Why I Became a Christian - By Sultan Muhammed Paul

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Why I Became aChristian

Sultan Muhammed Paul

1 A Request2

2 Introduction2

3 Early Life and Studies2

4 First Encounter with Christians3

5 Further Studies 4

6 Further Controversies withChristians 5

7 Journey to Arabia 6

8 A Vital Issue6

9 Quest for Salvation7

10 Decision and Confession 14

11 Quiz 16

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1 A Request

The reader is asked kindly to consider the

following while reading this book1 What are the spiritual demands upon

mankind

2 What religion can fulfil these spiritualdemands

3 What is the proper way to read theHoly Bible

2 Introduction

Modern man groans under the weight of

false conceptions regarding familycommunal and national excellence Thesefalse conceptions which are easilydiscernible in all types of individuals andat all levels of society issue fromself-centredness which is called thedepravity of man in religious languageThis inner corruption is essentially rootedin the human heart and reveals itself in

opposition to the welfare of the whole of

society Moreover it manifests itself inrebellion against the Holy and Living GodThe poisonous effects of sin have socorrupted mens hearts that in spite of their awareness of its evil they enjoy itand freely indulge in it It was thisfundamental problem of sin and the searchfor freedom from its guilt and bondagewhich confronted Sultan Muhammed Paul

There may be those who choose tooverlook the problem of sin and the way of salvation They prefer to veil the conditionof their hearts from themselves and othersthough they well know that the hiddenthings of the heart are open to theinspection of God For such persons thisstory will have little relevance Yet thereare others who are deeply concerned aboutsin and salvation in their own lives as wellas the lives of their fellow men For themthis booklet will help in the examinationtheir own experiences in light of those of

Sultan Muhammed Paul May it prove tobe a source of guidance and blessing fromthe Living God for all who ponder itscontents

3 Early Life and Studies

My native land is Afghanistan My fatherwas a resident of the capital of Logarsituated about fifty miles south of the cityof Kabul

My father Payanda Khan held the rank of colonel in the Afghan army and had thetitle Bahadur Khan He was knownthroughout the country as ColonelBahadur Khan My father had two wivesThe first was from among his nearrelatives She bore him three daughtersbut no sons Lest the family should die outhe married the daughter of Sayyid

Why I Became a Christian

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Mahmud Aqa a para of one of the most

noble and illustrious families of Afghanistan My younger brother TajMuhammed Khan and I were born of thismarriage I was born in 1881

Shortly after Abdur Rahman Khan theAmir (ruler) arrived from Russia to thethrone of Kabul he captured six of thecountrys notables and deported them tosome unknown destination Later theywere put to death Among these was myfather Then a second calamity befell myfamily For political reasons my twomaternal uncles were seized sent to thestate prison in Kabul and later banished toIndia Shortly afterwards my third unclecame to India with his mother and servantswith permission from the Amir while therest of my nearest relatives remained inKabul Upon arrival in India they settledin Hasan Abdal

Owing to further political difficulties our

whole family relocated to Hasan AbdalAfter several months my mother passedaway Eventually all my family with theexception of my three uncles and myselfreturned to our native land after areconciliation between my family and theAmir Abdur Rahman Khan

Later I went to Delhi and entered theschool Madrasa-i-Fatehpuri to perfectmyself in the study of Arabic At that timethe head mawlavi (instructor) was

Mawlana Abdul Jalil a pure Pathan of theDistrict of Naushera (Pathans being themain ethnic group of Afghanistan) Thesecond mawlavi was Fateh MuhammedKhan of Quandahar By the specialkindness of these two gentlemen I sooncompleted my study of logic and turned tothat of the traditions and commentariesDuring the day I studied with my

classmates In the evenings I received

special instruction from Mawlana AbdulJalil Thus by the grace of God I masteredthese subjects

4 First Encounter with Christians

One day when I was returning with somefriends to the Chandni Chowk (the mainthoroughfare of Delhi) we saw a largecrowd gathered near our school Arrivingat the scene we noticed that an argument

concerning the doctrine of the Trinity wasgoing on between a Christian preacher andone of our fellow students The formerfound support for the doctrine in thefollowing verse of the Quran

And we are nearer to him than his jugularvein(Sura Qaf 5016)

He was saying that the first person plural (nahnu we) is used here and thatif the unity of God were absolute the firstperson singular (ana I) would havebeen used instead Since the student wasgiving an answer that was not to the pointmy friends urged me to answer theargument of the preacher Accordingly Istepped forward and said that the first

person plural of the pronoun according toArabic idiomatic expression is used as anhonorific and not as an indication of plurality

This was the first opportunity I had tomeet a Christian in argument On that veryday there was born in me an indescribableeagerness to argue with Christians aneagerness derived from a deeply rooted






fervour and concern for things sacred

Consequently as far as lay within mypower I began to collect the notable booksin refutation of Christianity I made acareful study of many books and onappointed days I began to go to theFountain to carry on discussions with theChristian preachers

