Around 5,000 British people convert to Islam every year

Converting to Islam: British women on prayer, peace and prejudice

Around 5,000 British people convert to Islam every year – and most of them are women. Five of them talk about prejudice, peace and praying in car parks

Ioni Sullivan: 'In my heart, I began to consider myself a Muslim.' Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

Ioni Sullivan, local authority worker, 37, East Sussex

I'm married to a Muslim and have two children. We live in Lewes, where I'm probably the only hijabi in the village.

I was born and raised in a middle-class, left-leaning, atheist family; my father was a professor, my mother a teacher. When I finished my MPhil at Cambridge in 2000, I worked in Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. Back then, I had a fairly stereotypical view of Islam, but became impressed with the strength the people derived from their faith. Their lives sucked, yet nearly everyone I met seemed to approach their existence with a tranquillity and stability that stood in contrast to the world I'd left behind.

In 2001, I fell in love with and married a Jordanian from a fairly non-practising background. At first we lived a very western lifestyle, going out to bars and clubs, but around this time I started an Arabic course and picked up an English copy of the Qur'an. I found myself reading a book that claimed that the proof of God's existence was in the infinite beauty and balance of creation, not one that asked me to believe God walked the Earth in human form; I didn't need a priest to bless me or a sacred place to pray. Then I started looking into other Islamic practices that I'd dismissed as harsh: fasting, compulsory charity, the idea of modesty. I stopped seeing them as restrictions on personal freedom and realised they were ways of achieving self-control.

In my heart, I began to consider myself a Muslim, but didn't feel a need to shout about it; part of me was trying to avoid conflict with my family and friends. In the end it was the hijab that "outed" me to wider society: I began to feel I wasn't being true to myself if I didn't wear it. It caused some friction, and humour, too: people kept asking in hushed tones if I had cancer. But I've been pleasantly surprised at how little it has mattered in any meaningful relationship I have.

Anita Nayyar, social psychologist and gender equalities activist, 31, London

Anita Nayyar: 'One of the biggest challenges I face is the prohibition of women from the mosque.' Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

As an Anglo-Indian with Hindu grandparents who lived through the partition of India and Pakistan, and saw family shot by a Muslim gang, I was brought up with a fairly dim view of what it was to be Muslim.

I was a very religious Christian, involved in the church, and wanted to become a vicar. At 16, I opted for a secular college, which is where I made friends with Muslims. I was shocked by how normal they were, and how much I liked them. I started debates, initially to let them know what a terrible religion they followed, and I started to learn that it wasn't too different from Christianity. In fact, it seemed to make more sense. It took a year and a half before I got to the point of conversion, and I became a Muslim in 2000, aged 18. My mother was disappointed and my father quietly accepting. Other members of my family felt betrayed.

I used to wear a scarf, which can mean many things. It can be a signifier of one's faith, which is helpful when you don't wish to be chatted up or invited to drink. It can attract negative attention from people who stereotype "visibly" Muslim women as oppressed or terrorist. It can also get positive reactions from the Muslim community.

But people expect certain behaviour from a woman in a headscarf, and I started to wonder whether I was doing it for God or to fulfil the role of "the pious woman". In the end, not wearing the scarf has helped make my faith invisible again and allowed me to revisit my personal relationship with God.

One of the biggest challenges I face is the prohibition of women from the mosque. It's sad to go somewhere, ready to connect with a higher being, only to be asked to leave because women are not allowed. In the past, I have prayed in car parks, my office corridor and in a fried chicken shop. The irony is that while my workplace would feel it discriminatory to stop me praying, some mosques do not.

Dr Annie (Amina) Coxon, consultant physician and neurologist, 72, London

Dr Annie (Amina) Coxon: 'After 9/11, my relationship with my sister-in-law changed and I am no longer welcome in their home.' Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

I'm English back to the Normans. I was brought up in the US and Egypt, before coming to boarding school in the UK at six, then doing medical training in London and the US. I've been married twice, have three stepchildren and five stepgrandchildren.

I converted 21 years ago. It was the result of a long search for a more spiritual alternative to Catholicism. Initially, I didn't consider Islam because of the negative image in the media. The conversion process was gradual and ultimately guided by the example of the mother of the current Sultan of Oman – one of my patients – and by a series of dreams.

My family were initially surprised, but accepted my conversion. After 9/11, however, my relationship with my sister-in-law changed and I am no longer welcome in their home. I have friends for whom my conversion is an accepted eccentricity, but I lost many superficial ones because of it.

When I converted, I was told by the imam that I should dress modestly, but didn't need to wear the hijab because I was already old. During Ramadan, however, I do warn patients that I'll look a bit different if they see me coming back from the mosque. The response has been fascination rather than repulsion.

I tried to join various Islamic communities: Turkish, Pakistani and Moroccan. I went to the Moroccan mosque for three years without one person greeting me or wishing me "Eid Mubarak". I had cancer and not one Muslim friend (except a very holy old man) came to pray with me in nine months of treatment. But these are small annoyances compared with what I've gained: serenity, wisdom and peace. I've now finally found my Muslim community and it is African.

Many Muslims come to London as immigrants. Their ethnic identity is tied to the mosque; they don't want white faces there. We are pioneers. There will be a time when white converts won't be seen as freaks.

