Syed Ainul Hadeed, 38
Filmmaker
 |
| Syed Hadeed is touched by the Word |
"I was
born in a rich Muslim family of Pune. My parents belonged to families
with a rich religious heritage. When I was barely four, my parents
separated. My mother and I moved in with my aunt in Hyderabad. From an
early age I was taught Islamic traditions and I also learnt to read the
Quran in Arabic. However, I went to schools run by the Jesuits and did
well both in studies and sports. My mother and I shifted to Mumbai when
I was in the sixth standard.
"It was during this period that I
began carefully studying the Quran. However, I found I could not digest
the teachings. Yet I did not stop believing in God's existence. This
was in the late 1980s. My teenage years and early adult life were
difficult—failed relationships, financial hardships and my father's
death made me morose. At one point I even decided to end my life by
consuming mercury. Luckily, I survived.
"It was all very
strange. On the one hand I was attempting suicide, but at another
level, I had an out-of-body experience. I felt my spirit drift to my
old school—to the feet of Jesus Christ. I could feel his presence.
After a year, I visited the school and saw the following words engraved
on the pedestal on which a statue of Jesus stands to this day: 'I am
the resurrection and the Life.' I believe the Holy Spirit had led me to
Christ. Today, I am serving the Lord through the gifts that he has
endowed me with.
"Naturally, some Muslim friends did not approve
of my giving up Islam. The clerics questioned my change of faith.
However, this only strengthened my resolve to study the Bible, the
Quran, and the Hadiths. Finally, I realised that Christianity was my
true calling."