Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

WELCOME TO ISLAM

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

• INTRODUCTION
• Christian comes home to Islam
• THE END OF THE BEGINNING
• THE SHAHADA
• A SHOCK, BUT
• The Oneness of Allah (Tawheed)
• THE SPANISH SISTER MARY SALVADOR
• Q: We would like you to tell us in the beginning about yourself and your life before you embraced Islam?
• Q: What was your family’s, and your social environment in general, idea about Islam?
• Q: Didn’t the academic curriculum talk about the Islamic Religion?
• Q: How did you learn about Islam? And what were the reasons that made you embrace it?
• Q: As a Christian, what was particularly capturing in Islam?
• Q: Who is the Islamic personality that impressed you?
• Q: To what extent did you enjoy a feeling of peace and tranquility after Islam?
• Q: On another level, having noticed the relations Muslims develop among themselves in comparison with the Western social relations; what can you say about it?
• Q: In the light of your experience, what is the best way a caller should pursue in the West?
• Q: How do you evaluate the Muslim women’s position today?
• Q: Any last word you like to say?
• THE ENGLISH GUIDED SISTER
• This is how I realized the truth
• Confrontation... Steadfastness and Success
• Q: Since you mentioned the Muslim family, what in your view is the role of Muslim women?
• Let Us Call for Islam by Our Islamic Practice and not by Lecturing
• Q: In view of the reaction of the society you live in towards your belief in Islam, it leads us to the question: How should Islam be introduced to the West?
• STEVE JOHNSON
• THE GERMAN MUSLIM SISTER
• Q: We would like to express in the beginning our feelings of pride in meeting with sisters like you, and we ask you to introduce yourself and tell us about how you became a Muslim
• Q: Can you tell us about the direct and principal motives that made you adopt Islam?
• Q: Would you describe your parents’ attitude towards your becoming a Muslim and towards wearing the veil in particular?
• Q: How do you see the impact of Islam on your personality?
• Q: In the light of your experience, can you suggest any new propositions regarding the methods of calling especially in the West?
• Q: What about the potentials for the Islamic Call in Germany?
• Q: How would you describe the general state of Muslims on the international stage?
• Q: How do you evaluate the role of Muslim women in the light of what you have learnt about the position of women in Islam?
• Q: Any final word you would like to convey through «Noor Al-Islam»?
• The GERMAN SISTER
• “HALIMA KRAUSEN’’
• Q: What made you decide at the age of just 13 to become a Muslim?
• Q: Did you know any Muslims at that time?
• Q: Since most orientalists tend to be negative about Islam, how did you see Islam?
• Q: How did your parents react to their 13-year-old daughter embracing another faith?
• Q: How did Muslims react to you - a young girl embracing Islam?
• Q: How did you gain knowledge about Islam without practicing Muslims around you?
• Q: How did you know that what you were learning was right?
• Q: Did any one say to you: «Look, you just cannot do that» even when you knew you were right?
• Q: What is the best way of reading the Quran?
• Q: How can women find out what the truth is when men with qualifications quote Hadiths which seem to put women down?
• THE AMERICAN MUSLIM SISTER
• Q: Tell us about your childhood and your first religious life?
• Q: How were you introduced to Islam in such an environment?
• Q: How did you then become convinced that Islam was the true path?
• Q: When you declared your Islam and followed the teachings of Islam, did you find any difficulties or trouble from your husband, family, and relatives?
• Q: Do you remember some of the incidents that you encountered with your relatives?
• Q: How do you describe the American’s view of lslam?
• Q: What about your current activities for the cause of the Call?
• Q: Are there significant problems that face the new converts or the new generations of Muslims?
• Q: How did you find the Muslim women in Lebanon?
• THE SWISS SISTER
• Q: Allah has blessed you with Islam, could you tell us about your life before Islam?
• Q: ·Were you a religious person? What was your idea about religion?
• Q: Do you still have a negative attitude towards religion?
• Q: What saved and rescued you from this state of confusion?
• Q: What happened then?
