An introduction and explanation...

[KittyKat]

Many Blessings to you all!

Ok so since I've been lurking and posting for the past couple of days I thought it was time to make an official introduction post.

In another thread a member posted a revert story for me to read and I thought I would carry an excerpt from it over here to help explain myself. I hope this is acceptable.

Christian Minister Converts to Islam - Why?
For 43 years, my religious identity had been neatly labeled as "Christian", however many qualifications I might have added to that term over the years. Giving up that label of personal identity was no easy task. It was part and parcel of how I defined my very being. Given the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that my hesitation served the purpose of insuring that I could keep my familiar religious identity of being a Christian, although a Christian who believed like a Muslim believed.

This rings so true to me. Allow me to explain...

Sometimes it's hard for me to consider Islam because for my entire life I've been told that any other way but the way that I was raised (Baptist) would result in hellfire. So I am afraid to consider other beliefs because I fear the consequences. My psychological self is in constant turmoil and I bet myself up all the time for even considering something different than I was "taught."


My mother always used to joke with me and said I should be a "Jew" since my belief in Jesus was that he was a wonderful man and prophet and that when he said he was the "Son" of God, he meant that we are all "sons and daughters" of God. I never felt right about having to pray through Jesus to reach God and I certainly never understood the "The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost." (What is that exactly? I still don't get it.) Who is the Holy Ghost?

But I felt torn because I did believe in Jesus and I felt like I was in the wrong for not praying and believing how I was taught to pray and believe.


20 years later, I'm still conflicted inside and confused. I will not lie. I believe in one God and I believe that Jesus was one of his prophets and his message was beautiful and loving. I guess my next leap of faith would be to accept my feelings, learn to believe Gods loves me and understands my trials and my questions and allow myself to study Islam and Muhammad.

See I'm afraid to study about Muhammad. I'm afraid that it's "against" the rules. Jesus is supposed to be the only "one" and it's against what I was taught to seek outside him. (I hope that makes sense.)



And that folks is just my inner problems. I still have to consider my family, my husband, my community, my job...

Ahh God bless...wouldn't it be so much easier to just not believe in anything? :haha:

[UmmSqueakster]

Welcome to the forum, and hopefully to Islam. I lost my faith in Jesus and christianity (as, alayhee salaam, peace be upon him) before I discovered Islam, so I didn't have much of a crisis of consciousness when I began to look into Islam, but many of my convert friends tell me they experienced this as well.

Here's what I would suggest you do: sincerely beg God for guidance. Get down on your knees and ask Him what you should do. Ask Him if you should look into Islam, or keep on your current path. inshaAllah (God willing), He'll guide you in the right way.

Best of luck in your journey :)

[KittyKat]

Thank you for the welcome Janaan.

I had the strangest thing happen to me a few hours ago.

A friend of mine on another message board, who is Muslim, who did not know that I was interested in Islam per say, but had only heard me advocate Muslim rights in passing, was commenting to me about a personal situation and she then she told me the story about the "camel."

The story about the man who was going inside building but left his camel outside wandering freely, when Muhammad asked him "why don't you tie your camel" the man replied something to the likes of "God will keep the camel safe." And then Muhammad said "If you tie your camel you know God will keep him safe."

My apologies, I'm sure I have butchered that story...but this is my reason for mentioning it.

One of the first Islamic stories I heard was this story and I it was brought to my attention by a member here just recently.

What a "coincidence" that in just 3 short days, 2 different Muslims have introduced this story to me.

Really, truly, I am trying to process this.

Another odd story that was directed my way was about a man with Arabian horses. My family up until just a few years ago, always had Arabians. I used to show them and I've won national championships with them. I know this sounds strange to outsiders but it's almost like God is trying to show me familiarity with these stories. It's like stories that would more likely be able to be received by me are being sent to me.

I still haven't figured out the "tying my camel" part. hehe.

Anyways, pardon my enthusiasm, I just wanted to share.

[KittyKat]

Are there any Muslim sisters out there that can direct me to some resources about the typical "Day in the life" of a Muslim woman? Or some blogs I could read?

I've been scourging around Youtube but that's about my only resource so far lol.

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[UmmSqueakster]

That's one of my favorite stories :) It gets one thinking about free will, destiny, and Allah's (swt) knowledge.

There are lots and lots of blogs out there. I play "fall down the rabbit hole." I start with a blog, read through it, and then click on their blogroll to find other blogs. I think I currently read 50+ blogs every week.

Here are some places to start:

rahma.hadithuna.com - I don't think I have my blogroll up anymore, but I do have links to good websites on the side
http://www.maryams.net/dervish/ - a muslim convert from the bahai faith
http://nzinghas.blogspot.com/ - an american living in Saudi Arabia
http://izzymo.wordpress.com/ - an american living in the UAE
http://www.southernmuslimah.blogspot.com/ - an american living in Jordan (can you tell I like the expat blogs, lol)
http://shaalom2salaam.blogspot.com/ - an american jewish convert to islam
http://hijabiapprentice.blogspot.com/ - an american convert
http://ibnatalhidayah.blogspot.com/ - an american convert

[KittyKat]

Thank you so much! I can't wait to explore though some of these links this evening after my chores. (I have too many things to do today lol.)

[KittyKat]

Oh yes those blogs are great!

And much to my happy surprise one of them is right in my town! So I guess that means there is a mosque near by!

[UmmSqueakster]

http://islamicfinder.org/

Stick in your zip code and inshaAllah the masjids and muslim businesses in your area will pop up :D

[KittyKat]

My favorite restaurant is Muslim owned! My husband and I eat there all the time! I told him just the other day that there was Arabic writing above their door!

I said "I bet these folks are Muslim!"

He said "how do you know!"

And I said "I think that says Salaam 'Alaykum!"

[Hamayun]

Take your time sister. :)

There is nothing wrong with gaining knowledge... Jesus would never be against reading.

The more you read about Islam, the more solid your foundation will be if you decide to revert someday...

You will find that some of the best Muslims are reverts who come to Islam after doing a lot of reading and research. They are able to truly appreciate Islam and find conviction in their belief. It is un-deniable for any honest and truthful person.

I hope God makes your journey to truth easy for you :)

Peace