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Our stories is a page dedicated to the stories of our sisters and
brothers, and their journey's to Islam. May their lives me blessed with peace
and mercy from Allah.
Life is like a
journey. Each choice that we make is like taking a new path. No matter what
kind of journey took us to Islam, Allah has blessed us and shone us the
straight path. Praise be to Allah for lighting our path. Allah Akbar!
Bryan'sStory
Submitted December 23, 2008 As-Salamu 'Alikum
I
am Abda 'llah, I was born to parents who conceived me but threw me
away because of their immoral relationship. I was adopted by a
family and raised as Bryan D'Mon Bundrige. My parents faith was
Christian (Jehovah's Witnesses). I was beat with many different
instruments of torture; extensions cords, belts, plastic baseball
bats, fists. During those beatings I was bound and gagged. My
mother claimed that the bible stated 'spare not the rod from the
young child...' and that was all the justification she needed to be
as violent as she was when disciplining us. We never celebrated
holidays/birthdays, we were not allowed to play sports, we had no
friends because of our mother's control and her religious spoutings.
Then I started to discover some inconsistencies in what was being
taught. This was around my pre-adult years. I joined the military
and tried another Christian faith only to find more disappointment
in the preachings of Christian teachers. For many years, I stopped
praying, attending services, etc. While I did not openly deny God,
I believed then that there was no way I was ever going to see
paradise (heaven) because I was so far gone from the spiritual
influence.
I married the first woman that gave me
attention, but that ended after a couple of months. I had a string
of relations, I drank, I even committed adultery before my second
marriage and during my second marriage. My second marriage was
another joke to my ex-spouse because she allowed our marriage to be
influenced by her racially prejudice family. This resulted in her
taking birth control without my knowledge denying me of the gift of
fatherhood. This all done while we were posing as teachers and
senior advisory members of a local church. After our divorce and
the shunning that the church community gave me, I started
self-instruction with the bible.
However, reading through the
bible I began to find inconsistencies in its various translations.
Serious inconsistencies. You see I was raised to believe by one
translation that God and Jesus were separate. Other translations
stated God and Jesus were One (the same). There was also the
instructions that teachers of God's word were not to take money from
those they instructed but one cannot find a church in the US where
the tithe is not apportioned to the salary of the head teacher
there. There were also the instructions that to completely serve
God man or woman should not marry but God stated during creation of
earth, man and woman that 'man should not live alone thus God
created a companion...' I joined a new church but found that
hypocrisy was a major player within the church. People were not
being as charitable as the the bible teaches even to the point that
when I was out of work my church made me fill out an income
statement to determine if I was needy even after I showed the letter
from my former employer stating clearly that I was discharged only
because of force reduction not because of performance or violations
of company policies. No one from the circle which I belonged to
truly reached out to help me. I became ashamed. I prayed
constantly then for God to help me.
This all occurred between
1999 to 2005. In 2006, I was offered a job in Kuwait. I took it
and shortly after arriving I noticed that the promises made by my
church to support my spiritual needs while I was abroad. I also
noticed that the "Christians" here in Kuwait did not even inquire or
extend any assistance to keep me grounded in faith. I often
wondered why God brought me to Kuwait but still had not come up with
an answer. I married again or played at marriage one more time in
2007 only to find out that my wallet was the only link she and I
shared. All and all I have had 12 relationships, 3 marriages, and
several adulterous encounters that have all been complete failures
in my life.
Through out my time here in Kuwait, I read over
Islamic readings, descriptions, etc. I soon began to find
similarities in how I believed and what was written in the Quran.
On October 22, 2008 I finally took the step of converting to Islam.
Since that day I have found that my life is calmer. There is no
internal conflict with my beliefs and my faith. I am still learning
many things about Islam but I can honestly say that I enjoy my
Muslim life.
Al-Hamdu lillaahi Rabbil Aalamiiin for leading
me back to the true way to live, worship, and obey.
