Isaac Helal Masseha’s story of Embracing Islam
A witness to the Church persecution
Translated by :May Saleh
Revised by : Magdy Abd Al-Shafy
His name : Priest Isaac Helal Masseha.
His job : the pastor of an important church, and the honorary head of the Egyptian Spirits Salvation Associations in Africa and West Asia . He was born on 3/5/1953 , in Almenia , in The Arab Republic of Egypt.
I was born in Albiadeah village the centre of Malawi in Almenia province, of an Orthodox Christian parents who grew us up with the hatred of Islam and Muslims.
When I started studying the prophets’life, an intellectual conflict began inside me, my questions evoked a lot of problems among the students the thing that made the Pope “Shinodah” ( who succeeded the Pope Cyrill after his death ) issued a decision to appoint me as a priest two years before the time of my actual appointment – in order to tempt me and keep me silent for they felt my supporting to Islam going on – Though I , according to the church law, was to be appointed nine years after my study to theology ,then, I was appointed as a head chief of the “Christian Church” in Suhaaj and the honorary head chief of the Egyptian Spirits Salvation Associations (a very strong Christianizing association and it has basis in many Arab countries especially in the Gulf States) , the Pope showered me with a lot of money in order to not discuss these ideas again. Nevertheless, I was keen to know the fact of Islam and the Islamic light that illuminated my heart did not extinguish by my happiness about my new position rather it grew. My relation with Muslims started in secret and I began to study and read about Islam.
And I was asked to prepare my Master Degree on “comparative religions” ; my study was supervised by the bishop of the scientific research in 1975. I spent four years in preparing it , the supervisor used to object to its content , the veracity of Messenger Muhammad prophethood (PBUH) , his illiteracy and the glad tidings concerning Mohammed . Finally the master’s degree was discussed in the Evangelical Church in Cairo and it took nine hours concentrating on the prophethood question and the prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
In spite the Bible verses were outright and denoting that he is a true prophet and that he would be the last seal final prophet . Unfortunately , my study was nullified . I pondered about Islam deeply in order to espouse confidently , but I could not have Islamic books because the Pope was watching me along with my private books keenly .
My guidance’s story :
On 6/8/1978 I was going to celebrate the anniversary the birth of the Virgin Mary in Alexandria ( Egypt ) . I boarded the train at 3:10 after the train had arrived at my destination at about 9:30, I boarded the coach from Alatabah station to Abassia. While I was on the coach in my church clothes wearing a cross weighing about a quarter kilo of pure gold and my and holding my stick, a boy about eleven years old went on to sell some booklets, he distributed them over all passengers except me, an obsession thrilled in my being “why all the passengers except me” , I waited him until he had finished distributing and collecting money , and after selling some and collecting the rest, I asked him “my son, why did you give the all the passengers except me?”. He said : “no ,you are a priest. Here I felt that I am not worthy carrying these booklets in spite of its small size “none can touch them but the purified” . I urged him to sell me some of them but he said “no; these are Islamic books” and he got out. By his getting out the coach I felt as if I am hungry and inside these books were my satisfaction and as I am thirsty and inside them were my quenching drink . I followed the boy but he ran out of fear and I forgot who I am and ran after him till I had two booklets. When I arrived to the great church in Al-Abassiah (Mark Cathedral) , I entered the bed room of the officially invitees. I was exhausted because of the travelling, but when I was opening one of the two booklets which is “Amma Part in the Holy Quran ” I noticed “Al-Ekhlass (Fidelity) Chapter ” that awakened my mind and shook my entity. I repeated it until I memorized it. When I read it, I had the feeling of peace of mind, heart security and spiritual happiness. While I was sitting, one of the priests entered and called me : “our father Issac”, I shouted unconsciously “ Say .He is Allah the one”. Which is the first part of this chapter.
At the holy confession:
After that I went to Alexandria in order to celebrate the week of the birth of Virgin Mary on Sunday and during the usual Mass prayer, something happened , in the rest period I went to the holy confession to listen to the confession of the ignorant people who believe that the priest can forgive sins.
A regretful woman came and said : “I committed a sin three times and I am here now in front of your holiness admitted you hopping to forgive me and I promise you to never commit it again”. It is known that the priest raises the cross in the front of the confessor’s face and forgives his sins. When I was raising the cross I remembered the beautiful Qura’nic verse (He is Allah the One) so, I could not speak , wept heavily and said: “she came and asks me forgiveness but who would forgive me at the punishment and doomsday”.
Thus, I recognised that there is a Great ( Meaning God) ,who is the Greatest of all , one God with no partners. I went immediately to the bishop and said : “who would forgive my sins ”, he answered saying the pope ” who would forgive the sins of the pope ?” I replied . His body was trembled and he stood shouting : “you are a crazy Pope and who appointed you is crazy too even if he were the Pope because we advised him not to appoint you for you would corrupt people with your Islamic tendencies and your depraved thought”.
Later, the Pope issued a decree to imprison me in (Mary Mena) monastery in Al-Nattrun Valley
The monk was praying :
They took me blindfolded where the monks received me very strangely and tormented me badly while I was not Muslim yet, each one beat me with a stick and said : “this is the punishment to whomever sell his religion and his church”.
