Haoja, who is of Macedonian origin, from Switzerland, has converted into Islam in 2008.
A 41-year person whose research took him years to find out the true path to embrace Islam and its unique principles.
In an interview with the official website of the Imam Hussein Holy Shrine, Hoaja, said:
I embraced Islam and I was socializing with Sunnie people at that time. Allah granted me success, and I embraced the Islamic path of Ahlul-Bayt (Peace Be Upon Them). How I realized that the path of Ahlul-Bayt (Peace Be Upon Them) was the correct way of Islam was when I read a quote of the Prophet Mohammed (Allah’s Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him & His Pure Lineage), which had been narrated by Al-Bukhari in his book “Sahih Al-Bukhari,” saying, “Right before the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammed (Allah’s Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him & His Pure Lineage), -when Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib (Peace Be Upon Him) was attended-, Abi Bakr, Omar, and others; the Prophet Mohammed (Allah’s Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him & His Pure Lineage), said to his companions, ‘Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib is my brother, my cousin, and my true successor; and he is the divinely rightful successor to the caliphate after me’”.
He also mentioned that he presented the book in which the narration was mentioned to some religious persons in order to find out how trustworthy that narration was, but they immediately took the book from him and told him that he was following the wrong path.
The second reason that urged him to embrace Ahlul-Bayt’s belief was the many questions he had, to which he found no answers in any of the other Islamic denominations or divine religions; but he found all the answers in the Ahlul-Bayt’s school.
Q: What do you think the difference between Ahlul-Bayt’s belief and other beliefs is?
Haoja:
There are many differences between Ahlul-Bayt’s belief and the other Islamic denominations' beliefs concerning prayers, ablution, jurisprudence and other issues. But through Ahlul-Bayt’s belief we can know the Almighty Allah and other religions best. We usually conduct a series of debates, talks and conferences; in addition to holding episodes on Ahlul-Bayt’s (Peace Be Upon Them) belief and other beliefs. Through those debates we manifest how reliable and authentic Ahlul-Bayt’s belief is, what Shiasim is, and what Shiasim means to other divine religions such as Christianity. We also specify some researches and specialists in religions in order to evaluate the debates and talks.
Q: What are the books you read which were the reason for you to embrace Ahlul-Bayt’s belief?
Haoja:
I started with Al-Tijani’s book which I read and from which I learned the fundamentals of the Shia denomination; such a great encyclopedia which contains hundreds of doctrinal, jurisprudential, moral, and educational questions, and how easily those questions are answered; that manifests the truth and authenticity of the Shia belief. In addition to that, I read some other important Shia books, such as Peak of Eloquence, by Imam Ali (Peace Be Upon Him), and El-Toosi’s book in Russian.
Q: What is the perspective of the other Islamic denominations on Shia people (followers of Ahlul-Bayt, Peace Be Upon Them,)?
Haoja:
In Switzerland, there are different perspectives on the Shia belief based on its differences with the other Islamic denominations.
Q: There is an obvious extremity and declared hostility against Ahlul-Bayt’s belief, who do you think the supporting agency is?
Haoja:
Yes, Salafi people are struggling to distort Ahlul-Bayt’s belief, and there are many agencies that support the Salafi people in the world, and the main two supporting agencies are the Golf countries, some figures and so-called Islamic organizations in the world.
source : abna24
