My and Others Journey to Islam

[Mark Wells]

I would have to say that it wasn't one event that led me to As Islam...it was a lifelong process. I remember when I was a kid, I would hear the words Islam, Final Call, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm x, Kareem Adul Jabbar and Elijah Muhammad. These names were unique to me back then, but I was a kid and all I was concern about back then was kid's stuff. I remember my mother  taken me and my younger brother to church regularly from the time I was three to about six but for some reason, we stop going. I never could (and still can't) embrace Christianity because I just can not comprehend the philosophy of man being a god or a son of the creator of the universe. I always believe it was more to this massive universe than what I was taught in school and I believed the universe was much greater than anything then what a man or any group of men could ever create. I just couldn't grasp the idea that god would purposely curse all of mankind that came after Addam and Eve because someone ate an apple from a tree. I just couldn't piece together the idea of a god allowing his son or he himself allowing his creation to kill him for he can forgive them...plus I was a kid and religion was the last thing on my mind.

  

Jumu'ah Khutbah, Masjid Jihad 4-10-2009

 

Jumu'ah Khutbah (Friday "Gathering "Lecture) at Masjid Jihad, Savannah, Gaeorgia. The Khatieb (Lectuer) is Imam Maajid Faheem Ali. This Khutbah makes a strong appeal for the Establishment of Islamic Community Life! It is upon this obligation that we began to share the wisdom of our Imam (Leader). This effort Insha'llah (G'd willing) will inspire growth, collective in the Muslim Community in America and wherever Al Islam is being Established or (Re)established to make a lasting impression on communities and societies. It should be noted that this is not an effort to promote Masjid Jihad Inc. or Imam Majid Ali, but this is done Independent by individuals who are inspired by Imam Ali's Leadership and the Contributions of the Collective body of believers in Savannah, Georgia. We are sharing this with the Global Community, at this time, for maximum benifit Insha'llah.

 

When I was in the Army, I had a friend who had some knowledge of Islam but he wasn't practicing at the time.His demeanor was just different than anyone else I knew at that time. In 1989, my unit was sent to Kuwait during the first gulf war and that's where I got my first taste of Islam. I didn't get a chance to socialize with the citizens of Kuwait but I remember the people, by enlarge, being more at peace with themselves. I never seen that before and it always stayed with me. I got out of the service in 91 and move to Savannah, Georgia. Around that time, I started becoming more conscious of global events. I started asking myself questions about life in general and I was just trying to make sense of it all. I started listening to Min Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam and other socially conscious brothers that was feeding my appetite the knowledge I was searching for, but their concept was also about a man who was god and I just couldn't grasp that concept just as I couldn't when I was a little boy. Around 1992, I met a brother name Addam and we became close friends. We had a lot in common and we were going down the same path now that I look back. Around 92 or 93, we went to see the movie" Malcolm X" and for the first time I was able to see a different concept of Islam instead of the Nation of Islam's version. I'm going to say around the fall of 1993, I was channel surfing and The Imam of the Savannah region (Imam Masjid Ali) was on television and he really caught my attention. In the fall of 1994 on a Friday afternoon, I was riding around in my car and I drove pass the masjid in Savannah and as Allah Al Kareem as my witness, it look like everyone was wearing white clothing. Brothers were embracing each other with hugs and the sisters were looking so modest and humbled. Now I come to find out later that everyone wasn't wearing white but the vision that I seen was so beautiful. The next day,went back I meet the Imam. We talk for about twenty minutes and he gave me a copy of the Quran.  I found myself hanging around the masjid and getting involved in every conversation that was going on. Two week before Thanksgiving , I made a tearful shadada and became a Muslim. See, the concept of something being greater than any man was always buried in my heart and I truly believe that Allah Ta'ala's mercy and love is instilled in all of mankind.

 

I give praise and thanks to Allah Ar Rahman for instilling and protecting his truth in my soul.

As Salaamu Alaikum!!!!!

[Islamic1(Hassiem)]

as salaamu alaikum

it was also a number of different events that lead me to Islam.growing up as a kid in Milwaukee my parents taught us to fear Muslims or Black Muslims as they were called.we attended church every Sunday until I was in high school and then I stopped going. there was a family in the neighborhood that when I look back was the nicest family in the neighborhood.I remember one of the sons name was Kawami.we were in the same grade.soon they moved away but there was another Muslim family that moved down the street.eventually after joing the US Navy I went to my 1st Jumah.I did not return because everything they talked about was against what I had been taught to believe.after visiting Egypt,Morocco,Turkey,Yemen,and Saudi Arabia I learned the true teachings of Islam.after leaving the Navy I was still searching for the right path and I turned on the tv and a show called Islam Live was on.the brothers on this show answered all my ? and invited me to the mosque.I took my Shahada about 3 years later Dec.12th 1987.that show Islam Live still airs today hosted by the same two brothers Mr Rashid Ahmad(88 years old) and Dr Muhammad Sabir.
Alhamdulillah(All Praise to Allah) for bringing me out of the darkness and into the light!!!!

