My name is Tony (Tariq). I am from China. I’m studying politics but the focus is on the international relations. I came to Egypt to study Arabic and Islamic religion.

I didn’t actually know much about Islam in the past. But then, while I was I studying in the UK, I took a study trip to Palestine. And there I came across many Muslims, I think they are really my best friends.

I actually learned a lot from their attitude and their behavior towards their study, their work, and of course, their religion, and also friends and family members, and so on…

Then I began to ask myself: “Why they have such kind of attitude?”

And then I understood that the religion Islam definitely played the role. So that’s why I began learning about Islam.

Is Islam Only for Arabs?

I don’t think that Islam is only for Arabs. I think one of the misperceptions is that if you convert to Islam, you have to be living in Arabic lifestyle. This is wrong I think, because after I studied Islam for a while, I found that Islam embraces universal values, and it actually offers many kinds of solutions to deal with problems we come across nowadays, like in different kinds of societies.

Many people convert to Islam, or Christianity, or other kind of religion because they thought that there are some things that they can’t really solve in their lives. Maybe they come across this or that kind of problem… but, I mean, for me, of course there are problems in my life, but not very serious problems. I think I converted to Islam because of Allah.

After I converted to Islam, my life has a new meaning. As for the prayers, whenever I’m doing the prayer, I think I am talking to Allah. I always have things to talk to Him.

I am proud to be Muslim. Firstly, because I’m getting to a new community. I think were having a close relationship between brothers and sisters.

Secondly, I think this is a brand new opportunity for me to get access to a whole system of knowledge.

Muslim Youth

Muslim youth should actually fulfill their responsibility in two ways:

To begin with, I think they should convey the message of Islam to non Muslims and to people around the world, for instance to tell them what Islam is about.

Secondly, I think it’s about our deeds and behavior. Let’s improve ourselves from time to time, step by step so as to serve and be ambassadors of Islam.