Islam is a wonderful religion, it is everything I wanted in a relationship with my creator, but sometimes things are hard, and sometimes you miss things the way they were and thats when you need encouragement.

 

Here is my list of things I miss.  Please feel free to post your list, and everyone please provide encouragement and dua for those of us who are still transitioning or having our down days.

 

Things I miss:

 

 

- Christmas shopping with my family (they are not muslim so they won't go Eid shopping or celebrate that with me maybe next year inshaAllah)

- Putting up the christmas lights and driving around to see all the lights

- Being a dancer, performing on stage

- Ballet class, the barre and my pointshoes

- Spending hours in the studio and in rehersal.

- Going to a salon, getting a new style, and getting complements on how it suits me well. We have no lady's only salons here so I can't even do this with my hubby

 

thats my list, please feel freee to post your own, and to encourage everyone who posts a list.

 

InshaAllah we will become stronger and these little things won't bother us.

 

I am sorry you feel so isolated. My brother is going through a simular problem. He just moved back home to small town Ontario ( and I mean small, the place consists of 1 road!) and is being harrassed about islam at home. We are shocked, very shocked because we were brought up to be tolerant. If you would like I can introduce you and you both might be able to encourage eachother and share experiences.

 

InshaAllah when  the snow clears you can take a roadtrip to a city where there is a masjid and pray salat with everyone. Keep making dua, you never know what could happen, maybe a muslim family will move in the neighbourhood or one of your relatives will come around and revert to islam.

 

I know it is hard being the only one, but you are getting so much blessings by being a living education for the people in your family and town. You will never know how your influence and just living as a good muslim may affect their hearts or minds in the long run. You are walking, breathing, living dawa. Be strong brother, and
I will make dua that Allah swt makes it easy on you.

 

wa alaikumsalam

 

Maria

 

Hunter, i feel very happy reading your posts. Even this one. You know you have used the terms like "Asalamalaikum", "InshaAllah" --- All praises be to Allah ! You never met a muslim personally. but still only thru the studyings, you have gaining knowledge daily. May Allah swt soon bless you and your family & people around you into the folds of Islam. Ameen

 

And sis Maria, you are one of the active members here. We knew you more thru your journey into Islam. Before answering your post, can you kindly list me out the reasons, as why in Islam, you are stopped from those activities, which you are missing. And yes, also let us know, if your wear Hijab / scarf --- .

 

 

 

 

Yes I wear hijab now, just started wearing it this past July. I stopped these activities because from what I have read, I can't do them while being a good practicing muslim. Dancing is not looked well upon, especially dancing on a stage for all to see. I use to perform ballet, classical indian dancing(baranatyum) and bollywood pieces. I can't attend ballet class as it is not a womans only environmentm and the clothing requirements are tight (so teacher can correct form and see what your doing, but its still tight) and the studio I was going to, when I started wearing the headscarf, stopped calling me and telling me when class is, and the teacher started being cruel.

 

I had always wanted to be a dancer, but like it says in the Quran, you may like a thing that is bad for you and dislike a thing that is good for you.  So maybe its better for me not to be dancing, but I still miss it.

 

As for the family shopping, those are family issues that InshaAllah will resolve someday.

As for the christmas lights, it makes me reminds me of celebrating christmas as a child so really I should be avoiding doing that because it will probably just make the whole season harder.

 

maria

 

I just found this website this evening, and found that i coould relate to your post.

 

I have not yet converted, am i still doing a lot of reading however will be converting this year.

 

I live my life now as a Muslim, however i find the idea of not having another Christmas quite hard, for 26 years i have celebrated Christmas with my family, though it has never been a religious thing for my family, its more santa is coming down the chimney. My family is really upset that i will no longer be spending it with them as am i.

 

I am too, well was a dancer, but also gave this up for the same reasons you did, which i miss so much.

 

I feel silly for missing such silly things when i know i have a very happy future ahead of me.

 

Can i ask how you found learning arabic for the daily prayers? As this is something i am really struggling with.

