MUSLIM RIOTER DIED AND MET JESUS
The May 1998 riots of Indonesia were incidents of mass violence, demonstrations, and civil unrest of a racial nature that occurred throughout Indonesia. The main targets of the violence were ethnic Chinese Indonesians. It was estimated that more than a thousand people died in the riots. At least 168 cases of rape were reported. Wikipedia.
The following is the story of Andryansah's testimony:
I first knew Isa Almasih [Jesus Christ] from an incident that almost made no sense. It happened during the May 1998 riots in Indonesia.
Before I got to know Isa Almasih, I was taught by my parents and scholars both in schools and mosques that people outside of Islam are infidels and Islam is the most true teaching of all the books on this Earth. If any of us can get rid of adherents outside of Islam, there is a great reward, because according to what they have taught me, the essence is that those outside Islam are congregations of Satan who must be destroyed from the face of this Earth. And the biggest danger at that time was the Nashara (Christians) who were growing in Indonesia slowly. At that time, I was always immersed in the lessons contained in the Quran and Hadith. That was how I behaved like a devil before knowing Jesus Christ who was glorious on Earth and the hereafter with His love.
At the beginning of the May 1998 riots, my friends (who are Muslims) were riding motorbikes with the aim of looting non-Muslim shops. I followed my friend's invitation when one of them screamed, "Let's destroy the infidels." This was what made me excited.
We arrived in front of a shop called El-Shaddai, owned by Christian infidels. We pelted the shop while shouting Allahuakbar together and shouting, "Disbeliever, come out of your shop!"
Some people scrambled out. One of them rode a motorbike to escape from us. We saw the man wearing a cross necklace around his neck. Then my friend named Sultan (pseudonym) shouted to me, "Ndry, let's go after him!"
Before I took a ride on my friend's motorbike, I took an iron rod. We were chasing the man. The conditions on the road were very bad, but the man still hit the gas. My friend also accelerated the motorbike speed. Since the motorbike we were riding was a king motorbike while the man was using an ordinary motorbike, we slowly caught up with him.
At one point the man turned his motorbike at an intersection quickly. A car came out of nowhere and we hit the car and I was flying in the air. After that, I was no longer conscious.
When I came to, I saw a large crowd around me. And on reflex, I looked for my friend to see his condition. I stepped out onto the street, and I found a crowd on the other side of the road. I saw my friend lying on the road.
Many demons with cruel faces and skinny animals like dogs were fighting over him. I rubbed my eyes because I thought I was still unconscious. After that, I saw my friend. He was dragged by them out of the crowd. He shouted, "Ndry, Ndry, help me!" I didn't even dare to take a step because I was afraid. And I remained stunned in the middle of the road.
A light was coming from my right. When I turned around, the ambulance was right next to me and hit me. I was struck and chanted Masyaallah [My God!] while closing my eyes. But the ambulance passed through my body. Then I opened my eyes and I saw the ambulance stop right where I fell earlier. And what made me speechless was when I saw my body taken into the ambulance. This drove me crazy. I ended up running aimlessly and I didn't dare go to the crowd where I fell before because I was scared after seeing my friend's incident.
It was not clear where I was running. Suddenly I came to a park and I sat crying. Am I dead? I kept pinching my hand, but I didn't feel anything. Then I cried even louder. And I fell down crying on the ground.
And as I fell down, I saw a pair of legs before my eyes. I suddenly fell back because I remembered firsthand what my friend had experienced. But when I wanted to get up and run away, I was paralyzed and couldn't move.
I ventured to look at who was in front of me. But I couldn't see His face because it was so dazzling. It made me give up and keep my face down.
Then the Person who was dressed in white in front of me asked me, "Son, why are you persecuting Me?"
Then I answered Him, "Satan, go away and don't bother me!"
I finally recited the Islamic exorcism verses to cast Him out.
Then He said again, "Son, why are you persecuting Me?"
I still recited the exorcism verses on my lips and I said, "O Allah, get rid of that demon from my sight."
