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Church General Overseer Converts To Islam In Ekiti And Gives Reasons ( by fabulous01(m): 10:51pm On Aug 03, 2015 |
■Says strange man in dreams convinced him to
do so
In Nigeria, particularly among the Yoruba tribe
where religious tolerance is most noticed, it is a
regular occurrence to see muslims convert to
Christianity. Hardly do we see a Christian turn to
Islam. However, a man, former Pastor Adekunle
Afolabi, founder and leader of Apata Adura
Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Ekute, Ado-Ekiti,
Ekiti State, broke that jinx recently. He converted
fully to Islam after practising Christianity for over
25 years and even risen to become the General
Overseer of his church, which have branches
across Ekiti State.
Now known and addressed as Alfa Abubakar
Afolabi, the 45-year-old man attributed his
conversion to a divine encounter he had with a
strange man in white in his dreams who showed
him certain flaws
in Christianity and convinced him that indeed
Islam is the only religion that leads to heaven.
In this interview with WOLE BALOGUN at his
Ekute, Ado Ekiti residence, Alfa Abubakar spoke
extensively on his experience. Excerpts:
How did your journey to Islam begin?
I am former Pastor Adekunle Afolabi, General
Overseer and founder of Apata Adura Cherubim
and Seraphim in Ekute, Ado-Ekiti, I have been a
believer in Christianity for 25 years. I have been
tutored at the Deeper Life Bible Church school in
Ayobo, Lagos and my parents were attending the
Assemblies of God Church. I later left the church
to set up a C &S church where I became a
Shepherd because God always reveals things to
me either by vision or by dreams and to be
candid, God reveals things to me and when God
wants to make a confirmation of them, they
always come to pass.
The spiritual gift has enhanced my career as a
cleric in Christianity such that my church grew so
fast that by the time we were celebrating fifth
anniversary, the church has had branches across
the state and over 150 members attended my
headquarters in Ekute alone. I have also become
the state chairman of the association of our
church unification in Ado.
I was preparing for the anniversary when I started
having dreams that eventually led to my
conversion. At first in the dreams, I noticed my
members were sitting on the floor in the church
and some of them were covering their heads. I
also saw that people were washing their hands
and feet before entering the church just like it is
done in Islam.
In my canal thinking, I thought God wanted us to
be washing our hands and feet before entering
the church and I instructed my members to be
doing so, some did, while others didn’t.
I remembered when I was living in Ikere, around
1986, I used to attend a church then called the
Church of Iya Olomi (Woman of holy water) in
Ikere. There was an earthen pot in the church
where we washed our legs before attending the
church so I was thinking that may be that is
what God wanted me to do. I went to buy an
earthen pot in Ijebu and put it at the back of the
church but something strange happened the day I
did that, a heavy rain fell and erosion poured
sand into the earthen pot that was filled with
water and all the perfume and spiritual arrange
ment I put inside the water was spoilt. Then, I
went to clean the pot and put another clean
water again. To my surprise, when I was coming
home I met little children at the earthen pot fetch
ing water from it like a well. So, to avoid trouble
in the neighbourhood, I dug out the earthen pot
and made up my mind that it seems God is
against what am doing.
In another of my dream, I saw women in Hijab in
the church, so on one Sunday I informed my
congregation that at the forthcoming anniversary,
all women should come with hijab. Only 10 people
adhered to the instruction during that period but I
was yet to be converted.
After that, certain strange things began to happen
in my dreams, I would notice that someone
comes to me, wakes me up and then take me on
a journey to somewhere, there the man will ask a
question: he said do I know if the way I was
taking in life is the right one?,I told him, yes since
I do pray to God and he answers me. But he
asked me again that what makes me believe I
was right and I told him that since I can pray to
God and he answers me. He asked me again that
do I believe that God could write Quran in Arabic
to people for them to know his teachings, I said
to him I don’t know but knew that some people
use Arabic as language. He then called my
attention to my left hand, there he told me to
open my palm which I did and he asked if I knew
that the first line in my left hand stands for eight
and the second stands for one which go for 81.
He added that on my right hand, the first line
stands for one in Arabic and the other stands for
eight and that if these are added together, they
are equal to 99 which stands for the ninety nine
names of Allah. He said this means that Allah
wrote his name on the palms of all human beings
in Arabic.