 

I have also been told am i not allowed to have framed photos on my wall....do you know why this is?

 

Sorry to go on abit, think i need to talk to someone who is doing the same as me  and you seem to think/feel the same as me!

 

 

That was a perfect post sister Maria. You showed us thru your practice that a muslim entails willful submission. You submitted your will to God's way. SubhanAllah ! May Allah swt help you to be steadfast in deen likethis always. InshaAllah, you shall be rewarded for the difficulties you face while practicing Islam. If you happen to experience any such incidents like that teacher's attitude, immediately go thru the life of companions of Prophet, when Islam was new. By reading there lives, we feel so light-hearted and encouraged, that take these happenings of our life easily. You must be knowing how tough it was for those great people to practice Islam. They were brutually tortured. Anyways, may Allah swt bestow us such strong faith, as you possess.

 

Thankyou for your kind words hunter. If at all i were of any help, that was from Allah, infact i shud be grateful to Allah that He used me in His way. It was your sincerity in knowing the truth, that you are been blessed and Allah swt, opened doors for you. You said, you have been reading Qur'an. Why don't you post an ayah {verse} of the Qur'an which reflects you at this section - Quran and Sunnah.

 

 

  http://www.islamicity.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10356 - http://www.islamicity.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10356  

 

You can post them at page 7.

 

 

Asalamalaikm seekshidayath,

 

Thank you, but I think you give me too much credit.  I know they were very strong in the prophets day, and did so without much complaint. I cannot honestly say I am anywhere near that level.

 

Although I am doing the good thing, I still am pouting about it (obviously) and not to happy with not being able to dance. however Allah swt has his ways and I think I might be coming to a rewad for being generally good about it. Shortly after making this post my mind became busy with the thought of advertising to the muslim community to perform at the women pre-wedding parties, as well I just came into contact with an aunt I havnt seen in 10 years and her girls want to learn ballet but they can't afford any extra cirricular activities so I'm going totry to make time to teach them and get them active and health y and reconnect with my family.

 

I was so depressed not being able to dance, I didn't understand why I was talented and longed for something I can't have. Maybe these are the ways I can have it. Allah swt knows best, and plans these things before we can understand them.

 

 

 

You don't have to give up Christmas completely, My new husband and I went to christmas dinner with my family.  You can celebrate it as a cultural family get together tradition, just don't go to midnight mass. You can still wish them merry christmas and give them gifts. Just because we don't celebrate Christmas doesn't mean we have to pretend like christmas doesnt exist. Private message me your email and I will send you a khutbah my husband wrote regarding how muslims should behave towards christmas :)

 

I will be honest, it take me a long time to learn language, it took me months to learn fatiha and almost 2 years to learn the entire prayer. I started off with a cheat sheet off to the side of me so I could look at it while praying and prayed with people when I could so I could get the sounds down, and listened to quran online and online recitation with my cheet sheet and practiced practiced practice. With 5 times a day it will happen, dont stress over it :)

 

There was a hadith about not having pictures of people or animals ont he walls, I don't remember the exact one byt I know seekshidayath will know it. The reason being is it could ne considered a form of worrship by being in such a high and prominate place in your home (thats one argument I remember).You can have pictures of flowers and scenery. Do your research and decide for yourself, I know muslims who have framed pictures of family, just not on their walls.

 

Please feel free to pm me and we can perhaps exchange msn contacts. I know its hard going through it on your own. I'm here for you sis!

 

Maria

 

It does not say to not dance in the quran, it says to act in modest behaviour, dress modestly, and my conslusion to that means that certain dancing is therefore not modest for me. WIth some of the bollywood pieces I have performed I can honestly say they were probably over sexualized, and it didn't exactly make me feel good performing those.

 

I have been considering modern dance, I am trying to find the happy balance within myself. I wouldn't say I was a great dancer, I was denied it as a child because we couldnt afford it so I had begun my ballet training as an adult, and in 2 years got my first chance at pointe. Sicne then I have done african, classical indian and bollywood.

