Your Journey to Islam; Fullyveiled Muslimah, Mujahid Mohammed...

[Sahar]

Assalamu alikum warahmatullah wa barakatuh:
"Allah chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, and guides to Himself those who turn (to Him)." Surah 42

When i read, hear or watch the stories of (conversion) to Islam, the first thing comes to my mind the above words of Allah. And i feel not only those who convert (revert) are blessed but also who hear, watch them; when i see them, wallahy i can't hold my tears and i feel as they are telling me that the truth is very valuable, that Islam is a gift and mercy which if we spent our whole life thanking our Creator for, it wouldn't be enough. I feel how our new muslims brothers and sisters are so sincere and subhan Allah, many of them serve Allah and Islam more than any of us.

Just yesterday, i knew that Fullyveiled Muslimah has an experience with reverting to Islam and i knew before that brother Mujahid Mohammed shares the same experience so i felt that i want too much to know their stories and surely we will learn precious lessons from them.

Sister Fullyveiled Muslimah and brother Mujahid Mohammed, iam very interested to know ur stories of reverting to Islam, and every single detail please

And if there are any muslims on RF share the same experience, don't hesitate to tell us about.

 

[fullyveiled muslimah]

Well I warned you I am long-winded on this issue, but you did ask......

Well, I was born and raised in a christian family. My grandparents were from the south, and all of their children were raised in the church. My grandfather was a minister who founded the church we went to. My mother was very cevout christian woman, who raised us as such. I was very contented to follow in this path until the age of 14. It was at this time that I began to have questions about the logic of the trinity. I remember specifically I was watching a PBS special on idol worship. The people I saw were worshipping everything from rats, to cows, to penises and vaginas, totem poles, to people. It struck me as odd how they were worshipping a person. I remember thinking to myself that I did not worship a person. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, right there on the sofa. Did I worship a man too? Is Jesus a man? If so, is it okay to worship him like I was doing? What about my mom, dad, aunts and uncles? They are all doing this. I began to read the bible very closely form top to bottom. It was a little hard to understand even though I can read shakespearian writing fairly well. When it got to the NT, I saw nowhere where Jesus expressly proclaimed that he was God and that all should worship him. I tried and tried to find it, but I couldn't. I was afriad to bring this to my mom because I knew she would not approve. I knew she would just say that I must believe it. So I started my own personal investigation which was to last 4 years.

I was raised reading the KJV of the bible, and I wondered why there must be a King James version. I wondered who he was and why he was so special as to have a whole version of God's word dedicated to him. Admittedly, I didn't find much about him, but what I did find wasn't good. After a year of searching I decided that I would secretly approach my pastor for an explanation of the concept of the trinity. For all of his lengthy speech, he never once said anything coherent. I understood nothing. I was confused so I thought that trinity must be false, since it is too hard to comprehend. It was then that I decided that I was not a christian anymore, since the word implied a worship of Jesus which I no longer subscribed to. My mother began to sense something wrong. Upon her insistance I told her of my studies. Well, I got a beating for that and she made me go to church even more. Looking back, I don't blame her for that. She was genuinely afraid for my soul, so I can't get mad.

Since I could sing very well, she made me join the choir and the youth club at church. Since I love to sing I didn't mind that part, but she could've kept that youth club stuff. I have always been an outcast person, never one to fit in the in crowd. It is hard for me to get along with others, because I am anti-social, a bit of an invert, a loner, and am very quiet in person. I didn't get along with them at all. I sang the sings with no real enthusiasm or belief in what I was saying. I sang because it was sensational, everyone loved my singing, and it was cool to be on stage performing. I still loved Jesus, but I was convinced he was not God, and therefore I felt apart from the rest of the church-goers.

I was 15 when I began to write poetry. Most of it dealt with my personal spiritual journey. I'll post one, but remember I was young so don't laugh at me. I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about it:

Somber Soliloquoy​

Marching to the everlasting drone of the masses of corrupt malicious drums
The drums of ignorance and want
Send its fork-tongued messege to spread over the mind
Of the so-called upright man,
The righteous man,
The God fearing man
The aware of satan man.
Man is so aware of satan that
He follows him willingly
Unwillingly
In a somber soliloquoy​

Do I march in that most somber a band?
Should I?
My soliloquoy is the soliloquoy of
The most hungry soul
Hungry for the knowledge of God
Good and evil
Knowledge enough to be aware of the drums
But don't follow
Don't follow
The rythm of the deceitful drums​

Ok, when you're done laughing we can continue yes?​

So anyway, I thought to myself the best way to learn the truth was to ask God directly. Before I became determined to find God, I threw Him away. It lasted all of about 6 months trying to be an atheist. The reason I did that was because I was afraid that if I was wrong somehow about the trinity deal, than it is better for me to believe nothing. Having to reject trinity was a little traumatic for me but I had to do it. I had to make myself a clean slate. That's where trying to be an atheist came from. I was trying to start from scratch if you will. I began to get into afro-centrism. Basically getting to know about the history of black people and all that. I learned alot, but did not get any peace from it. One book that I acquired during that period was called Nile Civilizations or something like that. In it, were acounts of stories that were eerily similar to the Jesus son of God story. I cried. I didn't want to associate a thing that I held as a truth with a thing that I held as a myth. I could not refuse my logic though. It was there in black and white.​

After getting a bit into science, I decided the all evidence pointed to the existance of God. I was 16 at that time. I decided that the only way to get to the bottom of it was to ask God for the truth directly. If I remained without guidance it would be safe to assume that God is not real and therefore I would have been forced by logic and experience to g o back to being an atheist. I requested God that He not send any human representative to me at all. I wanted only pure guidance, and I remember crying many nights and begging to be guided right. The reason I made this request was because my own mother was misguiding me albeit without bad intent. What would a stranger do to me? I couldn't risk it.​

I began to do a little study of eastern religions. I am impressed with asian people in general, and I think many of their teachings are very good. Hinduism, Taoism, Budhism, and the sayings of Confusious (sp?) didn't strike me as a total comprehensive truth. I figure they might have elements of truth, but I was not interested in partials.​