• Q: Would you tell us about the impact of embracing Islam on your milieu and the problems you faced?
• Q: What are the tangible positive changes in your life since you adopted Islam?
• Q: What can you tell us about methods to call non-Muslims to Islam based on your own experience?
• Q: What is the role you are personally assuming or the role you intend to assume in serving the Islamic Call?
• Q: What are the potentials and prospects of the Islamic Call in your country?
• Q: How do you view the Muslim’s current state of affairs and that of women in particular?
• Q: Do you wish to address the Muslims from the forum of Noor Al-Islam?
• THE ITALIAN MUSLIM BROTHER (AMMAR)
• ISLAM ARISES IN OUR COUNTRY AND IN EUROPE
• Please introduce yourself, and when did you embrace Islam?
• Q: Why did you convert to Islam?
• Q: Could you describe the present situation in Italy, and how many converts are there?
• Q: What are the problems for Italian Muslims?
• Q: We have heard of some problems the foreigners are facing. Are the Muslims targeted as well?
• Q: Do you have freedom of worship in Italy, and do you have Muslim schools, organizations, mosques… etc? Can hijab be worn at schools and universities?
• Q: Does the situation in Bosnia make you afraid for the future of Islam in Europe?
• Q: What message do you have for the converts?
• THE GERMAN MUSLIM BROTHER
• Q: How did you become a Muslim and why?
• Q: Do you have, as a Muslim, problems in the society?
• Q: What do you think of the present conditions of Islam and Muslims?
• The American Sister
• Q: Please tell us about your environment and the circumstances that led you to Islam?
• Q: How did you come to embrace Islam?
• Q: Could you tell us about the impact of your embracement of Islam on your milieu, and what are the problems, if any, that you now face?
• Q: On the personal level, do you feel more peaceful, secure, and relieved?
• Q: On the social relations level, do you feel the difference between your relations with Muslims now and those with non-Muslims in the past?
• Q: Do you suggest any specific methods, based on you own experience, to call non-Muslims to Islam?
• Q: What is the role you are personally assuming or the role you intend to assume in serving the Islamic Call?
• Q: What are the potentials and prospects of the Islamic Call in your country?
• Q: What in your view is the state of Muslim women?
• Q: Do you wish to address Muslims from the forum of Noor Al-Islam?
• CLEAR FACTS LEAD A BELGIAN COUPLE TO EMBRACE ISLAM
• Antoine Ja’ja
• The Bible Calls to Islam
• Q: When and how did you acquire Islamic ideology?
• Q: When did you start such investigation?
• Q: You are a Christian from the Maroni sect; how could you overstep the sectarian factor flourishing in Lebanon?
• Q: Your major is psychology; how did you feel before embracing Islam and how do you feel now?
• Q: Are you influenced by famous intellectuals who embraced Islam in France such as Maurice Bucaille and Rojer Garaudy?
• Q: What was the reaction in your own locality?
• Q: The majority of Muslims are not committed Muslims; how were you attracted to Islam?
• Q: Are you active amid Muslims or Christians?
• Q: You do not address Christians, do you?
• Q: Do you consider Islam as a perfect religion encompassing all previous religions? Can it play a role at the international level?
• MRS. BERNICE HOLTON
• Q: Kindly tell us how were you attracted to Islam?
• Q: What is your opinion regarding women’s freedom in the West and Muslim women in the Muslim community?
• Q: How can a true Muslim woman play a positive role in a Muslim community?
• THE CANADIAN MUSLIM MUSSA F
• Spanish Sister
• Q. Before talking about the reasons that made you embrace Islam, we would like you first to give us a glance about your childhood and the place where you grew up?
• Q. What about the Spanish society today?
• Q. Has the intellectual atmosphere in the school or in the university had an effect as far as you choosing the Islamic faith is concerned?
• Q. When did you embrace Islam, and what was the reaction of your family and the people around you?
• Position of Family and Society
• Q. What are the positive things that happened to you after you had embraced Islam at the personal level and as far as your relationships with others are concerned?
