How a Person Could Change!

The following story was
narrated to us by brother
Mahmud from Preston, England.
Once, he along with a group of
Muslims were visiting a city for
inviting others to Allah. They
happened to pass by a group of
youths who were Muslims by
birth but became gang
members. The brothers didn't
give those gang members the
negative attitude that others
give while passing by them.
Rather, they went and hand-
shook with them out of
brotherhood. With love and
affection, the brothers invited
the youths to come to the
Masjid. Not being familiar with
such kindness, the gang
members were surprised and
decided to come to the Masjid
for once. These youths were so
much away from Islam that
they were smoking in the Masjid
and doing a lot of other
disrespectful acts. However,
brother Mahmud and others
were discussing with them
about the Greatness of Allah
with patience and endurance. A
time came when the brothers
had to return to their homes
and before leaving they advised
the gang members to turn
towards Allah.
After several years, brother
Mahmud was attending a large
gathering of Muslims when
suddenly someone called him
from the back. There were few
people dressed in sunnah
standing behind him. They
asked brother Mahmud if he
recognizes them. They told him,
�We are those gang members
whom you visited few years
back. We decided to go out and
learn more about Islam and
eventually changed our lives.
Dear readers, we should never
underestimate certain people
because of the way they are as
every individual has the capacity
to become a friend of Allah. It is
only Allah who guides; we can
only try with kindness to reach
out to their hearts.