One day an English clergyman who usedto come with the preachers gave me hisvisiting card and invited me to his houseHe was kind and said that I could bring myfriends with me Accordingly I went to hisresidence in company with two or threefriends While we drank our tea we beganan interesting discussion on matters of religion He turned to me and asked if Iread the Bible Why should I read theBible said I Who would read such analtered book which you people changeevery year At my reply a pitying look appeared on the face of the clergyman andhe said with a faint smile Do you

consider all Christians to be dishonest Doyou think we fear God so little that wewould continue to deceive the world bychanging the Holy Scriptures WhenMuslims say that Christians keep alteringthe text of the Tawrat and the Injil (theTorah and the Gospel) they suggest thatall Christians are dishonest and that theyare deceivers of people Now this is aserious and unwarranted indictmentChristians believe in the Bible as the Word

of God as Muslims do in the QuranThus if no Muslim can change the text of the Quran how is it that a Christian canchange the text of the Book of the all-wiseGod -- the Holy Bible If a mischievousMuslim were to be so foolish as to changethe text of any verse of the Quran wouldnot all Muslims consider him outside thepale of Islam and publish the facts about

him In the same way if some

mischievous Christian were to change thetext of any verse of Scripture would notall other true Christians consider himoutside the pale of their religion andpublicise the facts about him Of coursethey would From this you can see thatthe Muslims contention that the text of Gods Word has been altered is absolutelywithout foundation and futile I believethat this contention is held by Muslimswho are generally quite ignorant of the

Bible and of the faith and doctrines of Christians

The clergyman then gave me two Biblesone in Persian and the other in Arabic andurged me to read them We thanked himand departed I paid no attention to theplan which this man had suggested Myobject in reading the Bible was to findflaws in it to prove from it the truth of Islam and to silence Christians inargument I did not even read through the

Bible from beginning to end but onlythose passages which Muslimcontroversialists quote in their writings Aslong as I remained in Delhi I made it mybusiness to carry on controversy withChristians

5 Further Studies

In time I decided to go to Bombay ThereI had the good fortune to meet Mawlavi

Hidayat Ullah who was highly respected inthat region as a man of authority and greatlearning His home was in Kabul and hewas well-acquainted with my family Assoon as we came to know each other inBombay he gladly promised to give meinstruction He felt that my regular courseof studies was nearly complete andadvised me to give more at-tention to the






study of literature He also gave me

permission to use his splendid libraryThus I began my study under hisguidance This mawlavi had spent most of his life in Istanbul (Constantinople)Egypt and Arabia and was a literarygenius He taught in Persian the mothertongue of us both and this facilitated mycourse of instruction

During this time another fine scholar anexpert in logic and philosophy came fromEgypt and was appointed as professor inthe Madrasa-i-Zakariyya This wasMawlavi Abdul Ahad of Jalalabad Districtin Afghanistan When I learned of hiseminence I entered theMadrasa-i-Zakariyya and began a study of the advanced books on logic andphilosophy This mawlavi treated me as ason and gave me a room next to his ownso that I could call on him for help at anytime

6 Further Controversies withChristians

One day during the course of a walk someof my fellow students and I arrived at theDhobi Talab (a district in Bombay) Therewe found some Christian preachersspeaking to the people Immediately myold enmity was aroused as I recalled myprevious experience in Delhi I was readyto advance towards the preachers when a

friend restrained me saying MalawiSahib never mind these people It is awaste of time to argue with them Thesepoor fellows neither know how to carry ona discussion nor are they familiar with therules of debate They are paid to do thiswork and are fulfilling their duty so thereis absolutely no use in arguing with themI know all about these peopleI replied

They may not know the art and rules of

debate but they certainly know how tolead people astray It is the duty of everytrue Muslim to rescue his thoughtlessMuslim brethren from their plotting anddeception I stepped forward and beganraising a host of objections to what theyhad said They countered with a flurry of opposition to my objections

The discussion was finally cut short forlack of time News of our encounter soonspread among the students of the schoolThey too were fired with zeal to engage incontroversy We went regularly twice aweek to meet the Christians in debateEventually two CMS missionariesinvited us to their home through MrJoseph Bihari Lal their head catechistWhile we were there they said that theDhobi Talab was too far for us to reacheasily so they offered to open a readingroom near our school where we couldcarry on our investigations once a week to

our hearts content if we really wanted todiscover the truth about Christianity Igratefully accepted this offer When thereading room was opened we met themthere according to a fixed schedule

When I perceived that the students in theschool and my other friends knew nothingof the Christian religion and wereinexperienced in debate I rented anotherhouse on the advice of Mawlavi AbbasKhan Sahib There we formed a societycalled Nadwatul Mutakallimin with theaim of preparing controversialists againstall non-Islamic religions with specialreference to Christianity

When my instructor noticed that I wasalways involved in controversy and that Ihad no other interest in life he came intomy room one day after evening prayers






Just at that time I was reading the Injil He

asked me what I was reading I told himand he responded angrily I fear lest youbecome a Christian I was very muchprovoked at his reply and although I didnot wish to seem disrespectful I could nothelp saying Why should I become aChristian Does the mere reading of theInjil make one a Christian I am reading itin order to destroy Christianity root andbranch You should encourage me in thismatter instead of finding fault with me

He replied I said this because I haveheard that he who reads the Injil becomesa Christian Have you not heard what acertain poet has said When he reads theInjil the heart of the faithful one turnsaway from Islam This information isinaccurateI replied After giving mefurther counsel the mawlavi returned tohis room

7 Journey to Arabia

This interesting religious conflict went onfor some years when suddenly I becamepossessed with the desire to make thepilgrimage to Mecca Immediately I madethe necessary arrangements boarded thesteamship Shah-i-Nur enroute toJeddah and then went to Mecca FromMecca I corresponded with MawlaviHassamud Din editor of the KashfulHaqaiq On the day of pilgrimage Idonned my pilgrim attire and proceeded to

Mt Arafat On that day I saw a wonderfulsight the rich and poor the high and lowall dressed in the same white garment Itlooked as if all the dead clad in theirshrouds had emerged from their graves torender their accounts The sight broughttears to my eyes But at the same time athought struck me If Islam is not the truereligion what will my condition be on the

Day of ResurrectionThen and there I

prayed to God O God show me the truereligion and your true way If Islam is thetrue religion keep me steadfast in it andgrant me grace to silence the opponents of Islam If Christianity is the true religionthen reveal its truth to me Amen

After a brief visit to Medina I returned toBombay During my absence theNadwatul Mutakalliminhad disbandedImmediately upon my return I organisedanother society in its place I myself became president of this society andAbdur Rauf was its secretary At hishouse near Grant Road our organisationheld its meetings It was our custom eachweek to invite a non-Muslim to address usand one of our paras was to answer theargument of our guest Munshi MansurMasih used to come regularly to speak forthe Christians Others came to speak onbehalf of the Arya Samaj (a Hindu theisticassociation)

8 A Vital Issue

One day Munshi Mansur Masih addressedus very convincingly that there is nosalvation in Islam The paras of our societyasked me to answer him To the best of myability I tried to prove that there is perfectand certain salvation in Islam Theaudience appreciated my address yet inmy innermost being I knew very well that

my answer left me unconvinced In fact asI spoke I was compelled to admit theweakness of my position Though I hadmade much more noise than myantagonist his voice was thundering in mysoul with an indescribable power

It was nearly 11 pm when this discussionended I returned home and sat down tothink carefully about what Munshi Mansur






Masih had said The more I thought the

more evident it became to me thatsalvation is the vital breath of religion andits necessary foundation Without it areligion is not a religion Furthermore Irecognised that man is a bundle of forgetfulness disobedience andtransgression His life never remains sopure as to be absolutely free from the stainof sin Sin has become mans secondnature It is a true saying that to err ishuman The essential question is how

can one escape accountability andpunishment How is one to be saved Itbecame my duty to investigate this matterhonestly and without prejudice If I foundthat salvation was certainly to be hadthrough Islam then I would thank GodHow bright my eyes would be and howglad my heart But if Islam provided nosuch assurance then I would be compelledto seek that religion which presents asatisfying plan of salvation When I came

to this decision I fell on my knees inprayer before God and wept bitterlycovenanting that thereafter I would notread the Bible as I had been reading it Iwould read it so that I a miserable sinnermight discover in it the way of salvation

9 Quest for Salvation

From that day onward I changed myattitude and as a genuine seeker of truthbegan reading and comparing the Bible

with the Quran For my further peace of mind I borrowed a copy of the Avesta (theZoroastrian book of sacred writings) froma Parsi friend and bought a copy of theSatyarth Prakash Then I began tocompare all these books After reading theAvesta carefully and talking with Parsischolars I became still more dejectedregarding the way of salvation for there is

no reasonable method of salvation set forth

in this religion

I turned next to the study of the SatyarthPrakash written by Swami DayanandSarasvati which may be considered themost authoritative work setting forth thedoctrines of the Arya Samaj I read it withthe hope that I might find in it that forwhich I was searching But instead Ifound strange doctrines which made myhair stand on end I learned from it thatGod cannot forgive sins I was amazed atthis and concluded that it was absolutelyuseless for anyone to join the Arya Samajin the hope of gaining salvationAccording to the Arya Samaj God couldnot forgive a mans sins whethercommitted before or after his becoming anArya Samajist Hence punishment isinescapable

Furthermore I discovered that the AryaSamaj do not consider salvation to be

eternal It became clear to me that there isno salvation with the Arya Samaj and thateven if salvation were obtained by oneway or another it would not be eternalConsequently since salvation is temporalwould not one continually fear that furtherhappiness might be refused him at anytime When I reached this point and sawthat there was no salvation here for asinner like myself I discontinued mystudy of the Satyarth Prakash

The most weighty task confronting me wasthat of examining the Quran and the mostreliable of the Traditions Beforebeginning my search for the doctrine of salvation in these works I raised my handsto God in prayer

O God You know that I am and wasborn a Muslim and that for generations






my ancestors were born Muslims and

have died in this religion In it I toohave been raised and have received myeducation Therefore remove everyobstacle that would prevent me fromdiscovering Your true way and showme the path of Your salvation so thatwhen I leave this transitory world Imay not be displeasing to You Amen

What I found out through studying theQuran was what I had known beforeattaining salvation is dependent upon

doing good works I found many verseswhich declare this doctrine but shall quoteonly two of them here

But as for those who believe and do goodworks for them are the Gardens of Retreat -- awelcome (in reward) for what they used to doAnd as for those who do evil their retreat is theFire Whenever they desire to issue forth fromthence they are brought back thither Unto themit is said Taste the torments of the Fire which yeused to deny(Sura al-Sajda 321920)

And whoso doeth good an atoms weight willsee it then and whoso doeth ill an atoms weightwill see it then(Sura al-Bayyina 9978)

At first glance these verses were verybeautiful and consoling but in my mindthey raised a question Is it possible for us

to do only good and no evil Does man

possess such power When I consideredthis carefully and at the same timereckoned with the faculties and passions of man it became clear to me that it isimpossible for man to remain sinless Hehas no power to continually do good andonly good

The moral philosophers of Arabia claimedthat there are four faculties in man whichgive rise to all his actions Of these fourthree powerful ones work against hisspiritual interest There is only one theangelic faculty which impels man towardsGod helping him to obey Godscommands but its effects are hidden frommans sight On the other hand there is thecombined strength of the other threefaculties the effects of which delight andmotivate man at once Therefore the mindof man sees only what is on the surface hecares only for the present pays moreattention to worldly things and becomes

careless in the things of the Spirit andGod A distinguished Muslim describedthe matter thus

I am trapped in four things the ascendancy of which is the cause of my misery and sufferingThese four things are Satan the world lust andgreed How may I be free from these when all of them are my enemies Evil desires allure me andthrow me into the dark abyss of sensuality andpleasure

According to the Arabic philosophers thethree faculties gained mastery over theangelic faculty and Adam did that whichGod forbade him to do The result hasbeen manifestly inherited by hisdescendants down to the present timeAccording to a Tradition

It is related from Abu Huraira that the Apostleof God said When God created Adam he






stroked his back and there fell from his back all

the men whom He was creating from hisdescendants until the Day of Resurrection AndHe placed before the eyes of each man a flash of light Afterwards He brought them to AdamAdam said O my Lord who are these Hereplied They are thy descendants And he sawa man among them whose flash of light betweenhis eyes astonished him He said O my Lordhow long have You fixed his life He repliedSixty years Adam said My Lord increase itfrom my life by forty years The Apostle of God said When the life of Adam wascompleted except for forty years the angel of

death came to him And Adam said Are therenot yet forty years of my life remaining Hereplied Did you not give them to your sonDavid Then Adam denied this and hisdescendants have denied and Adam forgot andate of the tree and his descendants haveforgotten and Adam sinned and his descendantshave sinned (Tirmidhi)

From this Tradition it is clear that all thechildren of Adam are assuredly sinnersbecause Adams sin has entered into allAccordingly saints and religious leaders

have confessed their sins Thus Adam thefirst of the prophets and Eve say

They said Our Lord We have wrongedourselves If You forgive us not and havenot mercy on us surely we are of thelost(Sura al-Araf 723)

Likewise the Prophet Abraham says

Our Lord Forgive me and my parentsand believers on the day when the accountis cast(Sura Ibrahim 1441)

The Prophet of Islam makes this prayer

O God wash my iniquities withsnow-water(Bukhari)

Abu Bakr the first caliph of the Prophet of Islam says in his famous poem

O God how shall I be saved for there isno goodness in me I am overwhelmedwith iniquities but am wanting ingoodness

In addition to all this evidence thefollowing verse from the Quran maintainsthat all men are sinners

Lo man is an ingrate unto his Lord andlo he is a witness unto that(Sura

al-Adiyat 10067)

In this connection the following thoughtsconfronted me the Prophet Jesus was alsoa man The Quran refers to the sins of theother prophets But why does the Quranrecord no sin of Jesus As I found that the

Quran records only the sinlessness of Jesus I therefore turned to the Injil Here Ifound the following verses

Can any of you prove me guilty of sin(John 846)

God made him who had no sin to besin for us so that in him we mightbecome the righteousness of God(2






Corinthians 521)

For we do not have a high priest who isunable to sympathize with ourweaknesses but we have one who hasbeen tempted in every way just as weare-- yet was without sin(Hebrews415)

He committed no sin and no deceitwas found in his mouth(1 Peter 222)

But you know that he appeared so thathe might take away our sins And in him

is no sin(1 John 35)

Thus there is solid evidence to prove thatwith the exception of the Prophet Jesus allmankind are sinful Under thesecircumstances who was I that I shouldclaim to be able to gain salvation by goodworks when many religious leadersphilosophers and saints had failed to runthis impossible course

Again I turned to the Quran to examine its

teachings about the doctrine of salvationby works I will quote two verses herewhich make it clear that no human beingcan escape condemnation no matter whathis status may be

There is not one of you but shall approach itThat is a fixed ordinance of thy Lord Then weshall rescue those who kept from evil and leavethe evil-doers crouching there(Sura Maryam197172)

Another translation reads There is notone of you who shall not pass through theconfines of Hell (NJ Dawood The

Koran Penguin Books Ltd Middlesex

1959) Still another translation reads Noone is there of you who shall not go downunto it (JM Rodwell The Koran JMDent and Sons London 1950)

