umm hussain
01-11-2007, 08:34 PM
Asalam alaikum warahmatullah
I was born and raised in a ‘Catholic’ home,baptized and 'confirmed' at an early age. Catholic is in quotes because even though we went to Church nearly every Sunday my parents were also involved in traditional celebrations which go against the Catholic religion.
It was all really confusing. I remember asking my mum why she could not just follow the Church instead of mixing the two but rather than give me an answer she would become upset and defensive. My dad hardly ever went to church so I could not ask him much even though he is the reason my mum became catholic.She was Anglican before. I only went to church because my mum made us, that is my sisters and I, and it was not optional.Even though being Catholic was all I knew I began asking questions because
some things did not make sense, for example, why we had to ask forgiveness
from the Priest. I asked my mum but she just told because it had to be done that way. But I did not want to do it that way, maybe there was something wrong with me, I thought at the time.
I remember crying in my bedroom asking God to forgive me after falling into sin, my lifestyle was far from perfect and by the age of 16 I had probably done most major haram imaginable and I wanted out I couldnt stand the life I was leading. The sad thing is I didnt even enjoy what I was doing but wanted a sense of belonging so did whatever not to feel left out with my friends then. I just could not go and ask the Priest for forgiveness because to me he was just another human being and only God could forgive sins. Looking back on it now I guess it was Allah guiding me to Islam.
Another thing that did not make sense to me was about the Devil being a fallen Angel. I could not understand how an Angel could do wrong since they do not have freewill. I asked my cousin who was training to be a pastor at that time but whichever way he tried to explain it I just could not understand and I became even more confused than when I first asked the question. I think he did as well but some Christians are too proud to admit they are wrong or that they simply do not know.Amazingly, I only got my answer after accepting Islam and realizing he was not an Angel in the first place but of a separate creation called Jinn.
It seems like the more questions I asked the more confused I got because I never seemed to get a satisfactory answer. So I came to a point where I stopped asking and went with the ‘flow’.Being the outgoing and rebellious teenager causing my parents grief.
I did go to other Christian denominations namely Salvation Army, Methodist, Anglican and Pentecostal. Anglican was not that different from what I was coming from and I felt the others were worse especially Pentecostal because of all the musical instruments, clapping, shouting. I only went once - it just did not feel right. The surprising thing is even though I listened to music and enjoyed it for some reason it did not feel right in a church.
At this point I had never heard about Islam or at least do not remember hearing about it. The country I come from is predominantly 'Christian' mixed with tradition (Zimbabwe). I first heard about Islam in England, through my husband. He gave me the Qur’an and a few leaflets and after reading I took shahada about 3 months after he did. He was also searching for the truth and Alhamdulillah Allah guided us to Islam together. We had been dating before Islam and it was about 4 years after being together that we both accepted Islam.
I remember in the early days of reading about Islam, I walked into a bookshop,and they had what I thought was really lovely relaxing music which I came to know later was in fact a Qur’an recitation, all I could say was WOW, eventhough I did not understand it I knew it was something beautiful.I know my search for the truth is now over because I have all the answers to my questions and more, Alhamdulillah. I accepted Islam 3yrs ago at the age of 22
Truly Allah reveals himself to those who seek true knowledge and understanding.
I was born and raised in a ‘Catholic’ home,baptized and 'confirmed' at an early age. Catholic is in quotes because even though we went to Church nearly every Sunday my parents were also involved in traditional celebrations which go against the Catholic religion.
It was all really confusing. I remember asking my mum why she could not just follow the Church instead of mixing the two but rather than give me an answer she would become upset and defensive. My dad hardly ever went to church so I could not ask him much even though he is the reason my mum became catholic.She was Anglican before. I only went to church because my mum made us, that is my sisters and I, and it was not optional.Even though being Catholic was all I knew I began asking questions because
some things did not make sense, for example, why we had to ask forgiveness
from the Priest. I asked my mum but she just told because it had to be done that way. But I did not want to do it that way, maybe there was something wrong with me, I thought at the time.
I remember crying in my bedroom asking God to forgive me after falling into sin, my lifestyle was far from perfect and by the age of 16 I had probably done most major haram imaginable and I wanted out I couldnt stand the life I was leading. The sad thing is I didnt even enjoy what I was doing but wanted a sense of belonging so did whatever not to feel left out with my friends then. I just could not go and ask the Priest for forgiveness because to me he was just another human being and only God could forgive sins. Looking back on it now I guess it was Allah guiding me to Islam.
Another thing that did not make sense to me was about the Devil being a fallen Angel. I could not understand how an Angel could do wrong since they do not have freewill. I asked my cousin who was training to be a pastor at that time but whichever way he tried to explain it I just could not understand and I became even more confused than when I first asked the question. I think he did as well but some Christians are too proud to admit they are wrong or that they simply do not know.Amazingly, I only got my answer after accepting Islam and realizing he was not an Angel in the first place but of a separate creation called Jinn.
It seems like the more questions I asked the more confused I got because I never seemed to get a satisfactory answer. So I came to a point where I stopped asking and went with the ‘flow’.Being the outgoing and rebellious teenager causing my parents grief.
I did go to other Christian denominations namely Salvation Army, Methodist, Anglican and Pentecostal. Anglican was not that different from what I was coming from and I felt the others were worse especially Pentecostal because of all the musical instruments, clapping, shouting. I only went once - it just did not feel right. The surprising thing is even though I listened to music and enjoyed it for some reason it did not feel right in a church.
At this point I had never heard about Islam or at least do not remember hearing about it. The country I come from is predominantly 'Christian' mixed with tradition (Zimbabwe). I first heard about Islam in England, through my husband. He gave me the Qur’an and a few leaflets and after reading I took shahada about 3 months after he did. He was also searching for the truth and Alhamdulillah Allah guided us to Islam together. We had been dating before Islam and it was about 4 years after being together that we both accepted Islam.
I remember in the early days of reading about Islam, I walked into a bookshop,and they had what I thought was really lovely relaxing music which I came to know later was in fact a Qur’an recitation, all I could say was WOW, eventhough I did not understand it I knew it was something beautiful.I know my search for the truth is now over because I have all the answers to my questions and more, Alhamdulillah. I accepted Islam 3yrs ago at the age of 22
Truly Allah reveals himself to those who seek true knowledge and understanding.