Then He said again, "Son, what is My fault that you persecute Me?"
Then after I realized that the exorcism verses were not effective against Him, I fell at His feet and wept bitterly and finally, I answered Him, “I don't know why I did it. Forgive me."
And I wailed at His feet.
He said, "Get up. Do not be afraid. Hold My hand."
I stood in front of Him while bowing my face (and at that time I was still thinking about how to escape from Him).
It seemed like He knew my thoughts, and He said again, "Don't be afraid of Me because I am gentle and kind."
And finally, I also dared to look at Him. I felt the sadness that was in my heart disappear at once and I took the courage to ask Him, "Who are You really?"
Then He replied, “I am the One who is always debated by many humans. I am the Straight Path. I am the One who raised people from the dead."
After I heard Him say "I am the One who raised people from the dead," I immediately realized that He is Jesus Christ whom Christians adore as their Lord. Then I fell down at His feet again and at that time I unconsciously noticed that His feet were marked with holes and scars.
I said, "O Prophet Isa, forgive everything that I have done to Your followers. Please forgive me."
And I cried again because I felt guilty against Him.
Then He said, "Why are you persecuting them?"
I answered Him, "I don't know. Maybe we Muslims think of You as a false Allah?"
Then He said, “Everything that is in Me belongs to My Father who is in Heaven. And everything that is in My Father in Heaven is also Mine, because by Him all power, both on Earth and in Heaven, has been handed over to Me. Because I and the Father are one. Likewise you, you are now Mine."
I was still crying at His feet when He explained who He really was, that He was God Himself.
Then I said, "Isa Allahku [O Jesus My God], forgive everything that I have ever done."
This is where I first declared Jesus to be my God.
Then Isa Almasih [Jesus Christ] said, “Go home and tell them about Me, about what you have seen. I will be with you until the end of time.”
And at that moment I suddenly woke up. It turned out that I had been in the hospital, to be precise in the ICU for about 2 weeks in a coma.
When I woke up, I burst into tears and said, "Yes Isa, my Lord, forgive me."
At that time my mother and siblings were waiting outside and rushed in when they heard my voice. But most of them wondered why I called Jesus my God. Many of those who thought I was possessed by the devil read the exorcism verses together. It makes me laugh out loud every time I remember them doing this.
Finally, I was brought home after my condition improved. At that time it was the biggest shaking of faith in my life, about what I had believed before, which was always full of violence, jealousy, and envy. And I remember about my meeting with our Lord Jesus Christ, how good He was to me. He knew I had persecuted His followers, He should have chopped off my head, but He instead forgave me and returned my spirit to be reunited with my soul and body. The doctor had said that I had a brain hemorrhage and it was impossible to cure it. And even if I recover, I would be completely paralyzed. Many doctors found it strange that my incident is miraculous.
And when they asked, I only answered that Isa or Jesus Christ had healed me. Sometimes this makes those who have not accepted Jesus into their hearts think that I am possessed by the devil. Likewise my brothers and my own father.
So often my father invited the kyai [a Muslim cleric] and the preacher to preach to me.
Then I asked them, "Have you ever tasted death?"
They replied, "Not yet."
Then I said to them, "Believe in Jesus because Jesus was the one who saved me from death."
In the end, many of them left with exasperation. Luckily my father was a liberal Muslim. I told about all the events that I had experienced at that time. (Maybe my father let it enter the left ear and leave the right ear).
Finally, my father said, "If what you experienced is true, then you will thank Prophet Isa for saving you."
And I also always argue with my father. Until finally I said to my father, "Really what everything I experienced is true because I saw it with my own head and eyes."
And my father said, "How could you see Him when there were people at that time? I and your mother were always waiting for you in the hospital. When did you go out and meet Him? Do you know Ndry, all of that is because of Allah's pleasure, period!"
