Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Swedish Muslim Sister

Dr. Sumayya Parnilla says:

Godly favor has been bestowed upon me and put me on the path of Allah’s genuine religion.

Islam is the religion of justice and logic. It gives space for free intellectual debate and renders balance for the different aspects of human life.

●I call on the Muslim woman, especially in the Islamic countries to consider her veil as a fortress for her and commitment to religion as the way for her future advancement. I also call on her not to be tempted by the fake Western civilization.

Sweden is a country, like other Western countries, in which Islam has succeeded, for its power of persuasion, to polarize to its ranks more and more people who had the opportunity to know some about its concepts and regulations.

This truth is being clearly revealed and asserted by the story of Dr. Sumayya Parnilla with Islam and how she was deeply attracted to this religion because of the clarity of its beliefs and principles and the comprehensiveness of its message. According to her, this represented the salvation of the spiritual voidness she suffered from and further gave her the serenity and incentive to get involved in many of the social and intellectual activities to help the Muslims in the locality where she lives and preach Islam across the Swedish territories.

In the presence of her Algerian husband Jamil and her four children,« Noor Al-Islam » met with Dr. Parnilla in her house in« Chanling » . Among her children was her daughter, the only one who wears a veil (Hijab ) in her class, and she is proud about it.

After she welcomed us, the interview started:

Q. How would you describe your journey of converting to Islam?

A. In fact, I believe that godly grace has been bestowed upon me and put me on the true path of Allah’s genuine religion, which Almighty Allah has chosen for the mankind to reach salvation. This is the true religion for every time and place.

My journey of becoming a Muslim started at the beginning of the eighties of the last century. It was not an easy or hasty trip. It took me plenty of time to study and contemplate before I took the happy decision to be a Muslim and be committed to its preaching and regulations and to publicly announce that. And this took place only after I was fully convinced about this crucial decision. If you want more details about the way I got acquainted to Islam, after thanking Allah, thanks are due to my sister Maryam whom I grew up with in Siffle (our village). She had chosen to study at one of the Chinese universities. Because of the ideological vacuum she was living, she wanted to know more about Buddhism. But thanks to Allah, instead of Buddhism, she was led to Islam. She met a group of Muslim students who used to study at the same university. She knew Islam through them, so she was persuaded and announced being a Muslim, and later she got married to one of the Egyptian students. When my sister came back to Sweden, I had lengthy discussions with her about Islam which made me feel relieved and rekindled my thinking about religious and spiritual life. This pushed me further to seek more knowledge about Islam. Then I had meetings with some Muslim intellectuals who gave me clarifications and supplied me with many books that gave me convincing answers about my questions. And as such, I discovered that Islam is the religion of logic, justice, and reason, the religion that maintains balance between reason and sentiments and all other aspects of human life, and the religion that provides man with happiness in this life and the Hereafter and secures him with outstanding solutions.

Q. How was your parents’ and community’s reaction towards your commitment to Islam?

A. Before I wore the veil, my family’s and friends’ reaction was limited to confusion. They were waiting to see how long I will stay on my new beliefs, and whether it is a deeply entrenched belief or a superficial commitment. But after my marriage, I went with my husband Jamil to Algeria, and there I put on the veil. After my return to Sweden, I faced a wave of questions. Then, I had meetings with and objections from my family and friends as no one of them could have expected that I will be deeply attached as I was because they knew me before as someone who is indifferent about religion matters. They had never thought even for once that Islam is different, and that it is not just a religion that deals with the individual internality but it rather is a way for life.

Wearing thehijab (veil), I became in their eyes part of the Muslim minorities whom the Swedish avoid. It is in the Swedish people nature to be isolationist and afraid of the new and the different. However, this did not set me back, and I continued my way with patience and confidence, and I was able to gain respect for me and for what I represent among many of those who complained at the beginning.

Q. How do you assess the importance of the hijab (veil) for the Muslim women, especially in the West?

A. In my opinion, the veil represents a fortress in which woman lives confident and self-assured. It gives the woman enough space to think of what is more important than clothing and ornaments. It also gives her the opportunity to direct her efforts to make advancements in her environment and to liberate herself from the greediness and triviality of the fashion market and the corruption of the commercials and media that control clumsy women in today’s world.

