I converted to Islam in October 2007. I was raised very strict catholic. And I used to teach catechism. I was an alter server, I was very active in the church.

So, I started to have questions about life and I went to the church for my answers and I was met with a lot of resistance. I decided to take my time and learn about different religions. I studied Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Jainism, and eventually Islam.

Challenges after Accepting Islam

My life has been very different after coming to Islam. It’s been one of the most beautiful things ever happen to me but it has also brought its own fair share of hardships.

My family doesn’t accept Islam, therefore they don’t speak with me, and as result, my family has taken my daughter from me.

I have suffered loss of my job, I can’t attend school anymore because I’m not able to afford if financially. I was one of the top students in my school.

In life, nothing is stable. You can have money, you can have work, you can have family, you can have anything… and this can go, but religion is always the one stable thing that you have. So whenever you have any hardship or difficulty in life, you should go to your God.

Going to the church and being told, ‘well that’s the way it is because God said so… so we shouldn’t question that’, it’s something that’s not acceptable. If I need the answer, where am I going to find it?

The Path to the Truth

Being in conflict that you believe that there is Trinity and Jesus son of God and he’s God… when you can take your mind out of it and look at it, it doesn’t make sense. But it’s hard when for so many years this is your faith that you defend and what you’re dedicated to, to take that step back… I kind of feel minded about it.

Sometime, I study it for a long time, I had a lot of common misconceptions about what Islam was, at one point I hated Muslims, I thought all Muslims should die, and anyone who even resembled Muslims, in my mind, that they shouldn’t exist, they should go back to their countries… the common American idea of what Islam is, but that was my own ignorance and following the media.

There is a quote I read often “fear not the path of the truth for the lack of people walking on it”. This is something that’s very powerful because it’s ok if I walk through this life alone; it is ok if you have no family, if I have no friends, if I have the biggest house, or I have no house, if I have all the money of the world, or if I have no money… it’s ok because I have God.

I can worry about my relationship with my God and coming closer to Him here and Insha’Allah I’ll see Him in Jannah.

This video is transcribed by Discovering Islam team.