Shukran
for your time, As-Salamu 'Alikum
Abda 'llah
Hana's Story Submitted May 29, 2008
Assalam
alaikum
my name is Hana' Zahra im 16 years old and this is my
convertion story:
i grew up with an alcoholic father who also was a child
molester all through my child hood and my teens i
resented GOD for letting all of this happen to me. my
teens were very hard i was anti God i guess you could
say i worshiped the devil i hated God for the longset
time. then one day i was online talking in chat rooms
and i met a guy he was pretty kool he loved talk to me
about the issues i was haveing. i was 16 at the time and
had no idea who he was i just liked talk to someone
about everything in my life. one day he was very
distracted i asked him what he was doing he said he was
in a chat room i was like well invite me then. he told
me it would confud=se me and i wouldnt understand it he
said he was listening ot a lecture. i was like i dont
care invite me to the room. he did and then i realized
me was muslim i was like ok cool. i sat and listened to
the lecture and asked questions while i was listening
and then one part stood out to me it was talking about
why God let bad things happen to people. i then new that
i wanted to be close to God. i kept comming back to the
chat room for about a month and learning the secretly i
decided i wanted to convert to islam. i had fallen
inlove with allah and with islam. when i told my friends
in the room they were very haqppy for me. i kept
learning till April 10, 2008 when i took shahada im
still learning now and my life is very hard still in
homeless right now but allah is helping me to have the
strength to get through this. i still have sxo much to
learn and i have found some wonderful sisters in my city
who are helping so much with mystudies. even though im
homeless i have never been more happy in my life because
i no that allah is watching and will take care of me
inshallah everything will turn out. sense my convertion
i have found a happyness that i never knew before. i
have found the truth.
Alhumdallah
your truly
Hana' Zahra
Veronica'sStory
Submitted October 11, 2007
Bismi Allahi Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim
Here is the story on my journey on finding
Islam and Allah...
I grew up Catholic. I was baptized when I was born, made my
confession,
communion, and my confirmation. My family was not the most
religious, but they made sure I received my sacraments.
My mother went to Catholic schools as a child. When she met my
father, he was going through a divorce and had a son. In the
religion of Catholicism, if you marry someone after they have been
divorced and they did not receive an annulment from their first
marriage, you are not married. My parents were forced to get married
at a Protestant
church and my dad never got his annulment until I was 17 years old.
The Catholic Church considered me a bastard child, because of this
for many years. However, a priest
had mercy on my mother and let me
be a catholic and make all of my sacraments.
Through my childhood, which I do not really consider it to be an
actual childhood, I never got to be one. I grew up and saw things
and experienced things that no child should go through. I was
sexually abused by an older cousin, physically abused by Maternal
Grandmother and Mother, along with years of emotional abuse, by just
about everyone else. The only woman who loved me was my Godmother,
(Whom I was named after) she passed away when I was 2.5 years old.
She was glue that held my family together. After she was gone, my
family fell apart.
Little by little...during the bad times I would always talk to God,
Sometimes I would beg for him to take me to heaven, just take away
the pain. Several times I tried to get myself home to him. I just
wanted to get away from all the bad things. There has been SOOOO
SOOOOO many TERRIBLE and UNBELIEVABLE things that happened in my
life, it would be a novel, so I am just giving you the VERY brief
version.
As I got older, my faith faded. When I lost my twins, I really
started to believe
there was no God. The bible had never made sense to me, how can
something written and rewritten by so many people be the true and
genuine words of God?? So I stopped going to church.
When my son was born, I was a single mother and baptized him,
because I thought that
was the thing to do. Then when I had my daughter, I baptized her as
well; my husband wasn't too excited about it, but he did it for me
because he knew that it
meant allot to me. After the baptism of my daughter, I never
stepped into a church again.
