A former Muslim from Turkey encountered demonic forces while he dabbled in occult practices after moving to Australia, and the only thing that got him and his family through the horrific experience was when he placed his trust in Jesus.
Ismail used to describe himself as a moderate Muslim who wanted to learn more about God and Islam. He also wanted to know if witchcraft came from the devil. In exploring his spirituality, however, a Turkish friend who also lives in Australia introduced the occult to Ismail.
He and his friend performed occult rituals by calling out spirits on a Ouija board. Slowly, Ismail noticed that unusual demonic-looking bats with long fingernails hovered around them.
"Every time they were flapping their wings, there was smoke coming out of them," Ismail told CBN News. "On the last day when actually I was leaving my friend's house, he said, 'Look, two of them are going with you!'"
It did not occur to Ismail that this would have an effect on his two young children who would draw the bats with red eyes.
One night particularly stood out as the scariest encounter for the father, as one of his kids had the most concerning nightmare. The child screamed and threw his fists but Ismail could not wake him up.
Ismail prayed over his son and implored the help of Allah but the boy's condition did not improve. A Christian friend from Iran invited him to join a Bible study and there, Ismail encountered Jesus in a vision.
"All I was seeing was this light coming from everywhere. It was just amazing. And actually, I have fallen in love with Him," Ismail testified. "That's how I converted."
Ismail prayed to Jesus to help his son and to drive the demons out of their house. Since accepting Him in his life, his children's nightmares have disappeared. These days, the father also finds comfort in reading the Bible regularly.
Other Muslims have had similar encounters as Ismail; author Nabeel Qureshi also converted from Islam to Christianity after he had visions while doing research for his book. However, Ex-Muslims converting to be Christians risk a lot for Jesus since they could be ostracized by their communities, or worse, attacked or even killed for turning against Islam.
