Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Dennis Wayne, Brother Hasan

Here is my background:

My name is Hasan. I was born Nov.10,1972 , and was named Dennis Wayne. My mother is full blooded Native American, although our heritage is from different tribes including the Lumbee, Cherokee and Tuscarora. My father went to prison before I was born and I have never met him and I know nothing of him other than his name and the name of his mother.

Here is my story:

When I was very young it was my desire to serve the Lord with righteous conduct and preaching. I loved righteousness and wanted to be like those righteous people who I had heard about in the Bible through the preachers at church and some movies on television. One day, when I was about 6, 7 or 8 (I can’t remember the exact age. I was very young), I was outside with two other of my childhood friends and I was preaching to them. I was imitating what I had seen my preachers do in church. I was raised as a Southern Baptist although my mother wasa Holiness and her own father a preacher from the same faith (Holiness). (He would travel from place to place, and was what was referred to as a Holy Roller).

Anyway, I was out there shouting, preaching the gospel of the Lord (astagfirlah), yelling “Amen”,”Halleleujah”, “Praise the Lord”, “Praise Jesus” and so forth. I was out there saying how Jesus was God and the Son of God. I even got to the ashes to ashes and dust to dust part. But while I was out there doing all this, it all of a sudden grew dark and began a deep thundering sound, but it wasn’t raining. I became very scared, but the reason I was scared wasn’t because of the storm itself. It was because I realized I was lying on Allah (God)and I felt that this was either a warning or going to be a punishment. But alhumdullilah it was only a warning, Allahu Alim.

This incident didn’t make me becomemuslim but I feel it was a sign which I would not remember until later on in life. Then another incident occurred when I was in middle school, in the 7th grade, and I was 13 yrs old. In my math class we had a man named Muhummad Uqdah who was our substitute teacher. I would always give him a hard time, because to me he looked like a caveman. Although I teased this man, deep down inside I hated to do such things but I was showing off for the other classmates. In my Social Studiesclass( History), we began studying the Middle East and its history and culture. It so happened that Mr.Uqdah wasmuslim so he was invited to our class to talk about Islam although he himself was not from the Middle East. He was African American. He began talking to us about Islam and showed us the salat. I knew it was the truth and wanted to becomemuslim . So after school when I went home, I picked up the phonebook and looked him up. I was getting ready to call him, infact I did dial his number, but I hung up because I started thinking about what my parents would think and other things. So I never called him and I didn’t becomemuslim , and I went on living my life. And I forgot this episode too until later on.

After finishing middle school, I went on to high school. I was pretty much considered a nerd. I was smart, didn’t really cause any trouble, hung out with other nerds, and my mother bought my clothes for me, which were mostly Hawaiian like shirts and cheap unbrandname pants. I was teased very much because of my dress, because for the most part high school was nothing more than a fashion show. (And it is still like this today) People used to tease me and say I looked like the Karate Kid and I wore Teddy Toughskin pants (toughskin was the name of the pants and Teddy came from Teddy Ruxpin-the little Teddy Bear). My family is poor and this was all we could afford and I would complain about such things back then, but now that I look back I am ashamed that I complained to my mother. All praise is due to Allah for my mother. I can never repay her for all that she has done for me.

Anyway, because of being teased and so forth, I eventually got a job so that I could buy my own clothes and so forth and have my own money, I would even save my lunch money so that I could put it towards my wad. So now since I start getting “cool” clothes, now I’m “cool”. And since I lived in a black neighborhood I got to be tough too. So I started drinking, hanging out, smoking weed, running my mouth to anyone and everyone, jacking folks, jumping people, and joining a gang, all so I could be cool. I had the ladies too,cause I was cute in my “cool” clothes. I was NWA. I even became mixed, because I sure wasn’t black, but I had a lot of people wondering. My life had become a lie, and was not the righteous life I had wanted to live since my youth. I used to drink and listen to rap music. And therewas a lot of political messages in the rap music I listened to. And since I was Native American, I was angry with my situation in my own land.

But one day I was watching Rap City and there was a group on there (I can’t remember their name) and they were Muslim so they were asked about Islam. Their response was simple, “Islam is the TRUTH.” I was in awe by this statement and wanted to know more about Islam. So I started going to the library to get my hands on things about Islam, but all I could get a hold of was things like; Our Saviour Has Arrived, and How To Eat To Live-this book is from Elijah Poole in which he states if you eat one meal a day you will live forever, guess he didn’t follow his own advice. I also came across some Sufi stuff talking about how virtuous it is to wrap your turban around your head about a thousand times. Needless to say I didn’t find the guidance I was seeking.

