6. BERNARD NABABAN
This is the story of Bernard Nababan,
born at Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on 10 November, 1966.[1]
He was the third among seven children of a Christian family who wished him to
be a clergyman. His father was a clergyman at Huria Batak Protestant Church and
his mother was a conductress of hymns song in that church. After finishing his
study at Christian Teaching Education
School, he was admitted to Nomensen High School of Theology, a school for prospective
clergymen in Medan.
Bernard
in this High School of Theology he was active in attending seminaries, and
eventually he was appointed to be an Evanglist
for three and a half years at the church where his father was a
clergyman. As an Evangelist he was also active outside his chool.
In 1989 Bernard
Nababan and some of his friends were sent to a Muslim area to assist its people
as well as to spread Biblical teachings, as Christianity stresses the significance
of love and compassion towards fellow human beings. He was very optimistic in
his mission, and explained it to the community leaders who offered him to
conduct a dialogue. In the dialogue they appreciated his activity in assisting
them materially, but not to spread Christianity, and to convert them to
Christianity
The community leaders said that Christianity was not
for them, but solely for the Children of Israel, as Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”
(Matthew 15:24).[2]
They started opening various versions of the
Bible, and mentioned the weakness of the Bible one by one. They also discussed
the dialogue between K.H. Bahauddin Mudhari with a Christian in the island of
Madura entitled Dialog Ketuhanana Yesus (Dialogue Concerning the
Divinity of Jesus).[3]
The dialogue ended only after the ādhān (the call for maghrib prayer).
When he return to the
boarding school that dialogue left a deep impression on him. He read the book
dealing with a Muslim and a Christian given to him impressed him more, that he
read it twelve times. He started to teach less often than usual for three days
consecutively. Apparently, the clergyman of the school noticed that he had
conducted a dialogue with someone who understood the Bible. So, he told him:
“It is unbelievable that you have been defeated by people who know only the
weakness in the Bible, while you have learned it for 3.5 years, and you have
also attended seminars on Christianity.”
After deep contemplation Bernard
decided to stop becoming a prospective clergyman, and to leave the boarding
school. At midnight he left the boarding
school for good. But, where to go? If he went home his parents would take him
back to the boarding school and would interrogate him thoroughly. He just took
a public transport not knowing where to go. In his flee he met a Muslim man
from Java. He explained to him his escape from his school and parents, and that
he was in a very grave condition. The man took him to Jember in Eastern Java
where he stayed with him for one year and treated him like his brother. In
return, he worked with him and helped him in his work. He did not practice his religion any longer, and he felt as he had
lost guidelines.
While Bernard Nababan stayed in that house he felt
peacefulness, his host never asked of persuaded him to convert to his religion,
and highly respected freedom of religion. Bernard was amazed by this attitude,
and he began to be attracted to Islam. He asked his host about Islam, and the
host referred him to a scholar. They went to the house of Shaykh Khatib ‘Umar,
the leader of the Islamic boarding school Rawḍatul ‘Ulūm. Bernard
explained to him his background, his religion and his religious activities, his
doubt about the truth of the Bible that contained contradiction in its verses
which indicated its weakness, and his wish to learn more about Islam.
On
hearing this Shaykh Khatib ‘Umar became very moved by his story, and
embraced Bernard spontaneously, saying: “You are a lucky man, as Allah has
given you knowledge, so that you know that there are many weakness in the
Bible. If you want to learn wholly about Islam it will take long time, as
Islamic teachings cover widely all kinds of subjects. What is most important is
learning and believing in the principles of faith in Islam.”
Bernard, by then, realized the big gap between Islam
and Christianity which he believed. In Christianity he learned that there were
three Gods (the Dogma of Trinity), namely, God the Father, God the Son, and the
Holy Ghost. Christianity does not believe the messengership of Muhammad s.a.w.,
and the Christians accused him of being a “tukang kawin” (a person whose
hobby was to marry several women). They also believed in three Holy Scriptures
only, the Torah, the Zabur (Psalms of David), and the Bible. Christianity does
not believe in the torment in the grave, but all Christian will definitely
enter Heaven. The most important thing for them was the crucifixion of Jesus to
redeem the sin of people in this world.
The
explanation of Shaykh Khatib ‘Umar extremely touched Bernard’s heart, and he
realized that it agreed with his conscience. Comparing the two religions,
Christianity and Islam, he came to the conclusion that Islam was more rational
than Christianity, and he decided to embrace Islam.
The next day Bernard went to
Shaykh Khatib Umar again to express his intention to embrace Islam. He had learned comparative study of religion
for almost three years. The Shaykh was surprised and asked whether he had thought
it over, and Bernard answered with “yes”.
Before conducting Bernard’s conversion
to Islam in 1991, Shaykh Khatib said: “As a matter of fact, you are not going
to convert to Islam, but to revert to Islam. It is because you were born
Muslim, and it is your environment that misguided you.[4]
So, in fact, Islam is fiṭrah
(natural disposition, innate
character, instinct). It means that the Islamization of human beings is sunnatullāh
(Allah’s prescription), Allah’s decision.
Staying away from Islam is an irrational act, whereas returning to Islam
means returning to one’s natural disposition.”
Bernard became so moved to hear it, that he shed tears unconsciously.
Then the shaykh led him pronouncing the shahādah (confession of faith),
namely,
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لا إِله إلاَّ اللَّه وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا
رَسُوْلُ اللَّه
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,
andI bear
witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah.
The next day of the conversion
(reversion) Bernard was circumcised and changed his name with Syamsul Arifin
Nababan.
He
became a student of Shaykh Khatib in studying Islam thoroughly in the boarding school
Rawḍatul ‘Ulūm and strictly
adhered to it from1991
to 1993. Then he became home-sick. He was not only permitted to go, but also
was given a provision of Rp. 10,000 to return to Northern Sumatra.