FF to my first year of college. I was 18 and a floater. I had no religion but believed that God was real. I purposely stayed away from Islam. I simply wsn't interested in it, but I knew that if I was going to be fair in my search for truth, I had to at least learn something about it. I dabbled around in runway modeling in college for a while. I was good at it, but not particularly interested in it as a career. When it got going in a very serious direction, I left it alone. I began to investigate Islam. I often went to a thrift/boutique type store for my clothing. The lady that ran the place was very nice. We got into conversation and I told her that I was looking into religions and she happened to have two books on Islam. She gave them to me freely. One book was Forty Hadith Qudsi, and the other was a book only containing the words and meanings of kalimah tayyiba and kalima shahadah. This was only hidayyat although I was unaware of that at the time. As I read Forty Hadith Qudsi it hit me like another ton of bricks. I felt like I did the first day I realized I was worship Jesus when I shouldn't have been only in reverse. This time I felt as though I had struck my mark. Oddly I could not utter the words of kalima which made me sad. It was in arabic and translit, but not in english so I didn't know what it said.​

So then I got internet savvy. I went to the web and found info on Islam. By the grace of Allah, the info was good. I read about the prophet and most importantly about Allah. I was staunch against any form of idolatry big or small, so Islam's strict form of monotheism was music to my ears. The first islamic web site I ever visited was islamicity.com. I haven't went there since, but I hope it still have good info on Islam. On that site I read what the kalima was supposed to mean. After many weeks I sat in dorm room and cried my eyes out. I could not utter the words of kalima in english or otherwise. Everytime I opened my mouth to say it jumbled words came out. I cried to Allah (by this time I was calling God Allah) to allow me to say what I knew to be true. Would Allah allow me to find the truth and then debar the way for me? I knew that was not God's way. So I told Allah rather boldly, that if He is Allah and this is the truth then He will allow me to say it. If I cannot say then He is not Allah and I will not believe. That was real bold wasn't it huh? Well the words came pouring out of my mouth that instant. I felt a big weight was lifted from me, and burden relieved. I had found Allah and the haqq and the truth........five days before Ramadan!!!!​

 

[Peace]

Sister Fullyveiled Muslimah and brother Mujahid Mohammed, iam very interested to know ur stories of reverting to Islam, and every single detail please

Thank you sister not4me for this interesting thread. I love to hear the stories of people reverting to Islam too

Peace

 

[Peace]

Well I warned you I am long-winded on this issue, but you did ask......

Well, I was born and raised in a christian family. My grandparents were from the south, and all of their children were raised in the church. My grandfather was a minister who founded the church we went to. My mother was very cevout christian woman, who raised us as such. I was very contented to follow in this path until the age of 14. It was at this time that I began to have questions about the logic of the trinity. I remember specifically I was watching a PBS special on idol worship. The people I saw were worshipping everything from rats, to cows, to penises and vaginas, totem poles, to people. It struck me as odd how they were worshipping a person. I remember thinking to myself that I did not worship a person. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, right there on the sofa. Did I worship a man too? Is Jesus a man? If so, is it okay to worship him like I was doing? What about my mom, dad, aunts and uncles? They are all doing this. I began to read the bible very closely form top to bottom. It was a little hard to understand even though I can read shakespearian writing fairly well. When it got to the NT, I saw nowhere where Jesus expressly proclaimed that he was God and that all should worship him. I tried and tried to find it, but I couldn't. I was afriad to bring this to my mom because I knew she would not approve. I knew she would just say that I must believe it. So I started my own personal investigation which was to last 4 years.

I was raised reading the KJV of the bible, and I wondered why there must be a King James version. I wondered who he was and why he was so special as to have a whole version of God's word dedicated to him. Admittedly, I didn't find much about him, but what I did find wasn't good. After a year of searching I decided that I would secretly approach my pastor for an explanation of the concept of the trinity. For all of his lengthy speech, he never once said anything coherent. I understood nothing. I was confused so I thought that trinity must be false, since it is too hard to comprehend. It was then that I decided that I was not a christian anymore, since the word implied a worship of Jesus which I no longer subscribed to. My mother began to sense something wrong. Upon her insistance I told her of my studies. Well, I got a beating for that and she made me go to church even more. Looking back, I don't blame her for that. She was genuinely afraid for my soul, so I can't get mad.

Since I could sing very well, she made me join the choir and the youth club at church. Since I love to sing I didn't mind that part, but she could've kept that youth club stuff. I have always been an outcast person, never one to fit in the in crowd. It is hard for me to get along with others, because I am anti-social, a bit of an invert, a loner, and am very quiet in person. I didn't get along with them at all. I sang the sings with no real enthusiasm or belief in what I was saying. I sang because it was sensational, everyone loved my singing, and it was cool to be on stage performing. I still loved Jesus, but I was convinced he was not God, and therefore I felt apart from the rest of the church-goers.

I was 15 when I began to write poetry. Most of it dealt with my personal spiritual journey. I'll post one, but remember I was young so don't laugh at me. I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about it:

Somber Soliloquoy​

Marching to the everlasting drone of the masses of corrupt malicious drums
The drums of ignorance and want
Send its fork-tongued messege to spread over the mind
Of the so-called upright man,
The righteous man,
The God fearing man
The aware of satan man.
Man is so aware of satan that
He follows him willingly
Unwillingly
In a somber soliloquoy​

Do I march in that most somber a band?
Should I?
My soliloquoy is the soliloquoy of
The most hungry soul
Hungry for the knowledge of God
Good and evil
Knowledge enough to be aware of the drums
But don't follow
Don't follow
The rythm of the deceitful drums​