Q. Could you brief us about your academic level and the academic field of your work?

A. After I believed in Islam, I continued my studies until I received my Ph.D. in human environment from Lound University. My thesis was« Muslim in the Middle East » ; this is my area of interest. This requested my visits to many Islamic countries in the Middle East to gather information about this issue, and I work now as a researcher in the same university.

Q. We knew that you have many Islamic activities; what are they?

A. I was elected as a member in the« Islamic Academy » , an association that includes all Muslim graduates in Sweden. The association is further involved in preaching about Islam to clarify its image in the Swedish community through a series of lectures, symposiums, books and publications, and I do as much as I can to contribute to these activities.

My basic Islamic activity is through the Women Club in Lound and the Islamic Guidance Association for Swedish and Immigrant Muslim Women. The association advocates a policy of Islamic culture enlightenment by teaching religious issues, Islamic studies, and Arabic. It further holds seminars and organizes visits for schools and universities to preach about Islam. In addition, we pay special attention for children so as to help bring them up in an Islamic way and keep them away from the corrupt surrounding.

Q. What do you think about the future of the new Islamic generation in Sweden and the Western societies?

A. In my opinion, Muslim children will face fewer problems with the Western societies because it is easier for them to understand and adapt to the society they were brought up in, contrary to the elderly immigrants in Sweden or in other countries.

Q. What are the problems Muslims face in Sweden?

A.First , the low educational level, as the majority of them came to Sweden to benefit from the luxurious life here, a thing which hinders them having senior jobs.

Second , the internal problems among the Muslim groups themselves and the conflict they have regarding their Islamic reference (marjaiyya) that has the final say in their matters.

Q. How do the Swedish and Westerners view the Muslims living with them?

A.Muslims in the West are classified into two categories :

The first category is called extremists, and those are represented by Muslims who stick to their religious principles and rituals. The second category is called moderates, and those represent those who do not care about their religious duties and live like Westerners. Nonetheless, the Westerners have a negative view about Islam and Muslims as a result of the difference in religions and civilization. Moreover, the guided anti-Islamic Media works so badly to distort their image and over exaggerate the fantasy of Islamic danger on the West. And we do not have to forget the Muslim immigrants’ mistakes which give a bad image about them and what they represent.

However, this does not mean that there is no sympathy or understanding for Muslims and Islamic matters in certain circles in the West. Here comes the responsibility of those working for Islam to exert more efforts to widen the positive perspective about Islam in the West.

Q. Is there a final word you want to say?

A. I want to convey a concise call through your honorable magazine to Muslim women and all women in the Islamic countries. I want to invite them to understand the profound message of Islam and adhere deeply to the Islamic principles so they would contribute to the unity and advancement of their societies and keep them away from the corruption that devastate the Western societies which degrade human beings. I call upon them not to be tempted with the appearances of the Western life and its fake freedom because this would only lead into their destruction and the destruction of the capabilities Islam has secured for them and their societies. I call upon those who were wrongly fascinated and abandoned their Islamic traits to rethink about themselves and face the truth with sincerity and determination.

British Muslim Brother John Hanz

« Mohammed Ali » says:

● The clean and straight behavior of some Muslim observing workers has made me revere Islam and want to embrace it.

● In the West, we dream about happiness but never find it as we encounter grief and regret after the end of any joy we get.

● I have dedicated myself to Islamic Religious Studies to save myself and to guide my family and society.

● The Greater Prophet (P.B.U.H) and his purified family (A.S.) are the teachers and leaders of humankind; we must take them as examples.

As materialistic philosophies and atheistic currents spread and invade the media in every country while backed by the most sophisticated means of communication and publication, a group of people finds its clear straight path amidst the accumulating dust and congestion of ideologies and doctrines, guided by the light of Islam which attracts to its arena a lot of those upon whom Allah has bestowed the grace of the True Religion - Islam. From the heart of the West which has turned its back to religion and the Divine Path at the beginning of the scientific renaissance which has given the west materialistic welfare but failed to lead it to the courtyard of tranquility or the oasis of happiness in this worldly existence besides the hereafter, we begin talking about this rightly guided group with the conversion to Islam of British young man John Hanz. This glimpse summarizes the interview Noor Al-lslam Magazine had with this rightly guided young man.