Where we are living there is allot of Muslim families. I would say
that at least a quarter of the apartment complex is Muslim. I was
always looking at them and wondered about them. Because of 9-11 the
view of all Islam is bleak. Muslims are all verbally battered and
mistreated for the actions of a tiny percentage of people that
called themselves Muslims. I had noticed that these Muslims were
doing no harm, living peaceful lives, seem very forgiving, loving,
kind. They were just as sorrowful as everyone else that 9-11 had
accrued. It has marred their religion of peace and good-deeds
forever.
So as I was saying, I watched as the Muslim families all around
would talk and take care of each other. If I needed anything, they
would be right there for me and my family, even though I was not a
Muslim. I wondered how anyone could be so cruel to such wonderful
people...So I started reading the Quran, studying on the internet,
asking questions to my upstairs neighbors who let me join in prayer
and gave me allot of books to read. My other neighbor across from me
who is also an American convert, approached me by saying
Congratulations...She knew I was going to convert soon. She also
offered me more books, more information.
Everyday my belief in God came back
to me more and more. The word of God finally made sense!! My heart
started to over flow with love, commitment and joy a freedom of
happiness that I never felt before. Before I knew it I had a new
wardrobe of scarves and little things here and there that meant the
world to me. I am of a low income family...having the tools to be a
muslimah meant the world to me and still does!! I knocked on the
door to my upstairs neighbors and said that I was ready to take my
shahadah. I and My son took it together in front of my neighbors.
But they insisted that we said it again at the Islamic Center in
front of the others at mosque. I was so afraid and nervous because I
thought that I would not be welcome. I was so surprised when
everyone started congratulating me and I got kisses and handshakes
and hugs and congratulations sister from complete strangers.
I know and feel now Allah is always
with me and my angels are there to protect me. All praise be to
Allah for opening my eyes and leading me to the straight path. All
praise be to Allah for sending these good people to help me along my
journey. I also thank everyone who got me to where I am, god willing
they will be with me on my journey of Faith, Love, Prayer and
religion. I know we will all be in paradise together one day...I
love you all so much and thank you with all my heart.
Assalam Alaikum
Veronica
From darkness to Light
Ibrahim S's Story
Bismi Allahi Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim
(In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful)
While I was attending Phoenix
College a question came to my mind and it was, “Why Am I a
Christian?” Now, please understand this, I am not a Nationalist,
or racist, so just bare with me. I have always known that
Christianity has been forced upon my people (i.e. African slaves
who have evolved to be African Americans) before coming to the
“Land of the Free” from watching documentaries, movies, etc so
why am I following this way? This was something that I just
started seriously thinking about. My father once said to me, “
How can Christians say that they are Christians while after
going to Sunday Church and asking God for forgiveness for their
sins, then come back the next day and treat our people they way
they did?” So with this I understood that I was a christian only
because it was taught to me since I was little. No proof was
there to look at for me to be convinced that this was the truth.
This act was merely me following my forefathers blindly.
“Nay! They say: “We found our fathers following a certain way
and religion, and we guide ourselves by their
footsteps.”(Chapter Az-Zukhruf verse 22)
Keep
in mind, my father (May Allaah SWT guide him, ameen) does not
have a religion that he follows but he believes that God exists;
yet I was still sent to “Sunday School” as a child. Maybe this
had to do with the choice from my mother (May Allaah SWT guide
her ameen), who is a catholic. Also keep in mind that I wasn’t
too much of a “practicing” christian, nor was I studious in it.
I basically just stuck with the “Jesus loves me” and “Jesus died
for my sins” concept and tried my best to be a good person.
Abu
Hurairah (ra) reported Prophet Muhammad (peace and prayers be
upon him as saying, “Every child is born on the fitrah (i.e.Muslim)
and it is his parents who make him a christian or a jew,,,,”(Al-Muwatta
16.53)
Anyway, when my father mentioned
that statement to me, I had nothing to say in return.
