Personally, I embraced Islam at the age of 24, in the
summer of 1975, while studying medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston, Texas. After a long day of study, I went to bed on a Saturday night
with no intention of becoming a Muslim. However, 2 things happened during that
night that would change my life completely. First of all, I had a dream
in which I was commanded by a strong and firm voice, to embrace Islam
immediately. I was reminded of how I had previously studied comparative religion
at Wesleyan University, but refused to accept Islam even though I felt in my
heart that it was the most practical way of life. When I woke up the next
morning, I sat on the edge of the bed contemplating what to do, when the
telephone rang. The call came from my ex-roommate from Wesleyan who had embraced
Islam after graduation and was living in Washington, D.C. At that time, he was
studying to be an attorney at Catholic University School of Law. This phone call
was the second and final thing, that convinced me to
embrace Islam immediately.
My friend asked me, “Are you ready to become a
Muslim?” I replied, “Why are you calling me this early in the
morning with such a question?” He answered in the following way, “Last
night, I had a dream. In that dream, I saw you smiling, surrounded by a sort of
spiritual light (called Noor in Islam). Then, I heard a strong and
powerful voice saying, ‘Allah has made this man a Muslim in the night and Allah
has given him the name, Bilal Abdul-Alim (3 times). So, your job is to call him
in the morning, and invite him to accept Islam and, give him his new name.” My
friend continued by saying, “Don’t play games with me! Tell me what
happened!” I then related my experience the night before with tears in
my eyes. A few days later, I drove non-stop from Houston, Texas to Washington,
D.C to accept Islam in the presence of my dear friend, Attorney Haroun G. Cook.