We have met him in the courtyard of Lady Zeinab’s honorable shrine in the suburbs of Damascus. In the evening, following the performance of the blessed visit rituals and the prayers, his face came into sight from among those good faces that came to the honorable shrine. With a bright visage and a nice smile, he looked interesting with his religion-student garment. After we greeted and welcomed him, we had the following dialogue.

Q: Could you tell us about your early life?

A: With pleasure. I was born in a British community. I lived my childhood as any Christian individual who goes with his family to church on Sundays and Holidays. I had not felt that anything could occur in my life and change it.

Our life was monotonous. We dreamt about happiness but never found it; we did a lot of searching but could not find happiness in the limits of the worldly existence joys. On the contrary, we encountered grief and regret as every joy we have obtained ended. That is why we lived a life at the end of which our existence vanished. A lot of young men, therefore, have opted to get rid of this empty life either via resorting to drugs, as a temporary solution, or by committing suicide. It has happened that many young men took their lives after they read German novelist Goethe’s tale The Sorrows of Young Werther. At that period I was not different from any of my peers. I studied in England and graduated as an engineer from the university before I left England to work overseas.

Q: Would you tell us about your experience under the wing of Islam?

A: The beginning of the change in my life occurred when I traveled to work in Pakistan. During my stay there, I used to observe the simple workers who worked under my supervision. I noticed their faithfulness in work, honesty in dealing with others, and devotion to perform what they are told to do with extreme respect and politeness. I noted that the reason behind this was the spirit of discipline and the atmosphere of purity that they had gained through good habits. They used to stand up uniformly for prayers a few times a day after they had cleaned their bodies in water tanks, washing or wiping members of their bodies in a clear indication of the body purity and an implicit one of the spirit’s cleanliness and soul’s purification. I have learned from them the saying of the Apostle (p.b.u.h.),« The best of all perfumes is water. » As for us, of what good are the perfumes worn by a human being on a body that is full of dirt and impurities, such as dead meat, pork and the like? Moreover, I have learned from these workers how to fill my time with useful things and organize the hours of the day after I stand up, like them, in submission and say the same words that filled my soul with security and tranquility.

Due to this, I have realized that a Muslim individual represents materialistic purity, in his clean body, and the cleanliness of his soul from sins.

Q: Was there another reason that made you embrace Islam?

A: As I said earlier, we, the Westerners suffered a huge vacuum due to the lack of values in the life of the western human being. This causes anxiety which leads, in turn, to the suffering of the soul.

I had not believed there was a creed that brought tranquility and stability to man until I saw with my eyes, heard with my ears, and made sure of the unchallenged fact that tolerant Islam is the safe resort and oasis sought by the souls that look for happiness. The great change in my life was when I learnt about the Final Message, the Essence of Faiths, and the True Religion, Islam. It was an absolute blessing bestowed on me by the care of the Merciful.

Q: What are the reasons that led you to become a seminary student?

A: When I was guided to Islam, I thought about my family and society. I knew they would oppose my decision, so I wanted to be armed with evidence and proof. The way to obtain these is science and knowledge; therefore, I decided to learn Islamic sciences and knowledge.

Q: Doesn’t wearing religion-student garment cause you any embarrassment?

A: Basically, I haven’t thought about saving myself only; I wanted to save my countrymen. That is why I anticipated difficulties. I’m proud of wearing the turban and the religion-student garment, for these loose clothes give me freedom of movement and liberate me from the skin-tight clothing which pressures and annoys me. The Muslim attire is a symbol for abandoning the fake civilization in adornment and beautification.

Besides, the western society claims to be free and democratic; therefore, I have the right to wear what I want.

Q: What do you plan to do when you return to your country?

