The Story of a Priest WHO EMBRACED ISLAM and the Means of Goodness and Happiness in the Dunya and the Hereafter SHAYKH ‘ABDUR-RAZZAQ AL-BADR © Authentic Statements Publishing, USA All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any language, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without express permission of the copyright owner. ISBN: 978-1-5323-8791-3 First Edition: Muharram 1440 A.H. / September 2018 C.E. Cover Design: Usui Design E-mail: [email protected] Translator: Raha Batts Editing & Formatting: Razan Gregory Annurediting.com Publisher’s Information: Authentic Statements Publishing P. O. 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OranskteraUon C JaSe, Consonants ! d d A k b j dh t J 1 cl) t j r z e m < d) th j z t a n e i s £ gh 0 h > c h a- sh k_i f J w t kh s j q 4 y owels Short a i u V Long L a vS“ I > u Diph­ ay aw S5" > thongs Glyphs SaIIallahn ‘alayhi wa sallam (May Allah’s praise & salutations be upon him) ■'i ‘Alayhis-salani (Peace be upon him) Radiyalldlui ‘anhu (May Allah be pleased with him) Radiyallahn ‘atdia (May Allah be pleased with her) & ‘Aza wa jal (Mighty and Majestic) able of Contents The Story of a Priest Who Embraced Islam......................................................................7 Text of the Letter....................................................................................................................7 The Means of Goodness and Happiness in This Life and the Hereafter 22 The First Sermon.................................................................................................................22 The Second Sermon............................................................................................................35 Text of the Letter From ‘Abdur-Rahman al-Islami to Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaq ibn ‘Ab- dul-Muhsin al-Badr, may Allah & preserve him. As-salamu ‘alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh, To the one whom 1 love for the sake of Allah the Noble Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaq, may Allah bless you. I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Robert Tanhu Mangkulang. After I embraced Islam 1 changed my name to ‘Abdur-Rahman Islami. I am from the tribe of Dayak in Kalimantan. Pardon me for imposing upon your time and activities by way of the presence of this letter. Within this letter, I would like to relate to you a story about what has occurred within my life. I will also mention to you that which I hope for in what remains of my life. Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaq al-Badr 8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I embraced Islam on December 15th in the year 2011 C.E. My first encounter with Islam, and entrance into it, was due to what occurred within my soul from doubt in the religion that I used to practice. I have six full brothers; each of them practicing a different religion. From them there is he who practices Hinduism, he who practices Ca­ tholicism, and he who adheres to the Protestant religion; yet none of them practice Islam. This is because we—as a family—believed that Islam was a religion of harshness and difficulty .1 1 This is from the accusations directed at the religion of Islam; as is said: “He who is ignorant of a thing will take it as an enemy.” Allah, the Exalted, has said: ^ Of Uj ^ And (Allah) has not laid upon you in religion any hardship. [Surah Hajj 22:78] Al-BukharT reported within his Sahlh, no. 39, on the authority of Abu Huray- rah, may Allah & be pleased with him, horn the prophet 3S, that he said: JjjJI jjJ Indeed, the religion is easy. The ‘Allamah ‘Abdul-*Aziz ibn Baz, may Allah M have mercy upon him, said: “The sharTali of our prophet 32 is the best and most complete of them. It does not contain burden or hardship. For Allah & has removed from His prophet ^ and his 'umtnah burden and hardship. The praise and thanks are for Allah it is a sharTah that is tolerant. As he * has stated within the authentic hadith: d-X_4-aJI <LuLu_*JL lLlUU I have been sent with the tolerant monotheism. [Musnad Imam Ahmad 5/266] T he Story of a Priest W ho Embraced IslAm 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I worked as a missionary and bishop for the protestant Christians for more than thirty years. Finally, I was appointed as the head of every church in Kutai, one of the western cities of Kalimantan. At that time, He, prayers and peace be upon him, also said: <xJL£ Vj JL»I (jj jJI I JlA jLmcJ £jjJI UJ Indeed, this religion is easy. None goes to extremes in it except that it will overcome him. [Al-BukharT, Book of Iman, no. 39; an-Nasal, Book of Iman and its Signposts, no. 5034] When he ^ sent Mu'adh and Abu Musa to Yemen, he said: Make things easy and do not make things difficult. Give glad tidings and do not chase people away. Cooperate and do not differ. [Al-BukharT, Book ofjihad and Battle Expeditions, no. 2873; Muslim, Book of Drinks, no. 1733] Hence, this shariah is one of ease and tolerance, mercy and kindness; and a leg­ islation of overwhelming benefit. It is one that gives consideration to every­ thing that contains the salvation of the of the people, their happiness, and their good life in this world and the Hereafter. Allah, the Majestic and High, has sent our prophet and leader, Muhammad, upon him be prayers and peace, with a complete legislation that is perfectly arranged to bring about benefit in this life and the next. It contains a call to every good and a warning against every evil. It contains directives for the peo­ ple to the means of happiness and salvation, in this world and the Hereafter.” (.Majmu' al-Fatawa, 2/228)