 

I do love to dance, but I pulled away to make sure I was doing things right, the stage and performing can be an addiction - the adrenelene, I don't want to be addicted to anything.

 

Thank you for the modern dance suggestion, inshaAllah I will find the happy middle path regarding my dance desires.

 

Welcome to the our boards of discussions Andromeda. We wish you to stay active with us and hope you are in touch with sis Maria as well.

 

Hanging up pictures of animate beings inside houses or elsewhere deprives the people of that place of a great deal of good, which is the angels� entering that house.

 

That hadith which is from the book of Imam Ahmad is like this :

 

Narrated from Abu Sa�eed al-Khudri (RA} that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: �The angels do not enter a house in which there are statues or images.�

 

If those pics are of dead, then it renews grief and serves no useful purpose; it may even lead to some kind of veneration which goes against Tawheed. Let us not forget that the shirk committed by the people of Nooh (peace be upon him) started because they set up pictures and images of some righteous people who had lived among them. If you wish to read more as how people of Noah AS, started shirk -    http://www.islamicity.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13817 - here it is.

 

With regards to dancing, its not permissible since those dance movements may cause fitnah amongst other men and the audience who view it. Moreover, these bollywood numbers, {songs} do contain many words of shirk. Sister Maria, do you understand the language of those bollywood songs ? Such songs are not even heard by practicing muslims here.

 

Andromeda, as Sis Maria said, you can go for shoppings at christmas, stay in touch with your family as well. Infact Islam, teaches us to get closer to a family, after embracing Islam. So feel free and i pray you overcome these fears soon.

 

Alhamdullilah, sis Maria has extended her help, you can also contact sis Hayfa thru PM. She is also a revert and helps muslims here as how to offer salah, until you get those chapters learnt. Or i shall write to sis Hayfa. InshaAllah, she shall contact you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for informing me of the reasons as to why we are not allowed photos in the home, i understand the reasoning for this.

 

Maria has been of great help to me already. How do i get in touch with Hayfa? As the Salat is something i am struggling the most with. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

Thank you

 

No I do not know the language of those bollywood songs, I only knew the translation my friend at that time gave me. they were pretty innocent wedding songs. but that is besides the point, you cannot be mad at me for thing sI have done in the past or for what I didn't know at that time.

 

where specifically is "muslims here"?

 

Alhamdulillah I am trying my best. I work in a ladies fitness club so I am staying active, but I havn't found something to replace that feeling yet. I like martial arts but hitting and kicking people is something I cannot bring myself to do. But you are right, it is the dicipline I miss, the mental discipline, the conditioning of the body, the focus, and also the beauty and elegance. I keep praying to find something that is better for me that I will enjoy.

 

wow I didn't know that about after age 12. that make sme feel a lot better about how long it took me to learn salat. It took me 2 yyears befoe I could perform salat without my sheet with the words on it. I am just finally getting to the point of getting past distractions, you really hav to focus, the mind wanders so easily.

 

Thank you for our guidance, and i will try and take it at my own pace. Its frustrating though as i want to be able to do it now, and not have to wait 2 years plus. Bit scary about the not been able to learn a language after 12! Oh oh! Thanks to Maria who has given me her cheat sheet :O) and a really helpful website.

 

Its hard not been surrounded by muslims, i have recently had to move away from my partner, and i have no muslim friends/relations here, and i didn' realise how difficult it would be. Plus my mum seems so against it, she has this stereotype view of Muslims, and am finding it hard to make her see that Islam is about peace, so am getting a lot of grief about it, which is making my conversion dificult and been away from my partner (who is muslim).

wow I didn't know that about after age 12. that make sme feel a lot better about how long it took me to learn salat. It took me 2 yyears befoe I could perform salat without my sheet with the words on it. I am just finally getting to the point of getting past distractions, you really hav to focus, the mind wanders so easily.

 

 

 

 

I couldn't agree with you more!

