Why Islam? Stories of New Muslims

[Cordoba]

Jan Jackson (Australia)

"I am a 48 year old Australian. I was raised a Catholic and am still grateful for the religious upbringing my parents gave me. They were practising Catholics who imparted their faith to me and I attended a Catholic school. ...

During that time I lived a comfortable, privileged life, in the ‘western lifestyle’ sense – financially secure, educated and trained, healthy, with no major crises in my life. I married. I worked. I travelled. I indulged myself. Food, wine, entertainment, weekends away, fancy hotels, overseas trips. Eat, drink and be merry. Having no children, I had no real responsibilities. I sought mainly to entertain myself, and have a good time.

From where I am standing now, that period just seems like a life without purpose, and it’s truly painful for me to look back and see 25 years of a Godless life. ...

Then, about five years ago, God gave me the opportunity to reassess my life, Alhamdulillah. My personal circumstances changed drastically. My beloved father died tragically; my marriage broke up painfully; my income was significantly reduced; and I was living alone. I was forced to take stock, reflect, and reassess my life. And I found myself in a thoroughly meaningless void.

Around this time I began to read all kinds of material on all kinds of religions. I tried to revive my Catholicism, but it was useless. It did not feel real or sincere. I felt no sense of connection.

At this time I met, and had a very important conversation with, a Muslim brother, my neighbour who later became my husband. At this time I knew absolutely nothing about Islam. All my reading (on Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc) seemed to have taken me down every path EXCEPT Islam. So when I asked him about HIS religion he said: “It is a beautiful religion, a simple religion, part of life.” His quiet, composed, assured conviction struck me.

Here was someone who was so quietly certain about his religion that it needed nothing more than these simple few words to provide an answer, an answer that seemed whole and complete. And here was someone who described his religion as “beautiful”. I had never encountered this before. Religion had always been a duty, or an institution, something to be learned or endured, something burdensome and complicated and problematic – not something “beautiful”. It struck my heart in a way I do not really understand. But I have to say that it was one of those defining moments of one’s life – something irreversible happened!

So then it began. I decided to try and learn about Islam. I asked around, tentatively at first………… I bought books and read, I browsed websites, and I started to scan my environment for anything Islamic – not difficult living in Brunswick, Melbourne. I went to an information day at Preston mosque. I obtained a copy of the Qur’an from a book sale at the Islamic Council of Victoria. The more I read the Qur’an the more I became convinced of the truth of the Qur’anic revelations. ...

But the most powerful experience for me at this time was discovering the act of prayer. I bought a book which taught me how to pray……….. and I have to say that from the moment I first bowed in prayer in the Muslim way, I felt connected to my Creator, for the first time in my life, and I wept with joy. ...

One day I went to Friday prayer at Preston mosque. I was terrified. It took every bit of effort to get myself through that door. And there I met two sisters who were like angels planted there for me, who took me under their wings. I owe a great deal to them, and to every other Muslim I have met in the few years because all of them have inspired and supported me in the warmest, and gentlest, and most generous of ways.

I said my Shahadah in Ramadan in December 1999, just before the new millennium ticked over. Around this time I was introduced to the Revert Support Group, operating in Melbourne, which has been a great help and support to me, as a source of information and a sharing of knowledge and experience, and a way of meeting other new Muslims.

Increasingly I learned the value of prayer. I learned that to worship God regularly strengthens one’s commitment and sense of connection. It helps to set up an ongoing dialogue with God, a consciousness of God that starts to become more frequent, more natural - a remembering, or mindfulness of God throughout your day. Prayer acts as a reminder that you are a part of God’s creation, and only a tiny part at that. You are reminded of your place in time and the universe. You cannot pray without feeling humility. It is impossible. I also learned that the frequency of prayer forces you to monitor your actions more closely, makes you more vigilant of your behaviour, and helps you to keep the concerns and preoccupations of everyday routine in perspective.

For me Islam is a beautiful religion because it is simple and clear, and woven into the fabric of everyday life. For me, it is not bogged down in the doctrines and dogmas of other religious traditions. I was so impressed by the fact that to actually ‘become’ a Muslim you need only believe it in your heart and make the declaration of faith – no instructions, no indoctrinations, no sacraments, no initiations, no tests. ...

For me the Islamic message has quite a different emphasis, and is something way beyond this – it is attention to God – love your fellow man, of course; live as well as you can, of course – but use every bit of your limited capability to try and understand, comprehend, love and know, and serve, God. Islam demands that we focus on more than this life, and beyond this life.

I found this “bigger ask” in the Qur’an as well. For me the beauty of the Qur’an is the scope that it encom-passes. It insists that we try and contemplate time and beyond; the universe and beyond; creation and beyond. It asks us to reflect on creation, the prophetic revelations, destiny, the beginning of life, the end of life, and the day of judgement. In so doing, we try to grasp the hugeness of everything beyond ourselves, the magnificence of God.

“(This is) a Scripture that We have revealed unto thee, full of blessing, that they may ponder its revelations, and that men of understanding may reflect.” Surah 38:29

I feel so happy and so blessed to have had my life transformed. In committing to the Islamic way I have found meaning and significance in everyday life, and a consequent peace that follows from this. And I feel I have experienced the miracle of seeing myself as part of creation, and time, and God’s plan, and experience the consequent joy that follows from this. I thank God. Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah). Subhanallah (Glory be to Allah).

http://members.iinet.net.au/~asmaazam/21st%20Century%20Revert%20Stories/Revert%20Stories.htm

 

[Cordoba]

Virginia - an English Sister

"I am a forty seven year old wife, mother of three and grandmother of one. I was born and brought up as a Methodist Christian.

As a child I was christened and sent to Sunday school, even becoming a Sunday school teacher. Both at Sunday school and day school I always came top in religious instruction exams. Even then though, I remember thinking that I wished I could really believe and accept Christianity wholeheartedly, but I always felt that something was wrong or something missing.

Why if there was only one God did we worship Jesus? How if God was not human could he have a Son? Why did we refer to God as three- the Holy Trinity? As far as I was concerned God was God, on his own – Full Stop! ...

After I met my future husband, who told me he was an atheist, I stopped attending Chapel and teaching at the Sunday school. Over the next few years my husband and I had three children, and like a lot of people I followed the traditions of my family and had them christened and sent them to Sunday school. ...

Having three children my life was always busy and I didn’t really give much thought to religion on a day to day basis, but then about fifteen years ago I became involved in local politics. Attending a political party conference, one of my fellow delegates was a Doctor, a Bangladeshi Muslim. We struck up a friendship and would talk, not just about politics but many other things including religion. ... I started reading anything and everything I could find about Islam.

Over the next ten or twelve years I had periods when I would read extensively and periods when I wouldn’t give it a thought. I quickly began to admire the ethics of Muslim families, the way children were taught respect for their elders, the way they all spoke up for each other. I also began to feel the need to speak up for them; it always appeared they were the ones to be persecuted.

About three years ago I realised that I was spending more and more time thinking about Islam and that without realising it I would steer conversations with friends around to this subject. I also noted that I was very slowly changing my own habits, dressing more discreetly, not drinking, praying (not as a Muslim), something I had not done for a very long time. I then found myself saying, “This is ridiculous! I am not a Muslim I am a Christian!”, and I would go out of my way to convince myself of this.

I changed my job and went to work in London for the first time and made sure that I always went out with colleagues to bars and restaurants after work; I bought more showy clothes; I am sorry to say that I neglected my family duties; I was too tired to do housework and cooking. My husband and sons (my daughter had by now gone to University and set up home on her own) had to fend for themselves. My Muslim friend asked why I was doing this to my family and I told him about my feelings for Islam, I guess he wasn’t all bad as his response was to buy me an English translation of the Qur’an. I was hooked!

In January 2001 I made one last attempt to convince myself that I was not a Muslim, I changed my job again. This time to work for a West End theatre producer - even more partying! But it didn’t work and I quickly realised that I was making myself physically sick. I developed several different illnesses all with symptoms brought about (according to my doctor) by stress. I was taking several types of medication.

