Bilquis Sheikh

By Michelle Adserias

Bilquis Sheikh was born in 1912 to a noble, Muslim family in Pakistan. She was not innately interested in religion but followed the beliefs of her ancestors. Her husband, General Khalid Masud Sheikh, served as Interior Minister for their country in the early 1960s. They were prominent social and political figures.

When the couple divorced, Bilquis went to live in a quiet village called Wah. One evening, her grandson, Mahmud (who lived with her) became ill. Her servants encouraged her to seek a blessing from the local mullah – which she did. When he made a swift recovery, she developed a new-founded interest in spiritual things and began reading the Koran. Mentions of Christianity in its pages also stirred her interest in reading the Bible.

She acquired a New Testament and randomly read this passage from Romans 9: “I will say to a people that was not mine, ‘You are my people,’ and to a nation I never loved, ‘I love you.’” Later in the day she went on to read in Romans 10, “if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord and if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.”

That evening she dreamt Jesus was in her home for two days, eating and visiting with her. She had several other visions, pointing her to Christ, before Mahmud once again fell ill. When she took him to the Christian hospital, one of the nurses encouraged her to ask to God she was searching for to show her His way. So, Bilquis did just that. Driven by her desire to follow the one, true God, Bilquis surrendered her life to Christ in 1966.

Her family’s reaction was first isolation, then anger and, finally, acceptance. The village was not so understanding. People threatened her and Mahmud and attempted to burn down her house. At great personal cost, in personal and financial terms, she and her grandson followed God’s leading and emigrated to the United States in 1973.

Bilquis had been telling her story at gatherings for years, encouraging others to follow God without reservation. Her new friends in the United States, encouraged her to write her story so it would reach a wider audience. I Dared to Call Him Father, her autobiography, has sold over 300,000 copies, a testament to its far-reaching impact.

In 1987, Bilquis had a severe heart attack and returned to Pakistan to spend her final days with her family. She died peacefully in 1997, in the arms of her daughter.