A: Based on what Imam Ali (A.S.) has said:« Wish to others what you wish to yourself. » I want good for my brethren in humanity in my motherland for Imam Ali (A.S.) has also said,« Know that people are either a brother of yours in faith or a creature just like yourself. » Consequently, I will perform my duty of Islamic invitation, and I hope they will respond positively.

Q: How informed are you about Islamic knowledge?

A: I have sought in passion and love to learn about Islamic knowledge and sciences. I am acquainted with the lives of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and the Imams (A.S.) besides what they have said and done. I believe that they are the infallible teachers and leaders of humankind. I follow their lead; their sayings are my slogans, and their acts are examples to me.

Q: Is there anything you want to tell the readers at the end of the interview?

A: I affirm that I have found a value for life after I had embraced Islam. I believe we have not been created absurdly, but rather for a sublime goal. Coincidence is an untrue and unreal criterion that means nothing to me anymore.

I reiterate what Great Marjeh (Authority) Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Kashef Al-Ghataa has said,« Deliver Islam to the West, for if you succeed in your mission there, you will achieve your goal of invitation here, » because the Orient is fond of imitating the West. This is the disease of this generation. During the Islamic era, the Spanish West looked towards the Orient as a model. I call on everyone to closely read and learn about Islam to be able to be guided and, consequently, guide others for human beings are hostile towards the things they do not know about. And all praise be (only) to Allah Who guided us to this, and we would not have been guided had not Allah guided us.

Russian Guided Sister

Elena Yorivna Koshiliva says:

● Despite the atheistic propaganda imposed by the former communist educational system, I had sensed the existence of One God.

● Through the book The Life of Mohammed by a Russain author, I admired the Apostle’s (p.b.u.h.) personality and started looking for Islamic books.

● I am filled with regret for the women who do not wear hijab as they have not been guided to this grace and the values of purity it represents.

● I advise my Muslim sisters not to walk randomly on the path of the values that come from the east and the west.

Elena, a Russian girl living in a Marxist communist society, did not know that she had an interesting appointment with a wonderful coincidence that Eid Al-Adha brought to her. The Providence has paved the way to her to move from darkness to light and from polytheism to the Right Religion.« I was born once again » , says Elena,« I had felt signs indicating deep readiness within myself, as if I were a thirsty man in a desert who found a pond of pure water, so I jumped into that pond to purify myself from the filth of this world that has wasted the spiritual and human values.

« My experience with Islam is interesting and rich of moral lessons. If you could see what is deep inside me, you would find that I am extremely happy about that wonderful coincidence. The train that was taking me from a school in a Latvian suburb was in fact carrying me to the shore of happiness and stability, to an oasis of guidance and certainty. »

Here, in her marital house in Beirut, and while she was among her family members,Noor al-Islam met Elena and had this interview with her.

Q: Could you tell us about your childhood and early education?

A: I was born in 1973 in Tajikistan, one of the former Soviet Union republics. My family hailed from Russia. My father was a colonel in the army besides being a lawyer, and my mother was a doctor. My parents moved more than once from one country to another. They immigrated to Siberia, but I stayed with my grandmother in Tajikistan where I went to school. When my parents moved to Latvia, they took me with them to the city of Riga. Later on we settled in Ukraine.

My father’s work made us move from one former Soviet Republic to another; this enabled me to get to know these different countries and come out into the wider world. So I gained flexibility in behavior and more awareness; besides, I did not have the traditions of one specific country deep-rooted within me. I rather selected the best habits and behavior from each country.

I grew up in an educated family. The milieu I came from in Latvia is like that in Europe as for freedom and cultural and intellectual atmosphere in comparison with the other Russian republics. I spent my childhood between home and school; I did not have the interests that those of my age had.

I don’t know why I had the feeling that there is one God, although the atheistic teachings imposed by the educational system never acknowledged this fact. Perhaps my grandmother had an influence in that readiness I had.

My father used to buy me books about the genesis of the world, according to the Gospels; and I tended to ponder upon these issues. When I was 16 or 17, I tried to fast according to the Orthodox (Christian) way that is to abstain from meat and other animal products for 40 days.

Q: Tell us about the reasons that led you to embrace Islam.