One day at the beginning of September 2001 I was reading the Qur’an when without realising what I was doing I said the Shahadah to myself and felt the most wonderful sense of completeness and a serenity I had never felt before. I made the decision there and then that I would find somewhere to really learn how to become a Muslim and to say Shahadah again, but this time in front of witnesses. My only worry was how I would find the courage and words to tell my family of my decision. I had been married for twenty-eight years by now but still didn’t really know what my husband’s beliefs were or how any of my family would react.

Imagine my horror therefore and I am sorry to say the anger I felt when I came back from lunch on 11th September to be confronted with pictures on the Internet of the planes flying into the world trade centre. Over the next few days and weeks I would hear people say that all Muslims were alike and that they should all be thrown out of the country etc, etc. I found myself defending them saying not all Muslims were terrorists any more than all Roman Catholics supported the IRA, and were we going to throw out all Irish people? I soon realised, however, that now was not the time to break my news. I decided to keep it to myself. ...

I decided to write to two local Mosques. I desperately wanted to learn how to pray as a Muslim but knew that I couldn’t just walk into a Mosque. I was terrified I would do something wrong and really offend someone or that they would be really un-welcoming. I got no response from either of my letters. One day however I found a book with a rough outline of a prayer in – I think the book was meant for school children - but anyhow I followed the instructions and prayed. I knew then I had made the right decision. I also knew I had to find the courage to tell my family, but how?

It was at this time that I sent two emails which were to be the most important of my life. One was to a site for new converts and one was to an Islamic Centre in a nearby town. To my amazement they were both answered. Within two weeks of this I was to meet two amazing groups of people who welcomed me into their midst. Within a month I had said Shahadah in front of witnesses as I had hoped for.

“This is the true account: There is no god except God; and God-He is indeed the Exalted in Power, the Wise” Qur’an 3:62.

I was now a Muslim and somehow I had to find a way of telling my family. ... My children seem to have accepted the changes I have made, although like their father they find the wearing of Hijab rather strange, but they are persevering and have actually commented on how much happier and relaxed I seem.

My son-in-law has actually been the one who has, so far, shown the most interest; asking questions ... As for my husband - we have now talked and I have found that his own beliefs are not that dissimilar to my own, but he just believes that religion should be private and that in this modern age we should keep our beliefs to ourselves and not go out of our way to make our beliefs obvious to others i.e. wearing Hijab.

Slowly our lives are changing. There are those who say I should move quicker, that I can’t do this or that any more, but I know my family and if I want them to accept Islam for themselves I know I have to be patient."

http://members.iinet.net.au/~asmaazam/21st%20Century%20Revert%20Stories/Revert%20Stories.htm

 

[Cordoba]

Jemima Goldsmith

When Jemima Goldsmith, the 21-year-old daughter of billionaire Sir James, married Imran Khan she embraced not only the world's most handsome sportsman but also the Muslim faith, taking the name Haiqa. Here, in an exclusive account, she tells how she journeyed from the glamorous society of London to the austere religion of Lahore

"THE media present me as a naive, besotted 21-year-old who has made a hasty decision without really considering the consequences - thus effectively condemning herself to a life of interminable subservience, misery and isolation.

Although I must confess I have rather enjoyed the various depictions of a veiled and miserable "Haiqa Khan" incarcerated in chains, the reality is somewhat different. Contrary to current opinion, my decision to convert to Islam was entirely my own choice and in no way hurried.

Whilst the act of conversion itself is surprisingly quick - entailing the simple assertion that "there is only one God and Mohammed is His Prophet" - the preparation is not necessarily so speedy a process. In my case, this began last July, whilst the actual conversion took place in early February - three months before the Nikkah in Paris.
During that time, I studied in depth both the Quran and the works of various Islamic scholars (Gai Eaton, the Bosnian president Alia Izetbegovic, Muhammad Asad) , thus giving me ample time to reflect before making my decision.

What began as intellectual curiosity slowly ripened into a dawning realisation of the universal and eternal truth that is Islam. In the statement given out a week ago, I particularly stressed that I had converted to Islam entirely "through my own convictions". The significance of this has been largely ignored by the press. The point is that my conversion was not, as so many have assumed, a pre-requisite to my marriage. It was entirely my own choice.

Religiously speaking, there was absolutely no compulsion for me to convert prior to my marriage. As it explicitly states in the Quran, a Muslim is permitted to marry from "the People of the Book" - in other words, either a Christian or a Jew. Indeed, the Sunnah - which describes the life of the Prophet - shows that the messenger of Islam himself married both a Christian and a Jew during his lifetime.

I believe that much of this hostility towards my marriage and conversion stems from widespread misconceptions about an alien culture and religion. Not only is there a huge gulf between the Western view of Islam and the reality, but there is in some cases also a significant distinction between Islam based directly on the Quran and the Sunnah and that practised by some Islamic societies. During the last year I have had the opportunity to visit Pakistan on three separate occasions and have observed Islamic family life in practice.

Thus, to some extent I now feel qualified to judge for myself the true role and position of women in the religion. At the risk of sounding defensive, I would like to point out that Islam is not a religion which subjugates women whilst elevating men to the status of mini-dictators in their own homes.

I was able to see this first-hand when I met Imran's sisters in Lahore: they are all highly educated professional women. His oldest sister, Robina, is an alumnus of the LSE and holds a senior position in the United Nations in New York. Another sister, Aleema, has a master's degree in business administration and runs a successful business; Uzma is a highly qualified surgeon working in a Lahore hospital, whilst Rani is a university graduate who co-ordinates charity work. They can hardly be seen as "women in chains" dominated by tyrannical husbands. On the contrary, they are strong-minded independent women - yet at the same time they remain deeply committed both to their families and their religion. Thus, I was able to see - in theory and in practice - how Islam promotes the essential notion of the family unit without subjugating its female members.

I am nevertheless fully aware that women are sometimes exploited and oppressed in Islamic societies, as in other parts of the world. Judging by some of the articles which have appeared in the press, it would seem that a Western woman's happiness hinges largely upon her access to nightclubs, alcohol and revealing clothes; and the absence of such apparent freedom and luxuries in Islamic societies is seen as an infringement of her basic rights.

However, as we all know, such superficialities have very little to do with true happiness. Besides, without in any way wishing to disparage the culture of the Western world, into which I was born, I am more than willing to forego the transient pleasures derived from alcohol and nightclubs; and as for the clothes I will be wearing, I find the traditional shalwar kameez (tunic and trousers) worn by most Pakistani women far more elegant and feminine than anything in my wardrobe.

Finally, it seems futile to speculate on my chances of marital success. Marriage, as Imran's father has been quoted as saying, is indeed "a gamble". However, when I see that in a society based on family life the divorce rate is just a fraction of that in European or American society, I cannot see that my chances of success are any less than if I had chosen to marry a Westerner.

I am all too aware of the enormous task of adapting to a new and radically different culture. But with the love of my husband and the support of his family I look forward to the challenge wholeheartedly, and would like to feel that people wish me well. Whilst I do appreciate the genuine concerns of many, I must confess to feeling somewhat bewildered by all of the commotion."

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/jemima_goldsmith.html

 

[Cordoba]

Lady Evelyn Zeinab Cobbold (England)

"I am often asked when and why I became a Muslim. I can only reply that I do not know the precise moment when the truth of Islam dawned upon me. It seems that I have always been a Muslim.

This is not so strange when one remembers that Islam is the natural religion that a child, left to itself, would develop. Indeed as a Western critic once described it:

"Islam is the religion of common sense."

The more I read and the more I studied, the more convinced I became that Islam was the most practical religion, and the one most calculated to solve the world's many perplexing problems, and to bring to humanity peace and happiness.