Now, just from this, doubt set in
about the religion of Christianity. I also read some information
regarding the Creed of Nicea. Roman Emperor Constantine and his
members got together and decided on their own that Prophet Jesus
(peace be upon him) was divine, yet Jesus (peace be upon him)
never said this himself. For me, I didn’t think that Jesus
(peace be upon him) was God. I have always thought that they
were separate. Honestly, they say one must pray through Jesus
(peace be upon him) to get to the Father, but I did this only a
few times in my life. 95% of the time, I prayed directly to God.
Moreover, this was some scriptural confusion that only led to me
doubting this religion even more, to the point I started feeling
stressed out.
As I sat in the deep
thoughts of confusion regarding Christianity the pains of my
heart suffered dramatically. My nerves ready to burst, stress
dominating my mind. Belief should not consist of any doubt. It
is 100% confidence that what one believes in is correct. This
was not the feeling that I had any more. Depression set in. Fear
set in! The Whispers of Shaiton (Satan) attacked me from left
and right. I would say to myself, “What if I die not believing
that Jesus died for my sins? Would God be pleased with me?!”
Tears began to fall like rivers down my face heavily. The pain
from confusion broke me apart! Who did I take my problem to? My
father!? No! My Mother!? No! My brother, sister (May Allaah SWT
guide them all, ameen)! No! I took this weighty problem of my
soul to The One Who created it. God! I made a very sincere
supplication to Him saying,
“O,
God! I am so confused and I don’t know what to do! I seek Your
help! Guide me to what You want me to follow. I will not listen
to the words of men. I Put my trust in You and only You.”
Crash: Turning Point
Later on that week, I was running late for basketball practice
at Phoenix College, so I tried getting on the freeway to speed
things up. I’m on it, driving about 60mph in the carpool lane
(even though I was the only one in the car) and there were 2
cars ahead of me. All of a sudden I noticed the car in front of
me slammed on its breaks! So I slammed on mine! I slid all the
way to the car in front of me but not hitting it. Phew! Then
another shock occurred. A car appeared out of no where like a
sniper’s bullet on my rear side, driving about 45 to 50mph.
BOOM! I’m hit! The car in front of me is hit! I’m feeling ok, no
one was seriously injured, to my knowledge. They say that
whiplash pain usually comes the next day after such an event
takes place. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it for basketball
practice that day due to the accident. Also when I woke up the
next day to attend practice, I felt pain in my lower back.
I went to the trainer because the
pain was intense and annoying. The trainer would lay me on my
stomach and feel on my back (i.e. spine) down to my tailbone
area to see what places caused discomfort to me. I told the
trainer what spots bothered me. Every morning I had to come in,
lay on my stomach with a heating pad on it; try to practice,
then after that come back and have an electric pulse massager
connected to my back to relieve me of some pain, ice my back,
then go to class. Unfortunately, some bad news was told to me.
The trainer said that I have a “bruised vertebrae in my tailbone
area.” A specialist agreed with the trainer and he (i.e. the
specialist) added that I had a “rotated pelvis” as well. Ouch!
Rehab was a must for me, but God had other plans for me.
Now being on campus I went to the
College Library where I would use the internet. Now keep in
mind, at this time I was still thinking about my ancestry, so
guess what? That led me to take an interest in a sect of Islaam
called “The Nation of Islam”. My barber (in the past) was from
N.O.I. and he mentioned The Qur’aan to me. He was telling me how
our people worshipped Allaah before coming into slavery, and how
Allaah sent Elijah Muhammad to teach us about Islaam in America.
