Today, when we are living the End Times at full speed, some people, especially in our age when young people turn away from religion and prefer to abandon the sacred in order to become Western, people who were born in the West and lived in this free lifestyle of the West, are on the way to find a new way of life by getting away from this lifestyle that does not satisfy their heart and soul. They prefer Islam, which is the most suitable way of life for human nature, as a new way of life for themselves. Salvador Marquez Jr., whose family is Mexican and lives in Texas, is one of them. 

A few days before the new year,  while the Christian world preparing to celebrate the birthday of Jesus (pbuh) the next day, on December 24, 2021, Salvador took a step towards a new birth and was honored with Islam by bringing martyrdom in the presence of a crowded congregation on the blessed Friday, the holiday of believers, after the Friday prayer.

I ADMIRED ISLAM 

He took a step towards Islam and his new life by repeating the martyrdom behind the imam in the Islamic center of the Frisco (Texas, USA). Congratulating him, the imam said, "How beautiful it is to start the new year with a clean life and getting rid of sins," and the congregation lined up to congratulate Salvador, who had brought martyrdom with the Alahu Akbar takbirs of the congregation. In the conversation we had after Friday prayer with our brother Salvador, who was very excited about the interest he received, we asked "What was the reason that led you to prefer Islam?" He said, “As a person who was born and raised here, I have been a church goer since my childhood. But over time, I felt a disconnect between this place, which is the house of God, and the messages given there. The messages given there began to dissatisfy me, and it gradually distanced me from the church. Later that I got to know and admire the Islamic culture and Islam through the Muslim friends I met. When I came to the mosque for the first time today to bring martyrdom and become a Muslim, when we approached the mosque, my heart began to beat as if it would burst from excitement. Now I am leaving here, but my heart remains in the mosque," he said.

Translated by Ekrem Başçı