The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.” Jesus speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:8
This true account is adapted from David Garrison’s work, A Wind in the House of Islam.
Sheikh Hakim was a slender man in his mid-30s with a neatly trimmed beard, intense lively eyes, wearing a bright purple shirt beneath the ubiquitous second-hand suit. Hakim’s father came from the Boro Mountain Muslims who are known for their zealous faith. When Hakim was born, his father took a vow that his son would only study the Qur’an and never work for him. From the age of two until he was 18, Hasim only studied the Qur’an. Hasim is a Hafez, meaning he has memorized it.
One day, a local African evangelist gave him a New Testament in Arabic and shared with him some of the common teachings that both Muslims and Christians share. Sensing the confusion in his heart, he prayed to Allah, “You know my heart. If there is something more I must do, show me.”
That night Jesus came to him in a dream. In that dream, he could see someone trying to repair the speaker at the top of the mosque’s minaret. When he looked at the base of the minaret he saw a man chopping it down with an ax. When he looked closer at that figure, he realized it was him! Hakim had that dream four times that night.
The next morning he went and found that evangelist who’d given him the New Testament and asked what the dream meant. The man smiled and said, “You are going to win many sheikhs to the Lord.” Immediately the man became a follower of Jesus and immediately he met with great persecution. Today he moves from town to town because there are always those who are trying to kill him.
Hakim goes on to say, “I was able to accept the gospel because it was given to me in Arabic. Even though Arabic was not my heart language, as I sheikh I knew it well and considered it holy. Over the next seven months, we saw 74 sheikhs from our people group come to faith in Jesus. Right now there are more than 400 sheikhs who have come to the Lord.” When asked how many of them have been baptized, he replied, “More than 300 so far.”
Though we in the Western World don’t get to hear often of God moving in these kinds of ways, A Wind in the House of Islam is full of God-stories like this. At the very least, accounts like this cause me to question if I’m limiting God’s ability to speak into my life. I don’t know, that’s something I’ve got to think more about.
Pastor Scott Smith
Connections & Growth Pastor