Ex-pastor from Brazil reverts to Islam / Ex-pastor João de Deus (Ibrahim) se reverteu ao Islão

Salam alaykum, wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu
Praise be to Allah, the Most High
Who created us all, and who sent us the message of Islam, through Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
A message that came to unify all religions leading humankind to worship the truly and only God.
For about 21 years I was connected to the Christian faith,
and I worked in the Church, first as a travelling preacher, in the Brazilian region of Nordeste
focusing on my state of Paraíba, preaching in several cities
and after sometime, I reached the most important position in the church, I was appointed as Priest,
then an Evangelist and finally Pastor of the church.
During this journey I became president of a sect of the church Assembly of God in my city João Pessoa, Paraíba
where for about 10 years I was leading this sect. I saw the rise of the Church
we had 17 churches in my state and also in the State of Pernambuco
The word 'Muslim' has been distorted for centuries,
however to be a 'Muslim' means to bear witness in the faith of only one true God, who alone should be worshipped
And Jesus is a Muslim, exactly because it is this message that he brought, which is recorded in the Gospels
When they asked Jesus, whom should they worship, he answered 'worship God'
He came, and claimed that he was only sent by God to the lost house of the child of Israel
Jesus led everyone to worship the one true God, as the people of that time worshiped other gods
so Jesus came with this mission, to destroy that religious system and bring, or rather, to bring back the old system of worshiping only one God, and he was rejected,
and he was not accepted, but remained faithful to his message, when they asked him if he was God
he answered “You say that I am”. He didn't say, at any point, that he was God.
He never expressed that, he never wanted glory for himself.
With certainty he affirmed that he doesn't accept the glorification of men
Humankind today glorify him as being God, but he doesn't accept that.
So Jesus indeed, is a prophet of Islam, a Muslim prophet, who brought the restorative message of the worship of only one God.
And this is what the Muslims do, they worship the God who created the heavens and earth, and the universe
and who has power over all, and that one day will bring the whole of mankind and judge them.
Everybody will go through this process
Jesus is a prophet of Islam because he confirms and affirms the oneness of God.
My first encounter with a Muslim occured exactly with my daughter who reverted to Islam in Auckland, NZ, when she was studying there.
We then met in Dubai in 2007,
when Sheikh Saeed al Maktoum invited me to discover Dubai and remove my doubts towards Islam and the Muslims
So this was my first contact with a Muslim
My story is marked by religious life
since young I was involved in Christian projects, in my city and state
Then I worked in the State Bank of Paraiba, after that I passed an examination to work in the Bank of Brazil, where I worked for 17 years
then, by necessity of my greater involvement in the Church, I left my job
and I dedicated 15 years of my life, preaching the Gospel, this is how I spent my life.
and then I discovered Islam
I abandoned the Evangelical faith and handed over the Church
and today I went back to Law school in my city, to pass public concourses, and to support my family financially
and also during these 3 years where I became Muslim
God enabled us to promote Islam in our city João Pessoa
with brothers we opened an Islamic centre of which I am the president
there with with the help of Allah, the support of these hard working brothers and also brothers in Dubai
We managed to have a house, where we pray to the one and only God worthy of worship
and we spread the word of God revealed to Muhammad through angel Gabriel
And we are witnessing a growth, people are interested, they are losing their fear toward what is being a Muslim
and InshaAllah (God willing) we will have enough people that one day we will build a mosque
so that this work will continue and Allah will be glorified in our state, Paraíba, and in Brazil
The Evangelical Church in Brazil has its merits
It has accomplished a work of evangelical and social nature, seeking the recovery of lives,
it is something we can't deny
Of course there are distortions inside it, inside its own organization.
The evangelical church is subdivided in several sects but even though
it has done an essential work in this field
The evangelical Church in Brazil, like everywhere
has this perspective of making Jesus, prophet of Islam, a God
giving to people the idea that Jesus is God
In my understand this is harming the people, that most of the time think of that as being the truth
and unfortunately embrace this faith and follow this way in a disorderly manner to a future life.
I can't condemn them, I don't have authority for that, but this is up to Allah to judge them.
In the revelation of the Quran, He says that He will judge between them.
But I hope that the true message will reach the Christian leaders
and that we have in Brazil, a nation which will worship God that is one, without partners.
That didn't beget, nor is Himself begotten
I know of two pastors in Brazil who reverted to Islam
One is pastor Ismail, who was pastor in the Assembly of God church in Pernambuco
he is today a sheikh and works in the city of Sao Paulo
also in Sao Paulo, I met an ex-pastor, Pastor Daniel
who reverted to Islam a year ago, and now works in the Center for Conveying Islam in Latin America (CDIAL), in Sao Paulo, Sao Bernardo do Campo
and recently I received the news that a Catholic priest, in the city of Florianópolis,
made his conversion public, I saw that on Youtube through the work of brothers from IslamBoy in Florianopolis
and this priest gave also his testimonial
I don't know more, maybe we have much more and I still don't have knowledge of them.
but I hope that a lot will come to recognize the oneness of God
who created the heavens and earth,
and that we may have a huge Muslim community, so that the Glory of Allah may shine upon this great country.