I was baffled because I never had any knowledge
in the Quran, so I decided to go and research on
it. It got to a point that my wife and I started
attending the mosque together and one day, an
alhaji around my neighbourhood saw me coming
out of the mosque, he was so surprised and
challenged me and I told him everything that
occurred to me which led me to the mosque. He
told me that I must not keep this to myself so he
advised me to keep walking in God’s way in Islam
and stop preaching in the church but call on
Imam or alfa to come and preach.
Eventually, I ended up inviting an Imam, a muslim
cleric to preach in my church during our fifth
anniversary last year. The church members were
surprised as the Imam preached.
After the anniversary, the same man came to me
in my dreams and tasked me on payment of tithe
in my church, saying I should stop collecting it.
So, the next Sunday I stopped collecting tithes
from the congregation.
Of course, the church members were not all
happy, some went to another church because they
can’t continue with this type of doctrine and that
was how the number of the congregation con
tinued to reduce day after day.
I nearly got fed up, but I made up my mind that I
won’t go back on my decision and religion and
when it got to January ending, I made up my
mind fully to convert to Islam.
As a prophet in C and S, you would be doing
some spiritual work for people, now that you are
now in Islam, do you still do the works?
Rendering spiritual help is given to all men by
God for their own use, so the wisdom of it is
given to me by God, he didn’t take it away from
me because that is different from religion. It is a
way of livelihood so, if any one falls sick, wants
to give birth, is having stillbirth, stagnation at
work, that is all what we use that for. He showed
me places in the Bible where many prayed to God
in Islamic way. By this praying, I mean to kneel
down and bow down your head and face down.
How have your wife, relatives, friends and in-
laws reacted to your newfound faith?
They have always known me to be truthful with
whatever I’m doing and they respect me for that
and also respect my decision, so there hasn’t
been any cause for alarm.
The only person who at a time opposed it was
my wife because she was a Christian when I
married her. She said she would quit the
marriage and I said it is okay and that I don’t
want to die a Christian but would rather die a
Muslim. But after a while, she discovered that we
haven’t been worshipping any idol, that we have
always been worshipping God. She came back
and accepted me this way. Also, my children are
supporting me and have joined me.
What about those who were your colleagues when
you were in Christianity as a church leader?
They all left me the day I invited an Imam to
come and preach in my church. That day of our
anniversary. I have also been relieved of my
position as president of our association. The only
thing the pastors do once in a while is to call to
ask me if indeed I still want to continue in the
new faith and I usually confirm it. As for friends,
some have stayed while others have left.
Have you now become a leader in Islamic faith?
No, I am still learning to be deeper in Islam. I had
over 150 members in the church before but they
have all left now. My church before has now been
converted to a mosque and it is being attended
by many muslims now that I cannot even count
them. An Imam is currently running the mosque
while I am also there as an Alfa, learning more
about the religion.
How many wives have you now?
The Bible does not oppose marrying more than
one wife. It says if you want to marry another
wife, you must ensure that you treat her the same
way you are treating the ones or one you have
already married. The Bible only says that for
those who want to become Bishops, they should
marry only one.
Now you have only one wife, is it likely that you
will marry another wife?
No. I have married some women before. Now, I
cannot marry another woman.That is not in my
plans. My first born is about 22 years old.
You know that there is this common opinion that
religion does not really matter, whether you are a
Christian, Muslim or traditionalist, your relation
ship with God matters most in getting to heaven,
what is your view on this saying?
All I can say is that anyone who wants to go to
heaven should just accept Islam peacefully. Islam
to me now, is the only way to God. No other way.
You have spoken against collecting tithes, and
said you have stopped collecting tithes from your
members, are you concerned that you may not
get money to run the mosque since that is a
major way to get money?
All I can say about that is that God’s words
advise that when we have, we should be grateful
and also when we do not. Before I stopped
collecting tithes, I have members who usually
give me about N20 000 or N10 000 but I still
have to stop collecting it in obedience to God.
Now, I don’t collect tithe from anyone but Islam
permits people to do saka, which is just a
voluntary attitude to contribute to someone’s or
an alfa’ or just extend mercy or what we call
Sadaka.
Source: Sun News |
Re: Church General Overseer Converts To Islam In Ekiti And Gives Reasons ( by BRIGHTTAZ: 11:10pm On Aug 03, 2015 |
Confusion is here. |
(1) (Reply)
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