At that time I was confused about answering the question that my father had asked me. My mother cried and hugged me when she saw us arguing loudly and told me to shut up and leave. For no reason, I said to the father, "Yes, that's right, Jesus Almasih is my God now. The rainbow is a witness to what I have said. "
Then my father laughed sarcastically at me, "In this dry season, where can there be a rainbow?"
And I finally left the place where I was arguing with my father and headed for the door of the house to go out. When I was outside the house I was crying and talking to myself, "Yes, my Lord Jesus, why is my father's heart so hard like a stone?" Then I looked up at the sky, and strangely I saw a rainbow. Then I cried with joy, and I ran back into the house to see my father. And I called him to show it.
After my father saw the rainbow he was silent. And after that incident, my father felt like he was experiencing a shock of faith, as I had before.
I also began to search deeper about who Isa Almasih really is through the Quran and the Hadiths, and I found things that touched me.
For example, the verses of the letters below:
(Maryam, 19:19) Only Jesus, the Son of Mary, immediately entered Heaven because He was holy.
(Al Imran, 3:45) Even He (Isa Almasih) is leading in the world and in the hereafter.
(Al Fatihah, 1: 6) "Indinash shiraathal mustaqiim" Meaning: Show us the straight path
(Az Zukhruf, 43:61) "Wa innahu la'ilmu lis saa'ati fa laa tamtarunna bihaa wa tabi'unni haadzaa shiraathum mustaqiim. " Meaning: And indeed Jesus really gave knowledge about the Day of Resurrection because of that do not doubt about the Day of Resurrection and follow Me. This is a straight path.
(Az Zukhruf, 43:63) "Wa lammaa jaa-a 'Isa bil bayyinaati qaala qad ji'tukum bil enjoy wa li ubayina lakum ba'dhal ladzii tathtalifuuna fiihi fat taqullaaha wa athii'u." Meaning: And when Jesus came with information. He said verily I came with wisdom and to explain to you some of what you are disputing about it, fear Allah and obey Me.
(An Nisa, 4: 171) "Inamal Masihu 'isabnu Maryama rasullahi wa sentencesuhu." Meaning: Verily Isa Al Masih the son of Maryam is the messenger of Allah and His Word.
(Hadith Anas bin Malik p.72) "Isa faa innahu Rohullah wa sentencesuhu." Meaning: Jesus is truly the Spirit of Allah and His Word.
(Maryam, 19:17) "arsalnaa ilaihaa ruuhanaa fa tamatstsala lahaa basyaran sawiyya." Meaning: We sent Our Spirit to Him, so He incarnated before Him to become a perfect Man.
(Hadith Ibn Majah) "Laa mahdia illa isabnu Maryama." Meaning: There is no MAHDI Imam apart from Isa the son of Maryam.
(Al Anbiyaa, 21:91) "Wallatii ahshanat farjahaa fa nafakhnaa fiihaa mir ruuhinaa Wa ja'alnaahaa wabnahaa ayatal lil 'aalamiin" This means: Remember the story of a woman who keeps her honor (Maryam) and We made her and her Son a sign (God's power) for the universe.
(Maryam, 19:33) "Wa salaamu 'alayya yauma wulittu, wa yauma amuutu, wa yauma ub'atsu hayaa." Meaning: And peace be upon Him on the day He was born, on the day He died, and on the day He was raised to life again. "
(Al Imran, 3:55) "Idz qaalallahu yaa Isa, innii mutawafiika, wa raafi'uka ilayya, wa muthahhiruka minal ladzinaa kafaruu, wa jaa'ilul ladzina tabauka fauqal ladzina kafaruu ilaa yaumil qiyamati." Meaning: Remember when Allah said; O Isa, verily I will forgive You, and raise You to Me, and will purify You from unbelievers, and make those who follow You above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. "
(Al Baqarah, 2: 253) "Wa aatainaa 'isabna Maryam bayyinaati wa ayyadnaahu bi ruuhil qudusi." Meaning: And We gave Jesus, son of Mary, several miracles and We strengthened Him with the Holy Spirit.