At home, none of his
family recognized him, because he was wearing gamīs (a kind of dress or
gown worn by Arab males, especially in Saudi Arabia), and a turban. He told
them that he was Bernard Nababan who had fled from home, and told them that he
had embraced Islam. His mother became chocked, his elder brothers became very
furious, and eventually he was expelled from home. This eviction made him
stronger in his determination. He went to several cities and towns to propagate
Islam. His speeches were warmly welcomed by his audience. Eventually, he became
stranded in Jakarta and moved to it. His da‘wah (calling to Islam)
activity increased and developed. In the meantime, he got scholarship to study Islam
at LIPIA (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan
Islam dan Arab), Ma‘had al-‘Ulūm
al-Islāmiyyah wa ’l-‘Arabiyyah (the Institute of Islamic Knowledge and
Arabic Language) in Jakarta from 1996
till 1999. From 1998 to 2001 he attended
IAIA (Institut Agama Islam Al-Aqidah), Al-‘Aqidah
Institute of Islamic Studies in Jakarta, and in 2003 he attended the Qur’anic Studies at IIQ (Insitut Ilmu Qur'an), Institute of
Qur’anic Knowledge in post graduate level.
In 1997 he was invited by the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia to perform the ḥajj (pilgrimage to Makkah), the fifth
principle of Islam. Upon his return he succeeded in converting two of his
brothers to Islam, and to propagate Islam. He started preaching from mosque to
mosque, and from office to office. He also had a chance to deliver his speeches
in the U.S.A. and Australia.
One of many of his
achievement was that he founded an Islamic boarding school called An Naba’
Centre located in Bentaro area, South Tangerang, for new Muslims. There
were about sixty of them, coming from various areas in Indonesia. He also
became the Chairman of Majlis ‘Ulama’ Indonesia (Ketua MUI, Chairman of
the Council of Muslim scholars) at Ciputat, Indonesia.
Syamsul Arifin Nababan attended seminars on Islam in Indonesia as
well as abroad. They are chronologically as follows:
- A one day
Seminar on Comparative Religion (held in Medan at Asrama Haji on February 14th,
2006).
- International
Seminar on Islamic Brotherhood: An Indonesian Experience (held in Singapore,
May 17th, 1998).
- A Seminar on Comparative Religion (held in
Medan at Asrama Haji on February 14th, 2006).
- International Seminar on Islam as a
Universal Religion (rahmatan lil’alamin) (held in Sydney and Melbourne Australia on September-October
1th-10th 2007).
- International Seminar on Human Rights on Qur’anic
Perspective (held in Malaka, Malaysia on May 19th 1998).
Bernard
Nababan whose parents wanted him to become a clergyman, but Allah had another
plan. He became, not only a Muslim and changed his name to Syamsul Arifin
Nababan, but also a dā‘iyah, a person who invites people to Islam
through his speeches. He said that his family name NABABAN was unique, that
even if you read it backward it will remain the same, NABABAN. His articles, books,
and unpublished papers chronologically are as follows:
- Debate on Islam versus Christianity, on CD, 2004.
- Reflection
and Internalisation of Sacrifice Values on a New Indonesian Perspective, Waspada
News Paper, 2006.
- The Prophet Jesus on Qur’anic Perspective,
2006.
- The Critique of the Qur’an towards the Bible,
2006
- National Seminar
on “Peace and Human Rights In Islamic Perspective” (held in Papua on December
13th, 2006).
-
The Mentioning of Prophet Muhammad in the Bible, 2007.
-
The Urgency of Studying Comparative Religion, 2007.
- An Interview
of Spiritual Experiences, Tarbawi and Gontor Magizine, 2008.
-
A 100 Questions of Comparative
Religion, 2008.
-
Questioning on Authenticity of Bible, 2008.
-
A Collection of Islamic Friday
Sermon, 2008.
-
The Actual Sermons of Ustadz
Nababan, 2008.
- The Rejection of the Bible againts the Jesus’s
Divinity (n.d.).
May
Allah reward him for his dedication to Islamic propagation.
CIVIC,
21 August, 2015
Bibliography:
Al-Maktab ah
al-Shāmilah
Holy Bible. New International Version
https://islamislogic.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/bernard-nababan-mantan-pendeta-ragu-pada-isi-alkitab/
lqq91u-berawal-dari-buku-pe
[1] The date 10th of November is coincident
with the Indonesian Hari Pahlawan
(Heroes’ Day), observed every year to
commemorate heavy fighting between Indonesian and British Allied forces at
Surabaya on 10 November 1945. This was less
than three months after Indonesia’s Proclamation of Independence.
[2]It was Paul who propagated Christianity to non-Jews,
violating the teaching of Jesus, in his letters to the Corinthians (see 1
Corinthians 12:13). No wonder if we say that the present Christianity is actually
“Pauline Christianity”.
[3] The book has been translated into English by myself in
1988 entitled Dialogue between a Muslim and a Christian, with endnotes
and 2 appendices; it can be read by visiting http://www.muhamine.blogspot.com/
[4] The shaykh was referring to the ḥadīth of the Prophet who said, as narrated by Abū Hurayrah, كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ
فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ أَوْ يُنَصِّرَانِهِ أَوْ يُمَجِّسَانِهِ كَمَثَلِ الْبَهِيمَةِ
تُنْتَجُ الْبَهِيمَةَ هَلْ تَرَى فِيهَا جَدْعَاءَ . “Every baby is born with
natural disposition (to be a Muslim); it is then his parents who make him a
Jew, or a Christian, or a Magian, like the animal, do you see any of it with
amputated limbs?” (Reported by Bukhārī, Muslim, and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal).
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