• Q. What is your opinion about hijab and what some people say about it and how it is being fought?
• Q. What is the best way to invite people to Islam in your opinion?
• Q. What are you doing now? Do you encourage non-Muslims to embrace Islam?
• Q. Is there a chance for inviting people to Islam in you motherland?
• Russian Converted Sister
• Q. How many members are there in your family? And how was your relationship with them before you embraced Islam?
• Q. Were there specific values that ruled in your town?
• Q. It is known that the communist regime has left its marks on the intellectual and cultural life in the former USSR. To what extent did this affect your educational milieu?
• Q. What are the circumstances that led you to embrace Islam?
• Q. What were the reactions in your community to your conversion to Islam?
• Q. What were the positive results of your conversion to Islam?
• Q. Do you suggest specific means to invite non-Muslims to Islam in light of your experience?
• Q. After you came to Lebanon, have you ever returned to Latvia, and has the position of your relatives and friends remained the same?
• Q. Is it possible to invite people to Islam in Latvia?
• Q. How do you view the Muslim woman in your new homeland, Lebanon?
• Q. Is there a comment that you would like to address to Muslims through the magazine of Noor Al- Islam?
• The American Muslim Sister
• Q. Why did you embrace Islam?
• Q. What about your social environment and upbringing before embracing Islam?
• Q. How did you embrace Islam? And what was the impact of your embracing of Islam on your milieu?
• Q. What are the tangible positive changes in your life since you adopted Islam?
• Q. On the personal level, do you feel more peaceful, secure, and relieved?
• Q. On the social relationship level, do you feel the difference between your relations with Muslims and those with non-Muslims in past?
• Q. Based on your own experience, do you suggest any specific methods to call non-Muslims to Islam?
• Q. What is the role you are personally assuming or the role you intend to assume in serving the Islamic Call?
• Q. What are the potentials and prospects of the Islamic Call in your country?
• Q. How do you view Muslims’ current state of affairs?
• Q. What is your view to the state of Muslim women?
• Swedish Muslim Sister
• Dr. Sumayya Parnilla says
• Q. How would you describe your journey of converting to Islam?
• Q. How was your parents’ and community’s reaction towards your commitment to Islam?
• Q. How do you assess the importance of the hijab (veil) for the Muslim women, especially in the West?
• Q. Could you brief us about your academic level and the academic field of your work?
• Q. We knew that you have many Islamic activities; what are they?
• Q. What do you think about the future of the new Islamic generation in Sweden and the Western societies?
• Q. What are the problems Muslims face in Sweden?
• Q. How do the Swedish and Westerners view the Muslims living with them?
• A. Muslims in the West are classified into two categories
• Q. Is there a final word you want to say?
• British Muslim Brother John Hanz
• Q: Could you tell us about your early life?
• Q: Would you tell us about your experience under the wing of Islam?
• Q: Was there another reason that made you embrace Islam?
• Q: What are the reasons that led you to become a seminary student?
• Q: Doesn’t wearing religion-student garment cause you any embarrassment?
• Q: What do you plan to do when you return to your country?
• Q: How informed are you about Islamic knowledge?
• Q: Is there anything you want to tell the readers at the end of the interview?
• Russian Guided Sister
• Elena Yorivna Koshiliva says
• Q: Could you tell us about your childhood and early education?
• Q: Tell us about the reasons that led you to embrace Islam
• Q: How did your family and friends react to that change?
• Q: What are the positive changes that you have noticed after embracing Islam?
• Q: As a Russian woman from a non-Islamic country, how do you view the unveiling (not wearing hijab) phenomenon that is spread in Islamic societies?
• Q: How do you see the conditions of Muslims today?
• Q: What do you think about the condition of the Muslim woman today?
• Q: What do you suggest for guiding the youth?
• Q: Any last comment you would like to say to our readers?
