Mohammad Abdul Aziz
As I remember into my life, I can truly say at the start,
Allah (Subhannahu Wa Taala) has really blessed my soul, Insha
Allah. This is my feeling because Allah took me from the jungles
of the streets in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and brought me to the
Holy Land of Islam to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on December 2,
1987. Since I didn't know anything about the religion of Islam, I
soon found out about it and the beautiful way of life the Muslims
had, such as no alcohol, no bars, no disco's, no drugs, very
little crime, and the penalty system that I agree with 100%.
After working in Taif, Saudi Arabia my first three years, I read
a few books on Islam and observed the traditions and customs of
the Muslims with much delight.
In 1987, when I first reported to work, a Saudi military worker
who I had contact with everyday, named Fawzi Al-Kamal, asked me,
did I know anything about Islam. My remarks to this question was
"I am too old to change to another religion." That I
was a Christian for 49 years and it was too late for me change in
this stage of my life. As I thought, but Allah had better plans
for me that I later discovered and now realized that Allah guided
me to this Holy Land of Muslims for a definite reason. It was not
about just to make money and to enjoy my life, but to learn about
the truth and the true religion of Islam. Of course I had known
about or had seen a little portion of the nation of Islam on TV
in the United States about the Muslims whom I did not want to
associate with since their concept was, that to be a Muslim, you
could not be white and that it was only for Afro-Americans. I
couldn't buy that philosophy and that's why I never paid anymore
attention to the religion of Islam, because my belief was that
God created all human beings regardless of color race or creed to
join His religion for His praise and worship only and that's what
I found in Islam.
On the other hand, I really didn't pay that much attention to my
religion of Catholicism anymore, because I could not come to any
logical concept that there were three gods in one, even though
there was only one God. So I stopped attending church service
altogether and some how kept God to myself and in my heart. In my
early teens years in the 1950's, I sensed that there was a higher
being than man since the beauty of creation, the birds, the
mountains, the arrangement of the stars in the sky, the many
phases of the moon and the rising and setting of the sun. The
majesty of their appearance fascinated my imagination and I just
knew that man could not possibly create or be the master of these
wonders. This was a mystery to me that I always pondered about in
my everyday thinking. I believed in one God, but I didn't know
much about religion since my family was not practicing any type
of religion and I never attended any churches in my early youth
before the age of 14.
As time went on, I became involved with many bad characters in my
life circle, but I was never influenced by their bad conducts
because I knew right from wrong at an earlier age. I knew that I
didn't want to wind up in jail or be involved in any crimes or
anything like it, so I never participated with any gangs or hung
out with bad people, even though I grew up around them and was in
their circles of life many times. When I was of legal age to
enlist in the U.S. Military forces, I immediately signed up with
the United States Air Force after graduation from high school,
June 7, 1956, I was 18 years old. From that day onward my life
became a struggle in my trials in life to test my fortitude and
patience and other good virtues that I had little of and you
could say my life at that time was a failure. I had a drinking
problem with alcohol and a few cases of bad marriages. But my
life was not entirely lost since Allah saved me from further
snares of satan who is my avowed enemy. Deep in my heart, I
always felt that I never wanted to treat anyone bad or do any
harm to anyone and what I preferred to see was a world to be a
peaceful habitation for all human beings. I soon found out that
this was an impossible reality because of man's ignorance toward
their fellow beings and no morals in worshipping a divine power
with little or no sincere feelings at all. I also discovered that
this was a hypocritical world we live in since man's words are
only talk, without sincere meanings. It always appeared from the
beginning of time and even to this day that the strong will
always try to take advantage upon the weak, and figuratively
speaking, "a dog eat dog world."
I learned a lot from my experiences in my travels and since being
a member of the United States Air Force and meeting different
people and adopting certain customs in many countries. I always
felt that something was still missing in my life, I wasn't happy.
It seemed I was still searching for a missing connection in my
life that I knew one day I would find. I wanted to know why I was
born, and who am I, and what my purpose in this life was. Then
after embracing Islam on November 26th 1990, finally I found out
all the answers to my questions and about myself and life in
general. Islam brought me out from the darkness and into the
light. My life was completely changed 360 degrees to an upright
obedient servant of Allah Subhanhu Wa Taala. I now have a
meaningful goal to pursue, and that is to follow the glorious
road to the kingdom of heaven and that one day (In Sha Allah), I
pray that on the day of Judgement I will be able to meet my
creator. This is the reason I strongly believe that life has only
one meaning, and that is a movement toward a definite end, which
is Allah Subhanhu Wa Taala.
Abdul Mughni Bliase
The former Maurice Blaise used to be an Eastern Orthodox Priest.
He finished M.A. of Divinity in Comparitive Religion, M.A. in
Liberation Theology, and BA in Philosophy/English. He is now
teaching in the Darul Fikr School in Jeddah)
Ocean mist hung heavily, mingling with
smoke from the early evening cook fires. A gigantic ruby sun was
falling quickly into the African Ocean, sprinkling the yellow
thatch huts with shades of rose before parting. Women, with
babies hanging from their backs, and cassava or firewood atop
their members of the Kru tribe, wrapping up their difficult day.
