JEDDAH, 21 October 2005 — “Let Muslims add one” is the slogan of a new Dawa campaign launched here yesterday. “The campaign is aimed at educating non-Muslims about Islam and what it offers,” Dr. Khaled Bahadik, a senior Dawa official, told a press conference at the Jeddah Hilton on Wednesday night.
The Dawa organization has a dedicated phone number (70001112), which can be called for offering financial contribution to the campaign. “The fund collected is to be used on advertising to make sure the message reaches as many people as possible,” he added.
According to him, 400 non-Muslim expatriates reverted to Islam last year. Many more have come into the fold of Islam this year, among them are Americans, Filipinos and Indians. Forty-year-old Abdul Karim Natividad, formerly a Filipino Christian, Ricardo Natividad Jr., was introduced to the meeting as a new convert. “You’ve accepted Allah as the only God. Allah will open all the doors for you. I wish you all the best,” Dr. Bahadik told Natividad.
“I’ve been in the Kingdom for 11 years, the first five years in Riyadh. I’m with the Sleep High factory at the Jeddah Industrial City for the last six years. I’m impressed by Islam and so decided to embrace it,” Natividad said.
Asked whether his family would accept the change of religion, Natividad said: “I’ll have to speak to them and convince them that I’ve chosen the right path.” He said his wife and two children — son and daughter — lived back home in Bangan La Union in northern Philippines.
Two executives of the Coop. Call & Guidance Office, based at the Jeddah Industrial City, gave the details of various projects and activities initiated over the years. “Our initiatives have further strengthened the ongoing Dawa work and resulted in several non-Muslims embracing Islam,” one of them said.