Ma's Salama(With Peace) HASSIEM

[Karimah bint Abdul-Aziz]

The Beginning of the Road

For so many years, I floundered in the terrifying environment of spiritual darkness. I sought a
God of my understanding, but all the maps I was given to aid me in my quest were flawed, or
inaccurate, or just plain deceptive. For a time I gave up. I still believed that there was a God, but I thought that He didn't believe in me.
Eventually, active addiction brought me to the place where I had to make a crucial decision; to die or to ask for help and thereby choose life. I chose life, although at that point I was unsure of what that really meant. I entered a rehab program, then moved to a halfway house and completed an aftercare program. I got a sponsor and we began intensive step work.
Step One: “Admitted that we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable”. That one was quite easy. The realization of my powerlessness over alcohol was what led to my life versus death decision. Somewhere along the line, I lost the control and the drinks began to control me. The resulting unmanageability was clearly evident to everyone, and finally even to me.
Step Two: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity”. Working on this Step was extraordinarily painful. You have to face the insanity of your life in order to recognize your need for a restoration of sanity. To face myself, without self-medication, was the emotional equivalent of an appendectomy without anesthesia. I clung closely to my sponsor during this time because she was the Power greater than myself.
Time passed, and I completed my foray into the minefield of my past. Amazingly I experienced a new-found sense of freedom and of hope. I could dimly discern the outlines of a positive future, of a real life. It was time to move on to Step Three: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him”. Uh oh, here comes trouble! I didn't understand God at all, and I was pretty convinced that He didn't understand me either. I recognized my sponsor's power because I saw it working in my life on a daily basis. God, however, was a different story. I was operating with a borrowed God, but I was fairly certain that was not what Step Three meant.
I had moved out of the halfway house and into transitional housing. I made friends with another resident, and one evening he came to a meeting that I was chairing. Afterwards, we went out for coffee. He told me that he was a Muslim, “but not a 9/11 Muslim”. (This was October 2001, so he was understandably a bit paranoid.) He was very dedicated to his faith, and talked a lot about it. I found what he said interesting, but I had learned from past experience not to accept what people told me at face value. So I decided to investigate for myself. In particular, I wanted to clarify the disparities between what he was saying and what the media was saying. I began my quest at the Public Library. I asked the librarian for assistance. Once she understood my search, she told me that I wouldn't find what I needed there. She advised me that I would be able to find an abundance of information at the Hartford Seminary, as they specialized in religious issues.
When I returned to the house, I asked one of the counselors about the Hartford Seminary. He told me that the Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian/Muslim Relations was located there, and had the oldest Christian/Muslim relations program in the US. He also told me that they had an extensive library which included a wealth of information about Islam. That was exactly what I needed. He gave me travel directions, and I went there the next day.
For the next week, I spent time almost every day at the Seminary. I read and read, and I purchased a number of books for my personal library, including my first copy of the Holy Qur'an. It didn't take me long to recognize that my lifelong quest was over. I had found what I sought for so long. I had a God of my understanding.
Once I had a clear understanding of Islam I was totally enthralled. I fell completely in love. What I loved most was having a one on one relationship with Allah. That was something that I had always craved and no one had ever been able to explain to me why this wasn't possible. But now I knew that it was.
I made my declaration of faith (shahada) on the first day of Ramadan that year: November 18, 2001. I have never once regretted that decision. On that day, I turned my will and my life over to the care of Allah, the God of my understanding. He has kept me clean and sober, even removing the desire to use from me. I have developed a strong sense of honor and integrity. I respect and love myself and am aware of my self-worth. I have self-confidence. I returned to school recently, to study Human Services. I currently have a cumulative GPA of 3.97. I know that all these things are gifts and blessings from my God, and I have a heart overflowing with gratitude. The life that I had been given brief tantalizing glimpses of early in recovery is clear and focused today. I am living it! The Twelve Steps and the religion of al-Islam form a protective barrier around my soul, keeping me safe from harm and affording me the freedom to continue to grow and change and flourish. I have received a wondrous healing; physical, mental, and spiritual. It is now my goal, no it is my duty to pass on others what was so freely given to me. Today my life has meaning and purpose. I am free to be me; I am proud to be me. Being me has become a beautiful experience.
This is my conversion story. Alhamdulillah, I have just celebrated nine years of sobriety-a miracle that could only have been made possible by the grace and mercy of Allah (SWA).
Ma salaam, Karimah