 

 

 

As Salamu Alakum,

 

Am very sorry sister, if i hurted you, though i did not intend at it. I thought, you still hold your passion for it at such songs, which as far i know are n't innocent at all.

 

 

 

Warning! Revert/Convert or you want to Revert/Convert:A letter for you from a Convert

FRUSTRATIONS OF A MUSLIM CONVERT

The "miracle" of the increasing number of converts is not only that people are finding the light of Islam in an age of such darkness but that they are coming to the faith despite the actions of some of its believers.

Introduction

I have been a Muslim for over two years now. Whilst I am deeply satisfied with Islam on an intellectual and theological level, much too often I have been far from happy in my experiences with fellow Muslims on a practical level. I have faced considerable difficulties in my attempts to develop as a Muslim. Although I have made the acquaintance of many Muslims through various mosques I have attended, this has been overwhelmingly only on a superficial level. I am close only to two Muslims in the city where I live. I met them coincidentally. One is a neighbor, the other a former colleague whom I now rarely see.

Lack of Induction

Although I have a good understanding of the basic theology of Islam and Islamic history, two years after my conversion I am to some extent still struggling with the practical daily basics. According to a hadith,"The search for knowledge is an obligation laid on every Muslim."(Ibn Majah, Baihaqi). A convert needs to search for more knowledge than a born Muslim who has had a lifetime of schooling in the faith. In my personal experience, it seems that established Muslims make at best only a token effort to assist new Muslims in fulfilling their religious obligations.

To my profound disappointment, as far as my Islamic education is concerned, I have been left to fend for myself. It would seem that no mosque I have visited has a systematic induction program for new converts. The mosques in my area are all dominated by south Asian immigrants, with a sprinkling of Africans on Fridays. They are not attuned to the needs of indigenous converts. In fairness, I seem to be the only white person (i.e. convert) at the mosques I attend, so they may not perceive a need. But nevertheless, I live in a major city with a significant Muslim population and many mosques. Surely there must be somewhere where a new Muslim adult can receive training in the practical daily basics. Surely the established Muslim community should know where to refer the convert even if they are not suitably geared up themselves at the local mosque.

The Catholic Church has a thorough practical and theological induction program that is actually compulsory for people who wish to join it. The Anglican Church actively advertises its Alpha Course to attract and teach new converts. We Muslims seem to have nothing organized.

When it comes to lack of both meaningful social welcome and organized teaching of Islam for new Muslims, American convert, teacher and writer, Yahiha Emerick, hits the nail on the head in his article Ten Things Every Muslim Must Do. At number six on his list, he says:

If you see any new Muslims at your Masjid (mosque), then partially "adopt" them into your family. The convert experience is basically one of isolation and loneliness. You'd be surprised to know that most converts are outright ignored by the people in the Masjid. Beyond a few pleasantries and handshakes, they are usually never made to feel welcome or accepted. They are often cut off from their non-Muslim friends and relatives so they are doubly vulnerable. A new convert should be invited into various people's home for dinner a minimum of six times a month. Get together with others and make sure you all put the new convert on your guest list for any sort of gathering.

Internet - the good, the bad and the dangerous!

Since my conversion to Islam I have had some horrible experiences with Muslims both on the Internet and face to face. I briefly mention these experiences here as a warning to other new Muslims. The Internet can be a wonderful place for learning about Islam. In fact, since my conversion, the Internet has been my primary source of materials with which to educate myself further about Islam. There are many excellent sites, but I would caution the new Muslim not to accept the information on all sites blindly, particularly if they have an arrogant, strident or unpleasant tone or stray from plain facts and concentrate on controversial opinion or on an overtly political agenda.

I would also urge new Muslims to avoid email forums or chat rooms about Islam absolutely. There are some nasty people lurking there - self-styled pseudo scholars preaching hellfire, doling out personal abuse and decrying sincere Muslims as non-believers. I was left utterly demoralized at one time and very, very angry on several occasions. I have now unsubscribed from all such forums. New Muslims should keep in mind the Hadith: "Verily, Allah is mild and is fond of mildness, and He gives to
the mild what He does not give to the harsh." (Muslim) If a website or e-group you come across is far removed from the above, then remove yourself from it!

