Converts to Islaam
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Converts to Islaam
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This the home page of
Carol's
Story
For
as long as I can remember, I have never been satisfied with Christianity.
I could never assimilate their belief that Jesus (alaihi Salaam) is the
"son of God" (astaghfirullah). I used to think it was a fault in
me - that I was of "weak faith". When I was a child, I used to
pray to God to help me believe that Jesus (as) was His son (astaghfirullah).
I didn't feel God responding to my prayer to strengthen my faith in the
Christian church.
I
had a little Jewish friend in the 3rd grade. I remember being fascinated
by her religion. I asked her why she wrote the word God as "G'd", and
she replied that in her religion, even the WORD God was considered too holy for
them to spell out. I was amazed at the supreme power of our mutual
God!
I
remained very interested in Judaism all the way throughout elementary school, up
into high school and college, all the while researching and studying it. I
decided that it was the closest thing I had found so far to what I believed
about God. During college, I joined the Jewish Students Organization,
started taking Hebrew and religious study, and began to make plans for my formal
conversion to Judaism. I contacted one rabbi at a conservative synagogue,
and was quickly and purposefully discouraged by him as to the amount of work and
effort it would take on my part. When I persisted, saying that I was
willing to work hard for something as important to me as religion, he said
"we really don't do conversions here." That was the end of THAT
conversation! I was somewhat discouraged, but decided to try again at
another synagogue with another rabbi a few days later. This one told me
that I "could convert if I wanted to", but that I "would never be
considered a Jew by other Jews".
With
this "warm" reception, I was finally discouraged, and decided to look
into other faiths. I examined Catholicism, Buddhism, and even Native
American Spirituality, and I was getting no where! I finally decided that
I would just believe my own beliefs (of a supreme and omnipotent God), and
"go my own way".
I
never even considered Islam until I met the man who was to later become my
husband. I had previously always dismissed Islam as a violent religion,
full of bloodshed, "holy wars", and men who abused and oppressed
women. This was ENTIRELY due to the western media's gross
misrepresentation of Islam - the only exposure most westerners, including
myself, ever have to Islam, unfortunately. When I found out (through casual
conversation) that the man I had met was a Muslim, I was somewhat taken
aback. He was so sweet and warm and caring, and he had a great sense of
humor! (A Muslim with a sense of humor???? Impossible!!!) I really
liked him as a person. I thought maybe I should investigate Islam more on
my own, as I had just met a Muslim who defied all of the negative stereotypes
that I had in my head about Islam and Muslims.
As
the months went by, and as I studied more and more in depth about Islam, my
conviction began to grow steadily that this was the true religion. It was
so close in many ways to what I ALREADY believed! Then one day at a weekly
women's lesson on Islam that I had been attending, (even though I wasn't a
Muslim yet), one of the sisters was reading a verse of the Qur'an that really
affected me. It was about the Jews and their questioning of God's commands in
sacrificing the heifer in Al-Baqarah. This verse suddenly affected me so
much that, much to my embarrassment, I began to cry in the middle of the
lesson. The sister who was reading comforted me by saying that the
Qur'an - the word of Allah (swt) - often affects people this way. That
evening at home, as I was preparing for bed, I went through my usual routine of
opening the Holy Qur'an at random and asking Allah to select a passage for me to
read. The verse that my eyes fell on as I opened the book read as follows:
"And
when they listen to the revelation received by the Messenger, thou wilt see
their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognize the truth: They
pray: 'Our Lord! We believe; write us down among the witnesses. What
cause can we have not to believe in Allah and the truth which has come to us,
seeing as we long for our Lord to admit us to the company of the
righteous?' And for this their prayer hath Allah rewarded them with
Gardens, with rivers flowing underneath - their eternal Home. Such is the
recompense of those who do good."
Holy
Qur'an 5:83-85
This was the final message to ME from Allah subhana wa ta'ala for me to revert to Islam! I was speechless. He SPOKE to me through the glorious Qur'an. He SHOWED me the straight path - the TRUTH. I said Shahada shortly after that, Alhamdulillah. Shahada was a homecoming for me - I felt that my soul had been set free! Also, in direct contrast to the less-than-friendly "welcome" of the Jews when I expressed a desire to convert, the Muslims ALL said: Allahu Akbar! Alhamdulilah.! Masha'Allah! Subhana Allah! Ahlan wa Sahlan! Mabrouk!Asalaamu Aleikum! No one has EVER told me I "would never be considered a Muslim". To this day, and always, it warms my heart and soul to go to a gathering of my sisters and brothers in Islam and hear the quiet murmuring of "Asalaamu Aleikum", and see the warm smiles, hugs and handshakes, and the welcoming outstretched arms of my Ummah! I will never stop thanking Allah for guiding me to the light of Islam!
Converts
Sisters Brothers
Shannon&Zehra