Asghar Ali
980 views · Published 26 June 2012 · 23:20 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: CBN India · 2012 · People & Blogs
As a young man, Asghar Ali yearned for truth. He was poor, suffering and full of questions. And his search for God left him with more doubts than answers. There were so many rules and regulations. And these just increased his questions. He was certain that God wasn't really listening to his prayers because he couldn't fulfill all these requirements. Asghar often directed his queries to a local religious man, spending long hours debating him. Frustrated, the religious man eventually conceded that there was one way he could speak directly to God: mysticism. Asghar eagerly went. After more than a year of preparation, Asghar's master told him he was ready to meet God that night. At exactly midnight, a huge thick snake appeared. It came right before him, coiled up and began reciting the first part, the first chapter of a holy book. So he just kept his eyes down and he was listening to it. But it was so loud that he just couldn't understand what it was saying. And after some time, it went away. Asghar, however, was unconvinced. There was something about this experience that did not seem right. His experiment with mysticism had left him with a constant headache. One day he shared this with one of his friend Vijay. Vijay was a believer and he prayed for Asghar. After his prayer, he had tremendous peace in his mind. It was like bondage was lifted from his head. Asghar started thinking in his mind that he is an ordinary man and this ordinary man's prayer, why was it different? What was there in this Jesus' name?" So he asked him to teach him that prayer. But he said, 'No, you can speak directly to God, whatever your difficulties, just tell Him'. Asghar questioned him that how can anyone speak directly to God. Vijay found it hard to keep up with Asghar's doubts and so he asked him to meet a priest in Chennai. With very little money in his pocket and no plan whatsoever, Asghar went to Chennai. When he went to Madras, he did not have the address of any specific person there. So he roamed around for quite a few days. Whatever he asked, they replied in Tamil. And his questions remained unanswered. One day a person invited him to his house. He knew Hindi. So he went to him and he started teaching him more about Jesus that Jesus would come again, that He died for the world, that He would return again and that whoever believes in Him would go to heaven. Eventually, he led him through the salvation prayer and told him to accept Jesus. And he accepted Jesus. A lot has happened in Asghar's life since that day. His salvation was the end of one search but the beginning of another, a search to know God more fully. But this search is different.
