2015_issue.pdf

8 / 32

Page 8 The Islamic Bulletin Volume XXV No. 29
DO YOU KNOW WHO ROBERT DAVILA I S?
I recently had the pleasure of reading an inspiring story
about Robert Davila, a young man who lives in a small town
near Fort Worth, Texas. Robert was a farmer with a genetic
disorder that manifested later in life. At 20 years old, due to his
genetic disorder, he became paralyzed from the neck down.
Now 31 years old, Robert has been living in a nursing home for
the last ten years.
Sharing Robert’s room in the nursing home was another
paralyzed young man who was waiting for a liver transplant.
Day after day Robert and his friend would talk about God and
other things. Each day Robert’s friend waited for his transplant.
Finally, the day came when Robert’s friend got the call that a do-
nor had been found. Both Robert and his friend were so happy!
Sadly, however, his friend died on the operating table. When
his sister came to remove her brother’s personal items from the
room he shared with Robert, she gave Robert a crucifix that had
belonged to her brother. “This is a reminder of your old buddy,”
she said, as she hung the crucifix by Robert’s bed.
To enable Robert to search the web and research
information, Robert’s family bought him a voice-activated
computer. He would spend hours surfing the web and learn-
ing many things. One night Robert dreamed of a man named
Muhammad. In this dream, pointing at the crucifix, Muhammad
said, “God did not send messengers for people to worship the
messengers. God sent messengers so people could worship
God. Jesus was just a man. He walked in the markets and he ate
food.” Then the dream ended.
Robert woke from his dream with the knowledge that
Jesus was just a man. He also learned there was a man named
Muhammad who told him that messengers were sent to remind
people to worship God. Not knowing anything else about this
man, Robert decides to google the name “Muhammad.” While
researching Muhammad, Robert finds Islam and soon takes
Shahada. When Robert takes Shahada, he wants to learn about
the Quran. He finds a chat session and posts, “Someone needs
to teach me the Quran.” He finds a brother in Egypt and they
get together online to learn Arabic. Once Robert learned how
to read the Arabic alphabet, he began to study how to recite the
Quran. From his hospital bed, Robert memorized ten Surahs
from the Quran. But this was not enough for Robert. Robert
said, “I’m beginning to memorize the Quran and I’m beginning
to learn about the prophet. But I need to understand the Qu-
ran.” He goggles, “How to understand the Quran.” The Google
search leads Robert to where he is introduced to
Nouman Ali Khan.
Meanwhile, oftentimes at the nursing home there was construc-
tion going on and on one occasion an Egyptian man was doing
some repair work. One day, as the Egyptian man is passing by
Robert’s room he hears the words of the Holy Quran:
o%\ WKH WRNHQ RI WLPH WKURXJK WKH DJHV YHULO\ PDQ LV LQ
ORVV p ,QGHHG PDQNLQG LV LQ ORVV (Quran: 103:1 -2)
Hearing these Arabic verses, the repair man walks into
Robert’s room and asks, “Robert, what are you listening to?”
Robert answers, “Nothing, that was me.” The Egyptian says,
“You’re Muslim?” and Robert answers, “Yeah, I became Mus-
lim.” The Egyptian man is in shock and cannot believe what he
has just heard. In fact, having lived so far away from a masjid
and other Muslims, the Egyptian man had been struggling with
his own faith. When he heard Robert reading verses from the
Quran, he thought, “How does Allah guide someone in the mid-
dle of a small town in the USA, a man in a nursing home with a
crucifix by his bed, a man without the ability to move?”
Robert tells the Egyptian man that he discovered Islam
online. Robert also tells him about the teacher he found online,
Nouman Ali Khan. So the Egyptian man starts watching Nouman
Khan’s videos, and says, “I hope I can meet him one day.” Robert
says, “Okay, I will pray for you.”
Five years later, the Egyptian friend shows up at the
same Masjid as Nouman Khan. After Jumuah prayers, the Egyp-
tian man approaches Brother Nouman and tells him the story of
Robert Davila and adds, “I think Allah wants to answer Robert’s
dua.”
Nouman Khan, with a few other brothers, decides to
visit the nursing home to meet Robert Davila. During the visit,
Robert is asked to recite some Surahs and he chooses to recite
6XUDW $OC$üU 7KRVH SUHVHQW HQG XS LQ WHDUV OLVWHQLQJ WR 5REHUW·V
recitation. Such an emotional reaction was due to the fact that
Robert, an American man, had learned and memorized the pas-
sage from the Quran completely on his own, without the ability
to attend any kind of schooling or classes. They were humbled
by what they heard and the perseverance and dedication re-
quired. What Robert had accomplished was extremely difficult,
especially learning to read in Arabic on his own without a shred
of support in the traditional sense because he was paraplegic.
Robert’s efforts and achievement overwhelmed everyone in the
room.
When anyone turns to Allah, no matter the means,
guidance and balance will
come.
Due to the nature of
Robert’s paralysis, he is
unable to sit in a regular
wheelchair. He needs a
special wheelchair that
supports his neck, along
with every other part of
his body. Robert requires
a special van to accom-
modate his wheelchair;
one that will lock in place,
so when the van drives over a bump, his spine is not further
injured.
One Friday, Robert requested to be taken to Jumuah
prayer. The special van that Robert requires for transport was
already being used on another patient that day. Determined to
attend Jumuah prayers that day, Robert ignored the warnings
from the nursing home and rode in a regular van. He returned
from Jumuah in excruciating pain . The doctors informed Robert
that he would no longer be able to sit in his wheelchair. Sadly, he