Sebanyak 510 orang menyatakan memeluk Islam dan mengucapkan dua kalimah syahadat di Saudi Arabiyah. Kebanyakan warga asing.510 orang dari tujuh kewarganegaraan mengucapkan dua kalimah syahadat di Maktab Ta�awun Dakwah Islam, salah satu organisasi dakwah di Saudi Arabiyah. Total jumlah mereka yang menyatakan keislamannya di sana menjadi 3500 orang, termasuk laki-laki dan perempuan yang berasal dari 14 kewarganegaraan.
Pihak humas organisasi dakwah itu mengatakan,�Organisasi ini dengan cepat merespon mereka yang bersyadat dengan memberikan bimbingan dalam hal keislaman, baik aqidah, fiqh, Al Qur�an, bahasa Arab serta pengetahuan yang berguna untuk menjawab beberapa syubhat yang sering mereka hadapi�.
Dalam proses pembimbingan mereka mengadakan pertemuah hingga 801 kali, ditambah dengan kunjungan pribadi secara khusus yang berkesinambungan sebanyak 369 kali, setelah prose situ dilalui maka selesesailah masa pendididikan. Agar komunikasi tidak terputus, maka organisasi mengadakan kegiatan-kegiatan rutin untuk mereka.
Di samping membimbing mu�alaf, organisasi yang diisi 44 personel da�i ini juga melakukan kegiatan dakwah di instansi-instansi asing, rumah sakit, penjara dan tempat-tempat dimana komunitas asing berada. Termsuk pembagian mushaf Al Qur`an dan buku-buku Islam. [Al Islam Al Yaum/thoriq/www.hidayatullah.com]
Ramai-ramai Expatriat Masuk Islam
Banyak ekpatriat (pekerja asing) di Arab Saudi yang memeluk Islam dari agama terdahulunya. Demikian sebagaimana dikutip Arab News, 5 Juli 2007 kemarin
Sebagian besar diantara mereka adalah pria dan wanita asing sesudah belajar lebih banyak tentang keyakinan agama. Data terbaru, dari 4.285 orang wanita asing yang tinggal di Provinsi Timur seorang diantaranya telah menjadi Muslim sejak lima tahun lalu.
Banyak wanita Saudi dan non Saudi secara aktif dilibatkan dalam pengembangan agama Islam. Penambahan jumlah pemeluk Islam ini dianggap sebagai suatu prestasi yang sangat luar biasa.
Tiga pusat dakwah wanita di Provinsi Timur telah mendorong lebih dari 3.000 orang asing memeluk agama Islam. Kantor Al-Ahsa menklaim paling banyak menghantarkan orang memeluk Islam, dengan mengantar 1.298 orang wanita, diikuti oleh kantor Dammam (1.150 orang) dan kantor Alkhobar (1.100 orang).
Juga di Jubail sebanyak 604 orang menjadi muallaf, di Naeeriya (65 orang) , Abqaiq (50 orang) dan Ras Tanura (13 orang).
�Wanita memainkan peran penting dalam tugas dakwah. Mereka menyebarkan ajaran Islam di antara wanita asing baik di rumah, rumah sakit dan comercial center,� ujar Dr. Abdul Wahid Al-Mazroue, Direktur Pusat Dakwah di Dammam.
Abdul Wahid juga menekankan tugas pusat dakwah dalam meningkat kebudayaan dan kesadaran pendidikan.
Kalangan wanita Saudi kini aktif melakukan dakwah. �Sayangnya kesempatan untuk menjelaskan Islam itu yang jarang,� katanya. Karena itu, mereka bagaikan mimpi ketika mendapat kesempatan emas untuk mempelahari Islam.
Data kantor Pusat Dakwah menyebutkan bahwa warga Pilipina tercatat terbesar memeluk Islam. Menurut Muhammad Habeeb, Direktur Pusat Dakwah di distrik Al-Salama, dari 3.230 muallaf di antaranya 2.490 muallaf berasal dari Pilipina. �Ada juga beberapa orang Amerika dan Eropah yuang masuk Islam melalui kantor kami,� kata Habeeb.
Menurut Habeeb, cara berdakwah yang dilakukannya adalah sama dengan cara berdakwah yang dilakukan Rasulullah SAW yang tidak pernah memaksa orang untuk masuk Islam. �Kami tak memaksa orang. Tapi, meminta orang untuk bersedia mendengar tentang Islam,� kata Habeeb. Lebih dari itu adalah bagaimana ia menampilkan Islam secara benar baik dari sisi akhlaq dan perilaku sehari-hari.
Islamic Education Foundation (IEF) di distrik Al-Hamra Jeddah tercatat selama 10 tahun ini telah mengislamkan 4.880 pendatang dari berbagai suku dan bangsa. �Sekitar 40% wanita,� kata Badr Al-Olayan, direktur yayasan tersebut.
A Saudi institution helps foreigners convert to Islam
A centre in the Saudi capital Riyadh boasts converting thousands of non-Saudies to Islam through teaching them about the basics of the religion.
Foreigners living in Saudi Arabia -- mostly overseas workers -- go to the "Co-Operative Office for Call and Guidance' to learn about the teachings, traditions and practices of Islam. Many of them go on to convert, helped at every step of the way by members of the centre.
There are approximately eight million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, mostly from the Asian subcontinent and south-East Asia.
