Embracing Islam is not the end of our journey, but its beginning...

Embracing Islam is not the end of our journey, but its beginning...

I was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. I also attended the first Holy Communion, but my family never went to church. In spite of that I grew up as a Christian who has always believed in the existence of God and pursued the truth. Many things in Catholicism were illogical to me, for instance the idea of the hereditary sin. When I was ten, I started going to a certain Christian church, where they answered some of my questions, even the one concerning the hereditary sin, which is not even mentioned in the original Bible at all. It means that children are always born clean, without sins, and there is no mediator between us and God (e.g. a priest who Catholics confess their sins to). In this church I learned a lot about respecting people, praying to God and trusting Him in everything, trying to do good not only to myself, but to other people as well, helping them, and always having a pure and honest heart as well as many other positive things.

Everything started to change gradually when I spent a summer in Switzerland in a Muslim family. I went to Switzerland to improve my German before the school leaving exam. I observed the mutual relations in that family, the respect of the children to their parents, etc. It was a gleam on my journey to Islam.

When I came back to Slovakia two months later, I borrowed an English translation of the meaning of the Quran from the church I attended at that time. Once I even read something in it, but I did not understand many things. Since I learned English and was good at it, I had conversation classes with Libyan students, who, of course, were Muslims. Once we discussed Islam and Muslims and then we would discuss the same topic in every class. I got more and more information about Islam and they improved their English. It was the Muslims who started giving logical answers to my unanswered questions. Later there was a day when I sensed a special pounding in my heart that pushed my forward showing me that it was the right time to embrace Islam as my religion and way of life and thus become one of these gorgeous people around me. I wanted to shout and tell the whole world what I was feeling then and have been feeling until now.

I knew I would have to learn many new things, but everything new was fascinating and interesting to me. I was thankful to God for everything, for guiding me all my life and for giving me an opportunity to get familiar with various religions before I embraced Islam. Islam is the climax of my journey to the real truth.

My “D” day was in December 1999. I had no problems with fasting, praying and wearing modest clothes. I did not have any difficulties with wearing a hijab (Muslim headscarf) either. I just tried it on once and since then I have been wearing it, alhamdulillah. Of course, I was afraid of the responses of my parents and my colleagues at work. I was sure that my parents would kick me out of the house or my boss would fire me. However, deep in my heat, I was convinced that whatever happened, it was God’s will and He alone would take care of me because He alone knew what the best was for me. I was thankful for all that. Thanks God, my parents and my colleagues at work accepted me without problems. It is very important to trust God completely because He knows what is inside us, what we are thinking about and how much we ask Him sincerely and trust Him. He alone always helps us because He knows what the best is for us. Embracing Islam is not the end of our journey, but its beginning. We have to try to get as much information as possible and do our best to be good Muslims.

About a year after embracing Islam, I met my husband who I have been thankful to God for. We understand each other perfectly, he is an understanding and patient man who I learned a lot about Islam from. He also taught me how to practice Islam in real life. He taught me to be patient, to accept my faults, to be happy because of small things, not to grieve because of worldly problems, and to be thankful to God for everything.

I have never regretted choosing him for my husband, even though we did not know each other that much. He proposed marriage to me on the third day. We only knew each other from the distance. But I knew he was the right one for me because I was feeling a pounding, similar to that which I felt when I embraced Islam. A few months after our marriage, my husband graduated and we were supposed to go to my new home, to Kuwait. A few weeks before his graduation, my husband’s family came to Slovakia and we spent the time together. They are really nice people and they accepted me with an open heart.

In Kuwait I attended several lectures of well-known scholars, such as Yusuf Estes from the USA, organized by the Islam Presentation Committee in Kuwait. I also attended classes on Islam there.

I learned the most about Islam in Kuwait and my husband’s family was really helpful. Islam is the way of life for them. My husband and I agreed on having a baby somewhat later because I was quite young and wanted to learn more about Islam first as well as about the life in Kuwait and their language. I thought I would never manage my life with a child. Now I know I was wrong. I managed it, but it took a little more time. God gave us a wonderful child, a daughter called Aisha, who is the fulfillment of our life, our mutual love and our love to God. I always thought I would have a feeling showing me that I should have a child. However, God “surprised” us and showed me that He only knew the right time for anything in one’s life. We have been very thankful for that until now.

In conclusion I would like to say that we should let God lead our lives and trust Him. He knows what is right for us and we should be thankful to Him for everything. We should be good Muslims, praise Him, remember Him ceaselessly and not only in need.

May God give us enough strength to remain on the straight path. Ameen!

Sister Aziza (Um Aisha)

2006