Behind the 10 Iron Bars: (The Journey from Islam to Christianity)

By Hashmat Shah

Hand of God on the author's life through his years of growing up in Pakistan, ten years in England and the rest in the USA. The first half of the book tell of incidences where only the hand of Mighty God could protect and advance one's life to the present day. Some incidences were outright dangerous yet I ca

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rustik Haws LLC
• Release date: Jun 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781649340795

Hashmat Shah

Presently retired from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals as a sales representative after 25 years of service Ten years as a pharma rep. in England for Hoechst Pharma ( a Germany Company). 6 years as a medical sales rep. for Winthrop Sterling(an American comp.) in Pakistan. Jail episode in Pakistan took place during my employment with Winthrop Sterling. Two years as a science teacher in an English speaking school in Lahore, Pakistan. Many remarkable events took place in my life, where the power of the Lord kept me safe till I reached USA with my wife and a child in 1982. Blessings of the Lord, I can not count. He is praiseworthy to the utmost.

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Behind

the 10

Iron Bars

(The Journey from Islam to Christianity)

Hashmat Shah

Behind the 10 Iron Bars by Hashmat Shah

This book is written to provide information and motivation to readers. Its purpose isn’t to render any type of psychological, legal, or professional advice of any kind. The content is the sole opinion and expression of the author, and not necessarily that of the publisher.

Copyright © 2020 by Hashmat Shah

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or distributed in any form by any means, including, but not limited to, recording, photocopying, or taking screenshots of parts of the book, without prior written permission from the author or the publisher. Brief quotations for noncommercial purposes, such as book reviews, permitted by Fair Use of the U.S. Copyright Law, are allowed without written permissions, as long as such quotations do not cause damage to the book’s commercial value. For permissions, write to the publisher, whose address is stated below.

ISBN: 978-1-952244-73-5 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-952244-74-2 (Hardback)

ISBN: 978-1-64934-079-5 (eBook)

Printed in the United States of America.

Rustik Haws LLC

100 S. Ashley Drive, Suite 600

Tampa, FL 33602

https://www.rustikhaws.com/

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my parents,

Rahmat Ullah Shah &

Chiragh Bibi Shah,

for all their love and their countless sacrifices.

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the constant help of my son Simon in editing and revising this text many times, as well as the formulation of the family chart. His help has been paramount in completing this project. Paster John Bang from Korea was also instrumental in inspiring me to take up the pen and share my story with others.

Table Of Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

THE MIRACLE OF SPIRITUAL HEALING

CHAPTER 2

A VISIT TO THE INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PRAYER IN KANSAS

CHAPTER 3

A COUNTRY SUNDERED, 1947

CHAPTER 4

A HUNTING INCIDENT INTAXILA, 1948

CHAPTER 5

SAVED BY THE LIGHT, 1953

CHAPTER 6

WAR OF ‘65 BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND INDIA

CHAPTER 7

UNEXPECTED GRACE

CHAPTER 8

THE HAND OF GOD, 1989

CHAPTER 9

A BRIEF FAMILY HISTORY

CHAPTER 10

BIBLICAL VS. ISLAMIC JESUS

CHAPTER 11

Origin of Islam; CONCLUSION

PREFACE

At the urging of the Holy Spirit, friends and family members, I took up the pen to write down these stories that have affected my life in a very profound way. I felt that the spiritual events that have taken me back over my life are worth writing down for the benefit of others. Some of these miracles may even inspire you to re-assess your own life and find the hand of the Lord always protecting you and showering you with His blessings.

In November of 2010 I took a trip to Pakistan to visit my sister who resides there. My other purpose was to get acquainted with my father’s side of the family, many of whom I’d never met before. It was a very emotional experience for me. To my utmost delight and joy I was welcomed with open arms. Some of the information about my background came from one of my father’s brothers and his family, as well as two of my paternal cousins.