Kristiane Backer, TV presenter, 47, London

Kristiane Backer: 'It has been a challenge transforming my TV work in line with my new-found values.' Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

I grew up in Germany in a Protestant but not terribly religious family, then in 1989 moved to London to present on MTV Europe. I interviewed everyone from Bob Geldof to David Bowie, worked hard and partied hard, but something was missing. At a moment of crisis, I was introduced to the cricketer Imran Khan. He gave me books on Islam and invited me to travel with him through Pakistan. Those trips opened a new dimension in my life, an awareness of spirituality. The Muslims I met touched me profoundly through their generosity, dignity and readiness to sacrifice for others. The more I read, the more Islam attracted me. I converted in 1995.

When the German media found out, a negative press campaign followed and within no time my contract was terminated. It was the end of my entertainment career. It has been a challenge transforming my TV work in line with my new-found values, but I am working on a Muslim culture and lifestyle show. I feel I have a bridging role to play between the Muslim heritage community and society at large.

Most Muslims marry young, often with the help of their families, but I converted at 30. When I was still single 10 years later, I decided to look online. There, I met and fell in love with a charming, Muslim-born TV producer from Morocco who lived in the US. We had a lot in common and married in 2006. But his interpretation of Islam became a way of controlling me: I was expected to give up my work, couldn't talk to men and even had to cut men out of old photographs. I should have stood up to him, because a lot of what he asked of me was not Islamic but cultural, but I wanted to make the marriage work. I am now looking for a trusting Muslim husband who is more focused on the inner values of Islam than on outward restrictions.

I have no regrets. On the contrary: my life now has meaning and that is priceless.

Andrea Chishti, reflexologist and secondary school teacher, 47, Watford

Andrea Chishti: 'Islam has strengthened my ethics and morals.' Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

I have been happily married for 18 years to a British-born Muslim of Pakistani origins. We have a son, 11, and a daughter, eight.

Fida and I met at university in 1991. My interest in Islam was a symbiosis of love and intellectual ideas. Fida wanted a Muslim family, and by 1992 my interest in Islam had developed significantly, so I chose to convert. It took us three more years to get married. During that time, we battled things out, met friends and families, agreed on how to live together.

I grew up in Germany, in a household where religion did not play a prominent role. My father was an atheist, but my mother and my school left me with a conviction that spirituality was important. When I converted, my father thought it was crazy, but he liked my husband; even so, he bought me a little flat so I "could always come back". My mother was shocked, horrified even. We had a typical Pakistani wedding with Fida's large extended family, and I moved to another country, so it was a lot for her to deal with. His family were not all happy either, because they'd have preferred someone from a Muslim background.

I don't feel I need to dress differently. I don't feel I need to wear hijab in my daily life, but I am very comfortable wearing it in public when performing religious duties. I don't wear it also out of consideration for my mother, because it was a huge issue for her.

I was a sensible teenager. I didn't drink. I am a teacher. So, I didn't drop out of an old life to find a new onee. But Islam has strengthened my ethics and morals, and given a good foundation for our family life.

You sometimes feel like a "trophy" because you are white. If you go to a gathering, everyone wants to help and teach you and take you under their wing, up to the point where I found it suffocating. But, mostly, a lot of conversion problems are human problems, women's problems.

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Why ARE so many modern British career women converting to Islam?

Why ARE so many modern British career women converting to Islam?

Tony Blair’s sister-in-law announced her conversion to Islam last weekend. Journalist Lauren Booth embraced the faith after what she describes as a ‘holy experience’ in Iran. 

She is just one of a growing number of modern British career women to do so. Here, writer EVE AHMED, who was raised as a Muslim before rejecting the faith, explores the reasons why.

Rejecting her faith: Writer Eve Ahmed was raised a Muslim

Much of my childhood was spent trying to escape ­Islam. 

Born in London to an English mother and a ­Pakistani Muslim father, I was brought up to follow my father’s faith without question. 

But, privately, I hated it. The minute I left home for university at the age of 18, I abandoned it altogether. 

As far as I was concerned, being a Muslim meant hearing the word ‘No’ over and over again. 

Girls from my background were barred from so many of the things my English friends took for granted. Indeed, it seemed to me that almost anything fun was haram, or forbidden, to girls like me. 

There were so many random, petty rules. No whistling. No chewing of gum. No riding bikes. No watching Top Of The Pops. No wearing make-up or clothes which revealed the shape of the body. 

No eating in the street or putting my hands in my pockets. No cutting my hair or painting my nails. No asking questions or answering back. No keeping dogs as pets, (they were unclean). 

And, of course, no sitting next to men, shaking their hands or even making eye contact with them.

These ground rules were imposed by my father and I, therefore, assumed they must be an integral part of being a good Muslim. 

Small wonder, then, that as soon as I was old enough to exert my independence, I rejected the whole package and turned my back on Islam. After all, what modern, liberated British woman would choose to live such a life? 

Well, quite a lot, it turns out, including Islam’s latest surprise convert, Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth. And after my own break with my past, I’ve followed with fascination the growing trend of Western women choosing to convert to Islam. 

