JEDDAH, 8 February 2003 — Abdullah Bastien was Rudy Bastien until three years ago. Growing up in a family of devout Christians in Cereste near Marseilles, the 25-year-old Frenchman had no knowledge of Islam.
In 1999, while studying civil engineering in Liverpool, he found himself in the company of some Muslim students and through them met other Muslims and Islamic scholars. They inspired him to pick up books on Islam and read the Holy Qur’an, and he decided to embrace Islam.
“I reverted to Islam not suddenly but after careful study and considerable thought. What really impressed me was the disciplined life Muslims lead,” he says. “Islam teaches us in a practical way how to lead a good life. Its ideology is simple and easy to adopt, and I find tremendous solace in the prayers I offer five times a day. The joy I find in Islam knows no bounds.”
The five pillars of Islam can only be understood through practice, he says. “I performed Haj last year and am here again because it is so important.”
Bastien is glad he was able to study in England. “England is a liberal country unlike France, which is secular and yet conservative. Exposure to many ideas, ideologies, thoughts and religions is a matter of course in England and you are free to follow whatever you want.”
Did he consult his parents before embracing Islam?
“Yes, I did. It took a lot of convincing because there is general ignorance of Islam in France, like in other parts of the West. But in the end my father, a truck driver, and mother had no objection to my embracing Islam.”
“I am married and my wife comes from a Muslim family,” says Bastien, who completed his MA at Liverpool and works with a British engineering consultancy firm.
“Above all I want to study the religion further and gain an in-depth knowledge of it in order to explain it to others,” he said when asked about his goals as a Muslim. “I would like to combat the misconceptions and fears about Islam in society.”