Since then I have never wavered in my belief that there is but one God; that Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and others before (peace be on all of them) were prophets, divinely inspired, that to every nation God has sent an apostle, that we are not born in sin, and that we do not need any redemption, that we do not need anyone to intercede between us and God, Whom we can approach at all times, and that no one can intercede for us, not even Muhammad or Jesus [unless God permits it -ed.], and that our salvation depends entirely on ourselves and on our actions.

The word `Islam' means surrender to God. It also means peace. A Muslim is one who is `in harmony with the decrees of the author of this world', one who has made his peace with God and His creatures.

Islam is based on two fundamental truths: (a) the Oneness of God and (b) the Brotherhood of Man, and is entirely free from any encumbrances of theological dogma. Above everything else it is a positive faith.

The influence of the Hajj cannot be exaggerated. To be a member of that huge congregation gathered together from the four corners of the earth, on this sacred occasion and on the sacred spot, and to join with this mass of humanity, in all humility, in the glorification of God, is to have one's consciousness impressed by the full significance of the Islamic ideal, is to be privileged to participate in one of the most soul inspiring experiences that have ever been granted to human beings.

To visit the birthplace of Islam, to tread the sacred ground of the prophet's struggle to call erring humanity back to God, is to re-live those hallowed by the memories of Muhammad's long toil and sufferings in glorious years of sacrifice martyrdom, is to have one's soul kindled by that celestial fire which lighted up the whole earth. But this is not all.

The Hajj, above everything else, makes for unity among Moslems. If there is anything that unifies the scattered forces of Islam and imbues them with mutual sympathy it is the pilgrimage. It provides them with a central point to which they rally from all corners of the earth. It creates for them annually an occasion to meet and know one another, to exchange views and compare experiences and unite their various efforts to the common good.

Distances are annihilated. Differences of sect are set aside. Divergences of race and colour cease to exist in this fraternity of faith that unites all Moslems in one great brotherhood and makes them conscious of the glorious heritage that is theirs."

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/cobbold.html

 

[Cordoba]

Leo (France)

" Hello, my name's Leo. I'm glad to be able to witness among other muslims about their faiths and how they come to Islam.

As far as I can remember, my very first thought to God was when I was sick. I was then maybe 15 or 16 and had fever and couldn't sleep well. Suddenly I woke up, believing it was in the darkness before the morning. I heard voices and I thought my mother was dead in a accident. Then as I was suffering from this terrible news and from fever, I asked God sincerely to make it not be the truth, that I was to believe to Him if so.

When I stepped down the stairs, I finally realised it was only the late evening and that voices I heard were coming from TV my mother was watching. Alhamdulillah ! (God be praised !). Indeed I came back to bed, slept and surely forgot about what I told to God for a while.

Since I could read, I've always been reading a lot. I was reading a lot of books, especially novels. When I was at high school, I was reading mostly novels of French literature. As I was eager to learn and understand more in many fields, I someday decided to read Bible as a fundamental part and writing of our judeo-christian society. I must say that I was naive and thought most of people believed in God and were Christians. By reading Bible I found a nice, clever, full of goodness book. But I didn't understand many paraboles and trinity was something my mind couldn't accept. How a man could be at the same time God and the son of God and dying ? I couldn't understand such a mystery. But at this time I think I was already believing in God.

I've always been sensitive to coherence and logic. As well as impartiality and integrity. The day I decided to read Bible, I also decided next book to be read was Qu'ran. Indeed it was obvious it was the same message. Bible contained Torah, the book of Jews and Qu'ran remembered about them. Not only message of Qu'ran is the most coherent and logic and fair, but also clearing misunderstanding of Bible about Jesus. And that was a great relief. Jesus was to be a man and a prophet. It is easy to understand he was created the same way as Adam and insuffled into Mary (peace and blessings upon them). Or people don't think that God can not do what He did before an other time ?

Some other facts influenced my life and my coming to Islam. One is the first love I felt for someone. I've always fought against what I could call flirting or untrue love until feelings struck me. But I was unlucky ) and I knew from that that I would have two choices in love as well as in way of life. Either easy search of my own pleasure for this life, or having some right rules in which resides something greater but constraining for whom is weak (everyone is weak). I had this last choice.

At that time, I did not know any muslim, but one school mate and I wasn't curious to ask him, as my way was inner. The only thing that struck me indeed is one of our common friend who wanted to try fasting of Ramadan month as a challenge. Later on, I get graduated from high school and went to Paris to study in preparation school. Indeed studying was very hard and I had two hard years.

I can distinguish some factors which urged me to come deeper into Islam. One is as I was in scientific school, I become aware of the arbitrary and axiomatic nature of science, as well as its degree of interpretation. As well as other scientific and rational matters who has always been busying my head, I was trying to elaborate an evidence of God. But I couldn't connect the creator attribute of God to who decides our rules in right and wrong, as well as feelings which make human so wonderful and so miserable. A second point is muslim school mates whom I could talk too. At least by being muslim they showed me the way of next step I should do. Indeed I've been brought on right way by any muslim I've been meeting, all in different ways. Lastly, I must confess that my grandfather influenced me too, but I don't really remember if it was before or after I considered myself as a muslim. Anyway I think I bare something with him. ...

In preparation class and after days and reflexion, I someday was trying to prove God's involvement in good and evil. Suddenly, I thought to myself that I didn't need any proof to believe in God if I wanted to believe in God. And then all these useless attempts were meaningless. I decided that day or some days after to begin to become a muslim, indeed to apply Qu'ran, because my heart was already muslim. I would stop to eat pork and drink alcohol. So did I.

My family was rather shocked at first time. My parents were thinking I was manipulated by some extremist. I wasn't making it easy for them to understand it, because I was making reference to Qu'ran for each argument opposed. My sister understood this choice as logical though, since I explained Islam was the last one of the three monotheist religions. But my parents are very kind and tolerant and always told me they would accept our choices for my sister and I. They did ) and I'm still a muslim.

Though sometimes I failed and fail, little by little behaviour can be changed to better. I've been to mosque, though nowadays I don't have one near me, I met some muslim people, I have some muslim friends from school very kind, I learnt prayer, I did ramadan 3 times, and since 2 weeks I'm doing prayer 5 times a day. Insha Allah may I keep on striving on right way. I did zakat and I try to pay it completely on all what I possess. I intend to always learn more to deepen my knowledge should it be by learning arabic or names of God or striving on the way to God by going to Mecca for pilgrimage insha Allah. I didn't change my name, since it is a gift from my parents and its meaning is one of well known arabic muslim names. I'm now 22 years old.

Being muslim is a life effort. It shouldn't be thought as easy but nothing is impossible and God is paving the way to Him. I've been hurt and still get by some non muslim and muslim people by their behaviours which don't respect Islam. I simply hope God put me on right way and that justice will be rendered. Islam is worth to be known and learnt. Its consequences not only affect inner being but also any aspects of life and way of thinking, making one willing to improve any knowledge, practice, feelings and reasoning in any field mankind has ever known.

May God guide me and give me His light to guide me to Him. May God forgive and bless my two parents, muslims and muslimahs, people striving on His way, and those I love. May He be merciful to me. Praised be His name. May He be blessed by Himself And may Muhammad be blessed by Him."

Peace and blessings upon you.
Thank you for listening.

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/leo.html

 

[Cordoba]

Madonna Johnson

"Looking back on my past, I say that the turning point in my life was without a doubt the birth of my daughter.

Before she was born, I spent my life on a day to day basis, concentrating my time and attention to whatever crisis I could get my hands on. If there wasn't one, then I made one.

When I became pregnant, I knew I would be raising my child alone. If it weren't for the love, devotion, and determination of my mother, things would have been different.

When my daughter was 5 months old, she died of "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome"(SIDS), which is a medical term for "No known cause".

I had never experienced such pain, panic, and complete emptiness. However, throughout the funeral, I was consoling other people, telling them I believed with all my heart that God would not cause me such pain if He didn't have something incredible waiting for me in the future; all I had to do was stay on the right road, and God would show me when I was ready. ...