Broadcaster and journalist Booth, 43, says she now wears a hijab head covering whenever she leaves home, prays five times a day and visits her local mosque ‘when I can’.

She decided to become a Muslim six weeks ago after visiting the shrine of Fatima al-Masumeh in the city of Qom, and says: ‘It was a Tuesday evening, and I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy.’ 

Before her awakening in Iran, she had been ‘sympathetic’ to Islam and has spent considerable time working in Palestine. ‘I was always impressed with the strength and comfort it gave,’ she says. 

How, I wondered, could women be drawn to a religion which I felt had kept me in such a lowly, submissive place? How could their experiences of Islam be so very different to mine? 

 

Convert: Lauren Booth, who is Cherie Blair's half sister, decided to convert to Islam after what she described as a holy experience in Iran

According to Kevin Brice from ­Swansea University, who has specialised in studying white conversion to Islam, these women are part of an intriguing trend. 

He explains: ‘They seek spirituality, a higher meaning, and tend to be deep thinkers. The other type of women who turn to Islam are what I call “converts of convenience”. They’ll assume the trappings of the religion to please their Muslim husband and his family, but won’t necessarily attend mosque, pray or fast.’

I spoke to a diverse selection of white Western converts in a bid to re-examine the faith I had rejected.

Women like Kristiane Backer, 43, a London-based former MTV presenter who had led the kind of liberal Western-style life that I yearned for as a teenager, yet who turned her back on it and embraced Islam instead. Her reason? The ‘anything goes’ permissive society that I coveted had proved to be a superficial void.

 

 

 

 

Changing values: Camilla Leyland, 32, pictured in Western and Muslim dress, converted to Islam in her mid-20s for 'intellectual and feminist reasons'

The turning point for Kristiane came when she met and briefly dated the former Pakistani cricketer and Muslim Imran Khan in 1992 during the height of her career. He took her to Pakistan where she says she was immediately touched by spirituality and the warmth of the people.

Kristiane says: ‘Though our relationship didn’t last, I began to study the Muslim faith and eventually converted. Because of the nature of my job, I’d been out interviewing rock stars, travelling all over the world and following every trend, yet I’d felt empty inside. Now, at last, I had contentment because Islam had given me a purpose in life.’

‘In the West, we are stressed for super­ficial reasons, like what clothes to wear. In Islam, everyone looks to a higher goal. Everything is done to please God. It was a completely different value system. 

'In the West, we are stressed for super­ficial reasons, like what clothes to wear. In Islam, everyone looks to a higher goal. Everything is done to please God'

'Despite my lifestyle, I felt empty inside and realised how liberating it was to be a Muslim. To follow only one god makes life purer. You are not chasing every fad.

‘I grew up in Germany in a not very religious Protestant family. I drank and I partied, but I realised that we need to behave well now so we have a good after-life. We are responsible for our own actions.’ 

For a significant amount of women, their first contact with Islam comes from ­dating a Muslim boyfriend. Lynne Ali, 31, from Dagenham in Essex, freely admits to having been ‘a typical white hard-partying teenager’. 

She says: ‘I would go out and get drunk with friends, wear tight and revealing clothing and date boys.

‘I also worked part-time as a DJ, so I was really into the club scene. I used to pray a bit as a Christian, but I used God as a sort of doctor, to fix things in my life. If anyone asked, I would’ve said that, generally, I was happy living life in the fast lane.’ 

But when she met her boyfriend, Zahid, at university, something dramatic happened. 

She says: ‘His sister started talking to me about Islam, and it was as if ­everything in my life fitted into place. I think, underneath it all, I must have been searching for something, and I wasn’t feeling fulfilled by my hard-drinking party lifestyle.’

Liberating: Kristiane Backer says being a Muslim makes her life purer

Lynne converted aged 19. ‘From that day, I started wearing the hijab,’ she explains, ‘and I now never show my hair in public. At home, I’ll dress in normal Western clothes in front of my husband, but never out of the house.’

With a recent YouGov survey ­concluding that more than half the ­British public believe Islam to be a negative influence that encourages extremism, the repression of women and inequality, one might ask why any of them would choose such a direction for themselves. 

Yet statistics suggest Islamic conversion is not a mere flash in the pan but a significant development. Islam is, after all, the world’s fastest growing religion, and white adopters are an important part of that story. 

‘Evidence suggests that the ratio of Western women converts to male could be as high as 2:1,’ says Kevin Brice. 

Moreover, he says, often these female ­converts are eager to display the ­visible signs of their faith — in particular the hijab — whereas many Muslim girls brought up in the faith choose not to. 

‘Perhaps as a result of these actions, which tend to draw attention, white Muslims often report greater amounts of discrimination against them than do born Muslims,’ adds Brice, which is what happened to Kristiane Backer.

She says: ‘In Germany, there is Islamophobia. I lost my job when I converted. There was a Press campaign against me with insinuations about all Muslims supporting ­terrorists — I was vilified. Now, I am a ­presenter on NBC Europe. 

 

‘I call myself a European Muslim, which is different to the ‘born’ Muslim. I was ­married to one, a Moroccan, but it didn’t work because he placed restrictions on me because of how he’d been brought up. As a European Muslim, I question ­everything — I don’t accept blindly.