They tormented me with all methods which still have effects on my body and it is the best witness that I am true. Even their inhuman morals admited them to enter a broom stick in my buttocks seven times daily at the monk’s prayrs time for 97 days, and they ordered me to watch over the pigs.
After three months, they took me to the most important monk in order to reproach me and to advise me. On meeting him, he said : (my son .. certainly Allah shall not make the reward of anyone who does his (righteous) deeds in the most perfect manner to be lost, be patient and ask the reward from Allah. And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty) And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine . I thought this speech is neither from the Bible nor from the saints’ speech( these were the Holy Quran words )
I remained astonished because of his words and I became more astonished when he said : “my son I advise you to be silent and keep matters confidential till the truth is disclosed, no matter how long it takes”. I wondered what he means by this speech as long as he is the monk.
It did not take a long time that I understood the meaning of these confusing words. One morning I knocked at the door of his room to awake him up, but he delayed in opening the door so I pushed it and entered. To my great surprise , the 65-year old man with the white beard was doing the Moslem prayer of dawn. This incident was the light of my guidance to this true religion ,which is the religion of monotheism .
When I saw this scene, I froze in my place but quickly I came to my sense, and closed the door lest anyone else should see the monk doing the Islamic prayer . Then he approached and said : “my son Keep what you see secret , don’t unfold it , May God help you !
I have been on that way for 23 years , the Holy Quran is my spiritual nourishment , praising God’s oneness fills my spiritual vacuum , worshipping God , the Ever-subduing , and the true should be followed , my son ” A few days later , the Pope gave his orders to let me back to my church and alienated me from Suhaaj to Asyut but what happened to me such as Al-Ekhlass (Fidelity) Chapter, the holy confessional and the monk who held on his Islam, affected my soul very much but what could I do with this siege of parents, relatives and wife and forbidding me to go out of the church by the pope’s order.
A missionary Journey:
One year later, I received a letter which I had enclosed later in the file of professing Islam in The Security Department of Al-Sharqiah-( a city in ARE) , ordering me to go to Sudan as a head to a missionary committee to Sudan . On the first of September, 1979, we had been in Sudan for three months , and the direction of the pope was that every one profess Christianity would receive 35 thousand Egyptian pounds except the species assistance. Under pressure and poverty , the Committee could deceive a bout 35 persons
After I gave them the Papacy grant, I called the Pope from Omdarman archdiocese to tell him and he said : “take them to see the Christian Sanctuaries in Egypt ,they went out of Sudan as a workers with false labor contracts to cultivate camel, sheep and pigs and that was they way we bring them to Egypt.
During the voyage , I decided to have a look on the new christians . when I opened the door of the cabinet 14 ,, I found the the new Christian Abd Al-Maseeh (former Muhammad Adam) praying the Muslim prayer, I talked to him and found him holding on very much with his Islamic creed that neither money nor the ephemeral allurement of the new life affected him. One hour later, I sent to him one of the christianizers and to bring him to my room, after the christianizer had gone out , I said : “Abd Al-Maseeh, why did you pray the Muslims’ prayer after you became a christian”, he said : “I sold my body for you for your money but my heart, soul and mind are for Allah , the true and ever –subduing and that I would never sold them for the whole world treasure , and I am witness before you that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger”.
After all these events that illuminated to me the way of believing in God and guided me to embrace Islam, I faced many problems to profess Islam because I am a chief priest and the chief of missionary committee in Africa, and they tried to prevent that as much as possible because this was a great scandal for them.
I went to many Security Department in order to profess Islam but because of their fear about the national unity, the department of Al-Sharkiah brought a group of priests and archbishops to stay with me and this is common in Egypt for any one wants to embrace Islam.
The committee including four priests and three archbishops threatened me that they would take all my money and my movable and portable properties. Also my properties in the National Bank of Egypt- Suhaj and Asyut branch which was about four million Egyptian pounds, three shop for gold jewels workshop for gold manufacturing in the Yahoud avenue and a building of eleven floors number (499 Bour Saied Street in Cairo.) So, I gave up all of them because nothing is worth a moment of regret that I felt at the holy confession.
Subsequently, the church antagonized me and outlawed my blood . My brother and my cousins tried to kill me and they actually shouted me in Cairo and hurt my left kidney which was amputated. On 7/1/1987 at Al-Kassr Al-Eani hospital and the accident was registered in the record number 1762/1986 in Kassr Al-Neel section Cairo secure department on 11/11/1986.
I became with one kidney and the urethra became narrow after the kidney was inflated, by the Creator’s power who made it to do the function of two kidneys. Because of my hard circumstances after the church had taken every thing and the medical reports insisted on the need to make a renal pelvis plastic surgery and an urethra widening. And because I did not have the expenses , more than 15 surgeries were done, including the prostate but non of them was succeeded, because it was not the required surgery according to the reports.
When my parents knew that I became a Muslim, they committed a suicide and burned themselves alive , Allah is the supporter.