So my quest for the "One True Religion" began out of a desire to insure that I would indeed see my daughter again.

I went through all the Christian religions diligently. Having been a Christian all my life, I found it very hard to look outside the church, even though my heart wasn't totally Christian.

People would say things to me like, "Jesus spoke to me today," or "Jesus is with you, all you have to do is invite him into your heart and you will see your daughter in heaven."

I was beginning to think I was doomed. I looked at Tarot cards, crystals, and even entertained the thought that all religions would take you to heaven, if you followed their beliefs.

Eventually I put my search on hold for awhile and got a job at a bar in Indianapolis. It was there that I met a girl, who later turned out to be a good friend for a while. She had three or four businesses running out of her home, none of them doing very well, and some of them questionable.

One day, she asked me if I wanted to go to Malaysia. She said she wanted me to buy some Malaysian style clothes, get pictures taken of them, and find an importer-exporter to handle the business. Without thinking I said "I'm there!"

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur during the middle of Ramadan. I'd never heard of Islam before, and had no idea that Malaysia was an Islamic country. Almost every woman I saw had a scarf on her head in 95 degree heat!

I also noticed that people went out of their way to be nice to me. It took a very special friend (plus, he was one of the few who could speak English fairly well) to explain that Malaysia was an Islamic country, and Muslims believe that whenever we do something nice for someone for the pleasure of Allah (SWT), then we will be rewarded for that deed on Judgement Day, Insha Allah.

However, all I could see where the negative aspects of Islam, the same things others see, who are ignorant about Islam; so I bought some Islamic books (including a Qur'an) and began studying Islam.

I asked many questions, such as why do women cover their whole body, except for the face and hands? Why is everyone so happy and willing to fast throughout the day? How could anyone be happy about starving themselves? It seemed suddenly that no one could speak English well enough to satisfy me, so I turned to the Qur'an.

Ever since I can remember, I have felt out of place in Christianity , like I was the only one in the whole church who didn't know the joke was on me.

The more I studied about Islam, the more I began to wonder if this was the road to my daughter; would this religion get me into Heaven?

Although my biggest obstacle was the Islamic concept of Jesus (PBUH), and how would I explain this to everyone at home, I found the answers to some of my questions and realized that Islam was what I had been looking for.

But I had a problem, should I take the challenge…become a Muslim and walk the straight path to heaven? Or deny the Truth I knew in my heart out of fear of disapproval and persecution from family and friends…only to abide in the hellfire forever?

I constantly carried with me a feeling of doom and anxiety. This was my state of mind everyday while I was deciding whether I should revert to Islam or not.

For me, this decision was not as easy. Islam is not a part time religion; a true Muslim doesn't practice Islam one day a week. Islam is a full-time challenge with enormous struggles, as well as benefits. The more you learn and understand, the more you realize you have only just begun to scratch the surface, which makes you strive even harder to learn more.

One day I woke up with the words, "OK, I believe, I will go and revert to Islam", and from that moment on, all of my turmoil and anxiety was gone Alhamdulillah.

All of the pain I had felt from my past experiences, including my daughter's death, were gone. The nightmares stopped, and I felt the most incredible peace.

I went to PERKIM, the Malaysian Muslim Welfare Organization, and took my Shahadah, filling my life with the peace and love of Allah (SWT) , Alhamdulillah.

Looking back, I can say all of the things I experienced on my path to Islam were well worth the effort and pain, because now, Insha'Allah, I will be able to see and hold my daughter again, if I can stay on the right path.

Sure, I still have challenges, being Muslim doesn't mean I won't have problems. But being a Muslim does mean that for every challenge I came across, the solution lies in following the path of Truth. And at the end of that path lies Heaven, my daughter and numerous other pleasures that the human mind can't begin to comprehend.

All praises are due to Allah for bringing me to the Truth and for His grace in making me a Muslim."

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/madonna.htm

 

[Cordoba]

Sister Malaak:

I am a new Muslim woman from Richmond, VA.

I had never even met Muslims before last year, and had no idea that there was an Islamic center in my own city.

However, at that time, I was very interested in Islam, but I could find nothing to read. I read encyclopedias and any books I could get my hands on, but they were all written by non-Muslims. They said that Muhammad (saws) wrote the Qur'an in the 7th centruy, that Muslims worshipped the black stone, and that Islam bred hatred towards women. They also said that Muhammad (saws) copied the Bible, that Islam was spread with the Qur'an in one hand and the sword in the other, and implied (if not stated directly) that all Muslims were Arab. One book even said that the word "Allah" came from al-lot, the moon god of the pagan Arabs. These are just some of the lies I read.

Then, one day, two Pakistani Muslim women (who were also muhajjabas [wearing hijab -ed.]) came to my college. I befriended them, and then I started asking them all kinds of questions. I had already left Christianity when I was 12, so I felt no challenge to my personal beliefs. I was a biology major and had basically no religion. I was amazed at what they told me, and I realized that all of my previous knowledge was lies.

Then, I came home for the summer. I got my own apartment and started working at 7-11. While I was working, a black muhajjaba came in the store. I asked her where she worshipped and when she told me there was an Islamic center on the same street I was working on, I was amazed.

I went the next day, but no one was there. So I went the day after that day (which happened to be Friday) and found some people there. A man told me to come the next week at noon so I could meet some of the ladies. But when he said "noon," he meant "dhuhr," not 12. I didn't know that. So I came at 12 the following week, but no one was there. For some reason, I decided to wait, Subhan-Allah. And wait I did, for an hour and a half (jumaa' [Friday prayer -ed.] is at 2), and finally I meet some people.

A lady there gave me a copy of Maurice Bucaille's The Bible, Qur'an, and Science. When I read it, I knew that I wanted to become a Muslim. After all, I was a biology major. I knew that the things in the Qur'an had to be from Allah (swt), and not from an illiterate, uneducated man. So I went the next week and took shahaada [i.e. stated and accepted the creed of Islam -ed.]

When my dad found out, he went crazy. He came to my apartment and tore up everything in it, including my Qur'an. I called the police, and they came out. But they refused to help. They said "Don't you think he's right?" and so on. So I fled to Nashville, TN.

I have continued to talk with my dad, though, because the Qur'an says to honour your parents (it does not distinguish between Kaafir and Muslim parents), and because I remember the story of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (raa). He hated Islam so much that he used to beat his slave girl until his arm grew tired. Al-Hamdu Lillah, Allah (swt) has rewarded me for my efforts. I saw my father for the first time this summer, in full hijaab. He accepted it without too much commentary. I think he realizes now that he can't bully me into renouncing Islam.

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/malaak.html

 

[Cordoba]

Mavis B. Jolly (England)

"I was born in a Christian environment, baptised in the Church of England, and attended a Church school where at a tender age I learned the story of Jesus as contained in the Gospels.

It made a great emotional impression on me, as also did frequent visits to the church, the high altar with candles burning, the incense, the robed priests and the mysterious intoning of prayers...

I suppose for those few years I was a fervent Christian. Then with the increase of schooling, and being in constant contact with the Bible and everything Christian I had the opportunity to think over what I had read and observed, practised and believed. Soon I began to be dissatisfied with many things.

By the time I left school I was a complete atheist. Then I began to study the other main religions in the world. I began with Buddhism. I studied with interest the eightfold path, and felt that it contained good aims but was lacking in direction and details.

In Hinduism I was faced not with three, but with hundreds of gods, the stories of which were too fantastic and revolting to me to be accepted.

I read a little of Judaism, but I had already seen enough of the Old Testament to realize that it did not stand my tests of what a religion must be. A friend of mine persuaded me to study spiritualism and to sit for the purpose of being controlled by the discarnate spirits. I did not continue this practice very long as I was quite convinced that, in my case anyway, it was purely a matter of self-hypnosis, and would be dangerous to experiment further.