The subject of misconception, is always recurring for the human being.
I don't know misconceptions inside Islam about Christianity
if it exists, I never heard of.
The Muslims that I know are people who follow the Quran and the Sunnah (tradition) of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
and they don't have any misconception toward any religion, their arms are wide open towards others.
But concerning Christianity, I can talk, as I lived this reality during many years,
I was a fighter not only against the Islamic religion, but any religion that came in front of Christianity
so I see in Christianity this form of distancing themselves, thinking that
the revelation of God was the privilege of the Christians and Jews
when the Quran states that God (Allah) sent his messengers to all nations
No nation will be able to say on the Day of Judgment in front of Allah that they were not sent a messenger
that nobody told them about the reality of the oneness of God
Regarding this subject of misconception, I hope that people will know the reality of Islam
and this doubt will disappear, because God is God and Unique,
He is the God of all those who seek Him with sincerity
and that are able to discern that He is the Unique, who sent all the different prophets
the God who sent his revelation through Prophet Adam, Abraham, Ismael, Jacob,
Solomon, David, Jesus, and to finish Muhammad, the last prophet.
The last prophet announced in the Bible, and also stated in Quran, that he is the seal of the Prophets
with a unifying message of faith that was lost and a deteriorated.
The same message that was taught since the beginning by the father of our faith, Prophet Abraham.
May God be please with him.
Our hope is that all misconception are cleared and the message of Islam spreads out
that will transform the whole mankind to believe in the one God,
who is the only Saviour of humankind.
Regarding the subject of misconception, it is a destructing idea, and not an idea coming from God to unify the people,
misconceptions need to be put aside
and I repeat it, I know no misconception in Islam towards Christianity
Islam is open to all religions, not to force the people to become Muslim
As there is no "compulsion in religion" (Quran 2:256)
Who wants to become Muslim, becomes Muslim freely
There is no oppressing force that bring the people to Islam
So my advice for everybody is : look !
Look to other religion, with other eyes, try to listen, to understand
Now my dear viewers and friends, I hope to see on day, the victory of the truth
of Allah and his chosen ones for Paradise
and see them celebrating the greatness of God, who created them with so much love
I wish that the Brazilian people, a religious people by nature, come to see in the Holy Book of the Muslims (the Quran) a Book revealed by God.
The Muslims believe that the Bible is a Book revealed by God.
Thus, to make objection to the Holy Book of the Muslims is to make objection to God.
It is the same as to say that God reveals only what people want
God according to His will revealed, many books through the prophets,
some of these books were catalogued in the Holy Bible and others not,
we know about some books that are not considered revealed books, but in reality are.
Where God raised prophets to talk to certain people.
So, to refuse the Divine revelation of the Quran means not to accept the sovereignty of God.
The Holy Quran is a Book that God revealed for the last times
and here the Brazilians need to understand that this Book was not revealed only to the Arabs but to all mankind.
It is a Book that serves not only to change a religious structure
because it has teachings for the life, the daily life and for every moment of our life.
We don't live only inside religious institutions. We work, and the Quran talks about work,
we have enjoyment and the Quran talks about enjoyment.
The Quran is a complete Book, a Book for life.
A Book that teaches us how to buy and how to sell, how to behave in society.
Thus, the Quran being understood by the Brazilian people as a Divine revealed Book
it will for sure enter their hearts and change the national structure of faith and all social fields.
My advice to the Brazilians, to the people of my nation
is that they keep away from any and all misconceptions against the Holy Book of the Muslims.
It is not a Book to be feared and it does not preach the destruction of anyone.
It is a Book that narrates histories, facts that happened but it is also a book that shows that peace,
And peace must be always sought because it is in the peace of each individual that it can bring progress to all humankind.
I wish that God (glorified and exalted be Him) bless the Brazilian nation and that Allah be merciful to us
and conduct us day by day to His path, the straight path, the path of those on whom He bestowed His grace.
The Quran is a book highly touching, in several passages the Quran makes reference to Biblical passages
and in several other passages the Quran brings clarification of some realities that are obscure in the Bible.
I am being asked which verse of the Quran or which Hadith thrills me.
I can affirm with assurance that the verses that thrills me more are the verses of surat al Fatiha (the Opening chapter).
Even if it was not the first one to be revealed to prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him),
but it was put as the first chapter. I see it as a full revelation of the whole Quran.
It shows the oneness of God
it shows how we should live,
it shows the process of final judgment,
as well as our request to be guided by God to the straight path, the path of those on whom He have bestowed His grace, not of those who have gone astray.
For me and my understanding the chapter al Fatiha is the Quranic chapter that thrills me the most.
We know that 17 times every day the Muslim repeats it
and every time I am praying and I recite al Fatiha to God I feel highly privileged
for being guided to the straight path, the path of those on whom He have bestowed His grace.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.
Show us the straight way,
The path of those whom Thou hast favoured,
Not the path of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
Amin