Yvonne Ridley – A Journey to Islam A Tale #3

Yvonne Ridley
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AI: Summary ©

A journalist discusses how he was
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AI: Summary ©

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			So I unlocked the door and there standing
		
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			in front of me was a man who
		
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			made my blood run cold.
		
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			She was held on spying charges and fully
		
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			expected to be stoned.
		
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			But instead of ending her life, her experiences
		
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			in that Afghan cell were to change her
		
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			life forever.
		
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			On the sixth day, the translator, a young
		
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			guy called Hamid said to me, you have
		
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			a very important visitor today and you must
		
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			be respectful.
		
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			Please don't shout, please don't throw things.
		
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			This is a very high person who is
		
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			coming to visit you today.
		
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			And I said, who is it?
		
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			And he said, I can't say.
		
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			And I said, you know, is it Mullah
		
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			Omar?
		
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			And or is it Osama bin Laden?
		
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			You know, who is it?
		
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			And he said, I can't say, I can't
		
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			say.
		
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			So off he went and about 15 minutes
		
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			later, there was a knock on the door.
		
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			Although I was the prisoner, I had the
		
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			key.
		
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			Because they they gave me the key.
		
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			So I unlocked the door and there standing
		
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			in front of me was a man who
		
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			made my blood run cold.
		
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			He was wearing an ivory gown that went
		
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			right down to the floor, an ivory turban.
		
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			He had a light brown beard and brown
		
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			eyes.
		
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			And his complexion was something that I'm looking
		
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			at him and I'm thinking, is he wearing
		
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			makeup?
		
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			Because his face was shining, but the light
		
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			wasn't shining on him.
		
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			It was shining out of him.
		
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			And I've never seen anything like this before.
		
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			And I learned later that what I was
		
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			seeing was the nur on this person's face.
		
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			So I'm looking at this man.
		
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			It was obvious that he was a religious
		
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			cleric.
		
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			And I just thought, I have avoided talking
		
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			about religion for six days.
		
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			And now this is it.
		
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			You know, this must be the final hurdle
		
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			before I get put up against the wall
		
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			and shot.
		
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			So he came in and we sat down.
		
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			He sat opposite me.
		
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			The translator was next to me.
		
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			And he asked me what my religion was.
		
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			And I thought, oh, here we go.
		
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			And I said, I'm a Christian.
		
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			And he said, yes, but are you a
		
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			Roman Catholic?
		
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			Are you a Protestant?
		
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			I said, I'm a Protestant from the Church
		
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			of England.
		
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			And he said, and what do you think
		
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			of Islam?
		
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			Well, you know, in truth, I knew nothing
		
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			about Islam.
		
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			The little bit of knowledge that I had
		
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			gleaned was holy and correct as it would
		
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			transpire later.
		
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			So I knew nothing about Islam.
		
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			And he said, what do you think of
		
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			Islam?
		
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			Oh, I said, it's wonderful.
		
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			It's absolutely amazing.
		
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			You know, and went off in praise of
		
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			this faith that I knew nothing about.
		
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			And he sat and he smiled.
		
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			And then I stopped and he said, Islam
		
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			is a beautiful religion.
		
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			And I looked at him and I said,
		
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			I couldn't agree more.
		
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			I said, do you know, the people around
		
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			here love their faith so much.
		
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			I said, you'll never believe how many times
		
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			a day they pray.
		
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			And this is where I showed my ignorance.
		
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			I said, they pray five times a day.
		
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			Because when you're in prison and there's nothing
		
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			to do, you count things.
		
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			I counted the prayers.
		
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			I had no idea that Muslims pray five
		
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			times a day.
		
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			He must have thought you stupid woman, but
		
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			he was far too polite to say that.
		
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			And then he said, so you would like
		
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			to convert?
		
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			And he invited me to embrace Islam.
		
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			And I just thought, oh, what am I
		
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			going to say now?
		
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			If I say yes, he'll say, you insincere
		
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			fickle woman, take her away and have her
		
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			stoned.
		
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			Or if I say no, he'll say, how
		
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			dare you insult Islam, take her away and
		
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			have her.
		
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			So I'm thinking, what am I going to
		
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			say?
		
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			And then I just said, look, I can't
		
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			make such a life changing decision while I'm
		
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			in prison.
		
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			But I will, if you release me, I
		
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			will read your holy book and I will
		
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			study Islam.
		
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			And he just smiled.
		
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			He didn't say yes or no or anything.
		
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			And he got up and left.
		
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			When I got back to London, it would
		
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			have been easy for me to think, well,
		
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			I'm not keeping my promise.
		
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			But I also thought as a journalist, it
		
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			was quite clear that I knew nothing about
		
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			Islam.
		
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			And if I was to write with any
		
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			authority about people from Asia, from the Arab
		
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			world, from the Muslim world, if I was
		
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			to write with any authority, I needed to
		
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			know about Islam.
		
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			Because the one thing that I came to
		
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			understand very quickly through the Taliban was that
		
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			Islam is not just something you pick up
		
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			and put down on Friday prayers.
		
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			It is a way of life.
		
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			It is the way you eat, the way
		
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			you sleep, the way you think, the way
		
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			you pray, the way you dress, everything.
		
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			It's a whole life support system.
		
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			And so as a duty to myself as
		
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			a journalist to be informed, as well as
		
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			giving a promise to the Taliban, I started
		
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			reading Islam.
		
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			It was a very slow process.
		
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			I didn't tell my colleagues that I was
		
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			reading about Islam.
		
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			It took about two years.
		
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			But the journey very quickly turned from being
		
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			an educational one into a spiritual one.
		
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			Because when I started reading the Quran, it
		
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			was easy.
		
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			The English translation I was given was by
		
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			a Yusuf Ali.
		
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			And there was supplementary notes to all of
		
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			the ayats.
		
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			I also started to read about this man,
		
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			Muhammad, the founder of Islam.
		
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			And I was amazed by what I read,
		
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			you know.
		
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			And back in 2001, I had never heard
		
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			of him.
		
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			And of course, now, our beloved Prophet Muhammad,
		
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			Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is a role model
		
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			as contemporary, you know, he's a man of
		
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			the 21st century, as he was back in
		
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			the 7th century, an incredible person.
		
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			At the end of two years, I ended
		
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			up embracing Islam.
		
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			And it wasn't a great leap of faith.
		
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			I'm still praying to the same God.
		
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			I just do it in a more disciplined
		
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			way.