A girl about fourteen passed me. She was sweating and burning up
with malarial fever. I was headed in the opposite direction going
to the tiny brick building where I would teach night school.
Directly across from my "8 meter school," was a hut
occupied by three Mandigo Muslim treadeeers, and one Mandigo
French teacher who taught at the Catholic school. Each night,
these Muslims would warmly greet me with "salaam mu alaykum,"
before beginning their prayers. In time, we got to know one
another, sharing cola nuts and tea on occasion.
It was 1975, and I was a Catholic seminarian who had studied
Liberation theology at Maryknoll Seminary, and was only year from
ordination. After meeting the Mandingos, however, I started to
doubt. Each night, as the night's animals would cry in the
jungle, I would ponder my calling. After discussions with the
Muslims, I began to realize that Jesus, while a great prophet,
was certainly not a "co-equal" with God. Realizing the
truth, I decided to withdraw from the order. Soon I left for
Monrovia, where I lived for half a year with Mandigos in an
apartment, before returning to the States.
In the US I continued my theological studies at Princeton,
studying Islam and Sufism with Professor Jurgi, and Liberation
theology with James Come, Choen Seng-Song, and Richard Shaull.
For the past twenty years I have worked primarily in counseling
and teaching. My wife, who also earned a divinity
degree from Princeton, and I have been
married for 21 years and we have two sons (18 and 16). We have
exposed them to different countries, and different religions,
hoping that they would one day be ready to decide upon the right
path.
One year ago, by the grace of Allah, I read about the opportunity
to teach in Jeddah. It was "a miracle come true." What
better place to "officially" convert to Islam, than the
very seat of Islam itself? What better to expose my sons to the
beauty of Islam, than in the land of its birth? What better place
to witness the fruits of the Islamic faith, than in the daily
life and behavior of the students that my sons see each morning
and spend the day with in class.
And so, a journey that began years ago for a single man, has
reached fulfillment for a family, here in Saudi Arabia.
A better Way of Life
I was born and raised in a small town in Massachusetts which has
been home for both my paternal and maternal family members for
nearly 100 years. Like all Italian immigrants who ventured to
America in search of a better way of life my grandparents brought
with them the Christian (Roman Catholic) tradition of worship.
They lived in their new homeland building a strong and enduring
bond between each family member. A strong family character is one
of my fondest childhood memories.
As I grew from adolescence to adulthood, my mind and heart were
immersed in the Christian point of view . Although church and
state are separate by law in the United States, Christian
influence lies at the very fabric of its society. Through my
education, however, I began to develop a sense of doubt about
some of the major tenets of the Christians faith. There was one
question that lingered above all others. How could a man (Jesus)
(Peace be upon him) be the "son of God"? I could not
reconcile this apparent contradiction in my mind).
I have lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for nearly 14 years. In
that time I have had the opportunity to experience the religion
of Islam through contact with its society and its people. I
learned from this observation that Islam is a way of life. The
religion of Islam creates strong ties between each Muslim bonding
them together as brothers. In like manner Islam creates strong
bonds among family members. These strong family ties are
especially evident during the holy month of Ramadan. After having
read some literature on the religion of Islam that I obtained
from Omar Malvar at the Islamic Education Foundation (Al-Hamra),
I learned that Islam preaches strict Monotheism. At last I had
found a satisfactory answer to one of the most important
questions of my life. I was ready to embrace the faith of Islam.
Sincerely,
Yusuf P.Bruno
(Paul)
A Transforming Journey
Roger
Harrison • Arab News Staff - 27/7/2003
It was an Afghan donkey that gave the game away. If it hadn’t
bolted, Yvonne Ridley and her two guides would have made it out
over the Afghan border and back into Pakistan.
Some weeks previously, Yvonne Ridley was chief reporter for the
Sunday Express in London. Like hundreds of other journalists, she
was tying to get to New York to cover the events following the
events following Sept. 11. While in the airport scrimmage for
seats, she received a call from the news editor telling her to
get to Pakistan.
A journalist for more than 25 years, she was one of the first
into Pakistan to cover the impending attack on Afghanistan.
“There were thousands of us, all being spoon-fed with
information. I got fed up with it, and decided to see if I could
get into Afghanistan.” She applied many times to the Taleban
embassy, but to no avail. “Western journalists were persona non
grata.”
Yvonne found two guides and, adopting the cover-all burqa,
slipped into Afghanistan as part of a wedding party.
“I was totally anonymous — I simply disappeared from view
because I looked and was perceived exactly the same as all the
other women in burqas.”
She spent days speaking to whomever she could, always aware that
the slightest hint could give her away. When she decided to head
back to the border, the trio joined a party heading that way.
That meant that Yvonne had walked a great deal in the
unaccustomed Afghani sandals she wore as part of her disguise,
and her feet were badly cut and bruised.
“We managed to obtain the use of a decrepit donkey,” she said.
The donkey bolted and Yvonne, in a desperate attempt to stay
aboard, grabbed the halter. The camera that she had been
carefully concealing under her burqa swung into full view,
exactly at the moment that a Taleban soldier was passing.
“At this stage they seemed rather more concerned with the
relationship between my guides and I than the fact I might be a
spy,” she said.
The party she was traveling with continued to move toward the
border. She kept moving with them but looked back to establish
the fate of her guides. “There was a large crowd gathering and
it looked as if trouble was brewing. I felt I had to go back.”