Established in 1988, the centre is supervised by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and is supported by the Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the country's leading religious authority.
The co-operative introduces non-Muslim migrants to the teachings of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, but also aims to strengthen ties between the new converts and individuals who were born Muslim. "Teachers" from the centre remain in contact with many new Muslims after they return to their country of origin in order to offer them continued guidance.
Located in a market area run by Asian workers, the center has proven a success in attracting hundreds of people a year and converting them to the country's overwhelmingly dominant religion.
Sheikh Nouh al-Qarain who heads the co-operative said the centre aims to teach non-Muslims the tenets of Islam through lectures and readings, and through giving them step by step demonstration of how to perform religious rituals such as praying and performing the ritual cleansing in preparation for prayer.
"Since the establishment of the office in the year 1409 according to the Muslim calendar (1988) and up until the end of last year, 1427 (2006), a total of 15,245 people have converted to Islam in this office. They came from over 40 countries," said al-Qarain.
The converts officially become Muslim as soon as they recite the "Shahadah," or declaration of their belief in one God, amongst other tenets.
As many of the converts do not speak Arabic, they need to recite the Shahadah word for word after their teacher.
"I found here the true meaning of praying to Inshallah (mispronunciation of "Allah"). I pray directly to Inshallah, this is why I want to be a Muslim," said Khaled from the Philippines who was Catholic before his conversion.
The staff at the centre consists of mostly Asian converts who speak a total of up to eight different languages, the head of the centre said.
Mohammed Cruz , who lives in Riyadh with his wife and two-month-old daughter, converted to Islam through the centre. When he arrived from the Philippines in Saudi Arabia 11 years ago, Mohammed began working at the centre as a cleaner. After several years there, he decided that Islam was the religion for him and his family.
Born into a Catholic family as Jesus Cruz, Mohammed now teaches migrant converts about their new religion.
"Before I entered Islam there are so many questions in my mind I cannot find in my religion before. When somebody give lecture about Islam, al-hamdulellah (thank God), I find I believe there is only one God, it is Allah," said Mohammed.
"I am very happy because Allah guide them to Islam because Allah use some instruments to tell them what is the religion of Islam. This is now my job in the Islamic center," he added.
Saudi Arabia has a population of around 24 million. Most Saudi citizens belong to the austere Wahabi branch of Sunni Islam. The Gulf Kingdom is ruled by the strict application of the Sharia, or Islamic law
sumber :[arabnews/cha/www.hidayatullah.com]
A centre in the Saudi capital Riyadh boasts converting thousands of non-Saudies to Islam through teaching them about the basics of the religion.
Foreigners living in Saudi Arabia -- mostly overseas workers -- go to the "Co-Operative Office for Call and Guidance' to learn about the teachings, traditions and practices of Islam. Many of them go on to convert, helped at every step of the way by members of the centre.
There are approximately eight million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, mostly from the Asian subcontinent and south-East Asia.
Established in 1988, the centre is supervised by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and is supported by the Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the country's leading religious authority.
The co-operative introduces non-Muslim migrants to the teachings of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, but also aims to strengthen ties between the new converts and individuals who were born Muslim. "Teachers" from the centre remain in contact with many new Muslims after they return to their country of origin in order to offer them continued guidance.
Located in a market area run by Asian workers, the center has proven a success in attracting hundreds of people a year and converting them to the country's overwhelmingly dominant religion.
Sheikh Nouh al-Qarain who heads the co-operative said the centre aims to teach non-Muslims the tenets of Islam through lectures and readings, and through giving them step by step demonstration of how to perform religious rituals such as praying and performing the ritual cleansing in preparation for prayer.
"Since the establishment of the office in the year 1409 according to the Muslim calendar (1988) and up until the end of last year, 1427 (2006), a total of 15,245 people have converted to Islam in this office. They came from over 40 countries," said al-Qarain.
The converts officially become Muslim as soon as they recite the "Shahadah," or declaration of their belief in one God, amongst other tenets.
As many of the converts do not speak Arabic, they need to recite the Shahadah word for word after their teacher.
"I found here the true meaning of praying to Inshallah (mispronunciation of "Allah"). I pray directly to Inshallah, this is why I want to be a Muslim," said Khaled from the Philippines who was Catholic before his conversion.
The staff at the centre consists of mostly Asian converts who speak a total of up to eight different languages, the head of the centre said.
Mohammed Cruz , who lives in Riyadh with his wife and two-month-old daughter, converted to Islam through the centre. When he arrived from the Philippines in Saudi Arabia 11 years ago, Mohammed began working at the centre as a cleaner. After several years there, he decided that Islam was the religion for him and his family.
Born into a Catholic family as Jesus Cruz, Mohammed now teaches migrant converts about their new religion.
"Before I entered Islam there are so many questions in my mind I cannot find in my religion before. When somebody give lecture about Islam, al-hamdulellah (thank God), I find I believe there is only one God, it is Allah," said Mohammed.
"I am very happy because Allah guide them to Islam because Allah use some instruments to tell them what is the religion of Islam. This is now my job in the Islamic center," he added.
Saudi Arabia has a population of around 24 million. Most Saudi citizens belong to the austere Wahabi branch of Sunni Islam. The Gulf Kingdom is ruled by the strict application of the Sharia, or Islamic law
sumber :[arabnews/cha/www.hidayatullah.com]
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