‘But what I love is the hospitality and the warmth of the Muslim community. London is the best place in Europe for Muslims, there is wonderful Islamic ­culture here and I am very happy.’ 

For some converts, Islam represents a celebration of old-fashioned family values.

 

Ex-MTV Presenter Kristiane Backer with Mick Jagger in the late Eighties

‘Some are drawn to the sense of belonging and of community — values which have eroded in the West,’ says Haifaa Jawad, a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, who has studied the white conversion phenomenon.

‘Many people, from all walks of life, mourn the loss in today’s society of traditional respect for the elderly and for women, for example. These are values which are enshrined in the Koran, which Muslims have to live by,’ adds Brice.

It is values like these which drew Camilla Leyland, 32, a yoga teacher who lives in Cornwall, to Islam. A single mother to daughter, Inaya, two, she converted in her mid-20s for ‘intellectual and feminist reasons’.

She explains: ‘I know people will be surprised to hear the words ­“feminism” and “Islam” in the same breath, but in fact, the teachings of the Koran give equality to women, and at the time the religion was born, the teachings went against the grain of a misogynistic society.

Escape route: Former DJ Lynne Ali is happy to pray five times a day

‘The big mistake people make is by confusing culture with religion. Yes, there are Muslim cultures which do not allow women individual freedom, yet when I was growing up, I felt more oppressed by Western society.’

She talks of the pressure on women to act like men by drinking and ­having casual sex. ‘There was no real meaning to it all. In Islam, if you begin a relationship, that is a ­commitment of intent.’

Growing up in Southampton — her father was the director of Southampton Institute of Education and her mother a home economics teacher — Camilla’s interest in Islam began at school.

She went to university and later took a Masters degree in Middle East Studies. But it was while living and working in Syria that she had a spiritual epiphany. Reflecting on what she’d read in the Koran, she realised she wanted to convert.

Her decision was met with bemusement by friends and family. 

‘People found it so hard to believe that an educated, middle-class white woman would choose to become Muslim,’ she says. 

While Camilla’s faith remains strong, she no longer wears the hijab in public. But several of the women I spoke to said strict Islamic dress was something they found empowering and liberating.  

Lynne Ali remembers the night this hit home for her. ‘I went to an old friend’s 21st birthday party in a bar,’ she reveals. ‘I walked in, wearing my hijab and modest clothing, and saw how ­everyone else had so much flesh on display. They were drunk, slurring their words and dancing provocatively.

‘For the first time, I could see my former life with an outsider’s eyes, and I knew I could never go back to that.

 

‘I am so grateful I found my escape route. This is the real me — I am happy to pray five times a day and take classes at the mosque. I am no longer a slave to a broken society and its expectations.’ 

Kristiane Backer, who has written a book on her own spiritual journey, called From MTV To Mecca, believes the new breed of modern, independent Muslims can band together to show the world that Islam is not the faith I grew up in — one that stamps on the rights of women. 

She says: ‘I know women born Muslims who became disillusioned an d rebelled against it. When you dig deeper, it’s not the faith they turned against, but the culture. 

'Rules like marrying within the same sect or caste and education being less important for girls, as they should get married anyway —– where does it say that in the Koran? It doesn’t. 

‘Many young Muslims have abandoned the “fire and brimstone” version they were born into have re-discovered a more spiritual and intellectual approach, that’s free from the cultural dogmas of the older generation. That’s how I intend to spend my life, showing the world the beauty of the true Islam.’ 

While I don’t agree with their sentiments, I admire and respect the women I interviewed for this piece. 

They were all bright and educated, and have thought long and hard before choosing to convert to Islam — and now feel passionately about their adopted religion. Good luck to them. And good luck to Lauren Booth. But it’s that word that sums up the difference between their experience and mine — choice.

Perhaps if I’d felt in control rather than controlled, if I’d felt empowered rather than stifled, I would still be practising the religion I was born into, and would not carry the burden of guilt that I do about rejecting my father’s faith.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1324039/Like-Lauren-Booth-ARE-modern-British-career-women-converting-Islam.html#ixzz2gJ15KTt9 

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MANNHEIM Germany soldier and wife convert to Islam

Raised Catholic, soldier and wife convert to Islam

MANNHEIM, Germany — They’d both been reared Roman Catholic, she in Mannheim, Germany, he in Kissimmee, Florida, USA
But when Spc. Chris Tarantino deployed to Iraq in 2006, his wife began to ask questions about life and death that led her to convert to Islam.
“I was really, really scared something was going to happen to him,” said Cristina Tarantino.
She started to wonder what happened after death, she said, and how to best live life on earth.
She was spending time with her older sister, who had converted to Islam after marrying a Palestinian, and she sought her sister’s guidance.
Her sister’s answers about Islam made sense to Cristina and gave her some serenity, she said.
She discussed her spiritual progress with her husband in frequent phone calls between Camp Taji, Iraq, and Mannheim.

Even so, “I was kind of shocked when I heard her say it — ‘I’ve accepted Islam,’” Chris, now a sergeant, said.
His first question was whether she had begun wearing a hijab. She wasn’t ready yet, she said. But he didn’t ask her a lot, he said. “I asked for guidance in my prayers.”
And by last year, the second time he deployed to Iraq, the blond, blue-eyed soldier had also become a Muslim. He decided not to hide it.