Fortunately, one of my teachers at school, Fleming El Amin, wasmuslim and he lent me a copy of the Qur’an, not on school property of course. I kept it for some period of time without reading it. (I still had street affairs to attend to). But one night I finally sat down and opened up the Qur’an, I can’t remember why, but when I started reading it, I started crying because I knew these words were meant for me and the rest of mankind for that matter. It indeed is the truth, as simple as that. Nothing has the right to be worshipped except God alone.

So shortly after that I was able to run into another Muslim from my area and was given directions to the mosque. After going there and talking with the brothers I finally took shahadah at the age of 17. Alhumdullilah, Allah gave me back those things that I desired for myself from my youth and caused me to remember those signs from earlier on. I got back truth. I got back obedience to my Lord. I was able to leave those things which I was allowing to destroy my life.

Most importantly, I got back my Lord with the correct understanding of how to worship and obey Him. And I pray for the same for those who read this and those who don’t read this. Ameen One morething I would like to mention: Eventhough I was spending much of my time being a thug, I still hadn’t lost my intelligence. During the summer I was enrolled in the Kenan College Prepatory Program at Winston-Salem State University. My last year in this program was the same year I became Muslim. I would talk to my friends and tell them about my interest in Islam. I had two friends in particular who were adamant about me not becomingmuslim and would spend their time trying to talk me out of it. One friend, Sekou, ended up becomingmuslim while at A&T State University, and the other friend, Orlando, ended up becoming muslim a few weeks ago at the same mosque I attend. WSSU is also where I met brother Husayn Abdur Rafi who gave me the directions to the masjid. It is a small miraculous world, alhumdullilah. Salamu alaikumwa rahamtullah wabarakatu

Hasan

Holy Quran 17:81And say: The truth has come and the falsehood has vanished; surely falsehood is a vanishing (thing).

Ali Molina

In The Name of Allah,The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Paraleer mi cuento en Espanol, toque aqui. My name isAli , I’m a 29 year old Mexican American or as some would say a Chicano. People have a wrong perception About Islam and Muslims, what little they know is usually from movies and television which is almost all the time false.

My life before was bad, I had no direction in life. I was wasting my life away by dropping out of school in the 11th grade. I would hang out in the streets with my friends “partying” getting high, drinking and selling marijuana, most of my friends were gang members,I myself was never in a gang. I knew most of them before they were criminals and drug dealers so it was not a problem. I slowly began to use harder drugs, I had dreams but they seemed to far away for me to make them reality. The more I became depressed the more I turned to drugs as a temporary escape.

One dayA friend of mine told me that he knew where to get some good marijuana, I was eager to sample and buy some so I agreed to go check it out. We arrived and went inside this apartment there were a couple of people inside, we sat around and talked for a while and “sampled” the weed. My friend and I bought some and were getting ready to leave when my friend said one of the guys there invited us to his apartment to give him a book.

We left for this guy’s apartment when we gotthere, he gave my friend a book and asked him to read it, and said that it might help him out with his problems in life. On the way home I asked my friend to show me the book that the guy gave him, it was the Qur’an (Koran). I had never in my life heard of The Holy Qur’an, I began to briefly read some pages while I was reading I knew that what I was reading was true, it was like a slap in the face, a wake up call. The Qur’an is so clear and easy to understand. I was really impressed and wanted to know more about Islam and Muslims.

The strangest thing is that I was not looking for a newReligion, I used to laugh at people that went to church, and some times said that there was no God. Although deep down I knew there was. I decided to go to the library a couple of days later and check out the Qur’an. I began to read it and study it, I learned About Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) and the true story of Jesus son ofMary( Peace be upon him). The Qur’an stressed the fact that God was one and had no partners or ason, this was most interesting to me since I never understood the concept of the trinity. The Qur’an describes the birth of Prophet Jesus (P.B.U.H.) and his mission. There is also a Surah (Chapter) called Mary and tells her story as well.

As a child I always went to church, my mother was a Seventh day Adventist and took my sister and me every Saturday. I never was really religious and stopped going to church when I was about 14 or 15.The rest of my family is Catholic, I always wondered why we were Seventh day Adventist and the rest of my family was Catholic. When we would go visit my family back in Mexico, we went to a Catholic church for weddings and Quencenira’s (sweet 16 celebration).

Muhammed (peace be upon him) is the last Messenger of God sent to all mankind. The Qur’an tells the story’s of all the Prophets such as Adam, Abraham, Noah, Isaac, David, Moses, Jesus (Peace be upon them all) told in a clear and understandable manner. I did months of research on Islam I bought a Holy Qur’an at a bookstore and studied about World History and Islam’s contributions to Medicine and Science.