“Muhammad(peace and blessings be upon him) is not the father of
any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allaah and the
last(end) of the Prophets. And Allaah is Ever All-Awar of
everything” (Chapter Al-Ahzab verse 40)
So
I decided to check this group out using yahoo searches. In this
sect they teach a lot about how “special” African American
people are. I saw so much emphasis. “The black man is the
original man” and that “white people are the devils.” This is
what I was reading in their book by Elijah Muhammad “Message to
the Blackman”. This book would build the spirit of a black male
or female without doubt, but at the same time it promotes
Nationalism, Racism, and Shirk (adding partners to Allaah) to
the utmost degree. I read that they believe that a “Big Headed
Scientist” created the white race (1)! This was complete
nonsense and it didn’t make sense to me. Good thing God led me
to someone who knew about this sect plus more.
“O
mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made
you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another.
Verily, the most honorable of you with Allaah is that(believer)
who has At-Taqwa{i.e. He is one of the pious.} Verily, Allaah is
All-Knowing, All-Aware.”(Chapter Al-Hujurat verse 13)
Turning Point # 2
“
..He whom Allaah guides, he is the rightly guided….” (Chapter
The Cave, verse 17)
One day I was coming to the campus
after hanging out with a friend and as we were walking my friend
started talking with some guy out of no where. He wore a white
dress shirt with slacks and I didn’t really pay him too much
attention until he said, “I am a muslim.” I don’t know what my
friend said to him to make him say that but it definitely caught
my attention. I asked him about Islaam. He said, “Meet me back
here tomorrow. I will bring you some Information.”
Am I Blind Following?
That day came, we met at the same
place, and he gave me da’wah (i.e. calling me to Islaam). He
understood that I was christian influenced, so he brought some
information regarding Jesus (peace be upon him) and
contradictions in the bible. He asked me,
“The
Christians say that the bible is the Word of God, so should
there be any contradictions (i.e. errors) in it?
I said, “No, of course not.” So he
showed them to me.(2) He also showed me scientific evidences
which COULD NOT BE KNOWN by a man 1500 years ago while modern
scientists have just learn about these discoveries about 100
years ago!(3)For example, Embryology and knowledge of the
Oceans(Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean sea)etc.
“Do
they not then consider the Qur’aan carefully? Had it been from
other than Allaah, they would have found therein many a
contradiction.”(Chapter An-Nisaa verse 82)
“O
mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then verily
We have created you(i.e. Adam) from dust, then from a Nutfah
(mixed drops of male and female sexual discharge i.e. the
offspring of Adam), then from a clot(a piece of thick coagulated
blood) then from a little lump of flesh, some formed and some
unformed(as in the case of miscarriage)- that We may make(it)
clear to you(i.e. to show you Our power and Ability to do what
We will.)…..”(Chapter Hajj verse 5)
“And
it is He Who has let free the two seas (kinds of water): this is
palatable and sweet, and that is salt and bitter; and He has set
a barrier and a complete partition between them.”(Chapter Al-Furqan
verse53)
Now after this great, influential
conversation built upon proofs by this muslim man, I found
myself motivated and enthusiastically coming to Phoenix College
only to read Al Qur’aan in the library where I would spend most
of my time. I could not stop reading this Great Book. Class time
would come up, yet I didn’t feel the need to go to that class
because I was reading Al Qur’aan or I would show up late. That
muslim brother ended up leading me to Islaam, Walhumdulillaah
(and All praise be to Allaah). I took my shahadah(testification
of faith) just 3 weeks since hearing about Islaam through this
muslim man after being a so called Christian for 18 and a half
years. This led to me becoming a muslim on Friday, Jummu’ah
prayer. When I received my first Qur’aan, I would spend most of
my time in my room, in seclusion, reading until I fell asleep. I
would then wake up about 5-6am just to continue reading it. I
recognized my priorities have changed. I was seeking an athletic
full scholarship to a University with my talent with basketball.
I was being recruited by the University of Miami, Eastern
Michigan, and other schools but this was put to an end with my
injury. Now I am seeking to get closer to Allaah SWT and His
Messenger(peace and prayers be upon him) by following The
Qur’aan and The Authentic Sunnah(way) of Prophet Muhammad(peace
and prayers be upon him) and the way of his Sahabah (i.e.