“I went to Kuwait and bought a prayer rug and started praying right there,” he said. “I saw it wasn’t the end of the world to say I was a Muslim.”
During the past decade of fighting in Muslim countries, some soldiers occasionally have to battle perceptions that Muslims are hostile to the military they serve.

Chris enlisted in the Army in 1998, before radical Islamists attacked New York and Washington, D.C., and the U.S. went to war in two Muslim nations. He said he’d never had any feelings, positive or negative, about Muslims, even when heading to Iraq.
“All I knew was we were going to combat terrorism,” he said. “As a soldier, I just did what I was told. They say ignorance is bliss. I guess I was ignorant.”

Then, as his wife grew more religious and he was drawn with her to a Sunni mosque in Mannheim, he said the whole idea of radical, violent jihad against the West seemed utterly wrong.
“I follow the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. What the prophet Muhammad teaches does not condone that,” Chris said. “I don’t associate myself with radicalism whatsoever.”
But his situation is unusual: He’s the only U.S. soldier at his German mosque, one of the few Muslims in the Army and one of even fewer Muslim soldiers who are not from a traditionally Muslim family or African-American.

“I have to say that I’ve met zero that are of my race,” he said. And although the couple’s conversion is personal, not political, his views on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and war in general, have changed.
“As Muslims, we believe that if you kill one innocent person, it’s as if you’ve killed the entire world. But if you save one person, you save the entire world,” said Chris, who is in the Signal Corps and works on communications equipment. “I want to be on the side that’s helping.”
As part of that idea, the couple helped start a non-profit group to send food and medical supplies to Somalia, a failed state undergoing the worst famine in decades.

Since 2006, the country has faced an insurgency led by al-Shabab, a militant Islamist group that controls much of southern Somalia.

The famine, caused by drought, war, restrictions on aid groups and continuous chaos, has pushed 4 million Somalis — more than half the population — into “crisis,” according to the United Nations. Some 750,000 are at risk of death in the next few months, the U.N. says.
“The unfortunate reality is that Somalia is the most difficult operating environment for humanitarians in the world today,” Nancy Lindborg, USAID’s assistant administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, wrote on the U.S. State Department official blog. “Access continues to be denied by Al-Shabaab and other armed groups, creating an indefensible situation where they would rather put hundreds of thousands of Somali lives in jeopardy than allow humanitarian aid in.”

But the Tarantinos and others at Al-Faruq Omar Mosque felt they had to do something.
Cristina was one of seven people from their mosque who formed a group called Islamischer Humanitaerer Entwicklungsdienst, or the Islamic Humanitarian Development Service (www.IHED.de)

In just a few weeks, the charity had collected and put onto pallets 135 tons of food and medical supplies, Cristina said. Her husband provided some of the muscle.
“I help when there’s a load to be carried,” he said.

It was all collected, organized and carried during Ramadan, when Muslim adults don’t eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. “You’re talking about some guys who were completely kaput,” Chris said.
The food and supplies were picked up from a warehouse near Cologne and shipped by sea late last month. Cristina said the supplies would arrive in northern Somalia in the beginning of November, then be driven to the central region for distribution. Another charity, Human Plus, found sponsors to pay for transporting the supplies, which cost about 40,000 euros or $57,400.
At home, the Tarantinos continue to study their new faith and seek to live it as fully as they can.
Cristina wears the hijab when she leaves the house, as well as a long skirt and long sleeves. In Germany, her clothes rarely raise an eyebrow. At their mosque, for instance, “there are so many German converts,” she said, mostly women. There are also Moroccans, Bosnians, Poles and Russians.

The family lives on base, and when she goes to the commissary, people stare at her. “I feel like an astronaut,” she said. “Last time, when I went with my sister, they asked her if she was there to work,” she continued, explaining that some Turkish women wearing hijabs clean the local schools.
“I tell my husband, ‘They probably think you brought me from Iraq.’

But her husband has never had a problem with acceptance. Soldiers in his unit, the 72nd Signal Battalion rear detachment, know he’s a Muslim. “I’d stop for prayer. I’d talk to them about Islam because it’s my chance to do a good deed,” he said.

“At first, they were - “What?” “You are?” “Really?”’ he said. After, they’d say, “Sgt. Tarantino, it’s prayer time.’ They were respectful,” he said.
Only once did he get a bad reaction. He greeted a “brother,’’ another Muslim soldier, and an African-American, by saying in Arabic, “Peace be upon you.”
“And the other soldier said, “Shhh,’” Chris said.

He plans to get out of the Army within the next year and move the family to the United States. Cristina plans to continue working toward a bachelor’s degree in communications, and her husband plans to continue his studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

“The same stuff I’ve been trained to do. Just without a gun,” he said.
The couple met on base in Mannheim more than a decade ago. They’ve been married three times: Once at city hall, once in church and the last time at their mosque.
One of the hardest things about their conversion had to do with their two young sons. “We were like, ‘What do we tell the kids?’’’ Cristina said. “So, gradually there was no tooth fairy, no Santa Claus. ... They took it very well.”

