“Every child is born in a state of fitrah (the natural state of man, i.e., Islam), then his parents make him into a Jew or a Christian or a Magian.”
Around two years ago, when my parents were working a lot in their store, I used to spend a lot of time with some Lebanese friends that I had; they also worked in the same “mall” so we used to see each other very often.
Back in that time they worked in a restaurant and, as we don’t have many visitors in the winter, I used to go there to sit and chat with them. As our cultures are very different, we normally talked about costumes and traditional aspects that we have.
Living in the west makes you have a totally different idea of how life is supposed to be in the other side of the world, everything seems to be exotic and different, and you find yourself creating a kind of expectation. But, in the end, we ended up realizing life is the same all over the world.
Ok, let’s go back to the restaurant: The day I got more fascinated was the day my friends told me they followed a different religion than most of people here…. they were Muslims.
Sincerely, I just got amazed by the idea of having friends that followed a different religion, I actually never cared much about religion, I was raised in a Christian family who don’t have a proper religion but I always considered myself as an Agnostic Theist (believe in at least one deity but consider it as unknown or inherently unknowable). We almost don’t have Muslims here in my country and the only thing we know about them is that what the TV shows us (you can imagine what kind of things) so everything was a mystery regarding Islam for me.
Actually, my first reaction when they told me (yes we knew each other for a good time and I didn’t know till that very moment) as to be kind of afraid of them, that was the moment I made the most scared face in my life, I believe, because even nowadays people remember my reaction.
After the shock, the questions appeared, I had SO many questions, I wanted to know everything and hear everything, it was like a whole new world and I couldn’t handle myself. They didn’t seem to get bothered explaining me Alhamdulillah, they always had too much patience; they seemed to be exciting to tell me everything actually.
Some days later, my mom arrived home with a book; she gave it to me and told me it was a gift from my friends who asked her to advice me to read this book so that I would find the answer for many questions that I had. At first I thought it was a ridiculous idea, I mean, how come I would find the answers to my question in that book, it seemed too big and old, and kind of boring, I thought. But I decided to give that book a chance and started to read the Quran.
The more I read the more I love it; I started to find out that what the Quran said was not the same things we hear in the media, that being a Muslim meant things totally different than what I thought, and actually the most important thing was that, the principles that the Quran taught us were exactly those that my mom taught me when I was younger, and that I missed in the society now a days.
The Quran gives us directions and limits; it keeps the society in order and gives you a North to follow. It teaches you how to deal with different situations and how to interact with people in good manners, it is basically a guide of “how to live” that you could follow and be sure it would work in any place.
While I started to learn about Islam and read the Quran I got engaged to a Muslim man, when I first met him he seemed to be ok, he was very kind and treated me very well, but as we didn’t spend much time together I didn’t have the opportunity to see how he really was. After sometime he started to show off and I just realized he was not the right man for me, he basically wanted me to follow everything in the Quran, while he didn’t follow anything at all. He got me very confused, even before reverting, I used to try to show him what he needed to follow as a Muslim but he used to be harsh with me telling me I didn’t know anything and I that I had no rights to correct him.
After sometime I decided to give up on that future marriage. Of course his family got very sad but they understood my reasons, the guy got very mad and my mom disappointed. But what has to be, will be and Allah knows best.
With all this events going on around me, I started to ask myself why not to revert, even as a kafirah I saw myself following the Quran the more I could, most of the rules I was already used to. Accepting Islam’s principles wouldn’t be hard as I have been following many since a child.
It was in the beginning of Ramadan of last year (2014) when I decided to take my shahadah, my friends were all reunited and we were all discussing about Ramadan. As we don’t have mosques nearby I decided to take my shahadah in front of all my friends, and so I did.
In a country where Muslims are few and mosques can be counted with your fingers, being a revert is, indeed, not something easy and demands dedication, any help and support is welcome.
Now a days, besides my mini collection of Qurans and Islamic books, I study the deen at the Islamic Online University, and besides my Lebanese friends who are still around giving me support, I can’t forget to mention one of the best friends I ever had, that even thought living far, is with me basically since I reverted, teaching me and answering my question with patience, being the Imam I never had.
May Allah open the hearts of those who still didn’t accept Islam and guide us to the truth keeping us in the right path.
Ameen.
Assalam alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
The Pashtun Cat.
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