There are also nice, well-meaning people who offer advice about matters of faith and practice without being in any way qualified to do so. If they get things wrong, they could unwittingly be leading the uninitiated astray and doing more harm than good. Be wary of accepting anything without a quotation from the Quran or authenticated hadith to back it up.

Having said that, if it is one of the nasty brigade who has come seemingly armed with references, firstly check the actual quotation in your Quran. Have they really only quoted what is there or have they embellished it with their own interpretation? It happens. And, if the quotation is genuine but sounds harsh to your ears, then use a commentary to become aware of the context in which the verse was revealed. Read widely. For every hard-line, unpleasant interpretation, there is usually a mild one from a serious writer or scholar.

Beware the Zealots!

Some real-life encounters can also be disconcerting. Whilst I have enjoyed an excellent rapport with some converts, the proverbial "zeal of the converted" can overflow in others. Some can turn into hard-line absolutists - a caricature of a Muslim. Also beware the political zealots. Recently while in London I had to endure a sermon at Jumma salat (Friday afternoon congregational prayers) held at a university in which the student acting as imam was very obviously pushing the agenda of a radical minority political grouping and spoke at length about whom it was our duty to kill!

Sadly far too many young Muslim men in England - the occasional convert and, particularly, the sons of Asian immigrants - get far too worked up about this or that political agenda and are in danger of overlooking the peaceful, spiritual core of Islam. As the writer Abdal-Hakim Murad puts it in his excellent essay British and Muslim, unsettled, discontented second generation Asian immigrant Muslims in Britain tend to locate their radicalism not primarily in a spiritual, but in social and political rejection of the oppressive order around them. Their unsettled and agitated mood is not always congenial to the recent convert, who may, despite the cultural distance, feel more comfortable with the first rather than the second generation of migrants, preferring their God-centered religion to what is often the troubled, identity-seeking Islam of the young.

Amen to that! These young radicals are prone to behave in the most obnoxious and nasty manner towards those other Muslims who do not agree with them. I would simply call the following words from the Quran and ahadith to their attention:

"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious; for your Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path, and who are truly guided."
Quran 16:125

"Do you know what is better than charity and fasting and prayer? It is keeping peace and good relations between people, as quarrels and bad feelings destroy mankind."
(Muslims & Bukhari) Top

Must we proceed at the pace of the most prudish?
Whilst I have enjoyed many conversations about Islam in mixed male-female company (including with ladies who wear hijab), a small but vociferous minority of female born Muslims I have encountered have been very stand-offish and overly prudish. Despite the fact that the Quran teaches us that

"The believing men and women, are associates and helpers of each other." <Quran, Al-Taubah 9:71>

My own understanding is that what is improper is for one man and one woman to be alone together, but there should not be a problem about other mixing provided that proper Islamic behavior is maintained. I, a man, would never even have had the opportunity to discover Islam in the first instance were it not for friendships with several born Muslims (three of whom were women) prompting me to investigate the religion.

According to the prominent Sudanese Muslim scholar and leader, Dr. Hassan al-Turabi who is widely portrayed in the west as an Islamic fundamentalist, in his seminal 1973 work On the Position of Women in Islam and in Islamic Society'

"In the model society of Islam, Muslims used to assemble freely and frequently; they were mostly acquainted with each other, men and women; they conversed and interacted intensively. But all those activities, were undertaken in a spirit of innocence and in the context of a virtuous society...Islam tolerates that one may greet women or talk to them in decent and chaste language and with good intent. The Prophet used to do so."

"Muslim Name" and Attire?

