format_quote Originally Posted by
waqas maqsood
Salam Alikum Faisal,
Welcome....
I'm very much interested in in your revert story even though you were born as a muslim and have a muslim name (sorry if i sound nosy..lol)
but Alhamdullillah, your at the right place...
Awalaykum Salam..
thank you for asking and i dont mind sharing.
My father is indonesian muslim and my mom is filipino catholic.
I was born muslim here in nyc, because b4 i was born my mom converted to islam in order to have one religion in the family.
I remember we had a lot of money and my father even had a boat, i had a HUGE room with so many toys and even video games which were very rare at the time.
but for some reason my father and mother didnt get along.. my father was blinded by a lot of things and my mother couldnt take it anymore.
my father used islam as a way to control which drove my mom away from islam.
I see it happen that way in many families here in nyc.
The man of the house doesnt use compassion and understanding to convey the true message of Islam and then the wife/spouse gets hurt and leaves Islam becasue of it. very sad. Too many misconceptions also here in the U.S. about Islam. they think muslim men are domineering and controlling and women are secluded and controlled.
And we only have our selves to blame for not exhibiting proper islamic behavior i believe.
anyway my mother left islam and because of the years of abuse my mom wanted nothing to do with my father and my father was not back into my life until i was 12 years old.
My mom baptized me when i was 4-5 and i was raised in a catholic filipino household.
Half of my culture and heritage has been hidden away from me for such a long time.
i have another side to myself still yet to be discoverd.
When i was 12 i met my father again.
He used to try and take me to mosques but i wouldnt want anything to do with it.
I was used to sunday school, going to church every Sunday. I even went to a catholic highschool St johns preparatory in nyc.
I was happy to have my father back but i wanted a differenttype of relationship and my father was very much into Islam at the time.
I wanted to go to amusement parks and hang out and eat and stuff... i was 12! lol.
so he kept trying to force religion on me again and it drove me away from wanting to see him because well i didnt have an understanding of Islam and God period. very rare will you find a 12 year old kid whose used to playing and having fun having and raised christian wanting to go to a mosque with a bunch of oldies talking in Arabic.
I always believe in God, and slowly but surely i began to pray in church more... i used to go to church alone.. study and pray and try to worship God as much as possible. More than my family did and more than any of my friends.
It wasnt till 3-4 years ago did Allah give me enough guidance to actually see the signs laid out before me.
First he made me fall in love with him through Jesus.
I mean i loved Jesus.. i believed he died on the cross and all that salvation and grace.
which i still do believe in but not the way a Christian does:statisfie
and i began to talk and talk to Allah and he would talk back!
he would answer my prayers and helped me shine my noor.
i would tell everyone GOD IS ALIVE! AND HES REAL! lol
i remember sitting and asking God how he looks like and a huuuge gust of wind came and the leaves and the wind in front of me created this little tornado that jus amazed me and which moved my soul. lol its a nice tingly warm feeling i cant describe... i miss it. so many signs he gave to me Alhamdullilah. Its there for everyone to see, you jus have to open your heart to them.
THen came reading the bible, watching Creflo dollar and Joel Osteen all teh time.
But still it wasnt enough.:heated:
Too many christians i know only practice their religion 1 hour a week and dont remember God the way they should. Allah is a 365 24/7 responsiblity.. im not saying im an angel or a saint, but its jus what i believe, whether im strong enough to follow through or not.
Something was wrong in the way God was being worshipped.
I knew that there was more.
So i kept asking God for more signs and guidance.
THen i asked Allah for my father back into my life, i was 23 at the time and 1week later his wife found my brother on facebook and BAM! i called my dad and we started hanging out.
Hes so great.. very loving very fun and he cooks for me all the time.
He got me an Iphone for my birthday. :shade:
He started to talk to me about Islam and becaseu i listen and talk to God as often as i did, Islam MADE PERFECT SENSE!
it didnt at first and i was going back and forth and my heart was torn.
but i took my shahada :Danyway by a man named Abdul Badi.
He a famous islamic artist 2. maybe you know him i dont know.
I remember the Amir Sab of the masjid was there, this awesome Jammaat from brunei was there and all the elder brothers in the masjid were all there.
my dad cried lol.. i was still like omg what am i doing but this is where God brought me so just go with it.
but Alhamdullilah im still making my salaat.
Its still very hard because going back and forth to my moms house and my dads house is difficult and my moms side of the family my filipino side is VERY christian lol.
too much pork and im starving when im here sometime.....:heated:
i jus dont know what to do yet.
my friends think im scared to drink with them and they think i changed.
my brother thinks im confused so does my family.but im not! I had to leave this really nice girl because i didnt know how to make it good for my Islam.
im more torn than anything and i feel a little alone.. i went to this forum so i can make more muslim friends and to have more understanding of Islam and what Allah wants me to become....
thankyou for listening and your warm welcomes.. i am really enjoying my time here.