Thokozan Banda, a young man from Neno, was walking along the street when he met the iERA dawah team conducting door-to-door outreach. The team approached him and asked if they could speak with him for a moment. Thokozan agreed, and they explained that they were Muslims who had come to share the message of Islam and invite people to learn about the faith. Thokozan asked whether Muslims worship Muhammad. The Outreach Specialist explained that Muslims do not worship Muhammad; he is the final prophet sent by Allah to convey His message, just as Jesus was also a prophet.
Thokozan then asked whether Muslims believe in Jesus. The Outreach Specialist explained that belief in Jesus is an essential part of Islam and that a person cannot be a Muslim without believing in Jesus as a prophet of Allah. This surprised Thokozan because he had always believed that Jesus was God and that he died for people’s sins. The conversation made him interested in learning more about what Muslims actually believe.
The Outreach Specialist explained the Islamic understanding of Jesus in more detail. He explained that Jesus was born to Mary and was a prophet of Allah, not God. The team also explained that Allah is One and that He alone deserves to be worshipped, without associating partners with Him. As Thokozan listened, the explanation began to make sense to him, and he started to see Islam differently from what he had previously believed.
Through the conversation, Thokozan became convinced that Islam was the path he wanted to follow. He decided to embrace Islam and took his Shahadah. After becoming Muslim, he chose the name Yusuf for himself and began his new journey in Islam as Yusuf, leaving behind the name Thokozan.