Companions){May Allaah SWT be pleased with them all}
“,,
Whoever disbelieves in Taghut(i.e. false deities, idols, stones,
sun, stars, angles, human beings, rulers, etc) and believes in
Allaah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that
will never break. And Allaah is All-Hearer, All-Knowing.”
(Chapter Al-Baqarah verse 256)
Remember when I asked Him
sincerely…,
“O,
God! I am so confused and I don’t know what to do! I seek Your
help! Guide me to what You want me to follow. I will not listen
to the words of men. I Put my trust in You and only You.”
Allaah Glory and Praise be to Him
says,
“… I
respond to the supplicant when he calls on Me(without any
mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me,
so that they may be led aright.”(Chapter Al-Baqarah verse 186)
Thus,
“Allaah is the Wali(Protector or Guardian) of those who believe.
He brings them out from darkness into Light. But as for those
who disbelieve, their Auliya(supporters and helpers) are Taghut{False
deities and false leaders}, they bring them out from light into
darkness. Those are the dwellers of the Fire, and they will
abide therein forever.”
Ayesha Akilah Anwar's
Story Submitted February 28, 2005
Bismi Allahi Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim
.
My conversion to Islam is a
long story but insha'Allah you will find it interesting. I was
born Abigail Gerlinde Alexander in Clifton in South Africa to my
German-Afrikaner parents Leesa and Cliff, where I was
affectionately known as Abi by my friends and close family.
When I was 3 years old my mum had a
little girl called Hennah Athena Leesa, my sister. I love Hennah
more than anyone, we're quite close. Then my father announced
his intentions to find work abroad as SA was becoming more and
more black orientated. He found a job in the UK working for the
UK foreign office. We moved about 6 weeks after he got the job
so we knew it was permanent.
I finished primary school in 1999
when I was 11 and I started secondary school which I loved. It
was September 1999 when I lost my virginity, I always looked
older than I was and I caught the attention of this boy called
Phil who was 16 and doing his GCSE's. He was absolutely
(gorgeous and we started dating and he persuaded me to have sex
with him. He was gentle from what I remember of it (which isn't
very much) but as a result I fell pregnant. Had I known that was
going to happen I never would have agreed to have had sex with
him but my daughter Thalia was conceived that night. He
abandoned me after he discovered my pregnancy. I didn't blame
him, I wanted to run away too but I knew I couldn't, I had to be
a good mum to my daughter who was born Thalia Maria Adelaide
Alexander on December 20th 1999 and she was at home by
Christmas. She was such a quiet little baby and she's grown up
into a gorgeous toddler.
When I was 13, I went back to school
full time, leaving Thalia in the care of my mother who had given
birth to her own little boy, Geronimo or Gio as she prefers to
call him. I missed being around Thalia and would race home to
see her, she was and always is my precious little girl. Anyway,
my father announced we were to move to Kuwait for 6 months, I
was glad at that cos then at least Phil would leave me alone.
Thalia was really good on the flight over, I had to wear a hijab
to school and cover myself right up but I was glad I wasn't
asked to wear a face veil, cos at that time I would have found
it too constricting.
When I was at school, I met this
wonderful young man called Fadi who was just graduating, he was
in his last year and his family owned one of the biggest oil
companies in Kuwait. His father had also been a veteran of the
Gulf War. We got talking and we were soon good friends. I wasn't
sure whether or not to tell him about Thalia or not, but I took
my chance and, alhamdulillah, he asked to meet her. I told my
parents about him, and they said he was the son of my dad's boss
which made me feel nervous about meeting them but they were so
nice, his father's called Ghalib and his mother's called Amina,
he has two sisters (my in-laws) called Frezana and Zahrah and
four brothers, Ahmed, Hussein, Muhammad and Ali. He introduced
me to Islam in a passing conversation. At the time I had been
Catholic but had lapsed for many years in my faith, at first it
had just been subtle things that he was doing, like always
mentioning Allah, and then praying when the adhan sounded. I was
confused by it all at first but then I realized God was calling
me. Maybe it was young, being just 14 to convert but I knew I
had come home. Even though I had Thalia "a bastard child" Fadi
accepted her as his own, it was 2 months after my conversion
that he asked me to marry him. I declined him but I made him
promise to keep in touch with me.