• Carmen Sarkeesian (Houda)
• Birth and early years
• How Islam was introduced to her
• The influence of her conversion to Islam and her marriage to a Muslim on her relatives
• How she embraced Islam
• Her impressions and comments on the dialogue method
• How she committed herself to the True Religion’s ideas and code of conduct
• A comment or an incident about her experience with Islam
• How did the incident end? And what is the moral lesson in it?
• A final comment to our readers
• From the Darkness of Apartheid to the Light of Islam
• Early quest for Truth
• The first Light: Going to a Mosque
• Reaching the safety shore
• At the Karate Club
• The Family: Rejection then Acceptance
• Freedom of conviction and belief
• Islam in South Africa
• Coming Home to Islam
• Personal Accounts of New Muslims
• Testimony of the Lutz Family of New Mexico: As narrated by Rahmah Lutz
• Testimony of Muhammad Amin Bootman, Vice - President, Bank of America
• Testimony of Jennifer McLennan: Former Marketing Officer, British Columbia
• French Sister Marie Therese
• Q: Could you first tell us briefly about your birth and childhood?
• Q: How did you embrace Islam?
• Q: How do you view Islam and Muslims today?
• Q: What is your opinion on women in general, and how do you evaluate hijab?
• Q: Then what are the merits of hijab in your opinion?
• Q: How do you view the West?
• Q: What do you like to say finally to the readers?
• Late British Muslim Hajj Abdullah Malek
• Upbringing and Education
• The Military Background
• Embracing Islam
• Guidance
• My New Life
• The American Muslim Convert
• U.S. Writer Michael Wolfe
• Who Converted to Islam Says
• Vietnamese Muslim
• Hungarian Muslim Brother
• What can you tell us about the beginning of your march, and what about that relationship between you and your grandfather?
• Were there other factors that assisted you in the journey for the Truth?
• What impact did your conversion to Islam have on your family and on those who knew you?
• What were the steps you took to gain more Islamic education and sciences?
• How do you view your experience with Islam up till now, and how do you determine the responsibilities you shoulder towards your faith?
• The Hungarian Muslims’ Association
• Do you have any special interests other than those blessed activities which you have just mentioned?
• Armenian Muslim Brother
• Can we talk about the beginnings? How did you embrace Islam?
• How was this task, and how long did the translation take?
• What do you think about Islam and Muslims today?
• Is there in the horizon any other works other than your translation of The Holy Quran?
• Did your upbringing in an Arab country have any role in your decision to embrace Islam?
• … And I Became Zeinab Ramirez
• Filipino Sister Zeinab (Teresa) says
• When was your first step on the Path of Guidance, and what made you take it?
• How did you become fully convinced that you needed to embrace Islam?
• Having had that conviction, what was the next step?
• What was the reaction of your Christian milieu then?
• Having been in the World of Right for over 12 years now, how do you feel?
• How do you face the mistakes made by some Muslims? And how do you feel then?
• Do you have any advice to your fellow Muslims?
• Australian Guided Sister Fatima
• Warton Kirbassi
• Birth and Raising
• Another Journey
• Providence Will
• The Turning Point
• She Followed the Call of Her Heart
• American Muslim Tahira Conant
• Tell us about your academic life
• Then what were the factors and circumstances that made you embrace Islam?
• What was the reaction of your social and family surrounding towards your choosing Islam?
• How do you understand calling others unto Islam, and what are the appropriate ways to convince them of its teachings?
• What is your opinion in those who say that Islam spread by force not wisdom?
• How do you evaluate the situation of Muslims today and their relationship with Islam?
• What is the attribute that you like most in the Apostle of Islam (p.b.u.h.)?
• Finding My Way
• ● How a spiritually dissatisfied American Catholic teacher found fulfillment and direction through her new job at a Muslim school
• Yusuf Abdullah
• The Happy Ending
• After a long journey of searching and navigating in the world of thoughts and religions,
• Indian Nirvan’s ship lands safely at the port of Islam
• When and how did it all start? Did it really start or was it simply a spiritual awakening? A realization of the truth which was always innate in me? Allah knows best
• Finding the Straight Path
• Sister Zahraa Formerly «Joyce Slaughter»
• The French Guided Brother (Cerel)
• The Method of Ahlul-Bait
• Conclusion
• Conversion to the Right Faith
• The family’s thorny road and the immigration for the truth
• A call to Muslims
• Russian Former Priest Ali Viacheslav Polosin
• Spanish Brother
• Discovering Islam
• Islamic Dawa
• Canadian Brother
• How I found the Right Path
• ●How does one look back on the most important event in her life and put it into perspective?
