Sister Inez from Mexico (right) is the second to embrace Islam with us on this very special night. Click to Watch her Shahada

As I was walking towards the Centro Islamico it was a surreal feeling to see our community preparing to break our fast for the 1st time in Ramadan 2021 at our new center. Was it different seeing people wearing masks and doing their best to keep a respectful distance from each other ? Yes, but at the same time you could feel the same joy from our original center as children played and ran around in the grass to our wonderful volunteers greeting our guests and making sure their needs were being attended to as they usually do in every event that we are blessed to host. I was excited to break my fast with the community while hearing the unique athan of our Imam, Abdurahman Vega. There we were , breaking our fast, listening to the Imam’s familiar athan in an unusually cool and somewhat breezy evening for Houston. After praying Maghrib I had to make some announcements in Spanish & English (not an easy task) and it brought me so much happiness to see the Centro full as people were given simple instructions on how to get their food and as always requesting to clean up after themselves.

As we (the team) walked around being attentive to the needs of our community I was blessed to meet 3 young brothers from Austin, Texas who drove 3 hours to visit our Centro. Many people don’t know the history of people coming from all over the States to visit us throughout the year but especially in Ramadan. It is safe to say that we never imagined this was going to be the norm. I also heard about a sister who flew in from North Carolina as well as others who planned to visit us from other parts of the country. (We were also visited by a brother who came from Iowa the next day).

Mujahid and I were also blessed to sit at a table where 2 families , one of mexican descent and the other family from Yemen are getting to know each other as their children are in the process to see if they are compatible for marriage. Mujahid and I had a great time speaking Arabic, Spanish and English with them, Convivencia (Co-Existence) at its finest. All of our guests and volunteers were not ready for what was going to take place after Isha prayer.

After Isha prayer I made a few announcements and this is when i was informed that Shuanna wanted to take her testimony of faith (click here to watch her shahada) and become Muslim. We were informed earlier from a community member, Sister Susan, who now lives in another state that her friend was interested in accepting Islam. So there we were watching our 1st Shahada at the Centro during this Ramadan taking place. This is where it gets interesting, not so much as 5 minutes passed as sisters were hugging Shayna welcoming her to Islam, that a Morrocan sister brought her friend towards Mujahid and stated that today she is now ready to become Muslim. Ynez was now taking Shahada in the Spanish language as community members were stunned in amazement watching 2 people become Muslim within a 10 minute span. One had to be there to feel peaceful serenity in the air as our community was preparing to pray Taraweeh after watching 2 people become Muslim.

As people are leaving we get word that Br. Gerardo in Dallas had just taken his testimony of faith at our IslamInSpanish Dallas Outreach Center (a blog post about their day is soon to come out) and we felt that this night couldn't get any better.

As usual in Ramadan at the Centro Islamico the blessings did not end with the news from Dallas. Mujahid, Imam Abdurahman and I were discussing the good news coming out of Dallas when a man named Erick, originally from Puerto Rico, arrived and began to conversate with Imam Abdurahman, Mujahid , and Br Bilal. Furthermore, I was able to introduce him to our brother Fernando who was like, “Erick is from Puerto Rico?” We found out that Erick was not Muslim and someone had recommended that he come to the IslamInSpanish Centro Islamico to meet Muslims who spoke Spanish or from Latin America. After about 35 minutes of Erick asking questions and discussing different matters He decided to also take his Shahada! All praises are due to Allah. As I saw my wife and Sister Sakina smiling, we all discussed that we felt spiritually-light-headed. It was an extraordinarily powerful evening.

We thank Allah for allowing us to be on this journey, we ask Him to bless all of those who have supported us from all over the world and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His final messenger. Ameen.

-Imam Isa Parada

One Night/ 4 Shahadas