Chris gets a little uncomfortable when the discussion gets around to the afterlife, the promise to men of multiple virgins, and the possibility of his taking more wives in the future. His wife made it clear where she stands.
“It’s an option, but it doesn’t mean it’s an option you should take,” Cristina said. “I have to say we’re very Europeanized that way.”

(As reported in Stars and Stripes)

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Samantha, 25 years old Canadaian Convert to Islam

Islam changed my life- Samantha

 My name is Samantha, 25 years old born and brought up in, Canada

Growing up I used to drink, smoke, and go downtown every weekend. I would even go out on the weekdays for martini Monday and on Wednesday and Thursday nights on occasion. Because all of this was so socially acceptable in my culture I never once seen a problem with it. It was very normal as everyone used to have similar lifestyle

With mental health being a huge issue in my family I landed myself on three different types of medications. I used to cry and cry wondering what was wrong with me and why I wasn't a happy girl with a happy heart.  When I was blessed with a overall pretty good life. I was bright, I worked as hard as I could since the day I was eligible too and I never really found it hard to find a guy to put a smile on my face. I found myself loosing interest in guys so quickly and I thought I would never find one that lived a moralistic lifestyle that was anywhere similar to my own. After studying psychology and the biology of the brain I almost drove myself crazy. I realized that with life, we get accustomed and grow tolerance to all the good things. I realized that most people in this westernized world are depressed with their fast past lifestyles and materialistic way of living. I felt a lose of contact with my culture as a white girl and I began to look at the world as consuming and manipulating as it was and realized how much we were just like robots living life the way media told us to. I never thought there was a true purpose in life (other then to help others) and in turn I never found happiness in my heart. I wondered how could I ever be happy when I was already doing everything a typical girl of my age would do to have a successful happy life.

At my university I was surrounded by Muslims. I found a sense of comfort and happiness being around them. I realized how passionate they were about Allah and I began to question myself and the world I lived in. I wondered how can we consider these people bad when they are not even living for their own individual reasons. They were living for a bigger reason, to worship Allah(swt). Most of my Canadian friends didn't like the idea of Islam but were still friends with Muslims. My family as well as myself just thought it was an overall oppressive religion to women. I guess the media did a good job at relaying that false message. I took comparative religion classes at my university and that lead me to really understand the peacefulness of Islam. I thought studying religion would bring me closer to my own faith ( Christianity) but I found myself more confused with the religion after the classes then before. I never once heard of this concept of Jesus being 'God' in the churches or at my supper table for that matter and to be honest I didn't like the idea of the trinity at all. It just didn't make sense nor resonate well with me.

 Once I visited mosque just for academic purpose and after my first trip to the mosque I felt extremely satisfied. No awkward benches sitting down quietly with everyone awkwardly staring at your for the corner of their eyes. It was so peaceful and it even incorporated some yoga so I didn't get tired of just sitting in one spot, even though the carpets were pretty comfy for my bottom. I seen little kids running around playing and having fun and I realized overall how relax and non judgmental of an atmosphere it really was.

I met one young man from Saudi and as our friendship grew he let me in on his family history. He told me how he was an orphan that grew up on the Zaqat (Charity). I had remember learning about the zaqat in class and remember thinking to myself of how it was the only true way to end poverty. He told me how when he was a baby his family were driving in their car and got in an accident. During the accident his mother managed to roll down the window and chuck him out just in the nick of time to save my new best friends life. Everyone else in the car had passed away but alhamdulilah my friend made it. This sweet boy taught me a lot about Islam, along with other Muslims in the community. The made me realize the truth and beauty of Islam and how Islam was the only way from Allah for us Human beings. I also realized that the real happiness in life was in following the Qur'an and Sunnah. I had urge from time to time that I need to adapt the way and be a Muslim.

 So one day I was finally decided to convert and I went to the local mosque with two sisters. After converting my heart was automatically filled with happiness and peace. My anxiety was gone for once in my life, which was huge for a girl who used to suffer major anxiety attacks. Now I live my life in a pure clean state and I finally see the benefits being delivered. I managed to come off all three of my medications and I no longer question life the way I used to. It is as if every question I ever had before had been answered. I now don't have a constant worry or the anxiety of wondering how my future children are going to make it in this dog eat dog world. The first time I prayed I stayed with my head to the ground for about an hour crying. It felt like Allah(swt) entered my heart and took away every single pain I had ever had and I felt a huge weight lifted off my chest. Allah ( swt) became the best friend that I always longed for. He understood my struggle and he listened. He showed me signs and at the age of 20, he made his appearance in my life for the first time ever. I can finally say I now have faith and it is the best thing that could have ever happened to me and it is something I am so thankful for. I am just one of the girls that Allah (swt) decided to opens eyes and because he did that till the day I die, not a moment will go by that I won't take Allah(swt) into considerations for everything I do going forward.