While dealing with my own experiences, this book also discusses some of the struggles and triumphs of my father. His early memorizing of the Quran and the story of King Negus and J’afar bin Talib’s testimony, and his discovery that both the Bible and Al Quran call Jesus a Spirit and a Word of God, made it clear to him that Jesus was and is the only real source of eternal life. This spurned me on to study both texts for myself. I have written a side-by-side comparison of the Quranic and Biblical accounts of Jesus, adding my own thoughts on the subject as well. This was not meant to offend my Muslim brothers and sisters, but rather to elucidate the fundamental truth about Jesus Christ which is not only written in the Bible but supported by the Koran as well. I will leave it up to you to form your own opinion on the information I’ve presented.

May the Lord Almighty bless your effort in picking up this book and sharing in my miraculous experiences.

CHAPTER 1

THE MIRACLE OF SPIRITUAL HEALING

At 4 a.m. I awoke from a sound sleep with some rather unusual chest pain. It radiated out into my left arm, one of the ominous signs of a heart attack. I could feel the painful tightness in my outer chest muscles. I left my bed and came out to sit on the sofa in the family room. Though the pain persisted, it receded a bit and so I went back to bed and prayed to the Lord, hoping that this wasn’t the beginning of a cardiac episode. I kept praying to the Lord to spare my life if that was His will. What happened later will show that God Almighty can bring grace, mercy and amazing blessings into one’s life despite the frightening circumstances of a sudden heart attack.

After a moment of sheer panic, I woke up my wife and rasped, Honey, call 911! She grabbed the phone on her nightstand, urgently dialing. An ambulance and fire truck quickly blasted onto the scene, emergency lights flaring through the early morning darkness. The paramedics rushed into our home, immediately taking my pulse and checking my blood pressure and other vitals. The E.M.T.’s gave me sublingual nitroglycerin and aspirin before whisking me onto the gurney and speeding me away down the dark and empty streets. I would soon end up at Penrose Hospital’s E.R. in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In the emergency room the nursing staff immediately connected me to all kinds of monitors. A technician arrived to take a blood sample and test it for enzyme levels. I was given more aspirin as they quickly rolled me into the Cath. Lab. The cardiologist on duty was called upon to come and perform angioplasty; there was clear evidence I was suffering a heart attack, with at least one of my major arteries being at least 60 percent blocked!

To my great relief Dr. Robert Cadigan, M.D., a very experienced cardiologist, was on call. I had known the doctor professionally since 1982 through my work for a pharmaceutical company promoting cardiology products. Dr. Cadigan immediately injected me with a special dye to determine the specific site of the narrowing artery. With great dexterity he inserted a catheter into my femoral artery and in no time reached the site of the obstruction. Ballooning the artery, he placed a medicated stent at the obstruction to keep it open. A stent is a medical device made of non-corrosive material, and once it is placed it keeps the site of obstruction open, thus allowing normal blood flow, it is left there.

The procedure was a complete success. My chest pain subsided after placement of the stent and I was moved to the cardiac intensive care unit. I lay there with all sorts of intravenous attachments that made me feel like some strange octopus, completely out of its element.

I stayed in Penrose Hospital for three days and was then discharged to begin my cardiac rehabilitation. During the procedure, however, Dr. Cardigan discovered that a second artery (the right descending artery) was narrowed over 60 percent at two places. But he decided to deal with it at a later stage for the fear of causing arrhythmias from the trauma of placing all three stents at the same time. I spent about a month in the Penrose Cardiac Rehabilitation Center doing the treadmill and other exercise routines. The hospital staff was vigilant and extremely helpful.

At home I continued on a regimen of exercise on a treadmill and soon I was making good progress. In the follow-up visit with Dr. Cadigan, he told me he was quite satisfied with my progress. My EKG stress test (which shows the health of cardiac circulation) did not show any serious danger of further damage to my cardiac muscles. The initial heart attack, however, did leave some scar tissue on the left lower area of my heart muscle. In all probability, such damage to the heart muscle is permanent and doctors always worry about it because it greatly increases the chances of having a second attack. But in the meantime I continued my exercise regimen and faithfully took the medicine prescribed by my doctor. My new prescriptions included a beta-blocker to control