Another gripe I have is the ignorance of many born Muslims about what they believe to be the necessity for a convert to adopt a so-called Muslim name. When I took my Shahada, I was asked not whether I wished to choose a "Muslim name" but what name I wished to adopt. Not knowing any better at the time, I did reluctantly choose a new name, and used it briefly in Muslim circles. However, I did not change any of my official documents. Only later did I discover that there is, in principle, no requirement whatsoever to change one's name. The original converts to Islam at the time of Prophet Mohammed usually kept the Arabic name they always had. The only exceptions were people who had a name with unpleasant or pagan connotations. So-called "Muslim names" are, in the main, simply Arabic ones or traditional names from countries that were early adopters of Islam. There is no requirement for a new Muslim to adopt one of these.

While I respect (though do not necessarily agree with) the choice of those Muslim converts who have adopted a new name, I expect all Muslims to respect the right of other converts such as myself to retain their original name. I generally now use my "real" name, not the "Muslim name" that was initially thrust upon me. Sadly I have come under pressure from some ignorant born Muslims on this matter.

To be frank, I feel that adopting a "Muslim name", makes it easier for one's existing circle of family and friends to dismiss one's conversion to Islam as an act of eccentricity which they can brush off. By changing one's name and starting to wear, say, Pakistani clothing, one confirms in their minds the foreignness or alien nature of what is supposed to be universal Islam. I believe that these actions, or dare I say distractions, make it harder for most people from non-Muslim countries to identify with Islam, the welcoming and inclusive universal religion open to all, and see how it could be relevant to their own lives.

The spiritually motivated western convert to Islam, whose Islam is centered on God not agitation, has a golden opportunity to depoliticize the widespread negative western perception of Islam and to diminish the impression that Islam is for strange, backward, sometimes frightening foreigners - Arabs and Asians - but not for westerners. In my view, this opportunity is thrown away or at the very least is hobbled by self-inflicted damage when a western convert unnecessarily adopts a foreign name and clothing, thus only reinforcing the preconceived notions and prejudices that non-Muslim fellow westerners tend to hold about Islam.

Relationship with non-Muslim parents

Again with regard to the issue of a "Muslim name" and similar matters, I think it is also important to bear in mind here the teaching of Islam with regard to one's duty to family, particularly one's parents even if they are themselves non-Muslims.

Your Lord had decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you are kind to parents whether one or both of them attain old age in your lifetime. Say not to them a word of contempt or repel them but address them in terms of honor and out of kindness lower to them the wing of humility and say: "My Lord, bestow on them your mercy, even as they cherished me in childhood".
(Quran 17:23-24)

Indeed there was an occasion when Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) commanded a believer to care for his non-Muslim parents rather than participate in Jihad (holy war).

Abdullah ibn Omar relates: "Once a person came to the Messenger of Allah and expressed his desire to participate in jihad in order to please Allah. The Holy Prophet asked him "Are your parents alive?" The man said "Yes. Both are alive". The Holy Prophet said 'Then go and serve them well".
(Bukhari and Muslim).

I felt that it was important that my parents who are both practicing Catholics should realize that I was not rejecting them, my upbringing or most of the things they held dear. It was simply that I had come to a new understanding of theology. Rejecting the name they had given me could really have been interpreted as being quite insulting to them, which in itself would be contrary to Islam. I am thinking here of the following ahadith:

"He, who wishes to enter paradise at the best gate, must please
his father and mother."
(Bukhari & Muslim)

In my case, I felt that abandoning for no good reason the very name given me by my loving parents would have been straining the ties of relationship, creating displeasure and certainly not indicative of showing kindness to or taking friendly care of my mother and father.

So-called "Islamic Causes"

When I, a westerner and a former practicing Christian, became a Muslim, I became just that - a Muslim, a believer in the religion of Islam, i.e. someone who believes in the oneness of God as opposed to the concept of Trinity and who accepts Mohammed (pbuh) as a prophet of God. I'm the same person with the same name, wearing the same western style of clothing (though now respecting the modest dress code of Islam) and eating the same style of food (though now making sure that my meat is halal). I have not rejected my country, its culture or tradition. I simply now hold different theological beliefs.