Walking into the center of the group, she brought the proceedings
to a halt by imperiously throwing off her burqa and demanding,
“Give me the darn camera back.”
She and her companions were arrested and hauled off to the local
men’s prison, where they were separated. “I did see my
companions after that,” she said, “and they did look as if
they had been roughed up.”
Her first reaction was to go on hunger strike because she was
refused a telephone call.
“I was never physically maltreated. They tried to break me
mentally by constantly asking the same questions day after day
— until nine o’clock in the evening sometimes.” Her captors
constantly told her that she would be released — only to move
her to another cell.
It was five days before Mullah Omar was told that the suspected
spy was a woman. He at once ordered her removal to what was by
local standards a comfortable room in a women’s prison.
“I was detained in the company of six Christian aid workers
from Shelter Now International, who had been accused of trying to
convert the local people to Christianity. They were certainly
very religious — and the Taleban were quite comfortable about
allowing them a bible and for them to perform their religious
observances in captivity.”
Yvonne found out from her captors that they had chosen — albeit
unwittingly — to set up their headquarters next door to one of
Osama Bin Laden’s residences. “I have this delicious image of
Bin Laden sitting in the garden plotting, with the sounds of
happy-clappy Baptist hymns wafting over the wall.”
Yvonne was interrogated for days as an American spy — unaware
that her captors were in possession of a file that alleged that
she was in the pay of Mossad, amongst others.
“On one occasion, I lost my temper and spat and swore at my
captors while I was being held in Kabul prison.” The reaction
of her captors rather surprised her. “Instead of a hostile
reaction they looked reproved and slightly hurt; they insisted I
was their guest and their ‘sister.’”
The attack by America and Britain on Afghanistan was immanent,
and the file in the possession of Mullah Omar could well have
been Yvonne’s death certificate. “I feel I was set up. The
attack needed a trigger. A dead English woman executed by the
Taleban regime would have been very useful. It was a crude device
and I suspect that the CIA were behind it.”
While she was in captivity, she was asked what she thought of
Islam. “I gave a non-committal reply — I had no real
knowledge of it. I promised I would study the Qur’an.”
The bombing of Kabul began while Yvonne was still in captivity.
Two days later she was released. “I was quite sure that the one-eyed
Mullah had put two fingers up to the world. He saw the file as a
transparent provocation and was not buying it,” said Yvonne.
“On the whole, the Taleban treated me with great courtesy and
respect. I had entered their country illegally — I was totally
in the wrong and I could have been put on trial.”
When she arrived in Britain, the experience in Kabul had a subtle
effect on her. “I decided to look at Islam in the interests of
academic enquiry and was given an English Qur’an by a Muslim
friend.”
Over the next few months she began to learn more about Islam. “The
first thing I scrutinized when I read the Qur’an closely was
the law as it relates to property and divorce.” Cheerfully
admitting to having been married three times, she was
particularly drawn to the way that the Qur’an dealt with what
so often is a contentious issue.
Yvonne couldn’t put her finger on any single thing that decided
her to embrace Islam. “I spoke to more and more people and
became more involved. The way that that the faith treats women as
exact spiritual and human equals in worth I found very
sustaining,” she said. “It just felt right.”
Whilst the Taleban treated Yvonne — “probably their most
difficult prisoner” — with some decency, it doesn’t lessen
her desire to question them on their more general behavior. “I
would really like to sit down with Mullah Omar, who ordered my
release on humanitarian grounds. I would want to know why they
treat their women so badly.”
Recently, an opportunity to work in the Gulf with a web-based
news organization presented itself. “I decided to take the
chance and go,” she said. “A couple of days before the
flight, I made the decision to say the shahada, and called a
couple of close friends as witnesses. It was an intensely
spiritual moment and very intimate. The feeling after I had
spoken the words was one of community with the biggest club in
the world. It was exhilarating.”
Yvonne has been accused of suffering from Stockholm Syndrome,
first described in 1973 when a bond of sympathy was observed
developing between hostage takers and their victims.
“It always raises a wry smile with me. The only people I really
bonded with, and keep in touch with on an occasional basis, are
the girls from Shelter Now International, the ones accused of
trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. So if that was the
case, I should be in America’s bible belt now with my
tambourine!”
Reflecting on her behavior when held by the Taleban, she said,
“I don’t think cursing, spitting and refusing to eat endeared
me to those poor men who had to put up with my bad behavior. In
fact, when I was released, I don’t know who was happier —
them or me.”
Now the undercover journalist has exchanged the burqah as a
disguise for the hijab as a symbol of a new freedom.
A Middle East Anthropologist
Submits
By AbdAllah
Talib Donald Powell Cole
23/10/2003
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
I submitted to Allah on 6 Rabiah al-Awal 1424 ( May 7, 2003 ) at
the office of the Grand Imam, Sheikh of the Noble al-Azhar
University, in Cairo. I stated in Arabic, "I bear witness
that there is no god but Allah, and I bear
witness that uhammad is His Servant and Messenger." I
acknowledged that Moses, Jesus, and all other prophets (upon them
be peace and >blessings) are servants and messengers of Allah,
I renounced all religions other than
Islam and I said that henceforth I adhere to Islam as my faith
and sacred law.
was personally received and formally welcomed into Islam by the
sheikh al-Azhar, Muhammad Tantawy.
