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I grew up in the United States, Philadelphia Pa. I was
raised as a Christian in the Baptist Church. My mother made me go to church
every Sunday and on that day the only music that was allowed to be played
was Gospel. I never liked church very much, it always seemed to me, to be a
place for a fashion show. You had to wear you very best outfit and sit and
check out everybody elses as they came through the door. I would see people
nudging each other as they seen the people come through the door and
gossiping about them or looking at them with their noses in the air. I
noticed some were very uncomfortable about what they had on,because they
knew they would be discussed after the service. I never liked that
atmosphere.
Then it came time for the service, now was the preacher's time to show out.
He would start slow and easy with the preaching and it would build up as he
went along. Soon he would grab the Bible and start preaching and jumping up
and down, sweat running everywhere. The people would get happy with him and
start shouting and carrying on. And it never failed, when the people became
excited like that, that they would pass around the money container,and out
of being so fired up they would give all they had without even thinking
about it. I never could understand why, when the preacher got excited, so
did they. It never hit me like that, and I use to wonder why.
So I use to go home and start reading the Bible. I was sure I would find my
answer in there as to why I wasn't like the rest of the Holy people. I
really thought I wasn't doing something right. But as read the Bible, I
never noticed any of their people in there ever jumping up and down and
getting happy. I remember reading when Jesus was betrayed by one of his
disciples named Judas and he(Jesus)went behind a mountain to pray. I can
remember thinking, who is God (ASTAGHFIRULLAH) praying to? I knew something
was wrong then. So I asked about this to my mother and grandmother and they
would tell me he is praying to the Father. Well that threw me into total
confusion and I went on that way until I was a teenager and concluded that
church just wasn't for me. So I never was a religious person.
I use to notice the Muslim sisters walking along or on the bus, they stood
out to me, I wanted to know what they were all about, but I didn't know how
to approach them. I had a friend and she told me to greet them with
assalaamu alaikum. So I said the next time I see a Muslim sister I would say
that. She told me the Muslims have a book called the Holy Quran and that
they don't eat pork. Neither one of us understood why they covered like
that, but thought it was kind of neat. It made them stand out, and they
always carried themselves so well.
One day I was on the bus going downtown and a Muslim sister got on the bus,
and I greeted her with assalaamualaikum and she greeted me back,so I asked
her where could I get a copy of the Holy Quran and she told me. The very
next day I went and got one. When I started to read this book, it gave me a
good feeling, I could understand it and I couldn't put it down.
I decided to go into the military and I took the Quran with me and continued
to read it and told my army buddies about what it said. This continued for
three years and I re-enlisted for two more years and went to Texas. My
roomate was a Buddhist and I use to see her do her thing at a little box and
she would chant and ring bells in front of candles. I told her I was
interested in Islam and about what I was reading. One day she went out and
when she came back she handed me a sheet of paper and said: Maybe you would
be interested in this. It was about Islam and where they met at on Fridays.
I took it and threw it in my locker.
About a day or two later I decided to go to this place and see what Islam
was all about. I went and listened to the khutbah and liked very much what I
was hearing. He was talking about the people and their behavior,and how the
women dressed, and sex before marriage. It left a good impression on me and
the sisters were so nice to me. They didn't try to convert me, but they
invited me back. So that next friday I went back again and again I love the
khutbah, what he was saying was a reality, it was true. The sisters told me
they would be having a picnic at the park that next week and would like for
me to join them and I accepted the invitation.
The next week arrived and off to the park we went. We arrived in the
afternoon and I watched while the brothers covered the ground with white
sheets. I thought to myself, this is where we will sit and eat. While the
sisters and I were sitting on a bench a brother got up took off his shoes
and stood in the middle of the sheets, put his hands up to his ears and
started singing (at lest that's what i thought) and I said to myself: What
on earth is he doing? I asked the sister close to me what was he doing and
she said this is a call to prayer. Then I watched them as they made the
Sunnah prayer. While one was standing up another was bending over and yet
another had his face to the ground. I sat and observed. When they all had
finished another brother came and called again to prayer, but this time
everybody got up and made lines like we did in the army. One man was in
front, while all other made were behind him in rows, just like we did in
formation. The women were in the back farther away. And they started to
pray. I had never seen anything so amazing in my whole entire life, I was so
overwhelmed when I saw that.
I knew right then and there I wanted to be a Muslim. When the day was over I
told them I would come back the next week and I did, but this time I told
the sister I wanted to be a Muslim and they told their Imam and I took the
shahadah. That was the happiest day of my life. All the sisters hugged me
and congradulated me, I felt like I had been lifted into a new world and I
never felt any difference until this very day. Al-hamdu lillahi rabbil
'alamin.
May Allah (SWT) guide us all to accept His decree. May Allah (SWT) make us
all strong in following, practicing and accepting this great deen in its
entirety, and may Allah (SWT) give us the strength, faith and support to
fight our desires. Ameen!!!
Jihadah
Source > > http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/newmuslims/ |
