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The following is a translated testimony of a Tunisian convert posted on the French website Jésus Le Messie - Le forum (jesus-messie.org):

I was born in Tunisia in a Muslim family. My parents were very pious, they said their five prayers a day, they fasted during Ramadan. We were ten children. I confess that I did not say my prayers five times a day. My parents taught us a lot of moral values. I'm sure my parents didn't really know the Quran. In fact, questions were taboo. I think I knew three or four Surahs from the Quran.

At the age of 22, I had no idea what Sharia was all about. Thanks to President Bourguiba, ⁱ women went to school, could work, they were present in all areas of society. Dad wanted his seven daughters to attend school. I was very happy in my family.

When my parents died, I left at the age twenty-two for Saudi Arabia. I had to wear the veil and learn to say my five prayers to be like everyone else. I lived sixty kilometers from Mecca where I finally discovered what Islam and Sharia were all about!

I began to ask several questions:

"How can God allow a man to have four wives and even more?"

"How can God allow divorce so easily?"

"How can God allow a thief's hand to be severed?"

"How can God allow the stoning of women?"

Once, I attended by chance, a stoning on a Friday. It was in Saudi Arabia and is meted out on Fridays! In this land I discovered another type of this faith. I discovered that poor people are recruited from all over the world. Young girls who had come from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand to work as maids, are often raped! Those who became pregnant are sent back to their homelands to face the results of ruined reputations.

I left Saudi Arabia and moved to Paris, France. I lived in a neighborhood where there were no Muslims, At the apartment there were many French families. They were kind and very welcoming to me; but they never spoke to me about their faith.

God was no longer part of my life. I made a good living; I had my comfortable life. I visited everything in Paris, except the churches. I met a French man who introduced me to his Catholic family and to his friends. And little by little, I started to get interested in the Christian faith, in the Christian culture, in the Holy Scriptures and to ask a lot of questions.

One day I went to Montmartre to look at some paintings. I entered the Sacré-Coeur Church ⁱⁱ where I stayed for three hours. I went back home and sat on the sofa, drinking my cup of tea. I felt as if someone touched my shoulder. I looked around but saw no one! I began to reflect on that experience. At last, I realized what was missing in my life: it was Jesus Christ.

Eventually, I asked for Holy Baptism, which I received in 2002. Since then, Christ has become my whole life. I try to live in harmony with the Ten Commandments. The Eucharist is my sustenance. Since I had never smoked, I can run to church every day!

I give my testimony at every opportunity. When I testify to Muslims, they listen as if they were expecting it. I reproach Christians for not talking about their faith. The other day a Muslim asked me, “Why does your rosary have a cross?” I replied in Arabic, "It's because I'm a Christian." She was amazed because she had no idea that there were Tunisian Christians!

This is my plea: “We must proclaim that our hope has a name, it’s ‘Jesus Christ,’ the only savior of the world. We can no longer remain silent.”

ⁱ Habib Bourguiba | Tunisian Independence Leader & First President

ⁱⁱ https://www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com