Ok, when you're done laughing we can continue yes?​

So anyway, I thought to myself the best way to learn the truth was to ask God directly. Before I became determined to find God, I threw Him away. It lasted all of about 6 months trying to be an atheist. The reason I did that was because I was afraid that if I was wrong somehow about the trinity deal, than it is better for me to believe nothing. Having to reject trinity was a little traumatic for me but I had to do it. I had to make myself a clean slate. That's where trying to be an atheist came from. I was trying to start from scratch if you will. I began to get into afro-centrism. Basically getting to know about the history of black people and all that. I learned alot, but did not get any peace from it. One book that I acquired during that period was called Nile Civilizations or something like that. In it, were acounts of stories that were eerily similar to the Jesus son of God story. I cried. I didn't want to associate a thing that I held as a truth with a thing that I held as a myth. I could not refuse my logic though. It was there in black and white.​

After getting a bit into science, I decided the all evidence pointed to the existance of God. I was 16 at that time. I decided that the only way to get to the bottom of it was to ask God for the truth directly. If I remained without guidance it would be safe to assume that God is not real and therefore I would have been forced by logic and experience to g o back to being an atheist. I requested God that He not send any human representative to me at all. I wanted only pure guidance, and I remember crying many nights and begging to be guided right. The reason I made this request was because my own mother was misguiding me albeit without bad intent. What would a stranger do to me? I couldn't risk it.​

I began to do a little study of eastern religions. I am impressed with asian people in general, and I think many of their teachings are very good. Hinduism, Taoism, Budhism, and the sayings of Confusious (sp?) didn't strike me as a total comprehensive truth. I figure they might have elements of truth, but I was not interested in partials.​

FF to my first year of college. I was 18 and a floater. I had no religion but believed that God was real. I purposely stayed away from Islam. I simply wsn't interested in it, but I knew that if I was going to be fair in my search for truth, I had to at least learn something about it. I dabbled around in runway modeling in college for a while. I was good at it, but not particularly interested in it as a career. When it got going in a very serious direction, I left it alone. I began to investigate Islam. I often went to a thrift/boutique type store for my clothing. The lady that ran the place was very nice. We got into conversation and I told her that I was looking into religions and she happened to have two books on Islam. She gave them to me freely. One book was Forty Hadith Qudsi, and the other was a book only containing the words and meanings of kalimah tayyiba and kalima shahadah. This was only hidayyat although I was unaware of that at the time. As I read Forty Hadith Qudsi it hit me like another ton of bricks. I felt like I did the first day I realized I was worship Jesus when I shouldn't have been only in reverse. This time I felt as though I had struck my mark. Oddly I could not utter the words of kalima which made me sad. It was in arabic and translit, but not in english so I didn't know what it said.​

So then I got internet savvy. I went to the web and found info on Islam. By the grace of Allah, the info was good. I read about the prophet and most importantly about Allah. I was staunch against any form of idolatry big or small, so Islam's strict form of monotheism was music to my ears. The first islamic web site I ever visited was islamicity.com. I haven't went there since, but I hope it still have good info on Islam. On that site I read what the kalima was supposed to mean. After many weeks I sat in dorm room and cried my eyes out. I could not utter the words of kalima in english or otherwise. Everytime I opened my mouth to say it jumbled words came out. I cried to Allah (by this time I was calling God Allah) to allow me to say what I knew to be true. Would Allah allow me to find the truth and then debar the way for me? I knew that was not God's way. So I told Allah rather boldly, that if He is Allah and this is the truth then He will allow me to say it. If I cannot say then He is not Allah and I will not believe. That was real bold wasn't it huh? Well the words came pouring out of my mouth that instant. I felt a big weight was lifted from me, and burden relieved. I had found Allah and the haqq and the truth........five days before Ramadan!!!!​

Alhamdulillah!!
Your story brought tears to my eyes sister. You were sincere in your quest and thus Allah the Merciful guided you to His everlasting light! Alhamdulillah!!!

Salam,
Peace

 

[jezh]

marshallah sister.
welcome to islam, may allah bring you joy & happiness in to your life.
Which country are you from???
the ending of your story is like a miracle to me its really similar to the prophet(saw) story of when the prophet(saw) who is illetarate is told to read & says he cant but eventually with the 3rd asking the prophet(saw) started reading.
marshallah you are blessed to have received this gift.

 

[Sahar]

Well I warned you I am long-winded on this issue, but you did ask......

Well, I was born and raised in a christian family. My grandparents were from the south, and all of their children were raised in the church. My grandfather was a minister who founded the church we went to. My mother was very cevout christian woman, who raised us as such. I was very contented to follow in this path until the age of 14. It was at this time that I began to have questions about the logic of the trinity. I remember specifically I was watching a PBS special on idol worship. The people I saw were worshipping everything from rats, to cows, to penises and vaginas, totem poles, to people. It struck me as odd how they were worshipping a person. I remember thinking to myself that I did not worship a person. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, right there on the sofa. Did I worship a man too? Is Jesus a man? If so, is it okay to worship him like I was doing? What about my mom, dad, aunts and uncles? They are all doing this. I began to read the bible very closely form top to bottom. It was a little hard to understand even though I can read shakespearian writing fairly well. When it got to the NT, I saw nowhere where Jesus expressly proclaimed that he was God and that all should worship him. I tried and tried to find it, but I couldn't. I was afriad to bring this to my mom because I knew she would not approve. I knew she would just say that I must believe it. So I started my own personal investigation which was to last 4 years.

I was raised reading the KJV of the bible, and I wondered why there must be a King James version. I wondered who he was and why he was so special as to have a whole version of God's word dedicated to him. Admittedly, I didn't find much about him, but what I did find wasn't good. After a year of searching I decided that I would secretly approach my pastor for an explanation of the concept of the trinity. For all of his lengthy speech, he never once said anything coherent. I understood nothing. I was confused so I thought that trinity must be false, since it is too hard to comprehend. It was then that I decided that I was not a christian anymore, since the word implied a worship of Jesus which I no longer subscribed to. My mother began to sense something wrong. Upon her insistance I told her of my studies. Well, I got a beating for that and she made me go to church even more. Looking back, I don't blame her for that. She was genuinely afraid for my soul, so I can't get mad.

