as life goes on

...Allah guides whom he wills to a straight path. (24:46)

I have read the news about the conversion, or rather reversion of an ex-member of Geert Wilders's right-wing anti-Islam Freedom Party. He was a member of a fierce enemy of Islam. And yet, today, he announced his reversion into Islam. As irony as it is, I remember that sometimes in the past, there was a guy who, just like him, announced his reversion into Islam publicly. He was a fierce enemy of Islam too. He had his own reasons of course. He believed that Islam was the reason why his people become separated. The place he lived was no longer the same. And he thought that forcing people to leave Islam would make everything return back to normal. So, he tortured the muslims. He asked the people of his clan to abandon Islam. He was very eager to do anything to unite his people back. Up to the point that he was willing to kill. Oh, back then, killing was not as easy as it seems nowadays. He would certainly be punished by his community for blood is the only price of bloodshed. And verily, Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path. When he was on his way to kill the Messenger (PBUH), he was told that his own sister had already embraced Islam too. And I guess, by now, all of us have pretty much know who am I talking about. He is our very own second caliph, Umar al-Khattab ra.

The history has proven that numerous people have embraced Islam even after being a fierce enemy of muslims. The likes of Umar r.a, Khalid al-Walid ra and Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahal are some of them. Khalid r.a was one of the notable figures of the musyrikin who went out for the Battle of Uhud. He led the musyrikin to ambush the muslims while some of them were busy celebrating their 'victory'. This sudden attack caused the death of many muslims in the battle. Consequently, the muslim army was forced to retreat back to Madinah. Other than Khalid, Ikrimah r.a was also a notable figure of Mecca. He was the son of Abu Jahal, a notorious enemy of Messenger (PBUH). And he only embraced Islam after the conquest of Mecca.

I, personally, admire Ikrimah r.a. He was a very fierce fighter before he embraced Islam. He cut the hand of one of the two youths who targeted Abu Jahal during the Battle of Uhud. During the Battle of the Ditch, with  a great bravery, he managed to cross the ditch eventhough he was chased out again by the arrows shot by the muslims. During the conquest of Mecca, he also attempted to fight the army of Khalid al Walid with some thirty people of Mecca. He was defeated but he managed to escaped. When he was about to leave Mecca once and for all, he was asked to embrace islam through the captain of the boat he about to board. While he was hesitating -since he has been running for Islam his whole life- his wife came to him telling that the Prophet (PBUH) has already promised him protection. And in his journey back to Mecca, he embraced Islam.
In the words of Martin Lings in his book, Muhammad: His Life Based on The Earliest Source
"Then, Ikrimah spoke of the money he had spent and the battles he had fought to bar men from following the truth, and he said that he would henceforth spend the double of it and fight with double effort in the way of God; and he kept his promise."
And he died a very wonderful death in the battle against Byzantine. And I wont be telling that story here. You can find it yourselves if you want.

Now, how can we relate ourselves to these people?
In the not too distant past, we might be the ones who live  for the sake of our own nafs. We lived as the slaves of the norm. We followed whatever norm dictated by the people around us. At the age of 7, we entered elementary school. And thus begin our journey of academic life. We entered high school and sat for PMR and SPM. Then we continued with our tertiary education, seeking for the degree that seems to be important for our survival in the future. We stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning, burning the midnight oil so that we can be listed in DL. And what did we tell people when they asked us to join the congregational prayers at the mosque? What excuses did we give to ourselves for missing the fajr prayer? Or did we even bother to give excuses? And how did we push our friends off when they start to talk about usrah and stuffs?
In the not too distant past too, while we lived in the boarding school, we might live the life of the tyrants. We oppressed the seemingly weaklings among us. We asked our juniors to wash our clothes, clean our dorms and buy our food. We beat them up just because they entered our class through the back door. Or even worse, we scolded them because they did not say salam to us when they met us. Oh, just how irony was it.
In the not too distant past, we might just the bad guys who do all sort of bad things. We might be missing our prayers and we were not even concern of it. And verily, Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path.
Now, here we are, guided by Allah to the only deen in His sight. Dont we want to be the likes of Umar, Khalid and Ikrimah too?

"Manusia itu seperti logam, terpilihnya mereka waktu jahiliyah, terpilih juga mereka semasa Islam, sekiranya mereka faham" Err, I did try to find the english translation, but I just cant find it. Lol.