I was 62, had lived, researched, and taught in the Muslim Arab
world for 35 years, and was very familiar with Islam in both
theory and practice. Yet, a long-time Egyptian brother who
accompanied me that fateful day said
that he had cried as he saw me listening to and answering the
questions of the sheikh who interviewed me and authenticated my
submission. What had been my journey to Islam and why had it
taken so long? What has been unfolding since my submission?
My first direct contact with Islam was in Berkeley, California in
the days of the Free Speech and anti-Vietnam War movements. I had
been raised in Texas as a Presbyterian and had gone through
multiple, albeit not atypical, identity changes in the 1960s at
the University of Texas in Austin and in a wide range of student
travels, including my studies in Mexico, Chile, Spain, Guatemala,
Bolivia, and Argentina. I broke ties with the Presbyterian Church
saw Roman Catholicism as a gross exploiter of the poor and a
supporter of the reactionary elite in Latin America, and
seriously questioned United States foreign policy and business
interests outside its borders. Within WASP (white Anglo-Saxon
Protestant) America, I came to feel like a foreigner When I was a
junior in college, I wanted to leave home and all things American
in order to dedicate myself to the revolution" in Latin
America, which, led by Salvador Allende, was gaining momentum
among socialist students and activists in Chile. My mother and a
kind anthropology professor at UT-Austin talked me out of that
bold move, and so I eventually moved into anthropology, a
discipline on the fringe where cultural relativity and the
pursuit of knowledge primarily among third-world peoples
prevailed.
As a graduate student at the University of California in
Berkeley, I plunged into social anthropology and was encouraged
by my graduate advisor, Laura Nader, to focus on the Arab Middle
East. I struggled with Arabic, studied Islamic institutions with
a well-known professor who was Jewish
and also, it was said, a Zionist. I met and interacted with Arab
graduate students, both Christian and Muslim. I found Sufism
attractive and I fasted for a few days one Ramadan just to feel
the experience. Non-Christian religious experience had become
fashionable at Berkeley and it was fashionable to sample as many
such experiences as possible along with other exotica.
Today, I see that period as a step on the return to paganism in
much of the West; but it also reflected a search for a more
meaningful spiritual life by some of America's best. The
predominant materialism and the pursuit of
capitalist values had become spiritually vacuous and even
destructive. I was not a flower child during that period, but I
was close to them and learned from them and from other counter-culture
students to take religion in itself seriously. To do so went
against the grain of much of anthropology where religion was
taken simply for the role it plays in society and culture and not
for the power inherent within it. That I accepted the power of
religion as religion did not, however, make me a believer. Yet, I
was never an atheist. I remained neutral and content to observe
what others did and said in the name of their religious beliefs.
Thanks to student deferments I escaped going to the Vietnam War
and instead spent from 1968 to 1970 in Saudi Arabia doing field
research for my PhD dissertation. Allah Almighty, I believe now,
blessed me back then. I was able to know the old Riyadh and I can
never forget the calls to prayer from Riyadh's 1000 minarets.
They were powerful, and I wanted to respond; but I walked alone
and without religion through dusty streets while mosques were
filled with the faithful. I later lived for 18 months with
Bedouin nomads in the Empty Quarter and Eastern Province. During
my first night in the desert with them, when the
sunset prayer was called, I found that I could not just sit alone
and not pray with them. I could not deny their religion by saying
that I was a Christian as others in similar situations before me
had done. I knew in my heart that their Allah was the same God
that I had known as a child. And so I prayed with them that
prayer, and then every other
prayer, five times a day throughout the year and a half that I
lived, herded, and migrated with them. Their leader, Talib,
taught me the Fatiha (opening chapter of the Qur'an). I
proclaimed the shahada (declaration of faith) many times, and in
public. I fasted the two Ramadans that I spent with them.
Islam was seamlessly integrated into everything we did. It
punctuated and regulated our whole life from the most mundane to
the most sublime, and it embraced everybody in the community. No
one was left out. This was not
particularly religious in a spiritual or intellectual way; the
Islam we lived was "normal," how everyday life was
constituted. I wrote long ago that the happiest days of my life
were those I lived among these Muslim Arab Bedouin. That is still
true today, 35 years later; but I feel a new happiness now as I
return once again to Islam.
A Bedouin brother and friend asked me if I would continue to pray
and fast after I left them. I asserted that of course I would
continue and said that Islam did not end at the borders of Saudi
Arabia. But back in Berkeley
life was different. My notes show that in the first course that I
ever taught, I talked about Islam being a "beautiful
religion." I expressed strong positive vibes for Islam but I
no longer prayed and none of the nominal Muslims whom I knew in
Berkeley prayed either.
Soon afterwards I was employed at The American University in
Cairo where a secular agenda dominated. Back then, in the 1970s,
Arabic was hardly heard on campus. Islam at AUC was then mainly
history, art and architecture,
and field trips to the museum and some exquisite old mosques.
