Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Testimony of Hamoud bin Saleh

binsaleh4 The following is a rather long blog but I thought that you might like to read a better translation of 28-year-old Saudi Christian, Hamoud Bin Saleh's blog on December 22, which tells what led him to becoming a Christian.  Our colleagues who translated this from Arabic into English told us this blogger is obviously well-educated and articulate by the words he uses. It was also not easy to render what he wrote into easily understood English; he makes references to things that would be obvious to others in his society but not so obvious to us.  Regardless, I hope that you will find it interesting and uplifting.  Please uphold this brother in prayer, as he is still being detained by Saudi authorities because of what he wrote.

My experience: I left Islam (for the rotten feelings inside) and placed my faith in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-17)

I was walking on a Friday morning during a weekend holiday in Saudi, in a place called (Bilsafa), in the heart of Medina. It's usually a place where executions are held for murders and drug dealers. According to Mohammad's cruel teaching, the law distinguishes between the noble (high class) and the poor (low class) in its practice. (This idea seems to refer to how the Sharia Law is applied more harshly against the lower class than the high).

I was drawn by a gathering of people and I realized that today there was an execution. It's not the custom of the Saudi government to announce executions way ahead of time – it was a surprise for me. My curiosity drew me to the middle of the gathering to see the executions myself. It was the first time in my life I had watched an execution. There were three people from Pakistan, who were going to be executed. The Saudi regime is proud to apply the Sharia Law in executing people who are drug dealers. Before the executioner lifted his sword (to cut their necks) I looked very closely at the faces of the victims (they're filled with sorrow). They didn’t appear to be criminals. They looked very young in their age and their bodies were skinny. They were thin due to the living conditions in Pakistan. I don't think anyone from the audience can forget the victim's facial expressions.

To read the rest, you can click here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Glenn, for posting this.

Unknown said...

Thank you. I couldn't imagine how difficult the situation is for him. In my country, we're also minorities, but in a much better situation.

Anonymous said...

may the Lord shelter him, indeed this man is going to see eternal life, bless him in name of our Lord Jesus.

Anonymous said...

praise the Lord.

bradleesargent said...

Where is the original arabic version of this testimony?