I learned that Spain was a Muslim country for about 800 years and that when the Muslims were expelled from Spain by the Christian king and Queen (Ferdanand and Isabela), the Christian Spaniards came to Mexico and forced the Aztecs and others to become Catholic, history and my Islamic roots was all becoming clear to me.

After months of study and research I could not deny the truth anymore I had put it off too long, but was still living the life I was before and knew that if I became Muslim I had to give all that up. One day while reading the Qur’an, I began to cry and fell to my knees and thanked Allah for guiding me to the truth. I found out that there was a Mosque by my house so I went one Friday to see how Muslims prayed and conducted their service. I saw that people from all races and colors attended the Mosque. I saw that they took off their shoes when entering and sat on the carpeted floor. A man got up and began to call the Adthan (call for prayer) when I heard it my eyes filled up with tears it sounded so beautiful, it was all so strange at first but seemed so right at the same time. Islam is not just a Religion but a way of life.

After going a couple of Fridays I was ready to be a Muslim and say my Shahada (declaration of faith). I told the Khatib (person giving the lecture) that I wanted to be a Muslim, the following Friday in front of the community I said my Shahada first in Arabic then in English: I bear witness that there is no other God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammed (P.B.U.H) is His Messenger.

When I finished a Brother shouted Takbir! And all the community said Allah O Akbar! (God is great!)a few times, then all the Brothers came and hugged me. I never received so many hugs in one day, I will never forget that day it was great. I have been Muslim since 1997, I’m at peace with myself and clear in Religion, being Muslim has really changed my life for the better thanks to Almighty God. I received my G.E.D. and work in the computer field.

I had the blessing of being able to perform Hajj (Pilgrimage) to the Holy city ofMecca, it was an experience of a lifetime, about three million people from every race and color in one place worshiping one God. It’s amazing! Alhamdulilla in December of 2002 I got married in Morocco to a very good Muslim woman. I think that Islam is the answer for the problems of the youth and society in general. I hope my story Insha’Allah (God willing) will attract more Latinos and people of all races to the light of Islam.

Holy Quran 22:6This is because Allah is the Truth and because He gives life to the dead and because He has power over all things.

Suddenly all the Pieces of this Puzzle were Fitting I have always been aware of the existence of God. I have always felt that He was there. Sometimes that feeling was distant, and often times I ignored it. But I could never deny this knowledge. Because of this, throughout my life, I have been searching for the truth of His Plan.

I have attended many churches. I listened, I prayed, I talked to people from all different faiths. But it seemed that there was always something that didn’t feel right, it felt confusing, like there was something missing. I’ve heard many people in the past say to me, “Well, I believe in God, but I don’t belong to any religion. They all seem wrong to me.” This was my feeling exactly, however, I didn’t want to just let it go at that and just accept it. I knew that if God exists then He wouldn’t just leave us with no direction, or even a warped version of the truth. There had to be a plan, a “true religion.” I just had to find it.

The various Christian churchesis where I concentrated my search, simply because that is what I grew up with, and there seemed to be some truths in some of their teachings. However, there were so many different views, so many conflicting teachings on basic things like how to pray, who to pray to or through, who was going to be “saved”, and who wasn’t, and what a person had to do to get “saved.” It seemed so convoluted. I felt I was near giving up. I had just come from yet another church whose views on God, and the purpose of our existence, left me so completely frustrated because I knew what they were teaching wasn’t true. One day, I had wandered in the bookstore and I went over to the religious section. As I stood there gazing over the vast array of mostly Christian books, a thought occurred to me to see if they had anything on Islam. I knew virtually nothing about Islam, and when I picked up the first book it was solely out of curiosity. But I became excited with what I was reading. One of the first things that struck me was the statement ‘There is no god but Allah,’ He has no associates, and all prayers and worship are directed to Him alone. This seemed so simple, so powerful, so direct, and made so much sense. So from there I started reading everything I could about Islam.

Everything I read made so much sense to me. It was as if suddenly all the pieces of this puzzle were fittingperfectly, and a clear picture was emerging. I was so excited my heart would race any time I read anything about Islam. Then, when I read the Qur’an, I felt like I was truly blessed to be able to read this. I knew that this had come directly from Allah through His Messenger (s.a.w.). This was it, the truth. I felt like all along I had been a Muslim but I just didn’t know it until now. Now as I start my life as a Muslim, I have a sense of peace and security knowing that what I am learning is the pure truth and will take me closer to Allah. May Allah keep guidingme. Ameen.

Holy Quran 25:33And they shall not bring to you any argument, but We have brought to you (one) with truth and best in significance.