Later in the 1980s "political" Islam began to be heard,
veiling and a few beards began to appear on campus, and more
students were fasting. Then the Muslim
students at AUC asked for the unheard of: a mosque or prayer area
on campus. Many considered these changes a horrible slide
backwards from modernity and progress. I, however, respected what
these Muslim students were doing. I tried in my courses to
present Islam and the changes underway in a positive light while
also walking the
tightrope of scientific "neutrality" or "value-free"
social science. In my heart,
and given my salafi (or Wahhabi) "upbringing" in Saudi
Arabia , I liked what I saw happening and took offense at snide
comments against these young Muslims made by colleagues-Muslim
and Christian, Egyptian and American. Yet, I simply observed.
More recently have been a series of events that affected me
personally, in addition to the wider world in which we all exist.
There were the deaths of my elderly parents and thus freedom from
the ties that bound me to them as a dutiful son and thereby to
the ancient Presbyterian and Methodist lineages that they
embraced. There was the bombing of our Muslim brothers in
Afghanistan by young men white, black, and brown who could be
blood or milk relatives of mine from Texas and the South. There
are the horrible scenes of barefaced torture of Muslim brothers,
held without trial, in Guantanamo - a part of Cuba that the US
took during a war in which my grandfather nearly
had to fight. In 2002, there was the September 11th anniversary
of the 1973 CIA-instigated coup against the popularly-elected
government of Salvador Allende in Chile. I learned on that day
that a friend, a brother, had
miraculously survived the bloody coup and after years of torture
and exile was alive and well in Santiago. Another friend, a
sister, was found again in Paris after decades of incommunicado.
Around the same time, Bedouin whom I had not seen for more than
twenty years suddenly appeared at one of the gates of AUC, and I
was soon in
Saudi Arabia for a short visit. I was in the desert again. The
magnificent desert Arabian night sky, miraculously without
columns or any support, was overpowering. The camels were present
chewing their cuds, just like
before.
The people were the same, my brothers of long ago and now also
their sons and grandsons. An old friend asked if I would call the
prayer. I deferred, but of course I prayed with them. More than
30 years had passed since I had prayed together with others, but
I had not forgotten. That night I knew that it was time for me to
wake up. I could no longer remain an observer and an occasional
participant.
Back in Cairo I asked an American Muslim who was taking a course
with me how he had converted and he told me that he had simply
said the shahada before a sheikh. I asked a couple of Egyptians,
and they told me to go to al-Azhar University. I asked if
circumcision was required. The unofficial verdict was no, not at
my age. Then I was in Paris, the City of Light, with an Egyptian
brother and his daughter as the Anglo-American war against <O:P</O:P
Arab-Muslim Iraq raged. Early morning, upon waking, I knew
without doubt that I wanted to submit formally and officially. I
told my brother. We met the next day after our return to Cairo at
the office of the Grand Imam of
al-Azhar. I submitted to Allah. A few close friends who heard the
news were very happy and congratulated me enthusiastically. A
retired Egyptian police General, a close friend of a close
friend, congratulated me but said that
I must now pray regularly and in the mosque. I knew on my own
that the purification (tahar) of circumcision was necessary, and
so I had myself circumcised; it was not the big deal I had always
imagined and feared.
I prayed at home for a few days. Then I ventured into the mosque,
a large and important one across the street from where I live.
The news spread like wildfire through my downtown neighborhood;
many expressed their happiness at my becoming a Muslim. At AUC, I
now pray in our overly-crowded prayer area. The students, my
younger brothers, have become my teachers and rightly correct me
when I make mistakes. In the downtown mosque I have moved from
the back rows to the front row and am now a regular. Workers,
businessmen, officials, young, and old, we pray together in the
unity of Islam that recognizes no classes, no ethnic groups, no
races, no borders. Towards the end of the summer of 2003, I went
for a month's vacation in eastern Saudi Arabia. My Bedouin
brothers said that I should perform the Umrah (the lesser
pilgrimage). In a matter of hours, I was on an airplane from
Dammam to Jeddah. When the pilot announced that in ten minutes we
would cross the miqat, the line at which one must don the
ceremonial robes, tears flowed and I cried like I have never
cried before. Mecca, the Great
Mosque, the Ka'aba, the tawaf (circumambulation), the sa'iy (running
between the hills of Safa and Marwa), the cutting of my hair were
all truly beyond words Never have I experienced or even imagined
anything like the `Umrah, and then the praying and the sitting
and the thinking in the Great Mosque. Islam does not belong to me.
Islam does not belong to the reader. Islam belongs to Allah,
Exalted is He! Perhaps my real journey is just now beginning - in
sha' Allah (God willing) I feel the pain of the Muslim nation and
I also sense hope and the seeds of victory. My ears are open, for
the first time in a long time - perhaps the first time ever. I
hear the call of da'wa (invitation to Allah). I am not anti-American,
as one might think from some of the things I said above. am an
American though my home is in Egypt. My ancestors were among the
first European settlers in Virginia and the first Anglo settlers
in Texas. They had escaped religious bigotry and political
oppression and strove to create a new society with respect and
freedom for all human beings, according to the Scriptures
available to them. I follow in their tradition. They migrated
across oceans and continents and so have I. They followed the
Holy Bible. They did not know the Holy Qur'an. But thanks to
Allah, I am privileged to know it, and it is thus my duty to help
spread the Message communicated therein. My mother was a daughter
of the American Revolution, and years ago when told her about
Allah she was sure that He and her God are one and the same.
