Hawzah News Agency - The young Greek teacher influenced by his Muslim students converted to Islam.
"I grew up in a Christian religious family and I always had questions that I did not find their answers," Gracious, 34, from Philadelphia, said about changing his religion.
"Many students in my schools are Muslim immigrants, and relationship with them caused that a window to the facts opened for me", he continued.
Stating that the lifestyle and behavior of these children gave me a great lesson, the Muslim convert added, "This friendly relationship with the students brought me a lot of advantages and
made me familiar with the religion of Islam and the Shi’ite in particular.”
"With respect that most of these immigrants have migrated illegally to Greece, they live in difficult conditions yet they keep trying to learn," said Gracious.
The Greek young man emphasized, “This effort is rooted in their deep inner religious beliefs and their faith in God, the One for whom they perform prayer every day to talk with, and fast in
the hot and long days of the summer.”
Noting that Christians have a specific day and place to speak with God and pray, he added, "But Muslims do not have special time or place to worship, unlike Christians who worship only
in the church, and they can supplicate with God at any moment and this is the greatest advantage of Islam.”
"I believe Islam is a peaceful religion and tries to have a good relationship with all", the Greek teacher stated.
He expressed satisfaction that the Greek government has promised to construct a mosque in Greece, and added, “Despite the opposition of the Greek Orthodox Church, I hope that the
doors of the mosque will be opened to the Greek Muslims in the future.”
"I'm glad that on such a day and place I converted to Shi’ite Islam. I ask Reza (A.S.) for a beautiful and peaceful life.
Noting that today the extensive domination of media over the world does not allow for keeping relationship with other countries, Muhammad Jawad Hasheminejad said, “The imperialism-
running media do not allow people to have good relations with each other; yet, the same media have enabled the people of countries to communicate with each other and learn about one
another’s culture.”
He stressed that in this turbulent space, the media can be an effective means of showing the facts to other countries and revealing the reality of Islam to all.
It is notable that at the end of the ceremony, a volume of Qur’an and several religious books were donated to this Muslim convert by the Management of the Non-Iranian Pilgrims of Astan Quds Razavi.