What trials did you face after embracing Islam?

Haven't reverted yet but already many of my "friends" have left me. Some people in my family (not my immediate family alhamdulilah) will disown me when I revert. People give me funny looks for reading my Qur'an when I'm on public transportation...just general issues like that and perhaps there will be many more to come.

While I have not told my family yet , I have dropped hints and made it clear I do not believe in Catholic religion. I am afraid they will not be the same but this is probably just something I have been building up in my mind.

The real difficulty I face is not going to nightclubs. As I am 19 a lot of my friends do this and I used to also before I became Muslim. It is in a way hurtful when I hear so many of my friends say that I have changed but then I realise I have changed for the better. I try remember that when I did go to nightclubs, that sort of life was superficial and that it didnt fulfill me the way Islam does. I am still friends with all the same friends I was before which I think is a good thing , I just spend time with them in a different way and they are getting used to the new lifestyle I have.

My greatest trial is being married to a non-Muslim. Though he is very supportive of my reversion, some - stress on "some" - other Muslims are less understanding and treat me like I don't know what I'm doing, that I don't know what the issues it causes are, and that I am somehow not knowledgeable of my own situation. Granted, I do not know everything for only Allah is all-knowing, which is why I ask about it at every board I come to and consider joining . . . someone always posts new information (not to mention it's a great way of finding out if I am going to get run off with pitchforks). But I think as the wife, I have a faaaaaaaaaiiiiirly good clue.

Believe me, I know it. I live it every day. THANKS FOR THE REMINDER, GUYS!!!

*sighs*

I keep telling myself, no person is the judge of me in matters of faith but Allah. He finally brought my husband and I together, we made our vows before Him, He made it so we had reason to study Islam, He showed me the Truth, and He blessed me with a husband who is kind, loving, accepting, and supportive of me and my faith. He and only He will be my final judge on my choice. But I sometimes feel like there is a lot of mortals itching to be on the jury.

What trials - where do I begin? My hardest trials were within my own heart. It was difficult for me to become comfortable being friends with people from other countries and cultures. The Iranian Hostage Crisis was going on during my 2nd year in college and a popular slogan on campus was, "Nuke 'em till they glow and shoot 'em in the dark". Even prior to this event, the non-Israeli people of the Middle East were seen as the enemy for opposing "God's Chosen People" right to occupy the 'Promised Land'.

One tends to feel closer to those who are most similar to us and as an American and growing up as a Christianity I had a natural affinity for Christian Americans and an aversion to those different from that. After becoming a Muslim, my faith was in One God and I no longer saw Jesus as the Son of God, but still I had my personal identity that was developed prior to taking the shahadah. It was uncomfortable for me to be the only Caucasian American in a group of 10 to 50 Muslims. After deciding to consistently practice Islam in June 2001, I have gradually gotten over that feeling of being separate and distinct from Muslims. In fact, I felt completely comfortable and at ease among my Muslim brothers from all over the world during my hajj last year.

I was a very popular staff sergeant so when people found out I converted they were cool with it and many admitted they showed interest as well. But my best friend hated Islam and started a fight with me and we still have not talked since then.

I was born a Catholic, and I am trying to learn all I can so I can convert. My husband is a non-muslim and is very supportive. My children are all grown, and they say they support me but they just don't understand why I am doing this. My answer is this.... GOD it the absolute most important thing in my life. I am planning to go to a Mosque about 1 1/2 hours from my home so I can meet others of the Muslim Faith in person and ask questions. I read that Muslim Faith is the second largest religion in the world, and that Christianity is the first largest. I am not critizising any religion, but in the Christian religion, there are all kinds of Church's and they all have similiar and different beliefs with each other, but in the Muslim religion, they all believe the same way, so there is a larger group of people with one belief. I just hope that when I convert, that the ones that were Muslim since birth, that they accept me, even though I am white. Thank you for letting me share my thoughts, Sunnie

I was raised in a typical white English middle class family, so it came as a bit of a shock to my family when I reverted. Alhumdulillah they did not disown me or anything like that, but I was left in no doubt that they were devastated. I would say that over time they have come to accept that this is not just some passing fad and they are resigned now to the fact that above all else, I am a servant of Allah subhana wa ta'alaa and have long ago left behind the old me.

I would say that most of my trials have related to acquiring my family's acceptance of some aspect of the new me. They do their best to take it all in their stride in stoical fashion, but there have been several major trials that we have had to go through, such as:

- Gaining acceptance that I would be following the Islamic dress code. My parents used to ask me endlessly "do you have to wear that garb?" when they first saw me in hijab and jilbaab with no makeup and it took a lot of persuasion to convince them that I see it as a religious obligation and that it is important to me as it makes me feel closer to Allah subhana wa ta'alaa.

- Gaining accptance that I was entering an Islamic marriage with a Pakistani brother with a big black bushy beard, who wears his trousers above the ankle, whom I would pledge to obey.

- Making parents understand that worship and Islamic study are 1000x more important to me than any career and now fill a large proportion of my day and that materialism is of no interest to me any more.

I guess, I summary, it has been a struggle for them to come to terms with the fact that Islam is not something that you just practise on Sunday mornings, but that it is a whole way of life that comes with serious obligations and this meant major changes in my prioirities.

I reverted few months ago and I had problem with some friends and some Muslim. My best friend told me that I never have to wear hijab.
A Muslim girl, who was a friend of mine, told me that I wasn't Muslim because she never saw me performing salah and I answered "I perform Salah in privacy" and she continued to declare that I'm not Muslim and she told me to convert to another religion. I felt very sad but I know Allah know me better then these people and this is enough.