The words, like an arrow, penetrated deep into my soul. They opened a wound that I do not believe will heal easily. I struggled with my tears and tried to prevent them from flowing, but I could not. My tears fell, as if they were trying to wash away the shame of history from my heart. After that, I decided to move forward, passing through the stations of history, to become aware of the tragedy of the ummah, and this was the beginning of defining the identity of the movement and transition by crossing through the space of beliefs and history and aligning with the reason.
This occurred in the house where my Shia cousin resided. I had come to visit him and talk about general matters…
At one moment, the voice of a speaker from a tape recorder caught my attention, saying: “This is a sermon that is found in both Sunni and Shia sources, and it was delivered by Fatimah (peace be upon her)…”
Before hearing this recording, I was not prepared to discuss religious differences. However, we knew that my cousin was Shia, and we had prayed to Allah to guide him. We tried as much as possible to avoid any debates with him. But Allah, the Almighty, wanted to make the proof complete for us.
With a calm and beautiful voice, the speaker began the sermon, and the words penetrated deep into my being. It became clear to me that such words could not have come from an ordinary person, even if a scholar had studied for a thousand years; they were, in essence, a miracle. Eloquent speech, firm statements, convincing arguments, and powerful expressions… I surrendered to them and listened with my whole being until I could no longer hold back, and my tears started flowing.
I was amazed by these firm words, which were directed at the Caliph of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and what amazed me even more was that they were coming from the daughter of the Messenger of Allah. So, what had happened? In reality, I didn’t know the authenticity of this sermon, but at that moment, my consciousness was shaken, and with the first tear that flowed from deep within me, I decided to seriously engage in a profound discussion with him. I didn’t want to hear anything from anyone; I wanted the thread of the beginning to start, so I could begin my movement.
The tape ended, I wiped my tears, and I tried to hide them so that my cousin wouldn’t notice, though I didn’t know why. Perhaps I was proud of myself, but the enormity of the tragedy compelled me to ask him a series of questions. However, I was not seeking an answer. It was an attempt to alleviate the pressure on my soul. He responded to me: “You need to first understand who Fatimah is, and then begin your own search so I do not impose my beliefs upon you. The first source where you will find the thread of this beginning is Sahih al-Bukhari[1].” He then handed me the book, and this was completely unexpected for me…
Excerpt from the book “With the Light of Fatimah, I Was Guided” by Abdul Munim Hassan Sudanese
Footnote:
[1] Sahih al-Bukhari, the most authoritative book after the Quran in Sunni Islam, is considered the top of the six canonical hadith collections among Sunni Muslims.