How I came to Islam

How I came to Islam

Friends and acquaintances alike have asked me many times why did I convert or revert as Muslims call it to Islam.  In order to give an accurate account I have to start a bit before I converted.

I was born into a typical Midwestern family in that both of my parents were white and Christian. My mom was LDS (Latter Day Saint) not devout practicing and my dad was Baptist not devout practicing either. I was raised with the standard Christian beliefs as there is a God, Jesus is the son of God, and I had to accept him as my savior. I celebrated all the standard Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter. I had a basic understanding of Christian beliefs. As I grew older I studied the Bible and was introduced to various Christian religions as my dad made it clear to my mom that I was not going to be forced to go to one specific church. He wanted me to choose my belief system. Because of his attitude I did learn to some degree about different Christian beliefs, I had friends who were Catholic and attended the Lutheran church, Methodist Church and even the Jehovah Witnesses.  I never really felt at home with any of them except maybe the Catholic church because of the nuns and priests. At one time I even fantasied about becoming a nun. The point is as far as religion for many years never found a fit. Then when I was older early 20’s and after I married my husband I was reintroduced to my mom’s faith LDS and was baptized into the Mormon Church (hind point mom had me blessed when I was a baby without dad’s consent). I was comfortable for a while and even attended the local LDS College, which was Rick’s at the time. I think in the case of the Nun and in the case of the LDS church the drawing factor was the separation of men and women in a manner of speaking.

Leap ahead or reflect as I said I was baptized into the Mormon Church at the age of 22 and had been married to my husband from Libya about a year. I did not have access to material on Islam and although hubby tried to answer my questions, he did not have the resources that I wanted. He accepted my choice at the time as he was not about to force me to become Muslim.

Now leap ahead 12 years and after the birth of my two sons. Hubby and I had been married about 12 years and we now had two sons and because of the way my father insisted on me being raised I insisted on the same with my sons. Of course there was a lot going on in the world at the time with the Palestinians and the world in general. It was in 1995 if my memory serves me correctly that an incident happened that change my perspectives completely. My sons had been born in 1984 and 1986. And were 11 and 9 at the time when my oldest son came to me and said mom (remember we were teaching them both religions at the time) came to me and said mom I want to believe the way you believe and I want to believe the way dad believes who do I believe? That question literally set me back. I was speechless as I did not have an answer and it made me realize the confusion I was causing for my children. Looking back I think I was in the same boat with the way my father insisted I be raised but more on that later.

I went to my husband and asked him what do I do? He did not have an answer either. I knew in my heart that he would never convert to my religion and it was at that time I was having some major issues with what was happening in the church. It was at that time some people had been excommunicated for talking about issues contrary to church doctrine. I had read all the LDS information such as the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, again I was having some issues.  Fortunately we had met some other Muslims from my husband’s country, I had at this time gained access to the internet, and so I started to research Islam. I had a background from what my husband had told me but now I was searching in depth. After two weeks plus 12 years, of intensive study, I found I could accept Islam but it was hard to get around the issue of Jesus as the son of God in Christianity versus Jesus as a great prophet.  Even with that one issue, I felt I could become Muslim. So as I said two week study, I converted. I still had my doubts about the Jesus issue but felt it was in the best interest of the family that we no longer divide the children.  I have not regretted my decision and have become very passionate in my beliefs. I am not perfect by a long shot but I am Muslim and will be until I die.

Back to the Jesus issue, after more research and coming across some information on the web, I was able to resolve that issue in that from my studies the word used by many to interpret Jesus as the literal son of God is an old Aramaic, which means one who is close to God. Muslims accept the virgin birth and they accept that Jesus will return among other things. Therefore, I am at peace with my choice and will always try to defend my religion against misconceptions or Islamaphobes. We still observe the holidays with my family as they are Christian and so we have dinners on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Easter but not as a religious celebration but as a celebration of family. We do observe Ramadan, Eid Fitr (little Eid) and Eid Al Adha (Big Eid at the time of Hajj (Pilgrimage)). I do not believe in trying to make others believe as I do because that goes against what Islam teaches and there will be many that say what I am doing is wrong but that is their opinion not mine and my choices are between me and God/Allah.