• Craig Robertson, Ex-Catholic, Canada
• Sister Tania Bowling - Germany
• Early life
• Intellectual Loss Stage
• Reasons for Abandoning Religion in the West
• The journey from Darkness to Light
• Brilliant Islamic Values
• Ahlul-Bait’s (AS) Role in Preserving Islam
• Christopher and Phillip embrace Islam
• Search for the Truth
• She personally narrates her story saying
• The beginning was in London
• Entering a Mosque
• Family after my Conversion to Islam
• Merging Into the Society
• Satan Insinuates
• Vision Changed my Brother’s Heart
• Thanks to Allah
• Danish Muslim
• Mosque Dream
• British Actress Inspired by Prophet’s (P.B.U.H) Life
• «And they were guided to the Path of the most Praised One»
• Her Story with Islam
• Her Contributions
• «... And they were guided to the Path of The Most Praised One»
• Tell us, Sean, what happened in that trip to Iran? What tempted you to embrace Islam?
• So, I understand from you that your interest in converting to Islam started before you went to Iran?
• So, you do not deny or substitute your being a Jew or a Christian with your new religion, Islam, yet you say that you merged Islam into all of that? But let me ask you this: Conversion means leaving something in favor of something else, and the Holy Bible says specifically that you cannot serve two masters; so, how do you explain your conversion to Islam does not necessarily mean your abandonment and desertion of your parents’ God? How do you answer that?
• British Liza George Hutchinson: «Why I Accepted Islam?»
• ● Please introduce yourself to our readers
• When did you embrace the Islamic Faith?
• How did your life continue after that?
• Do you speak Arabic?
• How was your relationship with your family after embracing Islam?
• Tell us about the social life image in your homeland
• How is your relationship with the Muslims at the Islamic Center in Switzerland?
• What are your plans for the future?
• Sister Asiya Abd Al-Zahir
• Why I Embraced Islam?
• Famous French Singer
• Stardom?
• Islam, a religion of tolerance
• Rabbi of Makhachkala synagogue embraced Islam
• Musa, tell us, did you find the way easily?
• Musa, as a matter of fact, we were given this fact as a certain sensation: a Rabbi has turned Muslim
• Did you finish any high school before coming to the synagogue?
• And where did you come from?
• Let’s return to your work in the synagogue
• She brought the Quran to you - a Rabbi?!
• Musa, and when you were reading the translation, you must have begun to compare it with the Torah?
• Does it mean that you couldn’t find some answers in Judaism?
• And what does the Torah say about the Prophet (P.B.U.H)?
• Should I understand you, Musa, that you now feel a great responsibility for becoming a Muslim, or do you have some other feelings?
• From MTV to Mecca
• Brother Yahya: Best way to live and die
• The Qur’an: The Last Revelation
• Islam: The Essence and Culmination of Revealed Religions
• A Traveler
• The Road to Paradise
• Overcoming an Obstacle
• A Meaningful Videotape
• The Truth Unveils Itself
• Impressions of a New Muslim
• A Deceptive Enjoyment
• The Right Path to Allah
• Epilogue
• I’m a new Muslim
• Living as a Muslim
• Gaining confidence
• Many kinds of Muslim, one family
• Jamie Bor: From a model to a Muslim Woman
• Rachel... A US Muslim
• Alex converted to Islam after his friend’s funeral
• Huda Hasler, Western woman: «Islam starts in the heart»
• How Islam changed my Life
• Aminah Assilmi, Ex-Christian, USA
• Family life
• Friends
• Employment