I am so thankful for all the brothers and sisters that have opened their hearts to me and made me feel accepted into the community. I never could have done it without any of you....May Allah bless the whole Ummah and grant us success in this world and hereafter!!!!!

http://revert2islamtoday.blogspot.ae

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US Marine Genessa's incredible Journey to Islam

US Marine Genessa's incredible Journey to Islam

Incredible Journey of Genessa Bingham (now Aisha Imaan), a former Marine corp. Her journey took her from being abused as child to the battlefield of Afghanistan to the night clubs in Las Vegas and to the hospital bed, where she accepted Islam as the one and only religion which gave her solace and meaning to her life. Read her story in her own words.

My name is Genessa Bingham (now Aisha Imaan), I’ve been catholic, Mormon, Christian, and even wiccan. I am 25 years old, female, college student, born andraised in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

As a child I was raised through many religions ranging from Catholicism, Mormonism, all kinds of Christian denominations. Just because I was raised in religious households did not mean that I had an easy road or good upbringing. My mom did all she could to shield me from the physical, emotional and mental abuse that my biological father dished out on a daily basis, but she also had no idea of the sexual abuse I was receiving from my grandfather. Growing up in this situation it was hard to have faith, especially because my dad justified the severe beatings with the “spare the rod spoil the child” praise that he said was in the bible.

 My grandfather who was a hardcore catholic Christian, also happened to be a serial molester he molested my mother myself as well as my sister years later, I would wonder while he would touch me and have me sit in his lap what I had done to deserve it and that maybe I was bad and that God would let this happen, not just that but I could never get over the hypocrisy of these faiths saying there is one God yet praying to more than one person as if they were more than one deity. As I got older the sexual abuse lessened but the physical violence and emotional abuse only got worse and it wasn’t just me when my mom would step in to protect me she would be beaten as well and in some instances worse. Whenever my father drank it was known that someone was going to get hurt, the punishments were torturous and he would often punish me in front of friends or other relatives’ for humiliation purposes, and again I would wonder why a God would allow this to happen to me. Finally at 14 years old my mom took me my brothers and sisters and left him. We had to be on the run and even get a restraining order from the court. The night we left he tried to run us off the road rather we die then leave. After we were finally free of my biological father, my mom met a great man who accepted all 5 of us as his own kids and it was a real blessing. He was an atheist, but a good person. 

After I finished high school, I joined the United States Marine Corps. I was a squad radio transmission operator assigned to first battalion sixth marines one of the most decorated and combat hardened units in the country. In March of 2008 we would be deployed to Garmsir Afghanistan to fight the Taliban. We were under heavy contact (fighting) for 4 months, in May the Taliban’s last stand would result in me gaining faith, a fellow marine was shot and my squad was called in to get him so that medics could try and rescue him, the rest of the platoon was under heavy fire and all one could see was rounds of heavy firing, RPG explosions and people on both ends popping up and down to shoot at each other, it was intense to say the least. While running to go get Corporal Copper (RIP) we had to take the high ground, a bullet came so close to my head all I heard was a zip then nothing out of my right ear for about two days, the poppy that it hit exploded all over my face making me realize how close to death I just came and I remembered something my team leader had told me and that is a popular saying in the military “there are not atheists’ in fox holes.” I lowered my Kevlar (helmet) kept moving forward and prayed to any God that would listen as I still didn’t fully believe but wanted to be covered in case I was shot. We finally reached the wounded marine the Doctors were already working on him, and we put him on a stretcher and started to head back still under fire. I was at the head of the stretcher at first the good Corporal seemed to be hanging in there but I looked into his eyes and I saw his soul leave his body ( as in there was just nothing behind his eyes anymore just a husk) he was declared dead hours later. That’s when I knew that everyone has a soul and that there had to be a God. After the fighting had ceased we started getting to know the locals and the culture. 

One morning still the most peaceful thing I have ever seen it was the most beautiful sunrise and all the local Afghans, our interpreter were devoutly in prayer and I could hear them praying and thought wow I really like this. So I started asking our interpreter aka John Rambo about Islam and liked a lot of what he told me and even found a beautiful prayer rug as a war trophy (which I still use), but when we came home several months later that would be the end of the pursuit of Islam I would instead succumb to religions popular here in America started going to churches with friends (Christians) and parents who were now ardent Mormons, it still never felt right though so I stopped going saying I didn’t need a church to praise God. 