The war ended. I took work in a London office, but my mind never strayed far from the religious quest. A letter appeared in the local paper to which I wrote a reply contradicting the divinity of Christ from the Biblical point of view. This brought me in contact with a number of people, one of whom was a Muslim. I started discussing Islam with this new acquaintance. On every point my desire to resist Islam fell down. Though I had thought it impossible, I had to acknowledge that perfect revelation had come through an ordinary human being, since the best of twentieth century governments could not improve upon that revelation, and were themselves continually borrowing from the Islamic system.

At this time I met a number of other Muslims and some of the English girl converts endeavored to help me, with no little success, since, coming from the same background, they understood better some of my difficulties. I read a number of books, including The religion of Islam, Muhammad and Christ and The source of Christianity, the latter showing the amazing similarities between Christianity and the old pagan myths, impressed me greatly. Above all I read the Holy Qur'an. At first it seemed mainly repetition. I was never quite sure if I was taking it in or not, but the Qur'an, I found, works silently on the spirit.

Night after night I could not put it down. Yet I often wondered how perfect guidance for man could come through imperfect human channels at all. Muslims made no claim for Muhammad that he was superhuman. I learned that in Islam prophets are men who have remained sinless, and that revelation was no new thing. The Jewish prophets of old received it. Jesus, too, was a prophet. Still it puzzled me why it did not happen any more in the twentieth century. I was asked to look at what the Qur'an said: "Muhammad is the Messenger of God and the last of the Prophets." And of course it was perfectly reasonable, too. How could there be other prophets to come if the Holy Qur'an was the book ... explaining all things and verifying that which is with you and if it was to remain uncorrupted in the world, as is guaranteed in the Qur'an, and perfectly kept so far?

"Surely We have revealed the Reminder (i.e. the Qur'an) and surely We are its Guardian." In that case there could be no need of further prophets or books. Still I pondered. I read that the Qur'an is a guide to those who ponder (XVI: 65) and that doubters were asked to try and produce a chapter like it (II: 23). Surely, I thought, it must be possible to produce a better living plan in 1954, than this which dates back to a man born in the year 570 C.E.? I set to work, but everywhere I failed.

No doubt, influenced by the usual condemnation of Islam from Christian pulpits on the subject, I picked on polygamy. At last I thought I had something; obviously Western monogamy was an improvement on this old system. I talked of it to my Muslim friend. He illustrated with the aid of newspaper articles how much true monogamy there was in England, and convinced me that a limited polygamy was the answer to the secret unions that are becoming so distressingly common in the West. My own common sense could see that, particularly after a war, when women of a certain age group far outnumber men, a percentage of them are destined to remain spinsters. Did God give them life for that? I recollect that on the radio programme known as `Dear Sir' an unmarried English girl had called for lawful polygamy, saying she would prefer a shared married life rather than the loneliness to which she seemed to be destined. In Islam no one is forced into a polygamous marriage, but in a perfect religion, the opportunity must be there to meet those cases where it is necessary.

Then about ritual prayers I thought I had a point. Surely prayers repeated five times a day must become just a meaningless habit? My friend had a quick and illuminating answer. `What about your music practice, he asked, where you do scales for half an hour every day whether you feel like it or not? Of course, it is not good if it becomes a dead habit --- to be thinking of what is being done will give greater benefit --- but even scales done without thinking will be better than not doing them at all, and so it is with prayers.' Any music student will see the point of this, particularly if he bears in mind that in Islam prayers are not said for the benefit of God, Who is above needing them, but for our own benefit as a spiritual exercise, besides other uses.

Thus gradually I became convinced of the truth in the teachings of Islam, and formally accepted the faith. I did this with great satisfaction, as I could fully realize that it was no emotional craze of the moment, but a long process of reasoning, lasting nearly two years, through which I went despite my emotions that pulled me so strongly the other way."

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/jolly.html

 

[Malus 12:9]

Man, not meant as an insult, but how is all that reading going to convince me that
Islam is the way to go?

 

[Cordoba]

Hello Renaldo:

There are a number of similar issues in these stories which may be statistically analyzed and summarized when the sample is complete.

 

[Cordoba]

Mike LoPrete

"I guess a little background about myself before I tell my story would be in order. My name (as per the top of the post) is Mike LoPrete, and I'm a 19 years old college student.

I was born Catholic, raised Christian, and lived in midwestern American, where it is almost exclusively Christian (pockets of Jews, Muslims, and Hindus, but they are largely ignored communities around here). Not until I took my own initiative did I learn about Islam in an unbiased fashion ...

I am at heart both a mystic and an academic at the same time; on one hand I am intensely curious about the world, and generally don't accept "I don't know" as an answer, but on the other I do tend to embrace the mysteries and surprises of this world.

I started learning about Islam about a year and a half ago, nothing too in depth, and I certainly didn't think I was going to convert. Ironically, I was going through a period of spiritual renewal; I was agnostic for a few teenage years, and thought that I had 'refound' Christianity, as it were. But all my life, I've had problems with some of the things about Christianity. I didn't get the idea of the trinity, or of Jesus being all man and all God at the same time. If Jesus was God, why did he pray to God, and why did he say 'God, why have you forsaken me?' when he was on the cross? It didn't make sense, and it didn't seem right. I'm a student of religion in my university, and since most of the focus is on christianity, I have learned a great deal about it, and the deeper I went, the more problems I had.

And then I started learning about Islam. I met someone online one day (January 14, 1999, I will always remember that), and she was a Muslim girl my age who just needed someone to talk to b/c she was going through tough times. As I helped her through, we started becoming good friends, and started talking about islam as well. She had basically told me about the 5 pillars, about the quran, how it is similar to Christianity, etc... my academic flame lit, I had no end to my questions, and she always gave me a straightforward answer that came from her heart, rather from impersonal dogma other people regurgitated to her.

I took this last summer to study it more, but by june or so I was pretty much drawn in. I said the shahadda in the beginning of october, I can't remember the day exactly, but by this time I had already embraced islam.

I'm currently still studying islam, memorizing the prayers and hopefully a sura or two for Ramadan, beginning to learn Arabic, and reading some of the hadith. It is really a very exciting time right now, but I still have many worries about whether I will be accepted by my family (they are all fairly religious Christians, and I haven't told them yet) and questions that will be answered in time.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my ramblings"

Mike LoPrete

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/mike.htm

 

[Cordoba]

Muhammad Alexander Russel Webb (USA)
A pioneer American Muslim


Muhammad Alexander Russel Webb was born in 1846 at Hudson, Columbia county, New York.


Educated at Hudson and New York he became an essayist and a short-story writer. He took to journalism and became the editor of St. Joseph Gazette and of Missouri Republican.


In 1887 he was appointed United States Consul at Manila, Phillipines. It was during this assignment that he studied Islam and joined its fold. After becoming Muslim he extensively toured the world of Islam and devoted the rest of his life to Missionary work. He also became the head of the Islamic Propaganda Mission in U.S.A. Mr. Webb died on 1st October 1916.


This is what he said:


"I have been requested to tell you why I, an American, born in a country which is nominally Christian, and reared under the drippings, or more properly perhaps the drivelling, of an orthodox Presbyterian pulpit, came to adopt the faith of Islam as my guide in life.


I might reply promptly and truthfully that I adopted this religion because I found, after protracted study, that it was the best and only system adapted to the spiritual needs of the humanity.


And here let me say that I was not born as some boys seem to be, with a fervently religious strain in my character. When I reached the age of 20, and became practically my own master, I was so tired of the restraint and dullness of the Church, that I wandered away from it and never returned to it ... Fortunately I was of an enquiring turn of mind --- I wanted a reason for everything, and I found that neither laymen nor clergy could give me any rational explanation of this faith, but either told me that such things were mysterious or that they were beyond my comprehension.