There is hope that America will be saved, not from, but by
Muslims - sha' Allah. There is a lot of work for us Muslims to do
and long roads to travel and not only in (or even mainly in)
America, but throughout the world.
Allah Akbar!
Dr. Jeffrey Land is an associate professor of Mathematics at the University of Kansas, one of the biggest university in the United States. He started his religious journey on Jan 30, 1954, when he was born in a Roman Catholic family in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The first 18 years of his life were spent in Catholic schools, which left him with many unanswered questions about God and the Christian religion, Lang said, as he narrated his story of Islam. “Like most kids back in the late 60s and early 70s, I started questioning all the values that we had at those times, political, social and religious,” Lang said. “I rebelled against all the institutions that society held sacred including the Catholic Church,” he said.
By the time he reached the age of 18, Lang had become a full-fledged atheist. “If there is a God, and he is all merciful and all loving, then why is there suffering on this earth? Why does not He just take us to heaven? Why create all these people to suffer?" Such were the questions that came up in his mind in those days.
As a young lecturer in mathematics at San Francisco University, Lang found his religion where God is finally a reality. That was shown to him by a few of the Muslim friends he had met at the university. “We talked about religion. I asked them my questions, and I was really surprised by how carefully they had thought out their answers,” Lang said.
Dr. Lang met Mahmoud Qandeel, a regal looking Saudi student who attracted the attention of the entire class the moment he walked in. When Lang asked a question about medical research, Qandeel answered the question in perfect English and with great self assurance. Everyone knew Qandeel-the mayor, the police chief and the common people. Together the professor and the student went to all the glittering places where “there was no joy or happiness, only laughter.” Yet at the end Qandeel surprisingly gave him a copy of the Qur’an and some books on Islam. Lang read the Qur’an on his own, found his way to the student-run prayer hall at the university, and basically surrendered without much struggle. He was conquered by the Qur’an. The first two chapters are an account of that encounter and it is a fascinating one.
“Painters can make the eyes of a portrait appear to be following you from one place to another, but which author can write a scripture that anticipates your daily vicissitudes?... Each night I would formulate questions and objections and somehow discover the answer the next day. It seemed that the author was reading my ideas and writing in the appropriate lines in time for my next reading. I have met myself in its pages...”
Lang performs the daily five-time prayers regularly and finds much spiritual satisfaction. He finds the Fajr (pre-dawn) prayer as one of the most beautiful and moving rituals in Islam. “It is as if you temporarily leave this world and communicate with the angels in singing God’s praises before dawn.”
To the question how he finds it so captivating when the recitation of the Qur’an is in Arabic, which is totally foreign to him, he responds; “Why is a baby comforted by his mother’s voice?” He said reading the Qur’an gave him a great deal of comfort and strength in difficult times. From there on, faith was a matter of practice for Lang’s spiritual growth.
On the other hand, Lang pursued a career in mathematics. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees from Purdue University. Lang said that he had always been fascinated by mathematics. “Maths is logical. It consists of using facts and figures to find concrete answers,” Lang said. “That is the way my mind works, and it is frustrating when I deal with things that do not have concrete answerers.” Having a mind that accepts ideas on their factual merit makes believing in a religion difficult because most religions require acceptance by faith, he said. The Muslim religion appeals to man’s reasoning, he said.
As faculty advisor for the Muslim Student Association, Lang said he viewed himself as the liaison between the student and their universities. He gets approval from university authorities to hold Islamic lectures. “The object of being their faculty advisor is to help them get their needs met as far as adjusting to the American culture and to procedures of the university. They appreciate the opportunity to have misconceptions corrected,” he said.
Lang married a Saudi Muslim woman, Raika, 12 years ago. Lang has written several Islamic books which are best sellers among the Muslim community in the US. One of his important books is “Even Angels ask; A journey to Islam in America”. In this book, Dr. Lang shares with his readers the many insights that have unfolded for him through his self discovery and progress within the religion of Islam. (Arab News)
I am Fathima Liebenberg, a white Muslim woman converted to Islam in 1995. I am very proud to say! I am a Muslim, but if it was not for my son I would never have been a Muslim. For me it was a hard and long struggle because it cost me my job, friends and family.
My life before Islam
I was a very pious Christian who went to the Pentecostal churches. I used to collect the street children and take them to the church and Sunday school. My life consisted only of reading and studying the bible, until my son told me about Islam.
My son came home one day and said, "Mummy! Why don't you become a Muslim?' I was shocked at the very idea and said, "Never'.
He said, "Mummy! Islam is such a pure and clean religion, they pray five times a day'.
That is when I decided to read the books and the translation of the Noble Quran (http://www.quraan.com/Noble/Default.asp). The more I read the Quran, the more I was convinced that Islam was for me. I turned to Allah and finally I found peace and tranquillity. I hid it from my family until one day I decided to phone my brother and tell him I was now a Muslim.
My brother was so shocked, because we were very devoted and pious Christians, and I was the only one to be converted to Islam. My family phoned me about a year ago and told me never to contact them again as I now was no longer their sister. I love my family very much and miss them but I know one day we will meet again. Insha Allah.