Since I could sing very well, she made me join the choir and the youth club at church. Since I love to sing I didn't mind that part, but she could've kept that youth club stuff. I have always been an outcast person, never one to fit in the in crowd. It is hard for me to get along with others, because I am anti-social, a bit of an invert, a loner, and am very quiet in person. I didn't get along with them at all. I sang the sings with no real enthusiasm or belief in what I was saying. I sang because it was sensational, everyone loved my singing, and it was cool to be on stage performing. I still loved Jesus, but I was convinced he was not God, and therefore I felt apart from the rest of the church-goers.

I was 15 when I began to write poetry. Most of it dealt with my personal spiritual journey. I'll post one, but remember I was young so don't laugh at me. I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about it:

Somber Soliloquoy​

Marching to the everlasting drone of the masses of corrupt malicious drums
The drums of ignorance and want
Send its fork-tongued messege to spread over the mind
Of the so-called upright man,
The righteous man,
The God fearing man
The aware of satan man.
Man is so aware of satan that
He follows him willingly
Unwillingly
In a somber soliloquoy​

Do I march in that most somber a band?
Should I?
My soliloquoy is the soliloquoy of
The most hungry soul
Hungry for the knowledge of God
Good and evil
Knowledge enough to be aware of the drums
But don't follow
Don't follow
The rythm of the deceitful drums​

Ok, when you're done laughing we can continue yes?​

So anyway, I thought to myself the best way to learn the truth was to ask God directly. Before I became determined to find God, I threw Him away. It lasted all of about 6 months trying to be an atheist. The reason I did that was because I was afraid that if I was wrong somehow about the trinity deal, than it is better for me to believe nothing. Having to reject trinity was a little traumatic for me but I had to do it. I had to make myself a clean slate. That's where trying to be an atheist came from. I was trying to start from scratch if you will. I began to get into afro-centrism. Basically getting to know about the history of black people and all that. I learned alot, but did not get any peace from it. One book that I acquired during that period was called Nile Civilizations or something like that. In it, were acounts of stories that were eerily similar to the Jesus son of God story. I cried. I didn't want to associate a thing that I held as a truth with a thing that I held as a myth. I could not refuse my logic though. It was there in black and white.​

After getting a bit into science, I decided the all evidence pointed to the existance of God. I was 16 at that time. I decided that the only way to get to the bottom of it was to ask God for the truth directly. If I remained without guidance it would be safe to assume that God is not real and therefore I would have been forced by logic and experience to g o back to being an atheist. I requested God that He not send any human representative to me at all. I wanted only pure guidance, and I remember crying many nights and begging to be guided right. The reason I made this request was because my own mother was misguiding me albeit without bad intent. What would a stranger do to me? I couldn't risk it.​

I began to do a little study of eastern religions. I am impressed with asian people in general, and I think many of their teachings are very good. Hinduism, Taoism, Budhism, and the sayings of Confusious (sp?) didn't strike me as a total comprehensive truth. I figure they might have elements of truth, but I was not interested in partials.​

FF to my first year of college. I was 18 and a floater. I had no religion but believed that God was real. I purposely stayed away from Islam. I simply wsn't interested in it, but I knew that if I was going to be fair in my search for truth, I had to at least learn something about it. I dabbled around in runway modeling in college for a while. I was good at it, but not particularly interested in it as a career. When it got going in a very serious direction, I left it alone. I began to investigate Islam. I often went to a thrift/boutique type store for my clothing. The lady that ran the place was very nice. We got into conversation and I told her that I was looking into religions and she happened to have two books on Islam. She gave them to me freely. One book was Forty Hadith Qudsi, and the other was a book only containing the words and meanings of kalimah tayyiba and kalima shahadah. This was only hidayyat although I was unaware of that at the time. As I read Forty Hadith Qudsi it hit me like another ton of bricks. I felt like I did the first day I realized I was worship Jesus when I shouldn't have been only in reverse. This time I felt as though I had struck my mark. Oddly I could not utter the words of kalima which made me sad. It was in arabic and translit, but not in english so I didn't know what it said.​

So then I got internet savvy. I went to the web and found info on Islam. By the grace of Allah, the info was good. I read about the prophet and most importantly about Allah. I was staunch against any form of idolatry big or small, so Islam's strict form of monotheism was music to my ears. The first islamic web site I ever visited was islamicity.com. I haven't went there since, but I hope it still have good info on Islam. On that site I read what the kalima was supposed to mean. After many weeks I sat in dorm room and cried my eyes out. I could not utter the words of kalima in english or otherwise. Everytime I opened my mouth to say it jumbled words came out. I cried to Allah (by this time I was calling God Allah) to allow me to say what I knew to be true. Would Allah allow me to find the truth and then debar the way for me? I knew that was not God's way. So I told Allah rather boldly, that if He is Allah and this is the truth then He will allow me to say it. If I cannot say then He is not Allah and I will not believe. That was real bold wasn't it huh? Well the words came pouring out of my mouth that instant. I felt a big weight was lifted from me, and burden relieved. I had found Allah and the haqq and the truth........five days before Ramadan!!!!​

Your story brought tears to my eyes sister.

You are not alone, dear Peace.
Wallahy i don't know what to say, long journey of searching for the truth but God would never waste all this effort, Allah is The Just and The Most Merciful.
Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah!

 

[Sahar]

My dear sister Fullyveiled Muslimah, i have some questions but if you don't want to asnswer them or any of them, no problem at all ;

-After finding the truth, what was the next step you did?
-Were there any obstacles after embracing Islam; i mean from ur family, friends, society?
-How long have you been a muslim?
-I find from your posts that your knoweldge in Islam is masha' Allah excellent, so are you participating in any activity regarding the feild of Da'wah; you know like explaining Islam to non muslims or even muslims?
-How did embracing Islam change your life?
-You know, many muslims are not sticking to the teachings of Islam even the basics, did this affect you after embracing Islam?
-I know that you wear niqab, tell us about it; do you think it's obligatory for the muslim woman if not so why did you choose to wear it?
-Masha' allah ur poem was very beautiful and you said that you are artist so i can guess that ur still writing poetry, if yes why don't you share with us more of your poetry especially from the period following embracing Islam?

So many questions but again there would be no problem if you didnt want to answer them.

 

[fullyveiled muslimah]

After finding the truth, what was the next step you did?