About eleven years ago I became interested in the study of Oriental religions.. I saw Mill and Locke, Kant, Hegel, Fichte, Huxley, and many other more or less learned writers discoursing with a great show of wisdom concerning protoplasm and monads, and yet not one of them could tell me what the soul was or what became of it after death...


I have spoken so much of myself in order to show you that my adoption of Islam was not the result of misguided sentiment, blind credulity, or sudden emotional impulse, but it was born of earnest, honest, persistent, unprejudiced study and investigation and an intense desire to know the truth.


The essence of the true faith of Islam is resignation to the will of God and its corner stone is prayer. It reaches universal fraternity, universal love, and universal benevolence, and requires purity of mind, purity of action, purity of speech and perfect physical cleanliness. It, beyond doubt, is the simplest and most elevating form of religion known to man."


http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/webb.html

 

[Cordoba]

Natassia M. Kelly

"I was raised to believe in God from childhood. I attended church nearly every Sunday, went to Bible school, and sang in the choir. Yet religion was never a really big part of my life.

There were times when I thought myself close to God. I often prayed to him for guidance and strength in times of despair or for a wish in times of want. But I soon realized that this feeling of closeness soon evaporated when I was no longer begging God for something. I realized that I even though I believed, I lacked faith.

I perceived the world to be a game in which God indulged in from time to time. He inspired people to write a Bible and somehow people were able to find faith within this Bible.

As I grew older and became more aware of the world, I believed more in God. I believed that there had to be a God to bring some order to the chaotic world. If there were no God, I believed the world would have ended in utter anarchy thousands of years ago. It was comfort to me to believe there was a supernatural force guiding and protecting man.

Children usually assume their religion from parents. I was no different. At the age of 12, I began to give in depth thinking to my spirituality. I realized there was a void in my life where a faith should be. Whenever I was in need or despair, I simply prayed to someone called Lord. But who was this Lord truly? ...

The questions went on and on. My perplexity increased. My uncertainty increased. For fifteen years I had blindly followed a faith simply because it was the faith of my parents.

Something happened in my life in which the little faith I did have decreased to all but nothing. My search came to a stop. I no longer searched within myself, the Bible. or church. I had given up for a while. I was a very bitter parson until one day a friend gave me a book. It was called "The Muslim-Christian Dialogue."

I took the book and read it. I am ashamed to say that during my searching never did I once consider another religion. Christianity was all I knew, and I never thought about leaving it. My knowledge of Islam was very minimal. In fact, it was mainly filled with misconception and stereotypes. The book surprised me. I found that I was not the only one who believed there was a simply a God. I asked for more books. I received them as well as pamphlets.

I learned about Islam from an intellectual aspect. I had a close friend who was Muslim and I often asked her questions about the practices. Never did I once consider Islam as my faith. Many things about Islam alienated me.

After a couple months of reading the month of Ramadan began. Every Friday I could I joined the local Muslim community for the breaking of the fast and the reciting of the Quran. I posed questions that I may have come across to the Muslim girls. I was in awe at how someone could have so much certainty in what they believed and followed. I felt myself drawn to the religion that alienated me.

Having believed for so long that I was alone, Islam did comfort me in many ways. Islam was brought as a reminder to the world. It was brought to lead the people back to the right path.

Beliefs were not the only thing important to me. I wanted a discipline to pattern my life by. I did not just want to believe someone was my savior and through this I held the ticket to Heaven. I wanted to know how to act to receive the approval of God. I wanted a closeness to God. I wanted to be God-conscious. Most of all I wanted a chance for heaven. I began to feel that Christianity did not give this to me, but Islam did.

I continued learning more. I went to the Eid celebration and jumua and weekly classes with my friends.

Through religion one receives peace of mind. A calmness about them. This I had off and on for about three years. During the off times I was more susceptible to the temptations of Satan. In early February of 1997 I came to the realization that Islam was right and true. However, I did not want to make any hasty decisions. I did decide to wait.

Within this duration the temptations of Satan increased. I can recollect two dreams in which he was a presence. Satan was calling me to him. After I awoke from these nightmares I found solace in Islam. I found myself repeating the Shahadah. These dreams almost made me change my mind. I confided them in my Muslim friend. She suggested that maybe Satan was there to lead me from the truth. I never thought of it that way.

On March 19, 1997 after returning from a weekly class, I recited the Shahadah to myself. Then on March 26, I recited it before witnesses and became an official Muslim.

I cannot express the joy I felt. I cannot express the weight that was lifted from my shoulders. I had finally received my peace of mind....
It has been about five months since I recited the Shahadah. Islam has made me a better person. I am stronger now and understand things more. My life has changed significantly. I now have purpose. My purpose is to prove myself worthy of eternal life in Jannah. I have my long sought after faith. Religion is a part of me all the time. I am striving everyday to become the best Muslim I can be.

People are often amazed at how a fifteen year old can make such an important decision in life. I am grateful that Allah blessed me with my state of mind that I was able to find it so young.

Striving to be a good Muslim in a Christian dominated society is hard. Living with a Christian family is even harder. However, I do not try to get discouraged. I do not wish to dwell on my present predicament, but I believe that my jihad is simply making me stronger. Someone once told me that I am better off than some people who were born into Islam, in that I had to find, experience, and realize the greatness and mercy of Allah. I have acquired the reasoning that seventy years of life on earth is nothing compared to eternal life in Paradise.

I must admit that I lack the aptitude to express the greatness, mercy, and glory of Allah. I hope my account helped others who may feel the way I felt or struggle the way I struggled."

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/kelly.html

 

[Cordoba]

Samir

"My conversion to Islam has been intellectual and emotional.

My parents have both been educated at the university-level. My mother is a Christian convert (she was atheist), and my father has personal beliefs. My family is rather rich.

Ever since I was very young, I've been interested by political questions. I enjoyed reading history books, although I was confused a little bit between military history and politics. I called myself a communist, but today I wouldn't say I knew what it means. Over time, I learned real politics and sociology, but when the communist bloc fell, I admitted my error and was no longer a fan of the communist states. I became agnostic, and thought that all human beings are condemned to egotism and to ignorance of some questions, like the existence of God.

I learned philosophy. I wanted to avoid doing the same mistakes as in the past, and so I refused all dogmas. At this time occured the separation of my parents, and also other personal problems. To forget all this, I spent a lot of time in laughing with (fake) friends, drinking, and then smoking cigarettes, then hash. I sometimes took hard drugs (heroin, LSD, and some other poisons). Despite this, I passed my baccalaureat (this is an exam that ends four years of college and gives the right to continue graduate level study at the university).

By chance, I had to go at the army (we do not have the choice in the country I live in). The strict rules I could not avoid there were a very good thing for me; also, I was tired enough to enjoy simple things as eating and sleeping. Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), my mentality changed.

Back in civil society, I spent one more dark year: I always had the temptation of my bad habits, and I felt that life was very superficial after the big efforts and the friendship of the army. I began feeling the necessity of something else in my life.

Then one of my sisters, back from a journey to Syria, gave me a book. This book, written in my language, is a gift she received there. Its author, who had titled it "The Bible, Quran and Science", wanted to show that there are in the Quran some things that were simply impossible for a human being to know at the time the Quran was revealed. Conclusion: the authenticity of the Quran is proved, scientifically proved. The first thing I thought after having read the book was: "Oh! It would be super!" -- I was ready for a change in my way of life.

I bought a translation of the Quran to compare. Before having entirely read it, I had become a Muslim, alhamdulillah. As you can see, a psychologist wouldn't have any problem to explain what he would call my choice. For me, all things come from God and He had written this for me, He had chosen these means to make me accept Islam. Alhamdulillah! What no psychologist can see is what happens in my heart when I read the Quran: faith has little to do with what one feels in front of a scientific demonstration!"

UNQUOTE

http://www.geocities.com/embracing_islam/samir.html

 

[Cordoba]

Adam (USA):

Assalaamu alaikum everyone. Before I tell you my journey to Islam, here's some background information you might like to know.

