Saturday, December 15, 2012

Daniel Ali: Kurdish convert to Catholicism

Recently read a review of Daniel Ali's book Out of Islam, Free at Last. So I decided to see if he had a website and sure enough he does. What is most interesting to me is that he is an evangelical Catholic. He became a Christian and only later joined the Catholic Church (with his wife). Here is the story of how he was attracted to Catholic Christianity:

Soon after my baptism, Sara and I began a neighborhood Bible study for anyone from any denomination who would come. To this Bible study came a nine-year-old neighbor boy, Joe Sobran, who would read questions and answers from his Baltimore Catechism. Sara and I were shocked at the unique questions and were floored by the simple and profound answers in the back of each chapter. 
Little Joey did not give up, asking us why we were not Catholic. He would plant seeds every time he spoke to us of the Catholic faith. 
One evening, Sara and I were watching television and happened upon a broadcast  of the Mass on EWTN at the exact moment of the Consecration when the priest was elevating the Host. We were shocked by this simple and beautiful respect for Jesus. Then the priest elevated the chalice, in its ornate beauty. 
The priest’s vestments had a beauty that showed that only the best we can offer is good enough for God. Sara and I suddenly understood that the beauty in the Catholic Church was there because it was truly the House of God. 
In 1996, Sara and I were introduced to the late Catholic theologian Father William G. Most, who taught us Catholic theology. He generously gave time every Sunday for a year and a half to bring these two fundamentalists around to joining the Catholic Church. We were received into the Catholic Church on July 13, 1998 at a special Mass.
I would really like to see some more studies on Catholic ex-Muslims. I know they're out there...I just don't know any myself. Here is his testimony if you want to read more and don't want to read his whole book.

2 comments:

Jewel said...

I am converting to Catholicism, too. I'm in RCIA, right now, and will be receiving my first communion at Easter, 2013.
I went through a number of Christian denominations to come to this point but like Daniel, it is the Catechism that I found so brilliant. The history of the lives of saints, things which were never ever taught in the Protestant denominations, most of went 'modern' and basically unchurchlike.
I think, better than any tract from my youth, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is perhaps one of the best forms of evangelization I've ever read.

amy said...

Thank you so much for sharing this! How beautiful..