(An Nisa, 4: 156) "Wa bi kufrihim wa qaulihim 'alaa Maryama buhtaanan' azhiimaa." Meaning: And because of their disbelief (towards Isa) and their accusation against Maryam with a great lie (adultery).
(Al Imran, 3:45) "Idz qalatil malaikatu yaa Maryama innallaaha yubasyiruki bi kalimatim minhus muhul Masihu 'isabnu Maryama wajihan fiddun-yaa wal Akhirati wa minal muqarrabiin." Meaning: When the angel said, O Maryam, Allah will delight you with a Kalima from Him. His name is Al Masih, the son of Mary, leading in the world and in the hereafter and the one closest to Allah.
And I finally searched and looked for all things about Jesus Almasih our Lord. Finally, I thought that I had to get the Bible itself to understand who Jesus the Messiah really was. There was a very strong desire in my heart to get the gospel. Then I remembered the shop that we (my friend and I used to destroy), namely the El-Shaddai bookstore, so I went there.
When I arrived at the shop, the shop still looked neat. The glass which we pelted with stones until it broke, had been neatly renovated.
Then I went over to the shop and finally, I talked to a salesgirl, "Ma'am, do you sell Bibles?"
"Yes," she replied. Then the salesgirl looked for a Bible. She handed me the New Testament.
Then I asked her again, "Is this the Bible of Isa Almasih?"
The salesgirl said with a chuckle, "Yes, this New Testament is the Gospel of Isa Almasih."
Then the lady said to me, "Are you a non-Christian?"
I was confused about how to answer. I was a little afraid that if the lady knew I was a Muslim, she might hate me, I thought to myself.
Finally, with a heavy heart, I answered her, "Yes, I am Muslim," while I lowered my face.
Then the lady said, "Ah, it doesn't matter to us," with a smile.
This made me wonder why we could hate those who are so friendly without cause before?
Then I asked her, "Ma'am, are there books about the stories of the prophets according to Christianity?"
Then she also found them. After that, I asked the total price to pay for the books.
And before that, I asked her, "Ma'am, were any of the shop staff injured during the previous riots?"
Ma'am answered me, "At the time of this incident, we closed this shop early at about ten in the morning."
Then I asked again, "Does anyone occupy this shop as a residence?"
"Ah no, sir," she replied, "only a security guard manages the shops around us. Even then, they only guard the outside for the safety of the surroundings."
This is what made me very confused. As I remember, when we broke into this shop in the evening, there were still some people in it, while the lady said the shop had been closed since 10 am and there was no one in the shop. Then who were those that we saw at that time? This is what makes me wonder until now. If I had met the man we were chasing first, I might have knelt down to apologize to him.
And finally, I returned home, and I began reading the Bible one by one in my room. I was very touched, sad, and proud when I read the story of the Bible. How glorious is everything that Jesus Christ has done. Likewise, His utterances, which are like daggers directly piercing the heart, teach about sincere love, humility, and salvation. This thing that I have never heard before since I lived on Earth. Before this, I considered we Muslims as the highest above the others, and all the kafir groups or infidels had to submit to us, namely the followers of Islam because the Quran says, "Only Muslims enter Heaven" and this is very absurd.
How could the prophets before Muhammad be called Muslims as they never once uttered the shahada?
[The shahada is the Muslim profession of faith (‘there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah’), one of the Five Pillars of Islam.]
And also when I experienced a strange incident where my spirit separated from my body at the time of the accident and fell into a coma, why did the one who met me was actually Jesus Christ? And finally, I gave myself completely to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
On October 27, 2000, I was baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. I have received His grace. Although it was a painful journey, I was very happy.
The Lord Jesus is always with me. Amen.
Solo, Indonesia, May 3, 2006
My real name is Ahmad Andryansah bin Abdul Jalil and I finally changed my name to Christian Andryansah, and I deleted the name Ahmad because it always reminds me of abominations.
[Source: anakterang.blogspot.com]