Well, I took shahadah five days before ramadan so I was busy trying to find out about what I needed to do. Also, I had to find out how to make salaat. I did all this from the internet. There were plenty of muslims around me but for whatever reason I couldn't locate any of them to help me.

It's so funny because I had to learn salaat from translit since I couldn't read arabic then, Let me tell my "recitation" was horrific sis. It was only after I learned how to read arabic that I realized how much I had butchered tilawaat of Quran.

I recommend any new non-arabic speaking muslim to learn how to read arabic straightaway. Don't even bother with translit because it sounds funny, and you'll have to re-learn makhraj and learn tajweed rules of quran.

Were there any obstacles after embracing Islam; i mean from ur family, friends, society?

My family hated it. My father disowned me for a year and refused to send me back to college as a form of punishment. My parents eventually came around to accept it after they realized I was serious. My friends turned their backs. I happened to have some christian friends at the time and they left me completely alone. The only friends who kept talking to me were my model friends. I did a couple of shows with them after I accepted Islam, and then I started coaching new girls on their walks and so forth.

I had a boyfriend that I had to break up with immediately. He didn't take it so good but who cares.

How long have you been a muslim?

Ten years

I find from your posts that your knoweldge in Islam is masha' Allah excellent, so are you participating in any activity regarding the feild of Da'wah; you know like explaining Islam to non muslims or even muslims?

Sure I try to keep regular contact with scholars who are reliable. I have traveled to visit muslim sisters out of town on occasion, and alhamdulillah always I have a chance to talk to new muslims, and people who are looking into islam. Because I am talking to these new and very impressionable muslims, I have to make sure what I am saying is authentic deen. For this reason I always try to investigate and study Quran and hadith. By no means am I a scholar though, although I wish to become an alima. The schools are good schools, but I must learn to speak arabic first as many authentic books that scholars learn from are exclusively in arabic not to mention most importantly Quran is in arabic.

How did embracing Islam change your life?

Thats a good question with no simple answer. When I can word it I'll come back to that.

You know, many muslims are not sticking to the teachings of Islam even the basics, did this affect you after embracing Islam?

It only made me angry once I came to realize this. Here Allah has given us the truth in plain language and clear messege, how can we mess that up? Since I came to understand that not all muslims see eye to eye on deen, I started looking into what Islam said. Of course I had to start with Quran. I trust it completely, so any information that could not rationally and reasonably coincide with Quran was thrown away by me. This is what led me to accept hadith. Logically I felt that if I trust what Quran said and it came from the Prophet, then I must also accept what else the prophet says.

I took it to heart what Quran says ask those who know. So I'm a big time questioner of everything I hear. If it sounds too crazy off I go to a scholar and books etc.

I know that you wear niqab, tell us about it; do you think it's obligatory for the muslim woman if not so why did you choose to wear it?

Well the masjid that I lived closest to had alot of sisters coming to it. I always saw that all of them wore niqab. I thought it was so pious looking but I hadn't the guts to wear it. Plus I was very poor so I didn't have many clothes that were Islamically acceptable., and a veil would have just looked stupid.

When I got married I put it on for my nikah. My husband never requested I wear it so it was all up to me. I decided to investigate it. I found enough ayats of Quran and hadith to convince me that it was fardh. Looking into it even further, one scholar told me that in times where there is no chance for fitnah in a society one can remove her face veil. But you know since we live in america there is nothing but fitnah here so it becomes fardh to wear. I have heard both sides from people I consider reliable, but the hadith go a long way in my decision to wear it. If that is how the ummul-mumineen and the prophet of Allah understood hijab, then how can I be in error to follow that. At best I loose nothing to wear it. Even if it were not fardh I still get the reward of practicing a sunnah at a time when sunnah is dead.

Masha' allah ur poem was very beautiful and you said that you are artist so i can guess that ur still writing poetry, if yes why don't you share with us more of your poetry especially from the period following embracing Islam?

Thank you very much. I wasn't sure people would like it. After I embraced Islam I stopped writing poems. I hit an eight year dry spell. Only recently I have begun to write again, but this time my creative juices come out in the form of stories not poems. I'm still pretty good at poetry though. All of my poems are abstract and none of them rhyme.

 

[Mujahid Mohammed]

Asalamu alaikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuh. Well my story is rather long and deals with alot of interesting details. I guess I should start with my background. I grew up in a Christian family in the suburbs down here in Houston Texas. My mom and dad both worked and we went to church often early on. I was raised Epicopalian which is somewhat like Catholic they do communion and other stuff the same as catholics they just did not at my church except the pope as being Christ on earth and they did not deal with the heavenly saints. I was around you know 7 or 8 years old. My father had a problem with alcoholism and like many was very violent and often beligerant because of it. I can remember at a early age asking my mother why the church the place where we were supposed to feel the most peace would allow him to drink the thing that turned him into a monster. We immediatly stopped going to that church and left the Trinity based Epicopalians and joined a Baptist church. Here the ideology changed for now Jesus was no longer God but just the son of God. Me being only 8 or 9 at the time really did not pay to much mind to the switch and just accepted it like everyone else as truth without questioning it. Now after that my life was pretty ordinary I guess.

My mom and dad divorced because of his addiction and abuse. We continued to go to church from time to time nothing real significant happened though until i was about 15. I went to a church with a friend who was a Methodist I think but this preacher or whoever was blasting this other church who happened to be baptist which is what we ascribed to at the time. He cursed them for their belief and said they are going to hell using scriptures because they had deviated from the true teachings of Jesus because they did not accept Jesus as God on earth. So I asked my friends parents about it.