Sister Susannah

Alhamdullilah I came from the darkness to the light as they say and at the age of 19 became amuslim . How I decided to be amuslim and the long road I travelled is often a subject I am asked about so inshallah I shall try to explain here and my hope is that my story will be one of inspiration to others.

I grew up the typical American girl, born and raised here in the US in a middle class family which was composed of my parents and one younger sister. My father was in the military so we moved around quite a bit but eventually we settled in Virginia and this was where I grew up primarily. My family had a Christian background and tradition, but my parents, both of whom worked full time did not have the time to take us often to church. It was confined mostly to holidays or whenever we would visit our grandparents. I remember vividly attendingsunday school as a small child, I remember being taught about Jesus and various other Christian virtues. However life beingso fast as it is as I grew up into a teenager these principles and ideas began to seem foreign to me and I didn’t acknowledge them or implement them in my daily life at all.

My first introduction to Islam was in the 9th grade when my world history class went to Washington dc and toured the Islamic center there. It was a gorgeous spring day, all of us were wearing shorts and T-shirts of course and I remember being stopped at the entrance at the mosque. The woman told us, “You cannot enter Allah’s house dressed like this” I remember we all laughed, especially the boys because a moment later the woman returned with long white skirts and scarves and insisted we wear them in the mosque. How strange I remember thinking to myself, what’s the big deal??? We were given a brief talk by someone who couldn’t speak English very well, needless to say it didn’t leave a great impression, but as a carefree teenager, at the time religion was the furthest thing from my mind.

Approximately a year and a half later a family from KSA moved in next door to my family. One night shortly after they moved in I was walking my dog. When Umm Ali noticed I was walking towards the house next to hers, she immediately approached me. She insisted in a very kind way that I come and eat dinner with them. Now it was summer time, very hot and humid and before me stood this woman covered from head to toe, a complete stranger and suddenly she was insisting that I come and eat with her. At first I completely refused, but she stood her ground and eventually convinced me. When I asked her why was she so persistent she replied “Islam teaches us to be respectful and kind to our neighbors, you are my neighbor now and I must extend to you this courtesy”.

Well I was quite shocked by this but somehow it put me at ease I felt that there was a real sense of sincerity in this gentle woman. From that evening on Umm Ali & I became the best of friends. It was a new experience for both of us, she had never had a close friend who wasn’tmuslim and I had never had a muslim friend so we enjoyed our differences and respected them. She had a great sense of humor and we used to laugh a lot, and I adored her children and used to care for them as if they were my own nieces. From time to time we used to discuss religion, but it was never in a forceful way. I used to ask her about her prayers, about her dress, during Ramadan she invited me every night for iftaar (though I wasn’t fasting). Much of the dawah she made to me was through her actions, not her words. I began to respect and adore herso much as a person, woman, wife & mother. It was very obvious to me that she was at peace with herself. At the time I was still quite young but I felt something starting to stir, it was more than a curiosity or an affection; I was starting even though I didn’t know it quite yet to really take Islam seriously.

Once I started studying in the university I began to really think seriously about my life, its direction and purpose. What was my main objective in life?? Why was I on this planet, to do what, to serve whom??? I reflected upon my Christian roots but they seemed so alien to me at that point, so I started to search.

I looked at Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, so many “isms” but I found a flaw in every one of them. Umm Ali was still with me at this time, she knew I was troubled and needed guidance but as was always her loving way she didn’t force me in anything. She was there for me, to listen to my frustrations and fears, always kind and always caring. It was a time of great turmoil and then one night I had a dream. In the dream I was surrounded by darkness from all sides and in the distance I could see a great light and under that light was my dear friend and she was calling me but I could not go to her. When I woke up I was startled by this dream, what did it mean??? After many long nights I realized the meaning; the darkness was my life as I was living it and the light was Islam. I then decided to makeshahadah, I went first to Umm Ali and shortly after that to the masjid to make it official.

My life since that time has taken a drastic change for the better. I no longer feel frustrated or confused, I know what the meaning of life is and my purpose here in this world. I used to waste my time always going out, going to the beach, long hours in the cinema or at concerts. Now I see how frivolous that all was. My main goal now is to serve Allah (SWT) whereas before my goal was to serve myself and my selfish needs. I am now 27 years old a bit older and much wiser, I married nine months after I became a muslim and I now have two lovely daughters. My life now is complete and since that great night I decided to be amuslim I have never looked back. The road was long and it was not always easy, but my faith & trust in Allah (SWT) has always sustained me.

Susannah

Holy Quran 27:64 Or, Who originates the creation, then reproduces it andWho gives you sustenance from the heaven and the earth. Is there a god With Allah? Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful.