My Migration to Reality

My conversion story, expressing my beliefs and why I had decided to became Muslim. I had many Muslim sisters and some non-Muslim women ask me: "why did you choose Islam and why did you decide on the School of Ahlul Bayt?" So I have decided to tell my story on my website to share it with the rest of you who may be interested.

Why did I choose Islam?

I was brought up in a predominately Christian family structure my mom was Catholic, but I was not baptized until much later to the Mormon (LDS) faith when I was 12 years old. My mother had changed from a Catholic to a Mormon. But before that we had been through many other Christian faiths. One day we got a knock on our door by two women from the Mormon Church and they asked if they could come in and talk to us about religion, my mom said "yes" and the next thing we knew we were going to church every Sunday as well as to weekly meetings. My paternal grandmother, who was Catholic, would ask me to go with her to church and I would, but it was so confusing for me; when I would ask her questions about what is going on she would say it is all very hard to explain. I was also asking questions at my own church about the trinity. I was very confused by this, they tried to explain it by using a pen, and I did not understand the analogy of three spiritual beings being in one vessel. And who was the Holy Ghost? I just thought it was three names for one person being recited. I started having doubts about this church that I had been going to for about three years so I stopped attending all together. I felt it was not about Allah(God in Arabic) but about money and social realm. I was lost in this world of greed for wealth and materialism.

After I graduated from high school I went to college. This was when I really started thinking about my soul and the feeling I was having inside that nothing on this earth could help take away. I was looking for something but couldn't find it. I wanted something more spiritual, more connecting to Allah . I wanted to know that I could be close to Allah without going through a "middle man". Well, after awhile I had transferred to another college. About a year after I had transferred I had met my wonderful husband. He is a practicing Muslim but I, at that time was still soul searching for the right religion for me. It turned out Islam was it. Now I am not saying that Islam is right for everyone, but for me it is. I went to a few more churches before I chose Islam and I talked to the preacher of one church, I told him about my feeling of emptiness. He in turned told me that if I looked and if I felt the presents of God I would know that I have found what I was looking for.

One morning, while my husband was offering his morning prayers I saw that his face was bright, not from the sun or from any artificial light. It was pure spiritual brightness. I also got a feeling of warmth, love and safety. When I saw and felt this I started asking him questions about his religion. It was in 1994 when I took my Shahadah, I only wish I had found it sooner. It was a blessing from Allah that I return to Islam. My husband by the way is not African American; he is just a wonderful, truthful, loving Arab man from Kuwait. I say this because many people have misgivings about Muslims and Arabs. My husband never lied to me or made me do anything that I did not want for myself. I became Muslim for Allah and myself only! However my husband is very proud and amazed that I have decided to make Islam my faith. He is my biggest supporter and has guided me through the basics, has retrieved books for me to learn at my own pace. Allowing me to adjust to wearing the hijab (veil, scarf) even though he has never told me that I must wear it, it was all on my own doing as well as learning my prayers. He let me find Islam on my own but is there on the side to guide me along as I stumble along. Al'hemdullah!

Do I like being a Muslim?

Yes, I love being a Muslim. I am a different person; my feeling of emptiness is filled with my newfound faith, knowing that I am not alone and I have a greater purpose in this life as a Muslim, mother, wife, daughter, sister, etc… It is remarkable how Islam has changed my life for the better, Subhan'Allah!

Why did I decide on School of Ahlul Bayt?

When I first became Muslim I did not know about the different schools of thought, I basically just followed the Holy Qur'an and the way of the Prophet. I would go to the Mosque in my local area and no one really asked me if I was Sunni, Shia, Sufi, or any of that. I just assumed a Muslim is a Muslim. Well, I was wrong. I was confronted, by a Muslim who told me that if I were not "Sunni" I would go to hell. So I asked about this statement, I was in turn told that that individual had misinterpreted the term Sunnah (meaning the way of the Prophet) to mean the School of Kulafa. So I found myself reading and researching both schools of thought. With that I had decided to follow the teachings of the School of the Ahlul Bayt. Following the School of Ahlul Bayt does not mean that I am any lesser or greater of a Muslim. I am Shia because of my research and belief that it is the true Islam for ME; I am not here to persuade anyone to follow my belief for I was not asked by Allah to do so. In my research I had found that Prophet Muhammad had stated at least three times during his prophet hood that Imam Ali (a.s) was to be Caliphate after him. As Shia do believe Imam Ali (a.s) was to be first Caliphate, it would only be proper to respect the wishes of Prophet Muhammad . He had left us two earthly possessions The Holy Qur'an and His Family.