I asked them How can we go to hell when we read the same book they do, the KJV. They really did not give a answer it became a discussion into interpretation and all this other stuff basically changing the subject by bringing up other issues. I told my mom about it and she was also silent and really had no answer for me. So I just left it alone but my confidence in the way churches are run and the people running them was tarnished.

this was the first time I had really understood that there was a difference between Christians and that some groups claim the other is going to hell. It kinda took me aback for a minute and really turned me off from the whole idea of brotherly love amongst Christians. And I realized at an early age that there is some significant disagreement between churches however I never understood why when we all read the same book. I always found it odd that people could just interpret it the way they wanted. But like many I did not question it. Alot of things happened in my life to to make me realize the existence of God. My best friend killed himself, shortly thereafter my girlfriend died in a car accident where unfortunately i was driving. Man that crushed me somemany people turned their backs on me called me a murderer and so on and so on. It was hard on me but I learned self reliance and who were my real friends. Then I witnesses God intervening in my life. I will not give the whole story but a friend of mine pointed a loaded shotgun at me and pulled the trigger the gun did not go off. I jumped up and hit him and told him to quit playing before someone gets hurt. He said Oh, Its not loaded BANG. It goes off hits the girl next to me right in the face splattering alot of her all over me and the couch we were on. Wow, Imagine what I am thinking at 16 years old. A loaded gun is pointed at you the trigger gets pulled and it doesn't go off. The second it is taken off me and held near someone else it goes off. That was a huge fitnah. The girl did not make it sadly and what happened later was my first taste of how the media lies on even small issues. Which later helps me because I got to the point where I did not believe it unless I heard it from that idividual.

Now to speed ahead a little bit. When I got to college in the fall of 94. Everything changed in terms of my spiritual understanding. For when I got to college I tried to maintain my Christian roots my mother gave me so I decided to study religion especially christianity because I just realised that I knew nothing about it origins or anything so I took some classess. Now keep in mind all the things that had happened thusfar. My problems with the church. The girl being killed in front of me. My best friend and girlfriend dieing on me etc. I learned about alot of different religions and ideologies. I read alot of books by Christian scholars and some esoteric books on sprirituality. I had this one professor who was once a Christian who became atheist showed me alot of the problems in terms of validity of the scripture.

Now at the same time this was going on I joined a fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. Now i am not gonna go into the escoteric and masonic nature of this particular organization but what was interesting about it was that all of my frat brothers were freemasons. All of them and the president of the chapter who name I will not mention was a 33rd degree freemason. He dispelled alot of secrets to me for whatever reason. He told me alot about the escoteric nature surrounding the Bible and introduced me to the Kabbalah and told me about the secret priesthood within certain organizations. He gave me alot of secrets to freemasonry and showed me alot of stuff in the bible and other books as well. Well after my college professor, my frat brothers, all these books by scholars and other people, crazy things happening in my life I was convinced that there was problems with the bible definitely and with all religions that I knew of. I questioned whether or not if there was a truth or not. I felt everyone was lying.

But for some reason I still thought that Jesus was the son of God and my saviour. Crazy huh, after all that I still kept the same ideology but rejected the scriptures as a valid testimony of what God or Jesus said. For I looked at them as 2 seperate beings but similar in purpose but not having any real knowledge of Islam.

Now what happed after that was I started getting into trouble. Hanging around the wrong crowd doing things that would get me a lengthy jail sentence details of which i will not go into. But what finally happened to me in terms of my search for the truth. I was always that guy who knew a litte bit about everything. Some things more then others. I loved to study science, philosophy, and religion as well as history and alot of these things is what made me more accepting of the truth I think. Well when I finally came home from my hiadas away I went with a friend to this church where we were to play basketball. Now for whatever reason the floor was not ready yet so this youth minister started asking everyone alittle about themselves. But for some reason when he got to me and now thinking back i cannot even remember how but we got on the subject of religion and what my beliefs were coming from college and many of the guys there were younger then me some still in highschool. We got into this huge discussion and this youth minister could not answer any of my questions in terms of the validity of the Bible and who gave authority to the church and these individuals to change and alter what many referred to as the word of God ie. the Bible. We went around and around. It wound up me and this guy talking while everyone else listened. So after my discussion with him the leader of the church came in and I guess someone went and got him to try and see if he could answer my questions or refute against any of the proofs of non validity concerning Christianity and the bible. You know I hit him with the pagan origins how the story of Jesus in the bible is the same story of Osiris. And how Constantine was a pagan, the councils, the contradictions, the testimony of scholars everything. The church leader was in over his head and realised he had nothing to say and no answers. I found it strange that the most knowledgable amongst them knew less about the origins of his religion then one who does not profess to it. I realized at that point that this was the state of the majority of Christians. Now was I some scholar or something. No way, I was just some 22 year old guy who thought he was a know it all.

So what led me to the truth was that one day many years after all that. I pretty much gave up on trying to search for truth from the people I knew and I kinda developed my own source of spirituality. I believed in God, and I still thought Jesus was his son but not literally. So anyways some years went by and what happeded was I met a guy who introduced me to a brother who happened to be muslim. Well I was at home weighing up some work when this guy came by to my house. Everyone I know was in the music industry at the time and this guy came over to my house and my buddy told me he was muslim. I really did not think about it much. But me and this guy became kinda close so one day just out of the blue litterally I just asked him. So you are a muslim right. He said yes. I said so what is the deal with you guys you know this is after 9/11 and there is a huge fuss over muslims now and me being the inquisitive person I am always wanting to know more asked him to tell me about it becaue I was really ignorant to it. You see in college I was taught that Islam was a moon cult and other crazy ideas. I never had anyone say it wasn't untrue so for somereason I thought that muslims were this moon cult who dealt with black nationalim because of Malcolm X. I thought all muslims were like the nation. How wrong was I. I asked him are you apart of the nation. He said no. I was thinking that is strange I thought muslims were the Nation.