No one but myself knows with what terrordismay and disappointment I read thesewords I a spiritually sick man wasreading the Quran as if I were consulting aphysician so that it might offer me theremedy for my sinfulness But instead of giving me a solution it said Everyone of

you will go to perdition for this is theabsolute duty of thy Lord

But my natural love and attachment for thefaith of Islam forbade me to make haste inmy personal decision I thought it fitting toseek a commentary on this verse in theTraditions that I might see what theProphet of Islam himself has to say on thismatter After a long search I found thefollowing Tradition in the Mishkat (afamous book of Sunni Traditions)

Ibn Masud said that the Prophet of Islam saidAll people shall enter hell Then they will comeout of it according to their works Those whowill come out first will do so like a flash of lightning the next like a gale of wind then likea horse at full speed afterwards like a swiftrider then like a man springing and finally likethe walk of a man (Tirmidhi and Darimi)

The meaning of the previous verse wasnow clear It is inevitable that everyone

will enter hell and then emerge accordingto his works The meaning of the Quranwas plain and was supported by thestatement of the Prophet of Islam himselfI wished that I could have ended mysearch at this point but thought it best toseek an interpretation in the Quran itselfThus after a long search I came upon thisverse






And if thy Lord had willed He verily would

have made mankind one nation yet they ceasenot differing save him on whom thy Lord hathmercy and for that He did create them And theWord of the Lord hath been fulfilled Verily Ishall fill hell with the jinn and mankindtogether(Sura Hud 11118119)

I was so stricken after reading this versethat I slowly closed the Quran and becameabsorbed in anxious thought Even in sleepI found no rest for my waking thoughtstaking form in the realm of dreams mademe uneasy It was unspeakably hard forme to forsake the faith of my fathers Iwould have been more willing to forsakelife itself For some time I kept trying tothink of some method of evading the

problem or some way of escape so that Iwould not need to leave Islam With thisintent I began to search for help in theTraditions This was no easy matter forthe Traditions are contained in six thick volumes Moreover it is a most difficulttask to apply the principles of the scienceof the Traditions to each Tradition Butdespite these difficulties I carried mywork to completion with the help of God

According to the Traditions there are three

ways of salvation First there is absolutelyno connection between works andsalvation The very worst sinner who hasspent his whole life breaking Gods lawsmay enter paradise Also the best kind of man having spent his life in good deedsmay enter hell The following Traditionsspeak for themselves

Hazrat Anas relates that the Prophet of Islam

was riding followed by Maadh When the

Prophet repeated thrice Anyone who honestlybelieves and repeats There is but one God andMuhammed is his prophet shall never bedoomed to the fire of hell Maadh said OProphet of God shall I not proclaim thesetidings The Prophet answered In that casethey will believe in nothing else but this(Mishkat)

On this subject there is a Tradition handeddown by Abu Dharr the words of whichforce the conclusion that salvation by

works is meaningless for even theadulterer and thief obtain salvation by themere repetition of the words of the Muslimcreed The Tradition runs thus

It is related from Abu Dharr that he said Icame to the Prophet and he had a white clothover him and was sleeping Later on I came tohim after he had awakened Then he said Anyservant of God who says There is no God butAllah and afterwards dies relying on that willenter heaven I said Although he commitadultery or steal He replied Although he has

committed adultery and theft I said Althoughhe commit adultery and theft He repliedAlthough he commit adultery and theft and inspite of Abu Dharr (Muslim Bukhari)

I found another Tradition as comforting asa basket of sugar to a child whichpromises that whether a man does goodor evil he can obtain paradise by means of the repetition of a few words It reads asfollows

It is related from Ubadah bin Samit that theApostle of God said Whoever bears witnessthat there is no God but Allah alone and that Hehas no partner and that Muhammed is Hisservant and His Apostle and that Jesus is theservant of God and His apostle and the son of His handmaid and his word which He cast intoMary and a spirit from Him and that heaven andhell are true God will take him into paradise inspite of what his works may have been(Muslim Bukhari)






The reader should kindly bear in mind thatChristians do not deny the necessity of doing good works Christians realise thatthey are to be always engaged in goodworks however their salvation does notdepend upon their works for no personcan do more than is required of him Thusno one can do excess works which mightserve as an atonement for his evil works(See Luke 177-10)

When I read these Traditions the question

came into my mind whether it is just thatone who spent his whole life doing eviland never thought of good should enterparadise at death while another who hasspent his life in the fear of Godself-restraint and good works should becast into hell at death

Secondly it is shown in the Traditions thatsalvation is dependent upon the mercy of God -- so much so that the Prophet himself is a needy beggar of this mercy UnlessGod has mercy upon him the Prophethimself cannot obtain salvation throughworks One Tradition in the Mishkat readsas follows

Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet of Islamsaid No one of you will enter Paradise throughhis good works They said Not even you OApostle of God Not even Ihe repliedunless God cover me with His grace and mercyTherefore be strong and morning and eveningnay every moment try to do good

Compare also the following Tradition

Jabir reported that the Prophet of Islam saidNo good works of yours can ever secureheaven for you nor can they save you from hell-- not even me without the grace of God

From these Traditions I understood thatno one can obtain salvation unless Gods

mercy rests on him This comforted me a

little but at the same time I began to thinkIf God is merciful He is likewise just If God should forgive by the exercise of Hismercy alone He would be evading thedemands of His justice and righteousnessSuch an evasion of His justice wouldindicate a defect in the being of GodCertainly such an act would be unworthyof the glory of God