A: When I was 14, I studied in a school that had Tajik Muslim school-children. I noticed how the Muslim family had a large number of children. I also was touched by the sight of children fasting all day long, and some of them get tired by the end of the day, as it was hot June with its long daylights. That made me wonder why they bore all those pains and sacrificed the food and drink they desired. That was the beginning of my experience with Islam.

When I was 18, I studied Chemistry in a college that was 45-minutes away from our house, so I had to take the train, and there the wonderful coincidence took place as I met my Lebanese husband engineer Mohammad Swaidan. I was reading a book, and he was sitting on the opposite seat. He was on his way back from an annual tour he made on Eid Al-Adha in which he met some friends and exchanged congratulations on the Eid. As we talked, he told me that he was a committed Muslim. He did not master the language at that time.

In another coincidence, we both moved to Kiev (Ukraine) to study there and our relationship got stronger. Ever since, I had a growing interest in Islam. I readThe Life of Mohammed by a Russian orientalist and admired the Apostle’s (p.b.u.h.) personality. Then, I started looking for Islamic books; I got a lot of assistance. I was certain that there was real Islam as I saw the spiritual purity and honesty enjoyed by Muslim students in Kiev who came from different countries.

Q: How did your family and friends react to that change?

A: As far as my mother is concerned, the change was not an embarrassment; my father, however, told me,« You will always be a Christian, even if you try not to. » Well, I have become a real Muslim, but I won’t disown the true values in Christianity.

What made it easier for me was the great change in the structure of the system that the former Soviet Union republics were undergoing, for everything around us was changing.

Q: What are the positive changes that you have noticed after embracing Islam?

A: I felt that I have reached my goal and achieved the certainty and reassurance I had been seeking, because I was longing for the truth and for answers to the nagging questions about creed and behavior in life.

It is noteworthy that I had not experienced sinful acts before I got married and embraced Islam; my soul and body were pure and remained as such. It is as if I fell into a water pond that I had been yearning for swimming in. To me, it was like a symbol of the purity granted by Islam to its followers. In Lebanon, I have benefited a great deal from a teacher who taught me some Arabic, reciting the Holy Quran, and interpreting someduaas .

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?

A: Those women are suffering from loss; I mean they are lost. I feel overwhelming regret for their not being guided to the grace ofhijab and the purity values it represents. Nevertheless, when wearinghijab , the Muslim woman has to observe its requirements in the way she speaks, behaves, and deals with others.

I see unveiling in our modern societies as an abnormal phenomenon that has occurred in Islamic and Christian societies in the east and the west. One of the main reasons (behind this phenomenon) is the woman’s starting to work and the change in social and ethical values resulting from the Industrial Revolution. For instance, before the Bolshevist revolution,hijab was prevalent in Russia. But equality between men and women, which is an untrue and fabricated slogan, has led to the wide spread of the unveiling phenomenon besides other negative results from which our societies are still suffering. Therefore, I believe the return tohijab is a return to origin and nature.

Q: How do you see the conditions of Muslims today?

A: I see that those who completely embrace the faith are few. When I went to Morocco, I noticed thathijab there was a mere habit, and people cared only about the religion’s trivia while wasting the essence of this great faith. Moreover, there are many« religious » people who work in religion only to serve their own ends.

For example, in the Month ofRamadan , everyone recites the Holy Quran and goes to mosques; but when the holy month is over, they return to their normal attitude of carelessness about religion and ethics. We must not desert the Holy Quran in the months other thanRamadan .

Q: What do you think about the condition of the Muslim woman today?

A: The woman that wearshijab must prove to others that she does not confine herself to her life or isolate herself from the society, for she stocks energy that she can invest in guiding other girls along with maintaining her house chores, which are more important than any social activity that takes place outside the house. This must take place, of course, while she maintains her feminine nature.

Q: What do you suggest for guiding the youth?

A: In my opinion, adolescents and the youth are remarkably attracted to watch corrupting media, especially the television. This per se is a phenomenon of dire consequences, particularly for children. Parents have to safeguard their children’s education. They must not leave them prey to absurd empty programs, for a child will be the result of what he or she sees and hears.

