According to rahyafte (the missionaries and converts website) Islamic, Jihadist, ISIS, Terrorist, Women banned from driving in Saudi Arabia, Burqa, 9/11… unfortunately, the term ‘Muslim’ or ‘Islam’ isn’t always associated with the most positive attributes. In fact, the term ‘Islam’ can inflict some pretty negative connotations in this day and age. For a term that means ‘peaceful submission to God’, it is a religion that is often seen in the media for all the wrong reasons. So, why would a young woman from country Australia who is educated, independent and well traveled decide to convert to a religion that is
widely considered ‘backwards’?
Well, it’s for multitude of reasons. Although people usually assume it’s for a man. Why else would a woman do that, right? WRONG. Not in my case anyway. It’s pretty dazzling how some people assume these things though. Even asking for halal food at my local university cafe received a snarky comment from the waitress asking if I ‘converted for my boyfriend’. I get confused looks at my fair skin and light eyes, some Australians ask what country I’m from, only to be shocked to hear I am myself an Australian. Australian AND Muslim? The combination is unthinkable to some.
Despite some pretty harsh and rude comments about my change in faith, I’ve also had some amazing people come up to me and ask me why. This, ladies and gentleman, is the question that I am happy to answer. You don’t have to agree with it – my word, you don’t even have to accept it – but this is my story and reasons which led me over the course of two years to where I am now. Converting to Islam has been no easy task. I’ve been called names, been scrutinized, rejected and fired from jobs, lost friends and had a really difficult time with my family accepting the changes in my life. But with prayer, investigation, lots of reading and researching and talking to people from different faiths and backgrounds has all contributed to my peaceful way of life now.
Yes, I am Muslim. I am also Australian, I’m a journalist, and I am also a traveler. Being a Muslim doesn’t change the elements that make up who I am as a person. Although you can never truly express what comes from your own heart in your own personal journey, my reversion to Islam was due to three main factors. This is my story and mine alone.
Traveling to Malaysia was definitely the foundation for my conversion to Islam. After deciding on a whim to go on student exchange to Malaysia, I never imagined what a crazy adventure I had set myself up for. Malaysia is my second home. It holds a very special place in my heart and I grew immensely as a person there. I experienced some of the best and worst moments of my life; and the whole experience was filled with color, adventure and opportunity.
Before Malaysia, I knew nothing about Islam. I had never met a Muslim (to my knowledge) and I always thought of Muslims as wearing heavy black garments somewhere in the Middle East, far, far away from ‘civilization’. Yes, I also thought Muslim women were oppressed. That they couldn’t go anywhere without their husbands, that they couldn’t have careers, and had to wear black all the time. Not that I really thought about it much, I was always in my own bubble of society to ponder too much about it. So, my somewhat fabricated image of Islam was shattered when I came to Malaysia. Suddenly, I found myself becoming curious of the pretty South-East Asian Muslim girls with their colorful hijabs and clothes. I met many Muslim friends – who became life-long friends- who went to university, who had jobs, who wore veils and also many who didn’t, and they all seemed quite content and loved their religion.
Being a journalism student, I’ve always been an open-minded person and have a lust for the unknown. Islam quickly became a mysterious religion I wanted to learn more about. That’s when I decided to do one of my investigative articles about Muslim women’s rights. THIS was the beginning of everything. My eyes and mind were completed opened and bursting with knowledge about Islam and the fact that WOMEN HAVE MANY RIGHTS IN ISLAM! In fact, Muslim women were legally given rights (that’s including divorce, land rights, monetary rights, the right to choose who to marry, etc.) in the Qur’an and Hadiths hundreds of years before Western women were legally given the same rights. There’s even a whole chapter about Women in the Qur’an. Men are taught to lower their gaze, and to treat women and their wives with utmost respect because this is favored in God’s eyes. THIS, of course, does not mean Muslims are sinless. People need to differentiate between culture, politics and religion.
When I first stepped into a mosque, I felt an immediate sense of calm and peace. I even interviewed an imam. The strong yet humble cry of the call to prayer invoked feelings in me I had never felt before. When I first bowed my head toward the Ka’ba, I felt home in my heart. I didn’t convert to Islam in Malaysia, but it introduced me in a beautiful way to Islam and to the Oneness of God.
CHRISTIANITY
I was a very strong Christian before converting to Islam. It’s an extremely focal point of my faith journey and without it I would not be a Muslim. I love most aspects of Christianity. I love how it teaches compassion, mercy, love and all the good things that we human beings should aspire to be. I loved all my Christian friends. However, after returning from Malaysia I felt like something was missing.
I researched key aspects and foundations of Christianity, right down to the trinity and where the concept came from. There are similarities between the Qur’an and the Bible. For me, the Qur’an answered many questions I had about my Christian faith for a long time. I could find no fault, no contradictions in the Qur’an. I listened to debates between world-renowned Biblical and Qur’anic scholars, and felt that the Qur’an made more sense.
However, even when I found Islam to be the truth for me, it was very hard for me to actually leave Christianity. Religion has always been the most important thing in my life, and I wanted to make sure I was converting to Islam with all my heart and for all the right reasons. Converting to Islam meant I had certain obligations – praying at least five times a day, giving more to charity, wearing more modest clothing (a choice that I gradually implemented in my life) and give up drinking (drinking is forbidden in Islam). This is a mammoth change. I didn’t see converting to Islam as so drastically different to Christianity however I saw it more as an update of my faith, for many reasons.
I wasn’t born into Christianity. I was not baptized as a child because my parents wanted me to make my own decisions about what I wanted to believe in. I will always be grateful to them for that.
Although I quickly became interested in Islam, changing religion from Christianity to Islam was the hardest decision I have ever made, but it was the right one for me. Christianity taught me to love God. It taught me humility, it taught me to love others, and it taught me a lot about Jesus (pbuh). I would not be who I am if I wasn’t once a Christian.
Source: http://www.dissentconclave.com