I went back to the UK, celebrated
Thalia's 3rd birthday and tried to explain my new found faith to
my parents, they didn't understand, nor was I expecting them to.
Hennah took an interest, but more out of fascination than
genuine curiosity. I decided that Thalia was going to be brought
up as a Muslim too, my parents didn't approve of this at all,
and forbade me from practicing my "strange and foreign filth" in
the house. I contacted Fadi and said that I would accept his
offer of marriage. He arranged to pick me up from my home in
Birmingham and we left under the cover of darkness for Kuwait
City where we married in a masjid there. I telephoned my parents
the next day and broke the news that I was now married, I had
taken a Muslim name of Ayesha Alikah and would be moving out to
a small flat with Fadi when I returned. My mother was shocked
and thought I was playing tricks but she also noticed that
Thalia was gone and knew I was serious. Amazingly she got over
it pretty quickly but my father.... he never really accepted it.
He will acknowledge Fadi but was cold and hostile towards him.
Recently I gave birth to my second
daughter, Hafsa Afaf Zakiyya bint Fadi Anwar, and she is the
most gorgeous thing I have ever seen. I have also been living in
Singapore which has a large Muslim population and it has been a
good experience, before this I had only ever seen Kuwait. I have
met and spoken to converts here, most of them Asian but there is
a white family living down the road from us. It seems we all
share the same goal which is to please Allah (swt) and love our
fellow human beings. Allahu Akbar!
Wasalaam
Ayesha Akilah Anwar
Aisha's Story
Submitted February 23, 2005
Bismi Allahi Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim.
My name is Aisha a convert to Islam from
Nairobi, Kenya. Born Esther Karanja, I was brought up in a Christian
setting, my parents are staunch Catholics and I loved church and even sang
in the church choir. Somehow I always got this feeling that God, the way I
understood Him, never got the Respect He is Worth and if really He was
Omnipotent then it would make more sense for more seriousness.
Well when I was doing my Postgraduate (In
India) I met a man and he was also Kenyan in the same college and we became
friends, he had converted to Islam a few years back and was still learning
the religion. I made it clear that I could not change my religion and he had
no problem as I was really a staunch catholic.
Back home, We started living together in 1997
on that understanding and I went to church as usual until I met a Sheikh
Hammad Kassim. Like my husband this sheikh and my now husband showed me
great love and with my kind of education and no employment I was often
frustrated and they gave me hope. He gave me books by Ahmed Deedat and some
video tapes and I was amazed by the debates, I realized that Islam was my
idea of Religion and Relation to God. Without coercion, I happily said
Shahadda and I was a muslim! Alhamdulilah. We formalized our marriage with
the sheikh as our witness, there was resistant especially from my husband's
side and we are still struggling to mend the broken relationship with his
family. Ours is a relatively lonely path but a happy family. Being there for
each and depending on Allah has seen us through so many things, such that my
story is too long!
We have been Blessed with two children a girl
(6years),Nabila and Fahim, a boy (9months). I thank Allah for showing us the
right path and we are lucky to have been chosen.
We get so many questions to answer and now my
dream is to start a network for Converts to Islam here in my country , I am
looking on how to go about it. Or even a propagation center like that of
Ahmed Deedat, a great man and my mentor! May Allah reward him for his
service to Islam. My dream will come true Inshallah.
They say Islam is for the less educated, just
to let brothers and sisters know , I hold a Masters degree in Community
Development and a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication.
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