I believe officials and parents must impose censorship to bar some TV programs and immoral commercials.

Q: Any last comment you would like to say to our readers?

A: I advise my Muslim sisters not to walk randomly on the path of the values that come from the east and the west. They have to return to their originality and to import only that which is the best. They must benefit from the experience of the west which has examined our civilization and took its best aspects. Unfortunately, we see the opposite in the Islamic countries as Muslims are fascinated by fallacious dazzling issues that are reflections of the worst western immorality, indecency, and remoteness from faith and virtue.

Carmen Sarkeesian (Houda)

Carmen Sarkeesian (Houda) is an Armenian girl who has been guided to the light of Islam and who embraced the True Religion after an interesting journey and a rich experience of search and exploration. The key of this guidance was meeting her spouse, but the faith journey did not stop at a certain stage; the guided girl moved ahead, driven by the love of knowledge, to drink from the fountain of Islamic culture and scoop out of libraries what made her experience worth writing in a book that pleases and benefits readers.

Here are excerpts from her book «The Story of My Islam».

Birth and early years

I was born in 1965 in Kuwait where I spent the best years of my life. I still wish to be able to return and live once again on its good land where I was born, grew up, studied, worked, got married, and had my child, Ali, but the most important thing is that Allah has guided me to Islam there. So how can I forget that land? It is the beat of my heart, and a human being cannot live without the beating of the heart.

How Islam was introduced to her

In the summer of 1985, I worked as a clerk in a Kuwaiti engineering company. I organized files and did the secretariat work for the man who later became my husband.

When he proposed to me I agreed, but my consent was accompanied with some fear, because I was a Christian Armenian and he was a Muslim.

Here I have to clarify the meaning of« Armenian » ; when they hear the word Armenian, a lot of people think immediately of a synonym: Christian. This is wrong, for that word means that the roots of this person are traced back to Armenia, one of the former Soviet Union republics, which is now independent. Besides, there are many Muslim Armenians; therefore, the word Armenian is like Syrian, Lebanese, or Egyptian.

The reason behind my fear was that I had known some Christian women who got married to Muslim men, but their marriages failed, and they had to divorce. Nevertheless, I was confident that our marriage would be successful, as I was certain of my husband’s honesty through which he managed to attract me to Islam as he represented the good model in the way he behaved with me. After converting to Islam, I chose the name Houda instead of my former name, Carmen.

The influence of her conversion to Islam and her marriage to a Muslim on her relatives.

In the beginning we kept our marriage secret in order to avoid reactions from relatives and friends. But I was surprised when I got a phone call from my sister who told me that she had known about our marriage, and I remembered the holy verse{ It may be that ye hate a thing while Allah hath placed in it abundant good } [An-Nisaa, verse 19]. Therefore, I told her the truth. My parents also had doubts in that regard, so they asked my husband to come to discuss the issue. After my parents failed to influence my decision, it was agreed that I should leave their house and live with my husband. My mother’s tears spoke better than any words.

My parents boycotted me for only two weeks after which they visited me but without allowing me to visit them.

My mother-in-law knew about the marriage only when my husband had to undergo a surgery. My husband told his family about our marriage to preserve me and my right to inheritance in case he passed away.

My mother-in-law took me to their house for the first time. There I saw a big library that had many books about science, literature, and Islamic history. Although we stayed up for a long time, everyone woke up early for the Morning Prayer.

How she embraced Islam

My meetings with his family evoked many questions about prayer,hijab , and separation between men and women. The journey of knowledge and exploration began here as I turned to reading. My mother-in-law encouraged me to do so. Before that I had lived a conflict, and now my happy journey with the True Religion began. My husband had not talked to me a lot about Islam as he did not want to force me to embrace the faith in line with a prior agreement between us; he answered my questions briefly, and if I did not ask, he did not say anything. He felt pain for me because I was not Muslim, did not pray, and did not wearhijab .

I did not want to do any of these things, but I knew about the embarrassment I was causing to my husband. In spite of this, he had the indirect role of drawing me close to Islam. For this end, he listened to many programs about the Holy Quran and cultural programs about the True Religion.

