Gladys was born in 1931 at a missionary hospital in Northern Uganda. She was an only child, and her parents loved her dearly. Even though her parents were Muslims, Gladys never got the chance to study her religion and neither were her parents practising Muslims. She got married at the age of 15 to a Muslim man who was also, sadly, not practising.
Through the years, they were blessed with 13 children and 26 grandchildren. One of her daughters had fallen in love with the village pastor and she converted to Christianity. During one of the visits to her parents, she brought along Christian missionaries who preached to them and managed to convince Gladys to join Christianity. Her husband refused to leave Islam together with the rest of their children. As a token of appreciation, the missionaries gifted Gladys with farm tools to assist her in her farm work. Years later she lost her husband, 4 children and 5 grandchildren.
One day, a grandson from one of the children she had lost attended an iERA dawah event. His heart was moved by the words of Allah and he embraced Islam. When he broke the news to his grandmother, she was happy for him. This incident made her ponder a lot about her life. At that moment she was under a lot of stress and worry over the health of her only remaining daughter who was very ill. Several pastors had come to pray for her to no avail and desperation had led her to even seek traditional healers who used magic, but still, her daughter was not cured.
After a short while her daughter passed away, and this loss hurt her so much as she was her last-born child. The daughter also left behind four children were now under her care in her old age.
When our duat learnt of the death, they rushed to help with the burial preparation and also gave emotional support to her and her grandson who had embraced Islam just a few weeks ago. Even though the burial was scheduled for the following day, they used the opportunity of having a crowd present to give them dawah using the GORAP method.
They reminded the people that death was inevitable and it did not discriminate between young and old; hence we should live preparing for it. This talk made Gladys reflect more on her life; past, present and unknown future. She realized that she lost most of her peace and happiness when she left the fold of Islam. On this night, preceding her daughter’s funeral, she decided it was time to turn things around.
The next day after her daughter’s burial, she was among the five people from the group of mourners who took their Shahadah! She chose the name Fatmah.
Sometimes, it is in the lowest of moments that we find the most beautiful junctures that can change our lives for the better. May Allah guide and strengthen her family to live and die upon the truth.
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