Damiyano Pesulo, a village head from Mulanje, embraced Islam four months ago after an iERA dawah team visited his village. Before accepting Islam, he believed that Islam was a religion of war and that Muslims worshipped Prophet Muhammad rather than God. When the iERA team came to his home to ask for permission to conduct dawah classes, he agreed and decided to attend the lessons himself. During one of the classes, the outreach specialist explained the Oneness of Allah (Tawheed), teaching that Allah is the only One worthy of worship and that Jesus (peace be upon him) is a prophet of God, not God Himself.
Curious to learn more, Damiyano asked the outreach specialist why Muslims bow down during prayer. The outreach specialist explained that this is the way Allah taught people to pray and that even Jesus (peace be upon him) prayed by bowing and prostrating to God. This explanation touched Damiyano’s heart and changed his understanding of Islam. He became convinced that Islam teaches the worship of one Creator alone and decided that he wanted to embrace Islam. A few days later, he took his Shahadah and became a Muslim.
When the people of his village heard that their village head had accepted Islam, many opposed his decision. They chased him and the iERA dawah team away and refused to allow the dawah classes to continue in the village. Determined to continue learning, Damiyano found another location where the classes could continue peacefully, and the dawah activities carried on successfully.
As time passed, the iERA dawah team helped Damiyano attend the iERA One-Month Intensive Programme to strengthen his knowledge of Islam. After completing the programme, he returned to his community and began inviting people to Islam himself. By the permission of Allah, ten people from his village accepted Islam through his efforts. Remarkably, some of those who embraced Islam were among the same people who had once chased him and the iERA dawah team away for conducting the dawah classes.
