Ibrahim Richmond, a former Christian priest from South Africa, who converted to Islam recently, was invited to perform Haj this year by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Richmond accepted Islam three months ago after a ‘divine voice’ spoke with him in a dream. Thousand of Christians from his church followed suit and accepted Islam.
In a viral video, which surfaced on the internet in March, Richmond and thousands of his followers were seen pronouncing Shahadah (testimony of faith).
On Sunday, the Saudi authorities posted another video of Richmond on Twitter, in which he shared the experience that led him to accept Islam. He says, “I was a priest for 15 years, and I was the leader of the congregation in the church, which has 100,000 followers until I saw the dream.”
Richmond saw that he was “sleeping in the church in a very small room.” He recalls, “Then, I heard a divine voice, telling me: tell your men to wear white.” In the following days, Richmond has this dream over and over again. “Each time the voice grew stronger.”
Subsequently, Richmond went to the church and told his followers about the dream.
“Three months ago, I pronounced the shahadah in the same church, and they supported what I said, and repeated it. Later, I saw a Muslim brother coming to us. I told him that I had always waited for him; I had a dream that he would come here,” he says.
He said about coming for the pilgrimage, “When I was first invited to perform Haj, I was not sure. I thought I could not go. But now, I am here… following the steps of the Prophet Muhammad, and millions of my people will follow these steps to see the light.”
