Reported by Estebsar
Please give us a biography of yourself.
My name is Hanif Muhammad, I was born in Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia in the 19th of January 2002. I spent 6 years of my childhood in my hometown Cirebon, and after that my parents divorced. Now I live in Jakarta with my father and sister.
What was your religion before converting to Shia Islam?
I was raised as a Sunni Muslim before converting to Shia Islam.
How did you get familiar with Shiism?
I discovered Shiism when I was 15. When I first discovered Shiism, I was instantly consumed like others by the propaganda and rumors of the Takfiris against Shias. Thus, I hated Shiism; Some of my friends and I even used to talk about how deviant Shias are. However, after years of being constantly bombarded by sectarian propaganda I decided to see for myself what the shias actually are.
What drove you to convert to shiism?
There are many factors that made me convert but there are 3 main things that gave me absolute certainty to convert: 1. Hadith thaqalayn and ghadeer. 2. The fact that Ahlulbayt is so neglected in sunnism. 3. The Islamic revolution and the axis of resistance
…What were reactions to such a conversion? For example your family’s reaction, your friends
When I converted to shiism I had no problems with my friendship circle as there were already many shias in it and alhamdulillah most of my sunni friends are very tolerant and accepting. Of course, that is after I explained to them what shiism actually is. More often than not, people who are hateful towards the shias are just oblivious to what shiism is and once you explain to them what it actually is they would accept and tolerate it.
Regarding my family’s reaction, I just haven’t told them about it yet. I don’t feel like I’m ready to tell them about my conversion, so currently they don’t know I’m a shia
?What specifically attracted you to shiism
What attracted me the most towards shiism is the ideology of resistance, justice and martyrdom. To me the core of shiism is resistance against tyranny, injustice and oppression. Shias are obligated to fight for the rights of the oppressed no matter who they are. I find that this is missing in sunnism or at least not as prevalent as in shiism.
?Did shiism change your life
Alhamdulillah shiism has changed my life for the better and I feel happier and more connected to Allah and the ahlulbayt.
I see that you’re very interested in the Islamic revolution and resistance axe. How did it start? And how are you impressed by the Islamic republic and Wilayat-e-Faqih
I have always been political and I started taking an interest in the axis of resistance and the Islamic revolution even before I started researching shiism. In fact it was the axis of resistance and the Islamic revolution that made me want to know more about shiism so of course I am impressed by it. I started taking interest when I started looking into the Middle East situation, long story short I was amazed at how it’s always the shia of the axis of resistance who spearheaded the fight against terrorism, imperialism and zionism. Where are the organized forces of the sunni Arab world? They have abandoned Palestine and made deals with Israel, the only one still fighting against zionism is Iran and it’s allies. Wherever you find oppression you see shias resisting it. Before I converted to shiism politically I was a marxist-leninist communist, so it was easy for me to take an interest and view the axis of resistance in a positive light as it’s ideology of resistance against imperialism and oppression is very similar to that of the far left. Without the axis of resistance and Islamic revolution I would’ve never known shiism.
?If you want to say some words about the beauty of ahlulbayt what do you say
The ahlulbayt are the epitome of human perfection, the manifestation of truth and justice, the purest of the purest and the only straight path towards Allah. No one can ever truly do justice when describing the beauty of the ahlulbayt. Their beauty is far beyond our human comprehension.
Estebsar
www.estebsar.ir