The third thing that became clear to mefrom the Traditions was that even theProphet of Islam cannot save anyone noteven his daughter Fatimah or hisrelations Hence the idea that the Prophetwould intercede for the faithful which Ithought would surely be correct proved tobe wrong One Tradition runs thus

Abu Huraira related that when the verse Causethy near relatives to fear was revealed to theProphet of Islam the Prophet arose and began toproclaim Oh people of the Quraysh and yousons of Abdul Manaf and you Abbas son of

Abdul Muttalib and you Safiyyah my aunt Icannot save you from the punishment of the Dayof Resurrection Take care of yourself O mydaughter Fatimah you may use my property butI cannot save you from God Take care of yourself (Bukhari)

So after an extended and penetrating studyof the Traditions there remained nothingmore for further research In sheer terrorand desperation I closed the books of theTraditions and prayed to God

O God my Creator and my Lord Youknow the secrets of my heart better thanI know them You know how long I havebeen seeking Your true religion I havecarried my investigation as far as I havebeen able Now therefore open to methe door of Your knowledge and Yoursalvation Grant that I may enter intothe company of Your people who are






well-pleasing unto You so that I may be

exalted and content when I enter Yourglorious presence Amen

In this desperate and depressed state of mind I again began to read the Holy Injilwith the idea of correcting any possibledefects in my investigations As I openedthe Holy Injil this time my eyes fell onthese words

Come to me all you who are wearyand burdened and I will give you

rest(Matthew 1128)I cannot say how I happened to comeacross this passage in the Gospelaccording to Matthew I did notintentionally seek it On the other hand itwas not a chance occurrence it was theGod-given answer to my hard labour andsincere investigation For a sinner like meit was indeed the supreme proclamation of good news This life-giving verse had atremendous effect upon me It brought me

peace comfort and joy and immediatelybanished all uneasiness and uncertaintyfrom my heart The Messiah claims I willgive you restHe shows how salvationdepends upon Him He does not merelypoint to a path which is above or beyondHim but says I am the way and thetruth and the life No one comes to theFather except through me (John 146)

Yet the question came to my mind Canone have confidence in this extraordinaryclaim of Christ I concluded that one couldrest upon it for in the first place Christ isaccepted by Muslims as sinless gloriousin this world and the next the Word of God and the Spirit of God These andother descriptions which are applied toJesus indicate perfection Secondlyaccording to Christians he is perfect Godand perfect man free from all base passion

and worldly ambitions Thus it is

impossible that Christ who according toboth Muslims and Christians possesses thehighest qualities would sin or do anythingunworthy of Himself

I then began to ponder how Christpromised to give salvation To set mymind at rest I began to search through theHoly Injil and came upon this verse

just as the Son of Man did not cometo be served but to serve and to give his

life as a ransom for many(Matthew2028)

Upon reading this verse I discovered howGod offers salvation Christ gave His lifefor us sinners This is a marvellous way towhich the world can show no counterpartScores of men have founded religions inthis world but none of them has claimedthat his death will serve for the forgivenessof sins Christ alone not only made thisclaim but also fulfilled it

At this thought I fell into a state of ecstasy The picture of Christ and His lovefor men made an indelible impression onmy heart But while I was absorbed in thisecstasy another question came into mymind What was the need of Christssacrifice and atonement Could He nothave given salvation without giving Hislife After some further thought I foundthe answer to this also God is both

merciful and just If Christ had promisedsalvation without giving His life thedemands of mercy would certainly havebeen fulfilled But in order to satisfy thedemands of justice also Christ paid theransom -- His precious blood In this wayGod has manifested His love for us

This is love not that we loved God butthat he loved us and sent his Son as an






atoning sacrifice for our sins(1 John

410)I continued my investigation in the NewTestament and read it several times frombeginning to end I found hundreds of verses and scores of parables whichproved to me beyond the shadow of adoubt that salvation -- the very heart andpurpose of religion -- is available onlythrough faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Iquote one passage here to prove this point

Now we know that whatever the lawsays it says to those who are under thelaw so that every mouth may besilenced and the whole world heldaccountable to God Therefore no onewill be declared righteous in his sight byobserving the law rather through thelaw we become conscious of sin Butnow a righteousness from God apartfrom law has been made known towhich the Law and the Prophets testifyThis righteousness from God comesthrough faith in Jesus Christ to all whobelieve There is no difference for allhave sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by hisgrace through the redemption that cameby Christ Jesus God presented him as asacrifice of atonement through faith inhis blood He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance hehad left the sins committed beforehandunpunished--(Romans 319-25)

10 Decision and Confession

After completing the investigations whichI have described I came to the conclusionthat I would become a Christian Underthese circumstances it appeared to me tobe honourable to present the whole matterbefore the society that they might consider

it and that I might be free from any charge

of pursuing my investigations in secret

I went to the meeting as usual It was againthe turn of Munshi Mansur Masih tospeak Before he began I interrupted bystating that on this occasion I myself would speak against Islam I thenproceeded to describe the results of mymany years of research The officers of thesociety were amazed at my words but took comfort in the hope that I would make therebuttal to my own address When Ifinished and took my seat thevice-president said We hope that thepresident himself will make his ownrebuttal to his unfavourable addressAgain I rose and said Listen to me myfriends What I have explained to you isnot something which is superficial andfabricated It is a matter which is certainand decisive based on years of investigation To be more specific itbegan on that day when Munshi Mansur

