When your friend collapses in the passenger seat, coughing up blood at three in the morning, and the car has broken down, and you have no phone — there is only one thing left to do. You pray. Not to a saint, not to a trinity, not to any created being. You call out directly to the One who made you. That is exactly what happened to Isa Nicholas, a Cuban-American from Miami who experienced a terrifying near death event that would change his life forever and ultimately lead him to Islam and a conscious relationship with God.
A Near Death Experience That Shattered Every Illusion
Isa was raised Catholic, but like many young people in the West, he drifted into a life of partying, drugs, and reckless living. One night, his friend — who was staying at his family’s home — suffered a severe asthma attack. Isa rushed him toward the hospital, but his car broke down on the road. No phone. No help. His friend unconscious and fading. In that moment of total helplessness, Isa turned to God Almighty alone in desperate prayer. Minutes later, his friend rolled out of the car coughing and spoke the words that would haunt Isa for years to come.
“He looked at me and said: God sent me back. That was it. He was dying — he had clearly experienced something beyond this world — and the first thing he said when he came back was that God returned him.”
The Fitrah Awakens — Why the Soul Knows Its Creator
What struck Isa most was what happened during his own prayer in that crisis. Although he was raised on the Christian trinity, when life and death were on the line, he did not call upon Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or any intermediary. His natural instinct — his fitrah, the innate disposition every human being is born with according to Islam — led him to call upon God directly and alone. He did not have time to think. He simply cried out to his Creator. This is the Islamic understanding of the soul: every human being deep down recognizes the Oneness of God, and it is only layers of cultural conditioning that obscure that truth.
“My natural instinct in a desperate situation, when I had no time to think, was to call directly on the One who created me — alone. I wasn’t invoking the trinity. It just happened.”
From Searching to Islam — The Process of Elimination
That near death experience became the catalyst for a serious spiritual search. Isa studied Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and finally the Quran. His journey followed a clear process of elimination:
- Buddhism — offered discipline but no relationship with God, which Isa already believed in
- Hinduism — acknowledged the divine but with thousands of gods, contradicting the pure monotheism Isa felt in his heart
- Christianity — contained familiar prophets and stories but elevated Jesus to divinity, which conflicted with Isa’s own experience of praying to God alone
- Islam — taught that Jesus was a mighty messenger, that Adam was created without parents yet was never worshipped, and that God alone deserves worship — this made complete logical sense
The Quran Changed Everything About the Afterlife and Accountability
Within six months to a year of dedicated study, Isa began transforming his life based on Quranic guidance — stopping the partying, the drugs, the dishonesty. On the day before his 21st birthday, he met a Muslim man on South Beach in Miami and took his shahada (declaration of faith) right then and there. He discovered the Islamic teaching that when you sincerely submit to God and ask for forgiveness, all previous sins are wiped clean. The afterlife in Islam is not a vague concept — it is a certainty that demands preparation, accountability, and a direct relationship with your Creator.
Death Is Not a Theory — It Is a Promise
- Islam teaches that every soul will taste death, and the life of this world is only a fleeting enjoyment
- The concept of Barzakh — the barrier between this life and the next — reminds us that once we cross over, there is no coming back to fix our record
- Near death experiences serve as powerful wake-up calls, but in Islam, you do not need to nearly die to take your faith seriously
- God’s mercy is vast — no matter how many sins you have accumulated, sincere repentance and turning to God alone opens the door to complete forgiveness
- Guidance comes to the sincere — as Isa’s story proves, when you earnestly seek the truth and pray directly to God, He will guide you to the straight path
If you find yourself moved by this story, if something deep inside you recognizes the truth of One God who created the heavens and the earth, do not let fear of what others might think hold you back. Life is short. Isa went from a reckless teenager to a committed Muslim, husband, and father — all because one terrifying night forced him to call upon God alone, and God answered. The door to Islam, to forgiveness, and to eternal peace in the afterlife is open right now. All you have to do is walk through it.