Final Thoughts

Based on my personal experience, my advice either to new Muslims or anyone considering the possibility of accepting Islam would be simply to judge a religion not by its adherents, many of whom may fall far short of the ideal in a variety of ways (and I include myself in that!), but rather by the theology and teachings of the religion itself. To be honest, I remain in Islam very much in spite of and not because of my experiences with Muslims. Only a handful have been of any help to me and quite a few hard-line politicos and joyless, uptight puritans have been a real hindrance. However, despite my great disappointment at both the lack of organized support available to new Muslims and the widespread politically focused rather than God-centered Islam so prevalent today, plus my intense dislike of the nasty behavior and attitudes of some of the Muslims I have encountered in person and online, I have most definitely found in the religion of Islam an intellectual and theological satisfaction that I never knew in Christianity. And at the end of the day, one's beliefs about God are what truly matters.

Allahu a`lam. God knows best.

Source :salam.

__________________

The prophet said :

 

"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should either say something good or keep silent." (Tirmidhi)

 

Since becoming Muslim I don't really feel like I am missing out on anything at all, just at times I feel like I am not learning enough, or I am not learning as fast as I should. I know its not a race I just wish i knew more.

 

 

I am a new revert.  Well for a few years now.  I am from a catholic family in a mormon state.  Things I miss...  I think, feeling accepted.  I have been doing most of my learning alone.  I suppose that is why am decided to come here.  I dont know other muslims.  I have prayed at a masjid that is about 12 miles away when I can find a way there.  I have been let go from several jobs because I will not compromise my beliefs and morals but I am OK with that.  I have lost most everything in this world to this point, for the sake of the next.  I dont miss alot in the rituals of christmas and things like that.  What I do miss is the emotional human bond of religious beliefs and brotherhood.  Ya know.  Person to person.  By the way I am also a person with BiPolar disorder.  Most of the symptoms completely went away when I turned to Islam.

 

Walaikum Salam Duane,

 

I was very happy to read you. Masha Allah ! you possess a very strong faith.  This line of yours made me conclude that-  I have been let go from several jobs because I will not compromise my beliefs and morals but I am OK with that.

 

May Allah swt help us attain us faith. Ameen. You are ok with it.

 

May Allah swt soon, facilitate you with brotherhood. Ameen

 

 

Thank you Hayfa and seekshidayath for the welcome, and the words.  Welcome Mariyah.  It is to bad that some men and women are put off when they go to the masjid.  I was blessed with a great first experience.  I believe your last line about education plays a large role in what you talked about.  I am new here but have found nothing but good. 

Duane

 

First Hunter... Have you checked out the Vermont Islamic Center. I didn't find it terribly women friendly but seemed open to the guys. Even if your in the sticks, you should be relatively close. I am originally from the Central part of the state - only one Muslim family in town that i now of.

 

Mariyah, you wouldn't happen to be in Tucson would you? I heard their big Mosque was becoming more open to women - being able to see and hear. I was there a few years back and a sister closed up the partition and then the sisters talked and talked while I strained to hear the Kutbah. Yuck. We are moving there God willing in a few months and I would love to be able to attend in a setting where I can hear and see.  As a convert, I think it is important to have a sense of community.

 

Why can't you tell them? I've read stories in which reverts are saying that their parents/families would disown them etc. if they told them about their having become Muslim. I hope that's not the case for you.

�

Why can't you tell them? I've read stories in which�reverts are saying that their parents/families would disown them etc. if they told them about their having become Muslim. I hope that's not the case for you.

 

Do things slowly, gradually including deal with family. Insha Allah everthing just need time, nothing work instantly except "tylanol" (for non US dudes, tylanol is a headache medicine/pain killer). May Allah help you to ease the process.

 

I can relate to your story. I understand you fully and if you would like to chat privately ,my email is mailto:so[email protected] - . Insha''Allah we can talk soon. Take care sister.