I'm a 15 year old caucasian male who lives in NW Indiana. I go to a Catholic high school, in which I'm a sophomore. The city I live in (Whiting) is small; about 5,150 people, I'm the only Muslim. And now, the story...

My journey to Islam wasn't like a lot of people's. I didn't meet any Muslims personally, nor did I get to witness such events as sister Jahida. My journey, however, is interesting in its own right.

It started in late 1998, about August. I was about to start high school, and I was, like most people are, quite nervous. I was largely nervous because a priest would be teaching my theology class. I only had a problem because i wasn't very religious. Anyway, our class got to talking about the world's religions in general, and Islam came up. I was chosen to do a report on it, and it was ironic that on that very night I saw a TV Program on Jihad. (Of course, it was all wrong)

So i researched and researched, and I found myself doing extra work; not for a better grade, but because I was greatly interested in it. One day, a group of friends and myself went to downtown Chicago for the day. I thought it would be a good place to find literature on Islam, so I bought a Qur'an. Masha'allah that I did. It's utterly amazing. I read Surah Al-Qadr when i first opened it to a random spot, and though it is short in words, it left a lasting impression on me.

Fall turned into winter, and winter to spring. All this time, I've been wavering if I should take my shahadah. My parents wouldn't take this well, I thought. So that was a big concern of mine. Also, I'd be the only Muslim in the community and school. Was I ready? Was I ready for the struggle and fight ahead of me if I chose Islam? Yes, I was, alhumdulillah. on May 10th, 1999, at the age of 14, I took my shahada.

It's been just over 6 months, subhan'allah, and I can't think of changing a thing. Although it would be nice if I could tell my mother, I'm still trying to figure out how and when, and I pray that I will know soon, insha'allah. My father, with whom I don't live, knows and is very accepting of it. Insha'allah my first Ramadan will be a memorable one, and may the rest of the days of my life.

Wasalaam,

Adam

http://www.aslamt.com/stories/3.html

 

[Cordoba]

Noelle (Australia)

"I'm a 24 year old mother of 2 daughters, I was never given a religion by my parents but when I married a muslim my parents didn't like the idea, they had a lot of stupid ideas as to how my marriage and life would be.

My own sister didn't come to my wedding because she didn't believe it would be legal and she thought he would run off on me because any marriage not done in a church she didn't consider it legal. I didn't let any outside influences affect our marriage. We also had a lot of negative pressure from my husbands parents, because I was Australian.

We have had to over come so many bad stereotypes from both sides.

I was really pressured to become Muslim by my husband and my in laws, I liked everything about Islam but I didn't consider it a religion I could be a part of because I could never met the expectations of my in laws and husband so I backed away from it completely.

After giving birth to a second daughter I felt lost, I felt I was missing something but I couldn't but my finger on what it was. My daughter always see's her grandfather praying and she tries to copy, one morning I seen her in her bed room by herself trying to pray when she seen me she said "mummy come pray" My heart dropped I didn't know what to say to her, from then on I started to read books on Islam slowly I let myself open to it,I SURRENDED.

I asked a muslim friend of mine to teach me how to pray, but I didn't tell my Husband or relatives because I didn't want them to think I was doing it for either of them, I wanted to do it for me, I recently told my husband of my decision to learn to pray and he is happy for me and also our daughters.

I am having a language barrier but I have learnt the fatiha in just a week it is coming to me easier then I thought it would. I'm hopping to learn how to pray before ramadan"

http://www.aslamt.com/stories/4.html

 

[Cordoba]

Shuyaib

"Who am I? What am I doing over in this world?

Why should I care for someone whom I did not choose? Should I stand by my parents and brothers even when they are wrong? I did not choose my parents, nor did I choose my sisters, should I care for them?

If I had not been born with the parents, would they have cared for me? if I had not been the brother to my sisters, would they have looked upon me the second time?

Out of these questions, I move towards the pastures, and look towards the horizon, who am I?

And the boats flowing across the ocean remind me of Archimedies, what if he had not proposed the principle of buoyancy? Looking at the train moving like a city far in horizon amazes me, what if Newton hadn't discovered the law of momentum?

But, wouldn't have trains ran, and boats swam without these people pointing the principles out?

Oh, but they merely discovered them, they weren't the one who made the laws...! The world is happening around us, the boats swam even before Archimedies proposed his principle, or did Newton propound the famous three laws, and are still doing so.

Can I ignore these facts? Can I ignore my mind discovering the presence of a God that created and maintains these universe? Can I ignore my heart pounding at the discovery of truth?

Yes, so am I convinced that there is God, but then would God be so unfair with His creation as to hide Himself from His creation, leaving them in darkness? My heart refuses, my mind disagrees.

So how would he have communicated with his Creation? Should he come down to me and prove His presence? Oh but then who am I to whom God should come down? My heart is speechless, my mind - blank.

Ok, but then wouldn't he have send down some message on to the creations to disclose the truth? But of course that seems logical. Where are they then?

So I read the religions, in order to discover the truth amidst them. However, the theory of multitudes of gods, or, worshipping icons soon found no support either from my heart, nor from my mind. How can God be made of Rock, that which perishes with Rain and wind? Why need a second God, when One can create the whole universe???

Then I learned about Abraham, Noah, Yousef, Muhammed amidst many others. They preached one God, and strived hard for it. They risked the wrath of the tyrants of their time for just a word, that there is only one God! Why did they do so? Did they want to become kings?? Oh but they led the simplest lives and died the humblest man on earth. But then what is a kingdom for those who recognize the Owner of Kingdoms!!!

Reading more about them through various text like Bible and tohrah made me ponder on the following questions: ...

How can God be so biased as to distinguish amidst His own creation? How come that certain people on committing a particular act are punished, whereas certain selected committing the same act are salvaged?

Amidst all these I read the Quran, that answered all of the questions, and cleared all of my doubts. It cleared the question where I started from, who am I? Oh but how simple is its arguments?

For I am here for One God alone, to be tested, so that I can be given the best, to praise Him, and to love those whom He loves. And yet be just, for even if my own do harm to people, I punish them, and if they do good, I love them. I am with those who are with truth!

And I carry no distinction amidst people for their race, caste or origin.

And there are no partners to Him, for He is alone, one of His kind,and has no progeny.

And is there no distinction between a man and a man except of the deeds that each does!

I have discovered the truth, and accepted it to the fullest. I do not claim I am the Judge. However, I discovered the best with the reasoning that all of us use. I discovered the window opening towards the truth. This is for you too."

http://www.aslamt.com/stories/8.html

 

[Cordoba]

Sheryl (Sister Anisah)

I would like to tell a story that is a story in a story of how the act of ONE person can effect so many people he has never met, wrote to or heard of.

It begins in northern Wyoming, in a small town of Powell at a community college. A Muslim Brother was working as a library assistant at the college and saw this one single mother come to the library every Sunday with her two toddlers. Each Sunday they exchanged simple greetings. As the summer worn on, they began to talk a little more. She learned name, his country of origin and then began to ask about his culture. He politely answered her various questions.

Of course, as she inquired more about his culture, Islam of course played a part. Finally, al-humdulillah, she asked him if his religion had a book like the Bible that they followed. So he guided her to a copy of the Quran in the library. She ended up checking out that book and began reading it. From that day forward each Sunday she would come to the library with more questions about what she had read in the Quran. At one point she obtained his phone number so that she could just call him and ask questions. She continually referred back to her faith, since that was what she was familiar with & this made him think that she was attempting to convert him to Christianity.

But he was polite and continued talking with her. What the young Brother didn't know was that she wasn't interested in converting him, but was seriously looking at Islam as her new faith. Yet she knew she could not tell anyone in the community until she was certain, for she new how the people would react & how the predominantly Mormon town's population would shun her and her children. Many things were being risked in her life, but the Brother didn't know this. He just politely continued answering questions. At the end of the year, the Brother graduated and moved away. Two months later, the young mother realized she needed to declare her faith, but how and where. She didn't know and now her only Muslim contact was gone.

