Identification 

I Dared to Call Him Father: The Miraculous Story of a Woman’s Encounter with God, is the true story of Bilquis Sheikh’s encounter with the God of the Christian Bible and her transformation from a Muslim woman to a Christian evangelist. It is written by Sheikh, herself, with help from Richard H. Schneider. It also includes two sections written by Sheikh’s friend, Syvonne Mitchell, which confirm much of Sheikh’s story. The book was first published in 1978 by Chosen Books of Grand Rapids, Michigan, but was reprinted in 2003.  It is 190 pages long.

Summary 

In I Dared to Call Him Father, Bilquis Sheikh tells her readers about how she grew up in an upper-class Muslim family in Pakistan. She was married to Pakistan’s former Minister of the Interior, Khalid Sheikh, and she came from a family that had wealth and connections in its own right. According to Sheik, after her husband divorced her, she bitterly returned to her family home, where she tried to live a reclusive life, drinking tea alone and enjoying her garden. But after feeling an evil presence in that garden, she sought comfort, first in the Quran and then in The Bible. She was ashamed when she found out that she often preferred The Bible to the Quran, but after God spoke to her through a series of dreams and signs, she reluctantly began to seek out the Christian God. Twice, Sheikh relates, her young Grandson became ill and on both occasions seeking God lead to his recovery.

This inspired Sheikh to continue to investigate Christianity. She eventually sought out the help of foreign missionaries, who she begins to question about the nature of God. When one encouraged her to treat God as her father, she hesitantly complied and found herself in the presence of God that became her deepest desire. Slowly, Sheikh became a Christian, although she knew that others in her area had been killed for converting. Sheikh’s conversion was largely due to some strange events that take place in her home. Describing one particularly frightening event, Sheik says the following:

I had been sound asleep that night in January 1967 when I was startled awake by my bed shaking violently. An Earthquake? My heart was gripped by a nameless terror. And then I sensed a horrible malevolent presence in my room; one that was definitely evil. Suddenly, I was thrown out of my bed; whether I was in my physical body or spirit I do not know. But I was pushed and thrown about like a straw in a hurricane.

After this, Sheikh calls out for the help of Jesus and is shaken more violently, but then she feels God’s protection around her. Later, she sees a vision of Jesus, who tells her not to worry, because such a thing will not happen again.

But after facing unearthly dangers, Sheikh found herself often in earthy danger. In Pakistan, those who convert shame their families and are sometimes murdered in honor killings. Even if the people of Pakistan disapprove, says Sheikh, they usually looked the other way. Baptisms are especially dangerous in Pakistan, but, in spite of this, Sheik insisted on being baptized immediately when she felt God had told her to be. She continued to obey God, even after her family challenged and threatened her. She held on, even after someone attempted to burn down her house. And even when her family boycotted her, she held on to her strength. When her family sent men to argue with her, she felt herself giving brilliant arguments in response. Although she was afraid to attend family funerals when God instructed her too, she obeyed and saw God comfort the hearts of the widows through her. Later, these women would return to thank her. She would delight in the way in which God would use her to reach others.

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