Please introduce yourself
I am Yousef Ahmadizadeh. My family is all Sunni Shafi’is Muslim, but I married a Shiite (Shia) girl so that my children could grow up in the Shiite culture.
What was your opinion about Shiism and Ahl al-Bayt (AS) before converting to Shiism?
When I was a Sunni, I did not even do my prayers and I did not have strong beliefs. But during doing my military service, I became the driver of a colonel, and he took me with him to religious ceremonies where I became familiar with meaningful sayings of Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) and I felt the rightfulness of them, I fell in love with them and wished that I would never leave them. The meaningful sayings and quotes of Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) change man and make him fall in love with this school of thought.
Tell us about your ups and downs during and after converting to Shiism, please!
The biggest difficulty is denying, Nowadays people in my hometown, believe that I have lost my religion. However, all of these highs and lows are definitely worth being Shia and man forgets all these difficulties when he enters the holy shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.) as a Shia Muslim.
Please, tell us about your feelings when entering the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS).
When a person enters the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), it is as if the whole world has been given to him. My world is lightened in the shrine and I find the truth there. Those feelings cannot be described at all. I tell Sunnis a lot to travel to Mashhad and visit the shrine, this visit will change your thoughts.
Which books of Shia have you read Before converting?
I have read books about the virtues of Shiites in Sunni narrations and books. I studied Nahj al-Balaghah and the debates between Sunni and Shia.
What do you think is the best way to propagate the Shiite school of thought?
Tell the culture and characteristics of Shiite to the Sunnis. It is necessary to note that they are not well-informed about Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) at all, and do not know anything about the rightfulness of Shiism and the school of Ahl al-Bayt (AS).
What do you know about Imam Mahdi (A.S.)?
When Imam Mahdi (P.B.U.H.) appears, he will purify the world from corruption, vary it and make humanity happy. Unfortunately, the Sunnis say this is a lie!
We have to prepare ourselves for the reappearance, increase our ability for giving services in each situation and pray a lot for the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (A.S.)
What was the most important reason for your conversion to Shiism?
The most important reason for my conversion was to find the rightfulness of Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.).