Masih addressed us on the subject of salvation At that time I promised Godthat henceforth I would read the HolyBible not as I had read it previously butas a seeker after truth so that the way of truth and righteousness might be revealedto me Accordingly setting aside prejudiceand philosophical quibbling I comparedthe Avesta Satyarth Prakash the Bibleand the Quran I came to the conclusionthat salvation is to be found in Christ only

That is all I have to say If there is anydefect in my investigation I would begrateful if any of you gentlemen wouldpoint it out On the other hand if youyourselves wish me to make the rebuttal tothese arguments I tell you frankly that Icannot answer them nor is there hope of an answer from anyone else

I left the meeting as it was not prudent for






me to remain there longer Munshi Mansur

Masih immediately followed me When hecaught up with me he embraced me andbegan to shed tears of joy saying in atrembling voice You must come homewith me tonight It is not safe for you tospend the night alone in your room Ireplied that the officers of my organisationwere educated gentlemen and that I needfear nothing from them Of course Iadded there are others whom one mustfear I shall come to your house before

daybreak If I am not there by that timeyou may kindly come to my lodging

After making this arrangement weseparated I went to my room bolted thedoor from the inside and extinguished thelight I sat down immersed in thought Iwill never forget the fearful fancies andspiritual struggle of that night It was anight of decision a night of most desperatetesting At times the thought confrontedme that if I should become a Christian I

would lose my country my inheritancemy rights my family my friends -- inshort everything I was also bothered bythe idea that becoming a Christian wouldmean entering a world where manners andall else would be different from that towhich I had been accustomed Sleep wasimpossible that night

Finally I said to myself Sultan considerthat you are the child of an hour and theworld is fleeting When you die yourcountry and inheritance will be of nobenefit to you nor will your family andfriends be of help to you All these belongto this world alone Nothing but your faithcan go beyond the grave Therefore it isnot wise to forsake eternal life andspiritual happiness for the sake of thistransitory life I then bowed my kneesbefore God and offered this prayer

O omnipotent eternal God Searcher

of hearts I yield myself to You Acceptthis offering and protect me from all thesnares of the devil and from spiritualdangers Remove from my heart theworld and its desires Grant me courageand strength that I may be able toconfess Your only Son Jesus Christpublicly before all men Hear andaccept my prayer for the sake of JesusChrist Amen

After finishing this prayer I felt somewhatdrowsy and slept for a short time When Iawoke I felt altogether happy andcheerful No shadow of the former worryand uneasiness bothered me

The day was breaking I quickly washedand left for the home of Munshi MansurMasih When I arrived there I found hehad been very worried because I had notcome He knew that I was accustomed totea at that hour and had already prepared

some for me After I finished my tea wetalked things over for a short time and thenengaged in prayer After prayer we wentto the home of Padre Ledgeard

The padre was surprised at our earlyarrival Munshi Mansur Masih proceededto tell him that I had come to be baptisedAt first he thought we were not in earnestBut when he heard what had taken placeon the preceding night he immediatelyrose and embraced me saying I knew

that if you would read the Bible seriouslyyou would surely become a ChristianThank God that you have beenconvinced He then promised to baptiseme three days later and advised me tomemorise the Ten Commandments andApostles Creed and the Lords Prayerduring the interval He further counselledme not to stay among Muslims Upon his






invitation to stay either with himself or

with Munshi Mansur Masih I decided toaccept the second alternative

When Sunday came the whole church wasfilled with Muslims Seeing the dangerMr Ledgeard postponed my baptismFinally by the grace and mercy of God Iwas baptised on August 6 1903 in StPauls Church Bombay My baptism took place in the presence of the followingpersons Rev Canon Ledgeard whobaptised me Munshi Mansur Masih andtwo other gentlemen whose names Icannot now recall Immediately after theceremony I was sent to Kanpur since itwas dangerous for me to remain inBombay

When I became a Christian a wonderfulchange took place in my life My speechactions and whole manner of life were sotransformed that a year later when Ivisited Bombay for a short time my

Muslim friends wondered at it Theymarvelled at my mildness for they knewhow easily I used to lose my temper

Before I became a Christian I recognisedsin to be sin but I did not realise as I donow what a dangerous and destructiveforce it is I am still merely a weak manand a handful of dust and when I sin Icannot describe the shame and sorrow withwhich I am filled Immediately I fall onmy face and with tears I repent and beg

for forgiveness This attitude can beacquired only by the recognition of theatoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus ChristSin cannot be removed by repentancealone It must be cleansed by the sacredblood of our Saviour It is because of thevery reason of sin that the world is dailyapproaching nearer and nearer todestruction

Though Satan may war against me with all

the power at his disposal I am not in theleast disturbed because I believe thatChrist has crushed his head Satan cannotharm Christs faithful servants nor can heprevail against them May God theCreator of heaven and earth the Searcherof hearts turn the hearts of my Muslimbrethren as He turned mine and give themvision so that they too remembering theDay of Judgement may realise their deepspiritual need and come into the fold of the

