that she too was going to enter into Islam,
because she knew it was the truth. I was really shocked now. I went
downstairs and woke up Mohamed and asked him to come outside with me for a
discussion. We walked and talked that whole night through. By the time he
was ready to pray Fajr (the morning prayer of the Muslims) I knew that the
truth had come at last and now it was up to me to do my part. I went out
back behind my father's house and found an old piece of plywood lying under
an overhang and right there I put my head down on the ground facing the
direction that the Muslims pray five times a day.
Now then in that position,
with my body stretched out on the plywood and my head on the ground, I
asked: "O God. If you are there, guide me, guide me." And then
after a while I raised up my head and I noticed something. No, I didn't see
birds or angels coming out of the sky nor did I hear voices or music, nor
did I see bright lights and flashes. What I did notice was a change inside
of me. I was aware now more than ever before that it was time for me to
stop lying and cheating and doing sneaky business deals. It was time that I
really work at being an honest and upright man. I knew now what I had to
do. So I went upstairs and took a shower with the distinct idea that I was
'washing' away the sinful old person that I had become over the years. And
I was now coming into a new, fresh life. A life based on truth and proof.
Around 11:00 A.M. that
morning, I stood before two witnesses, one the ex-priest, formerly known as
Father Peter Jacob's, and the other Mohamed Abel Rehman and announced my
'shahadah' (open testimony to the Oneness of God and the prophethood of
Muhammad, peace be upon him).
A few minutes later, my
wife follow along and gave the same testimony. But hers was in front of 3
witnesses (me being the third).
My father was a bit more
reserved on the subject and waited a few more months before he made his
shahadah (public testimony). But he did finally commit to Islam and began
offering prayers right along with me and the other Muslims in the local
masjid (mosque).
The children were taken out
of the Christian school and placed in Muslim schools. And now ten years
later, they are memorizing much of the Quran and the teachings of Islam.
My father's wife was the
last of all to acknowledge that Jesus could not be a son of God and that he
must have been a mighty prophet of God, but not God.
Now stop and think. A whole
entire household of people from varying backgrounds and ethnic groups
coming together in truth to learn how to know and worship the Creator and
Sustainer of the Universe. Think. A Catholic priest. A minister of music
and preacher. An ordained minister and builder of Christian schools. And
they all come into Islam! Only by His Mercy were we all guided to see the
real truth of Islam without any blinders on their eyes any longer.
If I were to stop right
here, I'm sure that you would have to admit that at least, this is an
amazing story, right? After all, three religious leaders of three separate
denominations all going into one very opposite belief at the same time and
then soon after the rest of the household.
But that is not all. There
is more! The same year, while I was in Grand Prairie, Texas (near Dallas) I
met a Baptist seminary student from Tennessee named Joe, who also came to
Islam after reading the Holy Quran while in BAPTIST SEMINARY COLLEGE!
There are others as well. I
recall the case of the Catholic priest in a college town who talked about
the good things in Islam so much that I was forced to ask him why he didn't
enter Islam. He replied: "What? And loose my job?" - His name is
Father John and there is still hope for him yet.
More? Yes. The very next
year I met a former Catholic priest who had been a missionary for 8 years
in Africa. He learned about Islam while he was there and entered into
Islam. He then changed his name to Omar and moved to Dallas Texas.
Any more? Again, yes. Two
years later, while in San Antonio, Texas I was introduced to a former Arch
Bishop of the Orthodox Church of Russia who learned about Islam and gave up
his position to enter Islam.
And since my own entrance
into Islam and becoming a chaplain to the Muslims throughout the country
and around the world, I have encountered many more individuals who were
leaders, teachers and scholars in other religions who learned about Islam
and entered into it. They came from Hindus, Jews, Catholics, Protestants,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Greek and Russian Orthodox, Coptic Christians from
Egypt, non-denominational churches and even scientists who had been
atheists.
Why? Good question.
May I suggest to the seeker
of truth do the following NINE STEPS to purification of the mind:
1.) Clean their mind, their heart and their soul real good.
2.) Clear away all the prejudices and biases
3.) Read a good translation of the meaning of the Holy Quran
in a language that they can understand best.
4.) Take some time.
5.) Read and reflect.
6.) Think and pray.
7.) And keep on asking the One who created you in the first
place, to guide you to the truth.
8.) Keep this up for a few months. And be regular in it.
9.) Above all, do not let others who are poisoned in their
thinking influence you while your are in this state of "rebirth of the
soul."
The rest is between you and
the Almighty Lord of the Universe. If you truly love Him, then He already
Knows it and He will deal with each of us according to our hearts.
So, now you have the
introduction to the story of my coming into Islam and becoming Muslim.
There is more on the Internet about this story and there are more pictures
there as well. Please take the time to visit it and then please take the
time to email me and let us come together to share in all truths based on
proofs for understanding our origins and our purpose and goals in this life
and the Next Life.
And once again I thank you
for your email today. If you hadn't sent it, I probably would still not
have completed this task of putting down the story once and for all of how
"Priest and Preachers Are Coming to Islam."
May Allah guide you on your
journey to all truth. Ameen. And May He open your heart and your mind to
the reality of this world and the purpose of this life, ameen.
Peace to you and Guidance
from Allah the One Almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of all that exists.
Your friend,
Yusuf Estes
Chaplain Yusuf Estes
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