Barack Obama gave his first speech to The African Union on July 28, 2015, in the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. He said, “A lot of these groups claim they bear the religion’s banners, but hundreds of millions of Muslims in Africa know that Islam means ‘peace.’”
This might be true for millions of Muslims, but not for Tofik. Tofik was educated in Islam and was an Imam. But then this Ethiopian imam dreams about Isa. Here is his story.
Studying Islam
I studied Islam for 24 years in a village of East Africa. We only learned the teachings of Islam. Part of the curriculum was how to destroy Christianity.
We were also encouraged to steal from and kill non-Muslims. We would attack and destroy new churches and burn their Bibles.
The mosque sent me to Saudi Arabia to further study Islam. Then, I went back to my village to be an Imam and established 16 mosques. I set the rules that village elders couldn’t be Christians and no one was allowed to talk about Christianity.
Vision and Dream from God
One night, in the midst of my passionate journey for Islam, I received a vision from God. It was around 3 a.m. in 2002, I clearly saw Isa Al-Masih, and He asked me to follow Him.
When I told my wife about the dream, she was scared. She said we would be infidels, so we had to pray. I explained to my wife the Quran verses that Isa instructed me to read. The verses commanded to follow Him.
Then I had another dream from Isa Al-Masih. He said, “This is Me, follow Me. There will be a cost when you follow Me. Your life will be persecuted but in the end, you will be rewarded. For I am with you.”
Please email us and share with us if you have ever had a dream about Isa.
Life Changing Experience
My wife and children were hesitant in accepting the idea to follow Isa Al-Masih. But I could not ignore the visions and started to go to church. After attending the first service, I asked to meet the church leaders.
I told them everything about my dream and vision. They eventually accepted me and prayed for me. The news about me going to church spread quickly. People were crying in my house because when you convert to another religion, you were considered dead in Islam.
Persecution for Following Isa
My family was very angry regarding my decision to follow Isa Al-Masih. They went to my house and said, “Our brother has died!” They plundered my farm animals, seized everything in my house and destroyed my home. Then they made a false accusation that I had burnt someone else’s house and I was imprisoned.
After getting out of jail, I went to several places to preach and teach about Isa Al-Masih. I brought more than two hundred people to Isa. I started a church near my current house, and many people decided to follow Isa. As a result, the villagers were furious. They assaulted me and destroyed my house.
Forgiving My Enemies
The attackers thought I was dead so they threw my body away. They declared they had killed the most wanted person and now the village was free from illegal activities. Then they started to shout and sing.
I wanted revenge, but I remembered the voice of Isa Al-Masih in my dream about the persecution that I would face. In the end, I chose to forgive them. I surrendered my life into God’s hands and prayed for the attackers to be saved. Please email us if you want to experience the love that can forgive enemies.
QUESTIONS FOR CONTEMPLATION
- In your opinion, why did an influential Imam like Tofik decide to follow Isa Al-Masih?
- What will you do when people slander or persecute you? Will you seek revenge or pray for them? Elaborate on your answer!
- Have you ever received a vision from Isa Al-Masih through a dream? If so, please describe it!
If you have a question regarding this article, please contact us by clicking this link.
RULES FOR COMMENTING
We reserve the right to edit or delete, in part or in whole, comments that contain words or phrases that are offensive, disrespectful, or aggressive in nature as well as comments that do not relate to the topic article. Furthermore, we reserve the right to edit comments to correct grammar or sentence structure to improve its readability.
1. Please use clear and unabbreviated language.
2. Please relate questions and comments to the article.
3. Please do not post more than two questions.
4. Please be polite and unaggressive.
5. Please use only English or give the English translation of non-English words.
6. Please use only one box.
7. Please do not use forms of emphasis such as capital letters, etc…