“Allow Me To Be Imprisoned Forever”

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Maybe we will be surprised to hear such talk. No one wants to be spending a long time in the prison, because it is usually all uncomfortable things in the prison. But it is different with this prisoner. She really wants to be in the Detention Center 1 of Surakarta, Indonesia. Because for her, she has found the extraordinary peace of mind in the prison, amazing!

Ida Pratamawati, that's her full name. She is one of the best female memorizer of the Qur’an. Her spiritual story was so impressive while in custody. She is a muallaf (convert to Islam). “I converted to Islam during last Ramadan,” she said when interviewed after the graduation ceremony at the Detention Center 1 Solo. Initially, she converted to Islam due to having no choice. Because, she is the only Hindu in the prison. Whereas, spiritual activities are always held every day in the Detention Center, the Muslims are taught to read the Qur’an, while the Catholic Christians are in their own separate room. And this woman from Yogyakarta pretended to choose the religion of Islam.

As she hated the activity of learning the Qur’an, so each time the activity was held in the morning, she used to call her relatives and asked to be visited because, with that, she could avoid having to learn the Qur’an. She did that repeatedly. Until one day she opened the mushaf (manuscripts) of the Qur’an and read its translations. That's when she found the hidayah from Allah SWT. “I kept on reading verse by verse, there I found relief from the inner restlessness which had been affecting me,” said this woman who is detained for 1.5 year. One night she prayed, “O God, if this Religion is true, show its truth,” she asked. Then she often received miraculous occurrences, so she became convinced that Islam is the true religion.

After a long study and asking for guidance from the Coaches at the Detention Center, she finally embraced the religion of Islam firmly in the month of Ramadhan. Then she gets increasingly interested in reading on Islam and as she is basically an intelligent person, it was very easy for her to accomplish the memorizing of the Qur'an's juz 30. When asked what case had caused her to be detained, this mother of two children explained while crying , “I am a doctor, and had slipped up into the case 372 (embezzlement)”.

There have been many 'absurd' occurrences after she had embraced Islam. “Whatever I wish has always been granted by Allah,” she added while holding back the tears that kept on flowing from her eyes. “I fear the day that I will be out of this prison, to the point that I have asked the Prison Coach to allow me to stay here forever,” she said. At the end of the interview, she asked for do'a from us so that she remains istiqomah and is eased in undergoing the future life.

Fujamas.net