Lord Jesus Christ

I am my dear Muslim brothers

Your spiritual well-wisher


11 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read thistestimony why not try answering ourQuiz

1 What is the depravity of man andhow does it manifest itself in mankind

2 What was the fundamental problemconfronting Sultan Muhammed Paul

3 Quote the response of the Englishclergyman to the following question of Sultan Muhammed Paul Why shouldI read the Bible Who would read suchan altered book which you peoplechange every year

4 How did Sultan Muhammed Paul feelafter he had answered the challenge of Munshi Mansur Masih concerningsalvation in Islam

5 In what manner did Sultan MuhammedPaul decide to study the Bible after thewords of Munshi Mansur Masih hadthundered in his soul






6 Of what did Sultan Muhammed Paul

become a seeker when he begancomparing the Quran the Bible theAvesta and the Satyarth Prakash

7 What did Sultan Muhammed Pauldiscover about man and salvation inthe Quran (3219 9978)

8 What did Sultan Muhammed Paullearn about Adam Abraham theProphet of Islam Abu Bakr and allmankind in his study of the Quran andhow is Jesus different from all these

other men

9 Quote in full the five New Testamentpassages that Sultan Muhammed Paulfound which proclaim the sinlessnessof Jesus Include the references in youranswer

10 Summarise in a few sentences the twobasic principles which SultanMuhammed Paul learned from thefollowing Quran 197172 and itscommentary in the Mishkat andQuran 11118199

11 Briefly summarise the three things thatSultan Muhammed Paul discoveredabout salvation according to theTraditions What was his state of mindafter his research

12 Quote the verse in the Gospelaccording to Matthew which SultanMuhammed Paul found after hisresearch in the Traditions What effect

did it have upon him13 Quote John 146 and explain its

significance

14 What two things did SultanMuhammed Paul conclude whichsupport the extraordinary claim of Christ

15 Quote Matthew 2028 and describe

how God offers salvation

16 What answer did Sultan MuhammedPaul find to his question What wasthe need of Christs sacrifice andatonement Could He not have givensalvation without giving his life

17 Quote the verse from the NewTestament that explains how God hasmanifested His love for us

18 What is the very heart and purpose of religion and through what means is itmade available Quote the passagefrom the book of Romans that supportsthe answer

19 After Sultan Muhammed Paul hadaddressed his organisation for the lasttime he locked himself in his roomQuote the words he said to himself aswell as the prayer he offered to God onhis knees

20 What changes did the Muslim friendsof Sultan Muhammed Paul notice in

his life after he had given his life toJesus

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1 A Request

The reader is asked kindly to consider the

following while reading this book1 What are the spiritual demands upon

mankind

2 What religion can fulfil these spiritualdemands

3 What is the proper way to read theHoly Bible

2 Introduction

Modern man groans under the weight of

false conceptions regarding familycommunal and national excellence Thesefalse conceptions which are easilydiscernible in all types of individuals andat all levels of society issue fromself-centredness which is called thedepravity of man in religious languageThis inner corruption is essentially rootedin the human heart and reveals itself in

opposition to the welfare of the whole of

society Moreover it manifests itself inrebellion against the Holy and Living GodThe poisonous effects of sin have socorrupted mens hearts that in spite of their awareness of its evil they enjoy itand freely indulge in it It was thisfundamental problem of sin and the searchfor freedom from its guilt and bondagewhich confronted Sultan Muhammed Paul

There may be those who choose tooverlook the problem of sin and the way of salvation They prefer to veil the conditionof their hearts from themselves and othersthough they well know that the hiddenthings of the heart are open to theinspection of God For such persons thisstory will have little relevance Yet thereare others who are deeply concerned aboutsin and salvation in their own lives as wellas the lives of their fellow men For themthis booklet will help in the examinationtheir own experiences in light of those of

Sultan Muhammed Paul May it prove tobe a source of guidance and blessing fromthe Living God for all who ponder itscontents

3 Early Life and Studies

My native land is Afghanistan My fatherwas a resident of the capital of Logarsituated about fifty miles south of the cityof Kabul

My father Payanda Khan held the rank of colonel in the Afghan army and had thetitle Bahadur Khan He was knownthroughout the country as ColonelBahadur Khan My father had two wivesThe first was from among his nearrelatives She bore him three daughtersbut no sons Lest the family should die outhe married the daughter of Sayyid





































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The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland






































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The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland

















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7 Journey to Arabia






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The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland



























7 Journey to Arabia






8 A Vital Issue

















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The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland










7 Journey to Arabia






8 A Vital Issue

















in this religion












































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Corinthians 521)































































































































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The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

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in this religion












































al-Adiyat 10067)










Corinthians 521)































































































































Lord Jesus Christ




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other men






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or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland








































al-Adiyat 10067)










Corinthians 521)































































































































Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland





















al-Adiyat 10067)










Corinthians 521)































































































































Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland







Corinthians 521)































































































































Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland















































































































Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland



























































































Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland







































































Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland


















































Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland


































Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland
















Lord Jesus Christ




11 Quiz
















other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland











other men






significance











or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland





Documents

Why I Became a Christian - By Sultan Muhammed Paul