I was so happy when I received my 'Muslim Identity Card' that I felt like standing on the roof tops and shouting out to the world that I am a Muslim. I lost my family, but gained a new family in Islam. My new family, the Muslims, were so wonderful, I cannot express it. I would like to make special mention of my appreciation to the Fakrodeen family of Prince Edward St. I love you who treated me as if I was part of the family, May Allah reward you all.
Appa Tasneem Jazakallah, when I am in your Madrasah with all the little ones, it feels like I am in Jannah surrounded by little angels. I am so happy that Allah Taala has chosen me to be a Muslim.
I have worn the Hijaab since I became a Muslim and will never take it out. My only wish is to go to Macca even though I doubt that it will be possible but Insha Allah, one day Allah will provide me with the means to reach there. Each time I want to be closer to Allah, I read the Sunnats of our Beloved Prophet (SAW).
Paper will not be enough for everything that I wish to tell you about Islam. I also want to say Jazakumullah to the Kazi family, and I would like to thank our Ulamas of the Jamiatul Ulama (KZN). And to our brother Ahmad Deedat who is so ill. May Allah Taala cure you and return you back to all of us.
Islam is a way of life. Islam means peace and a Muslim is one who strives for peace through his submission to Allah Taala. A Muslim's first duty is to Allah the Almighty and it is out of your deep love for Allah that your duties become acts of devotion.
It is no easy task for me as a white Muslim lady, living
amongst Christians, but I keep my head
up high and I am so very proud to be a Muslim. So, my dear brothers and sisters if you are
born Muslim but have not been a dutiful one it is
not too late. If you have not started yet, you can start tomorrow
or even tonight.
Brothers and sisters, as Muslims, keep
your heads up high and show the world that you are proud to
be Muslims.
Yours Sister-in-Islam, Fathima Lienberg
My journey to Islaam
Mowakil
Bismillahir-rahmanir-raheem
As-salaamu alaykom wa rahmat-Allaahi wa barakaatuhu to my
brothers and sisters in Islaam
How did an anglo-celtic man, who lived a regulation average life
in the western world, whose knowledge of religion was gleaned
from ‘Sunday school” as a kid, come to accept Islaam?
Al-hamdu lillaahi Rabbil-`Aalameen, All the praise is due to
Allah, the Rabb of Aalamin - mankind, jinn and all that exists.
It was completely the result of the great Mercy of Allah, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful. This is my story, as a way of praise to
Allah Most Gracious, Most Merciful, for His Love for me and His
Mercy to me and setting me on a journey out of the darkness that
is this world into the light that is Islaam. And hopefully a
means by which other seekers, may come to realize Who it is that
is missing in our lives.
And again and again and again, Al-hamdu lillaahi Rabbil-`Aalameen,
All the praise is due to Allah, the Rabb of Alamin - mankind,
jinn and all that exists, that Allah Subhaanahu wa Taalaa guided
me to Islaam:
Whomever Allah wills to guide, He opens his chest to Islaam Surat
Al-An'am (The Cattle) 6:125
My life was the regular kafir fare - christian by birth
certificate and ’sunday school’ only. Wife, kids, cat & a
dog etc. But there came a point in my life I realised only God
could make sense of this life for me. So I recited what I was
taught in ‘sunday school’ - 'The Lord's Prayer' which I
recited over and over with a special prayer thrown in: "If
you are really real, please show me."
That was some ten years ago now. From that moment I spent seven
long years peeking in every nook and cranny searching for God,
searching for the secret of life. My search was an inward journey.
I never discussed my quest nor religion with anyone, except my ex-family,
who concurred that I was slowly going insane.
Not once in all that time did I notice the word, Islaam or Allah
(Subhaanahu wa Taalaa) or Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihee Wassalam).
Islaam was never considered. My search for God took me to many
highs and many times of intense fear.
Then, one day, we finally got the internet at home. And I was
introduced to a thing called a search engine. It had this small
panel where you could type in some words and then click on a
button called 'enter' and would search the whole world over for
the answer to your question. Late that night when all were in
bed;
>Power up computer
>select - 'search engine'
>type in biblical and religious parameters
>click on 'enter'
>and up comes page after page after page of -
>HUH ?? What ?? ISLAAM ??
>Picks a web-page
>HUH ?? What ?? The Holy Qur'an ??
>Sura Baqarah (The Cow) opens
>and all I read was;
>"This is the Book; in it is guidance sure without doubt
to those who fear Allah."
>I exclaimed.....ah-ha !!!
>Found you!!!
:::::::::::::::::::::
Seven long years and it finally was over, I had found the secret
to life.
Ash-hadu ala ilaha illal-Lah wa-ash-hadu anna Muhammadur
rasulullah. (I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of
worship but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the servant
and messenger of Allah.)
Allah has revealed the most beautiful message, a Book consistent
in its verses yet repeating its teachings in different ways.
Those who fear their Rabb are filled with awe when they hear it,
their skins and their hearts become pliant to the remembrance of
Allah. Such is the guidance of Allah: He guides with it whom He
pleases. But he to whom He confounds shall have none to guide him.