 

[Mujahid Mohammed]

So me and him went into my living room. I fired up a sweet and we talked. The more we talked the more the ridiculous notions about Islam flew out the window. Everything made sense. Prophet who were appointed by God did not commit major sins and they were the best of men. They did eveything God ever asked them. Finally for once the real focus on our worship was now back on God. this is what I felt. I could not understand why Christians worship Jesus when he is just a man. Sure he may have been his son but the only thing he told his disciples was to worship God. The God in the heavens. The Heavenly Father etc. Showed me the scientific miracles and many other things. We talked for hours. We talked about how Allah says in the Quran people changed the books which is what I always thought and then found out was true. Everything he said was the truth and for once in my life I could not argue with him. It just all finally made sense. And then when I asked why Muhammed and learned more about him and his character and more about the Quran and found the descriptions of God to be exactly as I think He is. I became muslim almost immediatly. After the evidence was given. The scientific nature of miracles, the character of the messenger, the eloquence and beauty of the Quran. The righteous nature of the Prophets and Messengers and affirmation in all the things I have seen wrong with the Biblical interpretations of Jesus Messageand the historic impossibilty of him getting it prior knowing what people thought about Arabian culture back then and just my knowledge of Christianity alone. I took my shahadah 4 years ago this coming march.

Now from studying more about others and reading books by only the most knowledgeable on the subject and verifying what I have seen I see Islam is the only truth and realized that some are close but at the same time way off. I attend an Islamic online school but attend on site. arees.org I learn my religion and read about others and try to give dawah to those who are also sincere in their quest for truth. I hope this helps and I hope my story inspires those that when you least expect it. The answers will come. Islam finally answered every question that I have asked to every Christian leader and brother I have met who could never answer any of my questions. Islam has the answer. But in order to recieve the truth your heart must be in a certain condition. I did not go in with all these preconcieved notions I mean I did but this is just what people say. Who cares what people say. The only individuals who do not lie are God and the ones who He appointed to deliver his message from people. God does not make mistakes and He has ultimate power and infinite knowledge. It is impossible to accept anything from anyone if the glass is turned over.

Have a open heart and an open mind. And let the muslims define their belief for you. Stop listening to CNN, FoxNews, Your pastors, Your parents, or any other Non muslim who has a general bias. People hate what they do not understand and most know nothing about Islam or the Prophet. They just go on what they have heard. Do what Allah says in the Quran. If a stranger comes to you with news, verify it lest you should harm the people in ignorance.

Verify it and keep our religion in the context given to us by Allah in the Quran. The context of how Muhammed and his companions interpreted it.

I invite all non muslims to the true success of Islam by worshipping the one true diety who is the only one to be worshipped Allah and His last and final Prophet Muhammed who like all the others before him called his people to the worship of one God. Fear Allah and save yourself from the hellfire. I invite you all to Islam and the peace it has given me in knowing the true purpose of our existence, may Allah give you all guidance and allow your hearts to accept the truth insha Allah.

 

[fullyveiled muslimah]

That was so cool Alhamdulillah. Only four years huh young'n? Well, I would never have guessued that.

Ok question time. You can cut and paste not4me questions and answer them, minus veil questions.

Whats' your nationality? I don't know why but I get the impression you're white. Could be wrong.

How old r u now?

Married?Kids?Brothers or sisters? What do they think of you being a muslim?

If I think of more questions be sure I'll ask.

 

[Mujahid Mohammed]

-After finding the truth, what was the next step you did?

I took my shahadah, and continued learning.

-Were there any obstacles after embracing Islam; i mean from ur family, friends, society?

Of course All kinds, everyone I still deal with it now. My mom, dad ,everybody ,kids grandparents everybody. But I really do not care what and never have cared what people think. I became a stranger to them and did not care. for I know the Haqq.

How long have you been a muslim?

coming up on my fourth year in March. insha Allah.

I find from your posts that your knoweldge in Islam is masha' Allah excellent, so are you participating in any activity regarding the feild of Da'wah; you know like explaining Islam to non muslims or even muslims?

I attend the Arees Islamic Center in Houston. arees.org . I talk to people at my job, online, everyday.

How did embracing Islam change your life?

I was a criminal in many respects but have discontinued a life that was a one way stop in either prison or death. I lived the fast life, women, drugs, money, guns power. You know the village bad guy. People in my area should be thanking Allah for changing a dangerous person's completely around.

You know, many muslims are not sticking to the teachings of Islam even the basics, did this affect you after embracing Islam?

No because as I said, people do what they do. I do not follow people I only follow those God told my to follow and those who follow that principle. These are my role models. I do not care for the entertainment world or things dealing really with the whole hollywood scene. I am not what todays society considers to be normal. My martial arts teacher is muslim and he is not normal we think rather way outside the box. If you are not the Messenger or His companions or the great scholars who dedicated their lives to the study of Islam then I really do not have time for your opinion. Islam is simple, the context is clear and the guidance and path is true. So if some person chooses to do otherwise that is definitely on him and not something I accept. I choose my own path and it is a path defined for my by what Allah says and His beloved Messenger Muhammed may the peace and mercy of Allah be upon him. As I said people do what they do.

So many questions but again there would be no problem if you didnt want to answer them.

I will answer as many as you give me insha Allah.

 

[Mujahid Mohammed]

That was so cool Alhamdulillah. Only four years huh young'n? Well, I would never have guessued that.

Ok question time. You can cut and paste not4me questions and answer them, minus veil questions.

Whats' your nationality? I don't know why but I get the impression you're white. Could be wrong.

I am mixed. Black, white, and indian among others. But many say I look like I am from Morrocco. I do not see how though. But I say I am black.

How old r u now?

30

Married?

eh......yes.

Kids?

Yes, 1 daughter who is 5 will be 6 the 31st and twins who just turned 3 on the 15th.

Brothers or sisters?

1 sister

What do they think of you being a muslim?

they may or may not like it, but who cares.

If I think of more questions be sure I'll ask.

No problem.

 

[Sahar]

Lot of events happened in ur life, brother Mujahid, but at the end alhamdulillah; God led you to the right path and may Allah guid you always to the right path!

And it's really impressing to see how finding the truth is so worthy and it doesn't matter what obstacles you might face as long as the truth is on ur side.

Yes, 1 daughter who is 5 will be 6 the 31st and twins who just turned 3 on the 15th.

Masha Allah, God bless them. If the twins in your avatar are your sons then they are so sweet, hehe, Masha Allah!

I have a question for both of you:
I want to know: did you change your names as many do? if so, why? why changing ur name if it wasn't bad?

 

[fullyveiled muslimah]

I have a question for both of you:
I want to know: did you change your names as many do? if so, why? why changing ur name if it wasn't bad?

I kept my legal name out of pure laziness to change it. I did however "change" it with family and friends. I introduce myself with my "muslim" name....Hakimah Abdur-Rahman Shaheed. My legal has no meaning as far as I know. I thought it better to change my name because I like the way arabic names sound. The words have meaning and I was able to pick a name that best described me. I felt having a muslim name so-to-speak was more befitting for who I am and how I am perceived.

 

[Mujahid Mohammed]

Lot of events happened in ur life, brother Mujahid, but at the end alhamdulillah; God led you to the right path and may Allah guid you always to the right path!

And it's really impressing to see how finding the truth is so worthy and it doesn't matter what obstacles you might face as long as the truth is on ur side.

Masha Allah, God bless them. If the twins in your avatar are your sons then they are so sweet, hehe, Masha Allah!

I have a question for both of you:
I want to know: did you change your names as many do? if so, why? why changing ur name if it wasn't bad?

Asalamu alaikum, Yeah I changed it. Because Islam is everything. When someone who calls me by my name, Mujahid Muhammed Abdul Malik ul Mulk it just feels better after finding the truth of finding Islam. Every muslim strives to be as good a servant to Allah as they can by following the Messenger. I walk, think, and try and be as muslim as I can which carries a certain feeling. You want every part of you to become a part of Islam. You want to embrace every facet of it when a person's heart is soft enough to have the blessing of the mercy of Islam put upon them. That is one part of it. I feel the other part of it is why would I not change my name to names Allah loves. Mujahid - One who struggles[usually in His Path] Muhammed[the best of Mankind] Abdul Malik ul Mulik - Slave of The Eternal Owner of Soverieighty. What better name is there then to when the angels call your name out to Allah subhana wat Allah that they call you his servant and one who struggles in his path. But again honesty if Allah loves these names I mean really it is a no brainer for those who strive to be among the believers.

But that's just a few of the reasons I felt like changing mine.

 

[Sahar]

Beautiful.....iam impressed!

 

[TashaN]

Alsalam Alikum brothers and sisters ...

Sister fullyveiled muslimah and brother Mujahid.

I saved this thread with me to read it always, and i was updating it, when you add somthing.

Honestly, i tried to make a comment or anything like that but i couldn't. I fail to express how i feel when i read what both of you write in here about your journey to Islam.

Your life was full of tragedy, unlike some other muslims who might be born as muslims but they never care about this great deen.

Even though you might love if you were born as muslims but believe it or not, i used to envy those who revert to islam from any other religion, because they have tasted the faleshood and lose before they taste the real happiness and joy in Islam. That's why they are convienced of the religion and they don't care for anyone who choose not to believe or even from those muslims who forgot the path of Allah.

When i see how muslims are today and how much i meet great people like yourself, i can only think of this verse.

[54] O ye who believe! if any from among you turn back from his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him, lowly with the Believers, mighty against the Rejecters, fighting in the Way of Allah, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the Grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He pleaseth. And Allah encompasseth all, and He knoweth all things. (Surah 5)


Thanks to sister not4me for giving us the chance to know more about such great people like sister Hakimah and brother Mujahid. People whom i respect and care alot about, people whom i see as examples for me to follow.

 

[Mujahid Mohammed]

Alsalam Alikum brothers and sisters ...

Sister fullyveiled muslimah and brother Mujahid.

I saved this thread with me to read it always, and i was updating it, when you add somthing.

Honestly, i tried to make a comment or anything like that but i couldn't. I fail to express how i feel when i read what both of you write in here about your journey to Islam.

Your life was full of tragedy, unlike some other muslims who might be born as muslims but they never care about this great deen.

Even though you might love if you were born as muslims but believe it or not, i used to envy those who revert to islam from any other religion, because they have tasted the faleshood and lose before they taste the real happiness and joy in Islam. That's why they are convienced of the religion and they don't care for anyone who choose not to believe or even from those muslims who forgot the path of Allah.

When i see how muslims are today and how much i meet great people like yourself, i can only think of this verse.

[54] O ye who believe! if any from among you turn back from his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him, lowly with the Believers, mighty against the Rejecters, fighting in the Way of Allah, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the Grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He pleaseth. And Allah encompasseth all, and He knoweth all things. (Surah 5)

Masha Allah, You know it took me almost 27 years to find the Real. I practice a real art which took me 27 years to find and my religion. I have seen alot of martial arts in my life, but very, very few are given this Royal art. And when you see this art and you have any knowlege you will realize that this is a superior art. The same is said for the knowledge and guidance of the best life, given in a manual which is a representation of the complete and best way of life which is Islam from the Quran which instructs us to listen to the wisdom and knowledge of the Unseen from the one whom Allah chose to give this blessed mercy of guidance, who had the most noble character, our beloved Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him. Whom Allah sent to us as a mercy to warn us from the Punishment of Hellfire and guide us to the Infinite Blessing of Paradise which I and every Muslim invite every non muslim to this unbelievable understanding of why we were created and and how wonderful our Creator is when you give Him the rights which only He deserves so that He may bless you in this life and in the next and save you and your families from the Punishment of Hellfire should you reject the invitation.

Thanks to sister not4me for giving us the chance to know more about such great people like sister Hakimah and brother Mujahid. People whom i respect and care alot about, people whom i see as examples for me to follow.

Hey all of you guys are great, and my example is to be as to the best of my ability as close to the teachings of our Prophet so if anything I say you agree with then go and learn it from our beloved Messenger.


[side note] And this is something all of us Muslim and non Muslim can learn together and I feel we should especially on these forums no one really knows or has explained in extreme details the Ahklaq of the Prophet. For I really feel that people do not know what are these noble manners that the profit possessed and the example we are all to follow in the context of the Quran and Sunnah. I may need your help Truth but I think we should start a Post about the Akhlaq of a True Muslim. What do you think?

 

[Random]

Masha Allah, You know it took me almost 27 years to find the Real. I practice a real art which took me 27 years to find and my religion.

What do you mean by this statement? Could you elabourate a little, maybe?