January 2011 I got out of the military I still went to church with my parents a few times but nothing major I was focused more on what to do with my life and that was at the time when I was partying and enjoying the freedom of not really having rules anymore. March of that year while at a club in Las Vegas would again bring out the old scars, I went out with some friends who left early but I thought I’ll take a cab later I hadn’t been drinking really was mostly dancing until I met this guy he said he was with his wife so I thought It was harmless he offered to buy me a drink because we were talking and having a good time I had only about 4 other cranberry vodkas (in small cups and noticeably weak) he handed me the drink and we kept talking and I finished the drink and started blacking in and out. I felt weak and tired I thought there was way that I could get drunk, as I only had a few drinks ( and at the time I was a heavy drinker) he offered a ride home the last thing I remember was him plugging in my address to his phone. I would wake up unable to move and realize that he was raping me. I couldn’t move or even really utter a word I would again black out and wake up at my house door step. Ashamed, disgusted and sore and still kind of not all the way back to normal I would just go in the house and climb in bed and wouldn’t utter a word of it to anyone. After the attack I didn’t want to believe in a God but resented the fact that people where always praised him I became very vocally atheist, and a heavy drinker and drug user. I not only said there was no God but would debate and put down people of faith out of sheer hatred. Tried unsuccessfully to overdose at the lgbt pride parade because I didn’t want to live anymore, but survived and just kept the party going. About 4 months later my drug use and partying had gotten worse and me and one of my best friends in the world were partying at neighbour’s house most of them were really nice and we had been over there several times and it felt like a safe place to have a party. Well one night after I got back from the gym me and my BFF did our usual routine of drinking with the neighbours and snorting pills (generally Ambien) well she left early and because I lived right next door I figured I would stay a little longer and go when I was ready well I mentioned that I was sore from my work out and one of the older guys that lived there asked if I wanted a massage and since they had been gentlemen every time we went over I thought that I could trust him. We went to his room I was high and drunk but still together, we started talking and he started rubbing my back and to cut it short he attempted to rape me, luckily one of the other guys walked in and was saved. The person had already mad the excuse before I could say anything he said,” we were fooling around” . All other guy started making jokes, so I gathered myself together and left and didn’t party there again however my drug and alcohol abuse got much worse. Now I was doing “bath salts” (synthetic speed), meth, cocaine, oxycodone, Xanax, all kinds of pain killer’s marijuana and more booze then anyone should ever drink. It only ended when I had a walking nightmare on speed and apparently hit a good friend of mine and tried to attack several others but didn’t realize it just remember blacking out (had been awake due to drug use for 4 days slept for 3 hrs. then was awake 9 days in a row) so all the drug use stopped except booze marijuana.  I had enough of this drug/alcohol fueled life and needed some support. Seems Allah had a plan.

I moved from Nevada to try and start over and reinvent myself with the help of some of my good friends, and they were big on partying so it worked, kept my mind of things none of us were religious and in fact openly spoke hatred about those who were religious, we were living the punk rock don’t give a damn lifestyle. It kept my head right for a while I was able to bury most of it but was still fueled by hatred for pretty much everyone.

 Later I realized that I was never loved/supported by anyone and I was never  in control of it, so I stopped eating cried for a week straight and then decided to join rape survivors group for further support and God sent a great friend Taras who was of the faith who talked to me and helped me a lot and encouraged me to go get help, we also started talking about my time in the military and my interest in Islam, she encouraged me to take it slow and not just jump into any religion and that I would have to be serious and should seek help first no matter what anyone said. I was at a low point of my life. My great father (step dad) came to get me and the whole while I was getting support only from our FB group, and even had a discussion on how hard it is to have faith after being raped, my back was against the wall and I wanted to end it all and just kill myself my parents then checked me into the Vegas hospital.

 I thought of my friend Taras and what she said so I told my dad to bring me a Qur'an ( which he did ) as I started reading and praying I started to feel a little better. One of the hospital staff, a Muslim man named Bashir saw that I had a note on my door that said to wake me at 4:20 am for prayer and he asked if I was Muslim, I said that I was trying to be, he then went above to print out the proper ways to pray and some surah’s which he translated and taught me how to say them in Arabic. Now I really started feeling better and the hospital was denying me stronger medication because of my drug history so I knew it wasn’t the hospital but Allah, I then called the Islamic Information Center here in Las Vegas and they sent two wonderful women Shaheen and Elizabeth to talk to me and eventually witnessed me take Shahada (declaration of faith) from the hospital bed. I took said in Arabic and English that THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH AND MOHAMMED (SAW) WAS HIS MESSENGER. Since that Moment I have felt unbelievably better I still often cry tears of joy because I feel Allah’s presence. I have submitted totally to Allah and am now covering myself (wearing a Hijab) and Allah has been so amazing to me. The English Qur'an which I had wasn’t the best translation and just recently while I was getting my nails done I was thinking to get a better translation of Qur'an from the mosque, just then the owner of the shop saw I was covered and asked if I was Muslim I proudly said yes. She then informed me that someone left a Qur'an there awhile back and asked if I wanted it, and I obviously said yes and she came back with a beautiful copy of the Qur'an that was in Arabic and translated as well. I just couldn’t believe how much Allah had chosen to guide me, and even now all my hatred is gone I still think of the horrors I have endured but my heart is eased, and I don’t carry hate for people even those that have wronged me or hurt me. I have forgiven everyone and have recently I prayed for them. There is no greater feeling then knowing Allah and prayer is one of my favourite times of day. I used to think that religion was for the weak something to fall back on, now I realize that it takes amazing strength to submit to one and only God. I am currently sober, chaste, covered, and busy spreading the word as much as possible and will never hide the fact that I am a servant of Allah. I would like to tell you all that please do not judge me based on my past as I have realized the beauty of Allah and his creation. I have learned the purpose of my life. The reason of sharing my story to my brothers and sisters is that no mater how you are and what you are Allah is always there to guide you and make you a better human being. Hopefully this will inspire us to be a better person........Alhamdulillah……..May Allah Guide us all!!!!

(Genessa Reverted to Islam on 21st April 2013 in  hospital in Las Vegas, US and since then she has recovered and devoting her time for the sake of Allah)

Watch Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X5aby9UT9c

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