Her impressions and comments on the dialogue method

I acknowledge and certify that the fashion in which the discussion took place did not hurt my feelings towards Christianity - my former faith. I do not remember that the Muslims with whom I talked offended, not even once, Christ (a.s.) or his mother. They love and respect Christ (a.s.), besides believing in his message. Muslims declare that the one who does not believe in Christ’s (a.s.) message is not a Muslim even if he believes in Mohammed’s (p.b.u.h.). It is also strange that to underline Prophet Mohammed’s greatness they recite quotes made by Christian writers and thinkers such as Bernard Shaw, Goethe, Carlyle, Lamartine, Jordaq, Gibran and Noeimeh, and even by others who are not from the People of the Book such as Nehro. I had to remain silent during their discussions because they knew about Christianity more than I did.

How she committed herself to the True Religion’s ideas and code of conduct

I went on reading, and my husband explained the things that were too difficult for me to understand. This went on until late 1987 when I worehijab and started praying without being forced to do so by my husband or his family. I used to listen to a radio station that aired doctorate or masters dissertations of students who wanted to specialize in Islamic sciences. The discussions of those dissertations had a great influence on me. Moreover, I listened to taped lectures in the form of questions and answers. I also read some English books by fair orientalists as I completely mastered the language.

After reading each of the books, my husband and I had discussions about it in different ways; he would once be a Muslim and I would be a Christian, or vice versa, or we would both be Muslims or Christians. I did all that in a bid to find the truth and so that my Islam would be for the sake of Allah and His Apostle (p.b.u.h.) and not for my husband or because of my love to him.

A comment or an incident about her experience with Islam

Yes, this idea has accompanied my experience with the True Religion. My husband had an American friend, Jim Taylor, who worked with him in the same company. He sometimes came to visit us. Jim did not believe that there was a Creator; he believed in« coincidence » and Nature.

My husband had a two-week vacation, so we decided to spend those two weeks in Sudan as guests of a Sudanese brother. Mr. Taylor wanted to come with us, and we traveled by air.

During the trip we were talking, and everything seemed lovely and good. Suddenly, things changed, and the senior steward spoke via the microphone demanding that all passengers return to their seats, fasten their seat belts and stop smoking. The way the hostesses behaved was not normal; they moved very fast, and their smiles looked unnatural and artificial. Such a behavior always indicates that something is wrong. Fear overwhelmed all the passengers. We looked at the plane’s wing to see amounts of liquid coming out of it.

« The plane is unloading fuel, » a hostess told us. My husband’s friend looked very scared. I noticed the way he behaved.

My husband took out a small Quran that he always kept with him and started reciting the Sura of Yassin.

« For God’s sake read faster, read faster, » Jim cried.

« Read what? » my surprised husband asked.

« Read The Quran, The Quran! » he replied, murmuring« Oh my God, save us! »

How did the incident end? And what is the moral lesson in it?

The plane landed safely with Allah’s mercy and due to the wisdom of the skillful pilot. My objective of telling this story is to note how the atheist who was with us sought refuge in Allah asking The Almighty to rescue him. He did not seek assistance from the Gospels, but from The Quran. His pure innate sense that he had been trying to kill with materialism popped out at those difficult moments and forced him to seek refuge in Allah, The Only God.

The Holy Quran describes this type of human beings when it says,{ And if We make him taste mercy from Us, after a distress hath toucheth him, certainly sayeth he: «This is my due; and I deem not the Hour (of Reckoning) would ever be established } [Fossilat. Verse 50].

A final comment to our readers

I want to underline the image of brotherhood, love, tolerance, and ethics that Islam enjoys. I can say, without any exaggeration, that there is no other religion that can compete with Islam in these aspects. Therefore, I call upon all those who had not returned to the light of Islam yet to live the experience I have had and seek the truth which they will attain if they purify themselves from worldly obstacles, fight the evil in themselves, and read. If they do so, they will see things clearly and will find out that the True Religion is the path to the salvation of humankind from evils and sins besides being the means to reach the shore of tranquility, happiness and safety.