By Mariano Ricardo Calle<\/p>\n
My name is Mariano Ricardo Calle.\u00a0 I am from Buenos Aires , Argentina, not from the capital but the province.\u00a0 Before I embraced Islam, I was a Catholic Apostolic Roman.\u00a0 I was baptized, entered communion and confirmation.<\/p>\n
Since my childhood, I was connected with religion through my mom and my grandmother (her mom).<\/p>\n
I read the Bible since seven years old.\u00a0 I began reading the Bible for kids in Spanish.\u00a0 My heroes were David, Nuh and Job.<\/p>\n
When I was eleven, I prayed every night.\u00a0 Sometimes, I cried while speaking to God.\u00a0 In my adolescence, I fell into drugs until a crisis at twenty one years of age.\u00a0 I have always been searching for the truth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At twenty four years I began to pray more, so I was praying twenty four times a day, one for Our Father, Two Ave Maria, One Credo and One Glory; under the water in the shower bowing on my knees under cold water (that was because there was no warm water).\u00a0 This I did for a whole year.\u00a0 But that didn’t help me too much, but God knows better.<\/p>\n
In the beginning of last year, I was studying the Mayan codices, the Atlantis, the pyramid of Kufu, and at the same time I was studying the Arabic language just to know what the lyrics of the Arabic songs meant.<\/p>\n
I began to study the Arabic language on my own, with the help of a book from the internet.\u00a0 In two weeks I could speak something, so when I made a test in college the teacher elevated me to the second level.\u00a0 I saved four months alhamdulillah, then I got into university; but I just took two classes.\u00a0 However, I stayed in contact with my teacher, through e-mails.<\/p>\n
In the book fair, my mom took two little books for free about Islam.\u00a0 I read them, and the subjects of science mentioned in the Quran, seemed very interesting to me.\u00a0 And, I read about Muhammad and I felt that person was a model for me.<\/p>\n
So, one day I left smoking and drinking.\u00a0 I never was a drunkard, but I left completely whatever was related to alcohol.\u00a0 That was my own decision, and I never thought of being a Muslim until the day I said my Shahadah.<\/p>\n
I thought of buying a Quran to read something in Arabic and that way, learn faster.\u00a0 My teacher told me that I could get one for free, in the mosque of Palermo (Buenos Aires).<\/p>\n
On the same day, I went to the mosque, just to ask for a Quran and I wondered how such a great place could be so empty.\u00a0 I understood that Argentina is not an Islamic country but that this mosque was the greatest in Latin America.<\/p>\n
That day in the mosque a man, who would later become my brother in Islam –\u00a0 Ibrahim, gave me a link to the Quran that I could download from the internet, I later printed it.\u00a0 It was just an hour, and I had the Quran.<\/p>\n
I was reading this Quran that I downloaded from the internet, and I printed some pages.\u00a0 The Quran I got was in Arabic and Spanish, that way I could read it in Arabic directly.<\/p>\n
Since my childhood I have read the whole Bible twice, and the Gita from India also twice, and now I had the Quran to read, and much better, in Arabic.\u00a0 My first desire was to learn Arabic, but my soul awakened when I began to read the Quran.\u00a0 Maybe it was better because I began to read it in Arabic directly, while I was consulting a dictionary.<\/p>\n
Alhamdulillah, I could realise that what the Quran says was the parts that were missing in the Bible.\u00a0 And I remember well, I understood as well when I read it that all that the Quran says could perfectly be the truth I was looking for.<\/p>\n
No one spoke to me about Islam, just the searching of the truth that God put in me, led me there.\u00a0 The thankfulness to God I have is very great.\u00a0 The more I read the Quran, the more I realised the book was a revelation from God like the Bible.<\/p>\n
Since then, I began to go to the mosque and in two weeks I said the Shahadah, on the 14th of July.\u00a0 Because, I was sure that Muhammad was a messenger of God, like Jesus or Moses.<\/p>\n
So, I began to read everything I found about Islam and began to study Arabic in the mosque.\u00a0 I read about aqeedah (creed), tawhid (Oneness of Allah), and I finished the Quran but in Spanish, because I wanted to read everything as fast as I could.<\/p>\n
In the two weeks before I said the Shahadah, I was going to the mosque to learn, and I felt that the place was full of peace.\u00a0 I prayed with the Muslims there while I wasn\u2019t a Muslim yet, but I wanted to know how it feels to prostrate in front of God, because I knew that intention was important for God.<\/p>\n
So, in two weeks, I learned the whole salah (Prayer).\u00a0 I knew special people there, the people that work there.<\/p>\n
I love the Arabic language and I ask God to help me learning it faster.\u00a0 I said the Shahadah with sheikh Nasir from Saudi Arabia; he was there in place of sheikh Hamid.<\/p>\n
I continued going to the mosque and then came Ramadan, which was a beautiful experience.\u00a0 I got to know beautiful people and I think that 2007 was my best year.\u00a0 Since I said the Shahadah, I haven’t missed a salah.<\/p>\n
What was difficult to me was to leave girls, because I had a girlfriend, but I knew that it wouldn’t have worked.\u00a0 So, I left her and asked God to grant me a good wife.<\/p>\n
I remember that was the first thing I asked God for.\u00a0 And I got to know a woman, the same week I said the Shahadah! She never had any boyfriend, and she was beautiful too.\u00a0 So, I see what God can do.\u00a0 I always have been an obstinate believer, but now, I have no doubts.<\/p>\n
I told my mother and father that I now was a Muslim.\u00a0 My mother was a little afraid, but I began to treat my parents better.\u00a0 My brothers didn’t say anything, just, a few jokes but I am more of a joker than them, so that was nothing.<\/p>\n
I got a job and in my first day I asked my boss for a place to pray, which was not a problem alhamdulillah.\u00a0 So, my life changed to the better, because I began to smile more, and try to act good with everybody.<\/p>\n
I continued going to the mosque whenever I could, but since I took college up again, and got a better job, I hardly find time to go.\u00a0 But, I take some books to read like Sahih Muslim.<\/p>\n
The reaction of my friends was funny.\u00a0 Alhamdulillah, I always had very good friends, all types of friends; because I always like to learn from everybody.\u00a0 My best friends are Catholic, and practice their religion.\u00a0 They go to mass every Sunday and even more since I became Muslim.<\/p>\n
I answered all the questions that they asked.\u00a0 Until this day they have a lot of questions, especially my best friend and his wife, she is from Brazil, and they are Adventist.\u00a0 Also, my other friend who has strong faith; he and his wife are Catholic.<\/p>\n
I ask God to help me be an instrument of his religion, to guide my parents and friends but I must not be sad for them, it’s fate.<\/p>\n
Moreover, my youngest brother (I am the big brother) is agnostic.\u00a0 He thinks that I am very bad.\u00a0 I pray for my family.\u00a0 My mom cooks to me without ham.\u00a0 But I have to say that I oppose some things in my family, but what can I do?<\/p>\n
I love God; this love is stronger than the love for my family.\u00a0 I love Prophet Muhammad, and I have to love him more than anybody on this earth to be a true believer.\u00a0 And I love this religion, this din, because the best I can do is to adore God.<\/p>\n
Actually, I got everything I could ever dream of: I got the best job that I could have, and I am studying again, and preparing my marriage with that girl that God brought in to my life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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