Last Saturday (September 14), Quincy Miller proclaimed
Islamic faith. This sublime ritual was administered by celebrated mystic Hazrat
Sufi Ameer Khan. Mysterious is the divine will. Quincy Miller read an article
written by me about Sufi Ameer Khan’s spiritual marvels that his prayers have
produced over a long period of time. I have been having the honor of writing on
the amazing Karamat (Miracles) attributed to Sufi Ameer Khan.
It was a blissful coincidence that I came to know about Sufi
Ameer Sahib through his most dedicated devotee Jinab Khaliq Qureshi Sahib. Khaliq
Qureshi Sahib could be portrayed as the true model of a good human being that
one would wish in a society or that what the religion of Islam ordains a mortal
person to be. He is cast in a mold of self abnegation, truthfulness, humility
and total submission to God almighty. As such for a saintly figure as Sufi
Sahib to have an ideal follower like Khaliq Qureshi is one of the phenomena
that by itself is nothing less than a miracle.
After reading one of my articles on Sufi Sahib, Quincy
Miller wrote me an email desiring to meet him. I directed him to Mr. Khaliq
Qureshi. That is how Mr. Miller finally
met with Sufi Ameer Khan Sahib and after a dialogue replete with spiritual exhortations
he expressed his wish to become Muslim.
It would be delightfully instructive to the readers that Mr.
Quincy has been studiously searching about religions and in that regard he had
substantive information about Islam as well. This was the blazing urge that
brought him into the company of Sufi Sahib who named him as Abdullah Miller.
And before giving him a new name his consent was sought. Mr. Miller’s main thrust
was having peace of mind and solicit blessing of almighty God.
His email message to Khaliq Qureshi Sahib expressing his
desire to meet Sufi Sahib is reproduced below:
Hello, Mr. Qureshi,
My name is Quincy Miller. I live in Arlington, TX. I have
been in search of someone who can guide me on the path of submission to Allah.
I was raised as a Christian and have studied several other religious
traditions. I became attracted to Islam through the writings attributed to
poets and saints of your faith. Their words have resonated more with my heart
and mind than anything else that I’ve encountered. I’ve read some books about Sufism
and have begun studying the Quran, praying to Allah only, and trying to
remember God in my thoughts and feelings as much as I can in my current state.
I am convinced of God’s presence. I realize that I am not a likely person to
meet such a great Sufi as Hafiz Ameer Khan .but I feel that I need to be guided
by a true servant of God so that I can align my life with God’s will, not just
for own sake, but for the sake of all the lives that I touch as husband, father,
friend, neighbor, school teacher and mental health interventionist. I have to
be a better person, the person that God intends for me to be. For this reason,
I’m writing to you to find out if and how I can meet Sufi Ameer Khan. I am
searching to see if there was such a person in the DFW area and found a couple
of videos of him praying. I could find no other information about him until I
came across an article by a Mr. Saeed Qureshi. After reading his words, I feel
that I have to try to meet Sufi Ameer Khan. A prayer, a word of encouragement,
even a glance from a man so surrendered in Allah would help to set me on the
right course. I emailed Mr. S. Qureshi, and he gave me your email Address. I
apologize if I‘ve overstepped my boundaries by contacting you in this way, but
I have no choice but to ask. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I
await your response.
Sincerely,
Quincy (9/10/2013)
In the backdrop of this profound and intense urge that Mr.
Quincy was finally successful in having a rendezvous with a true Dervish and
servant of Allah, Sufi Ameer Khan. He was inducted into the fold of Islam through
an established religious tradition. According to tradition, a intending person
recites or repeats the proclamation uttered by the Imam (guide or leader) or
saint while their right hands are clasped.
This process is called Shahada (declaration of faith) in
Islam. Every person entering Islam has to declare, that “I testify that there
is no deity except God and Muhammad is his Messenger”. Readily Mr. Quincy
Miller was given the Islamic name of Abdullah Miller by Sufi Sahib. However, he
was also free to retain his original name as well.
Besides administering the oath of conversion to Islam, Sufi
Sahib and Jinab Khaliq Qureshi gave Mr. Quincy a set of books to make himself
knowledgeable about Islam with regard to its basic teachings, beliefs,
traditions, five mandatory articles of faith and five obligatory pillars. Although
this meeting was meant to be introductory yet by the divine grace, it
culminated into the blissful fulfillment of the compelling urge of a person seeking
the path of God and spiritual sublimation.
This ceremony took place over a sumptuous lunch hosted by
Sufi Sahib in a local hotel. Besides esteemed Khaliq Qureshi and reverend Sufi
Ameer Khan Sahib, those who also attended this holy and virtuous occasion were,
a renowned humanist Mr. Farooq Khan, an eminent journalist Shah Alam, a famed
Radio anchor Mr. Azad Khan and this scribe.
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