So, with the determination to find the answer, she packed up her 5 year old son and 2 year old daughter into her 1957 GMC pickup truck and drove for 13 hours across the mountains and high deserts of Wyoming to Colorado, where she had remembered seeing Muslims in Fort COllins, Colorado. Upon arrival in Fort Collins she went directly to the only place she could think of to look.....the local international grocery store. She quietly looked around the store, looking for any sign of Islamic/Arabic wording. Then walked up to the counter and when the clerk asked her if she needed help finding something she said: "Yes, I want to become Muslim, what do I do?"

Of course this took him by surprise and after clarifying with another man as to what her request was, she was directed to the home of a Muslim sister, al-humdulillah, where she took shahadah. Al-humdulillah.

But this is not the end by no means....but rather the beginning.

Through her....others have come to Islam. In the 13 years since her declaration of faith the young Sister has been involved in the shahadah of 25 other shahadahs, including that of her younger Brother, her neighbor, and others. ...

Some day, insha Allah, I will meet the Brother again and will be able to introduce him to my Muslim family.....my son, Hussayn (formerly Patrick, the 5 year old) now 17; my daughter Afaf (formerly Cassy, the 2 years old); my husband Eric, formerly my neighbor; my brother, Victor & his MUSLIM family. And the many others who have had the blessings of hearing the message of Islam and have embraced the religion of PEACE.

Salaam Alaikum, Sister Anisah
(formerly Sheryl)
of South Dakota, USA

http://www.aslamt.com/stories/12.html

 

[Cordoba]

Elisabeth Zanabi (Norway)

I have always believed in God, since I was very small. My family was not religious, but for a period my mother prayed for us children, by the bedside every night.

Since then I have seen Gods existence as a fact of life, and for me the question was how to live according to Gods will so that I could be admitted into Paradise. ...

... I was married with a Muslim by origin. Religiously I was at a point of zero, my only knowledge was that I believed in God, I knew nothing else. Some of my husbands friends had Norwegian wifes who had converted, and I was provoked by the thought of a Western woman embracing Islam. We discussed religion until early morning hours, but I remained sceptic towards Islam. So they challenged me: Why wouldn't I join them in the mosque to learn some Arabic and find out more? I wanted to learn Arabic, and I had never been in a mosque, so I came. It became an emotional and very surprising experience!

I remember watching myself in the mirror in the mosque, wearing the hidjab, and it felt so right. I remember watching the muslims pray, and I wished so much I could join them in their prostrating for God. I had an overwhelming feeling of submission to God. I did not know how to pray, and I cried inside of not being able to do so. I bought the English translation of the Qur'an, and when I read it, I could sence Gods voice, the words hit my heart.

Though, everyone warned me from embracing Islam. I knew too that this was just too emotional, and I needed more knowledge, so I spent the next seven months reading and studying Islam. But only to find out that Islam matched my concept of a religion and my concept of God.

Then, in May-1988, I went for a holiday in Greece. It was a perfect holiday, a lot of sunbathing, swimming, good food and drink, lots of nice people, and so on. I enjoyed it all, at least the first week. But then I became more and more annoyed with the same things. It seemed meaningless and empty. Why did one have to drink to have fun, something must be missing in peoples lives! Why did not the men respect me, though I was married and probably they were too? I found myself by the swimming pool when I made the decision. This was enough! I wanted to go home to embrace Islam! I started to pray three weeks after, and I have never regreted since.

Today I am happy to be reminded again of the favour and mercy God has given me.

Wa alaikum salaam!

http://www.aslamt.com/stories/17.html

 

[Cordoba]

Katherine (Canada)
(Extracts from her story and thoughts as she prays, 12 hours after becoming Muslim)

I was once a happy 'speculative atheist,' how did I turn into a believer and a Muslim? I ask myself.

I turn my mind into the past and attempt a whirlwind tour through my journey. But where did it begin? Maybe it started when I first met practicing Muslims. This was in 1991, at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I was an open-minded, tolerant, liberal woman. 24 years old. I saw Muslim women walking around the international centre and I felt sorry for them. ... But I noticed how happy they were, how friendly they were, how solid they seemed. ...

Suddenly the praying person I am following stands up. I too stand up, my feet catching on the long skirt I wear; I almost trip. I sniff, trying to stop the tears. I must focus on praying to God. Dear God, I am here because I believe in you, and because during my research of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, Islam made the most sense. Bending over, my hands at my knees, I try hard to reassure myself. God. Please help me to be a good Muslim. A Muslim! Kathy, how could you - a white western women who is educated - convert to a religion which makes its women second class citizens!

.. I had looked into the starry night, and contemplated the universe. The diamond stars strewn across the dark sky twinkled mysterious messages to me. I felt hooked up to something bigger than myself. Was it a collective human consciousness? Peace and tranquility flowed to me from the stars. Could I wrench myself from this feeling and declare there is no higher being? No higher consciousness? ...

OK, so you decided God existed. You were a monotheist. But Christianity is monotheistic. It is your heritage. Why leave it? Still these questioners are puzzled. But you must understand this is the easiest question of them all to answer. I smile. I learned how the Qu'ran did not contradict science in the same way the Bible did. I wanted to read the Biblical stories literally, and discovered I could not. Scientific fact contradicted Biblical account. But scientific fact did not contradict Qu'ranic account, science even sometimes explained a hitherto inexplicable Qu'ranic verse. This was stunning. There was a verse about how the water from fresh water rivers which flowed into the sea did not mix with the sea water; verses describing conception accurately; verses referring to the orbits of the planets. Seventh century science knew none of this. How could Muhammed be so uniquely wise? My mind drew me towards the Qu'ran, but I resisted. ...

I had stalled at the edge of change for many a long month, my dilemma growing daily. What should I do? Leave my old life and start a new one? But I couldn't possibly go out in public in hijab. People would stare at me. I stood at the forked path which God had helped me reach. I had new knowledge which rested comfortably with my intellect. Follow the conviction, or stay in the old way? How could I stay when I had a different outlook on life? How could I change when the step seemed too big for me?

I would rehearse the conversion sentence: There is no God but God and Muhammed is his prophet. Simple words, I believe in them, so convert. I cannot, I resisted. I circled endlessly day after day. God stood on one of the paths of the fork, tapping his foot. Come on Kathy. I've brought you here, but you must cross alone. I stayed stationary, transfixed like a kangaroo trapped in car lights late at night.

Then one night, God, I suppose, gave me a final yank. I was passing a mosque with my husband. I had a feeling in me that was so strong I could hardly bear it. If you don't convert now, you never will, my inner voice told me. I knew it was true. OK, I'll do it. If they let me in to the mosque, I'll do it. But there was no one there. I said the shahaada under the trees outside the mosque. I waited. I waited for the thunderclap, the immediate feeling of relief, the lifting of my burden. But it didn't come. I felt exactly the same.

Now we are kneeling again, the world looks so different from down here. Even famous football players prostrate like this, I remember, glancing sideways at the tassles of my hijab which fall onto the prayer mat; we are all the same and equally humbled before God. Now we are sitting up straight, my prayer leader is muttering something still, waving his right hand's forefinger around in the air. I look down at my mat again. The green, purple and black of my prayer mat look reassuringly the same. The blackness of the Mosque's entrance entreats me: 'I am here, just relax and you will find me.' My tears have dried on my face and the skin feels tight What am I doing here?

Dear God. I am here because I believe in you, because I believe in the compelling and majestic words of the Qur'an, and because I believe in the Prophethood of Your Messenger Muhammed. I know in my heart my decision is the right one. Please give me the courage to carry on with this new self and new life, that I may serve you well with a strong faith. I smile and stand up, folding my prayer mat into half, and lay it on the sofa ready for my next encounter with its velvety green certainty. Now the burden begins to lift.

http://www.aslamt.com/stories/27.html