Az-Zumar 39:23
Al-hamdu lillaahi Rabbil-`Aalameen All the praise is due to
Allah, the Rabb of Alamin - mankind, jinn and all that exists, I
am muslim three full Islamic years a couple of days after next
Eid, in shaa Allah. What a time that was. To enter into Islaam
when every single muslim on the planet was filled to the brim
with 'Deen'. Ramadan had just finished and everyone I met was
'high' on the spirit of Islaam. It seemed as if I was on another
world, far, far away.
I announced to my ex-family that I had accepted Islaam. They
would fly into a rage when I made wudu (washing for prayer)
claiming it to be some satanic ritual, and especially when they
would see me in sajud (kneeling on the floor with face on the
ground). It wasn't long before I heard those words;
"Get out of our lives and take your precious Allah with you."
I packed a small suitcase, grabbed my pillow and walked out of
that nightmare world. I walked away with dignity from my ex-wife,
my ex-children, my ex-house, my ex-business and my ex-life. But I
still got me mum although she has said I am not to mention
religion. May Allah Subhaanahu wa Taalaa open her heart one day.
Make dua'a for her please.
I slept in the car for a couple of nights then walked into the
House Rental Agency:
"I'm sorry." he said. "We have had a big rush over
the last week. We only have three vacancies left in the whole
town. Two are large houses and out of your price-range, so that
leaves you with only a choice of one." I took the door-key
and went to have a look.
Alhamdulillaahi Rabbil 'Aalameen -All thanks and praise is due to
Allah, Rabb (Lord) of the worlds and all that exists.
When only one choice is available to you there is no way you can
pick and choose your next-door neighbors. My new neighbors?
Muslims, in large numbers and a beautiful green-domed masjid (mosque).
And again, Alhamdulillaahi Rabbil 'Aalameen, All thanks and
praise is due to Allah, Rabb (Lord) of the worlds and all that
exists.
I spent my first year with Tableegh (islamic missionaries). They
were the closest I could find to 'deen' at the time. Something
was 'missing' still. I liked there stories and lessons in seerah
and sunnah, it made my eman rise. The other parts though left me
flat. Alhamdulillaahi Rabbil 'Aalameen, All thanks and praise is
due to Allah, Rabb (Lord) of the worlds and all that exists,
Allah Subhaanahu wa Taalaa opened a way for me to go to Hajj. In
some ways it seemed a little early to go, I didn't understand the
true signifcance of the event. Here's two short memories of Hajj:
In Haraam Shareef - I was sitting on the steps just before you
step down into the open area around the Kaba. I was looking back
towards the door watching people as they came in. Then way over
in the distance three very elderly people caught my eye. Two
women and a man. They were of tartar appearance and I imagined
them to be husband, wife and sister. There's a story that when
you enter Haraam shareef for the first time, one should avoid
looking upon the Kaba until you get as close as you can. Then
when you finally look up and see Kaba make Dua'a and it is said
Allah will surely answer your prayer.
Now the sisters had their eyes shut tight and were trying to
carry this through and the man was acting as a guide and helping
them through the crowd while trying not to look up at Kaba.
Closer and closer they came until they stood right in front of me!
Imagine, they could have been praying for this moment for maybe
sixty years. They looked terribly poor and probably spent their
life savings to come. My eyes never left their faces. When they
stopped in front of me they looked up for their first sight of
the Kaba. What a magic moment. Tears flooded their eyes and
rolled down their cheeks like rivers flowing and I cried with
them. They were trying to make dua'a and clutched at their
throats but only emotion came out.
The second memory from Hajj was my dua'a. "Allahumma; please
bestow on me forgiveness, beneficial knowledge and a pious wife."
Three weeks back from Hajj and I was told, I have someone I want
you to meet. Alhamdulillaahi Rabbil 'Aalameen All thanks and
praise is due to Allah, Rabb (Lord) of the worlds and all that
exists. I am married 18 months now. She is an Alim, Hafeez Qur'an
(memorised Qur'an by heart), my teacher, my family, my wife, my
lover, my mother and my best friend.
Whomever Allah wills to guide, He opens his chest to Islaam Surat
Al-An'am (The Cattle) 6:125
So let this be a reminder that anyone who truly seeks Allah
sincerely from his heart, he will find Him and much, much more
than he can ever imagine.
Anas bin Malik Al-Ansari (May Allah be pleased with him) the
servant of the Messenger of Allah narrated: Messenger of Allah (Peace
and blessing be upon him) said: "Verily, Allah is more
pleased with the repentance of His slave than a person who has
his camel in a waterless desert carrying his provision of food
and drink and it is lost. He, having lost all hopes (to get that
back), lies down in shade and is disappointed about his camel;
when all of a sudden he finds that camel standing before him. He
takes hold of its reins and then out of boundless joy blurts out:
'O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Rabb'.He commits this
mistake out of extreme joy". - (Muslim)
And your Rabb says: "Call on Me, I will answer your prayers.
Surely those who are too arrogant to worship Me shall soon enter
hell in humiliation." Surat Ghafir 40:60
The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on Him by them.
Surat Al-A'Raf 7:180
So as you see, he answered my prayer, "If you are really
real, please show me."
And never despair of Allah's mercy.
WasSalaamu alaykom wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh to my brothers
and sisters in Islaam
More links for new muslims: www.convertstoislam.org -