Chikondi Kanyonaza grew up following his parents’ religion, Christianity. When he looked at Islam, he saw that Muslims practiced their religion differently. At first, he thought he would never be able to live that way, but he also felt that what Muslims were doing was good. He noticed that Muslims were always clean. Whenever he visited a Muslim friend’s home, he would see a bucket of water in the toilet, and this made him wonder why they always kept water there.
One day, Chikondi decided to ask his Muslim friend about the bucket of water. His friend explained that Muslims use water to clean themselves after using the toilet, a practice called istinja, to remove impurities and maintain cleanliness. Chikondi then asked if every Muslim did this, and his friend replied that they did because Islam teaches cleanliness. This answer made Chikondi more interested in Islam, although he still felt he was too young to become a Muslim.
As time went on, Chikondi continued asking questions whenever he saw Muslims practicing their religion. Then an iERA dawah team came to his village and started conducting dawah classes. Chikondi decided to attend the classes, and after attending them for almost one month, he learned more about the teachings of Islam.
During one of the lessons, the outreach specialist taught that Islam encourages every Muslim to maintain cleanliness because it is an important part of worship. Chikondi remembered what his friend had taught him about istinja and realized that it was the same lesson being explained in the dawah class. This strengthened his faith in the message of Islam, and he decided to embrace Islam. After reverting, Chikondi said that he wanted to gain more knowledge about Islam. The outreach specialist supported and encouraged him, and he later enrolled in and attended the iERA 6-Month Du’at Programme to deepen his understanding of Islam.
