Rosalina
Panganiban's Testimony
I'am Rosalina Panganiban
(Aisha), the eldest daughter among eight children of a young couple. I hailed
from a poor family, I didn't even taste the luxurious way of life, but my
parents raised me with a good moral character. I finished my education in a
very hard situation, and I was so lucky to get a stable job afterwards. As the
eldest child, I helped my parents, brothers and sisters, because I didn't want
them to experience the hardships I suffered. One day, the most shocking and
lonely moment came in our life, my father died. We were so poor that, we
didn't even have money for the last service of my father, but thanks to
Almighty God, everything was settled, I knew that it was part of His trial.
In 1985, I came to Kuwait, It
was so strange, I felt sorry for my decision to leave the company that I
worked for nine years.Then my employer tried to comfort me, they treated me as
their own family. They decided to open a small boutique shop and allowed me to
manage it.
On 2 August 1990, I felt the
earth fall down on my head, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. I decided to leave
Kuwait. I passed through Baghdad, where I fell ill. I thought it was an
endless ordeal. Thanks to Almighty God, I reached my country safe and sound.
Next year, on the same date,
our home, which we built on five years of hardwork in Kuwait, was pulled down
by the government. Every piece of our house was razed to ground. It was
painfull to see that in one second everything was gone, and they didn't pay
any compensation.
In January of 1992, I was
lucky to come back to Kuwait under the same employer. Everything ran smoothly,
and I decided to fulfill my desire, which I have been cherishing since 1985:
to embrace Islam the true religion of God, the religion that Almighty God
revealed to the last prophet "Muhammad (Pbuh)". The religion which
caught my attention when I first reached this Muslim country. On the first day
of my arrival here I observed the brotherly relations among countrymen, their
help and concern to their brothers outside, the equality among Muslims
regardless of their races, nationality, social status etc., the soundness of
Islamic law, and when I listened to the programs of Sheikh Salah -Al-Rasheid
on "Understanding Islam", my desire became more. I found my source,
the IPC to get all the information and pamplets, regarding Islam. Thanks to
Almighty God, I'am now in His true religion. I'am now on the right path of
life, and I believe that upon embracing Islam, my first and most important
duty to Almighty God is to share with others, especially with non-Muslims,
what I learned here at I.P.C. , and to study Islam deeply, because our prophet
Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said "A believer should seek knowledge from the
cradle to the grave". May God bless us all.