At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples then went out to preach and proclaim the Risen Lord. Just as in the time of the apostles, the Holy Spirit today continues to manifest the Risen Lord to people, so that they may share with Him in his communion with our heavenly Father.
Columban Fr Joseph Joyce writing from Pakistan, shares with us the story of Bilquis Sheikh, a Pakistani Muslim woman who through the power of the Holy Spirit met the Risen Lord and was thus led into communion with our Heavenly Father.
As we travel the journey of life, we all come to know of people we never get to meet in the flesh, but who leave a marked impression on us. For me, one such person is Bilquis Sheikh. She was born into a noble Muslim family on December 12, 1912 in what is now Pakistan.
One evening, as the sun was setting, she was taking a stroll in her garden when she felt a chill breeze. Then a mist blew past her and she felt something touch her hand. She screamed in fright and ran indoors, where her maidservants took care of her. After hearing about her experience, they urged her to get a blessing from the local mullah. Not being a fervently religious person, she refused. Some days later, however, her little grandson Mahmud who was living with her became ill, so she relented.
After the blessing, Mahmud quickly got better and Bilquis felt drawn to read the Qur'an. As she read, she noticed that other religions were mentioned including Christianity. So she decided to have a look at the Bible too. She acquired a small copy and opening it at random, scanned the page.
The passage that immediately caught her eye deeply touched her heart. It said: "I will say to a people that was not mine, ‘You are my people’, and to a nation I never loved, ‘I love you.’" Instead of being told, ‘You are no people of mine’, they will now be called the sons of the living God (Rom 9:25-26). She felt disturbed by these words and quickly closed the Bible.
However, the following afternoon while relaxing on her bed, she felt drawn to read more. Continuing on from where she had left off, she read: "But the Law has found its fulfilment in Christ so that all who have faith will be justified… the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart… that if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord and if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved (Rom 10:4, 8-10)." These words disturbed her even more, as they were alien to her faith as a Muslim, but nevertheless she fell asleep. Then she had a dream.
She dreamt that Jesus had come to visit her home for two days and they ate together in joy and peace. Then the scene suddenly changed and she was on a mountaintop talking with a man she knew as John the Baptist. She asked him if he would lead her to Jesus.
Some days later she had another dream. In this one a travelling perfume salesman came to her house. As he departed he left a golden jar filled with perfume on her bedside table, saying, “This will spread throughout the world.” Then she awoke and looked at her bedside table but all that was there was the Bible. Later on a Christian friend referred her to a passage in the Bible that said, "Thanks be to God who wherever he goes, makes us in Christ, partners of his triumph and through us is spreading the knowledge of himself like a sweet smell, everywhere (2 Cor: 2:14)."
Her next experience came when her little grandson got an earache and she took him to a Christian hospital in the nearby city of Rawalpindi where his mother Tooni worked as a doctor. They had to stay the night. During that time, the doctor in charge of the hospital, a Catholic nun, dropped by to check that all was well. 
While they chatted the nun noticed that Bilquis had a Bible with her and asked why she, a Muslim, should be reading the Holy Book of the Christians. Bilquis told her of her search for God. The nun said in reply: "Why don’t you pray to the God you are searching for? Ask Him to show you His way. Talk to Him as if He were your friend… Talk to Him as if He were your father." Bilquis had a very loving relationship with her father and so for her this was a wonderful suggestion. Her father always took time to listen to her. She sensed that her heavenly Father would too.
At the beginning she struggled with the new concept of God she had discovered, but soon she found herself filled with confidence and love. From then on she lived and moved in the presence of God her Father. Whenever she had a decision to take or a choice to make, she let the sense of God’s glory be her guide. If she felt God was there, she could go ahead, but if His glory faded, she knew she was not on the right path.
As time went by, Bilquis felt an ardent desire to become a Christian. She had read in the Bible that Jesus said: "Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal, side by side with him (Rev 3:20)", and this text reminded her of the dream she had had of His visit to her. She saw in it a positive sign to go ahead and seek baptism. She was baptized on January 25, 1967.
Once her extended family and her Muslim friends got to know that Bilquis had become Christian, there was a period, first of all of silence and isolation, then anger, and gradually acceptance. In the local community, however, threats began to be made and so in 1973 she migrated to the United States. She returned to Pakistan in 1987 and died peacefully surrounded by her family on April 9, 1997.
Columban Fr Joseph Joyce first went to Pakistan in 1982.
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LISTEN TO: Reflection - I dared to call Him Father (Duration: 6:34mins, MP3, 3.00MB) |