I come from a small town in Ontario.

I was raised as a Christian and attended a Pentecostal church.

I stopped attending church because I did not feel I fitted in with that setting, although I did keep practicing Christianity.

I had no contact with Muslims, and had no idea what Islam was.

My conception of Islam was only what I heard at school, namely stereotypes and misconceptions about the faith. This ignorance was aggravated by a movie that I watched in the tenth grade called “Not Without My Daughter.”

My teacher did not help to dispel the ideas that were brought into our heads because of this movie, and so in my final year in high school, I had the same teacher for a social studies class, and once again we watched the movie.

The teacher gave us a huge essay, in which we could choose any topic that commented on the family institution. I began looking into the effects of religion on the family. I chose the topic because I had gathered a small amount of information about Islam on the Internet while chatting, and I thought it would be a perfect chance to learn more about the religion while doing an essay on it.

Allah Almighty showed me the beauty of Islam during the four-month course of my research. After a lot of reading, I reverted to Islam in January of 2002, alhamdulillah (all praise be to Allah)!

While doing my research for the essay, I was so intrigued by Islam that every moment of free time I spent in non-stop reading about Islam. When I finally wrote my essay, I strayed very far from my thesis since I not only talked about family life but also about Islam in general. I was so excited about all the new information that I had learned.

My essay may have helped the teacher to see what Islam really means because I discussed in detail how the media has misinterpreted Islam. When my teacher taught the same class next semester, she did not show the movie.

The foremost idea that caught my attention was the Islamic concept of one God, without son or any other partner along those lines. Additionally, I was amazed that the Quran is still in its original Arabic language and has not been altered through time.

The religion opened my eyes up to many new ideas and a new way of living that made so much more sense to me. All the aspects of praying and being modest just really led me to believe this was what I should be doing.

All my life I felt different from my friends: I never had any real religious friends who were like me, but even though I practiced Christianity I did not really understand what it meant. I could never grasp the idea of more than one God, I did not understand why I had to pray to Jesus (peace be upon him).

Thus, when I learned about Islam, all my questions were answered. There was no way that I could turn my back on it when the answer was right in front of me.

I knew there was so much more to learn, but from the little information that I had, I said the Shahadah (declaration of faith) and tried to learn how to pray out of a book, which was an interesting experience, for it was not until I came to university that I really learned how to pray properly.

I made my first Muslim friends in September when I enrolled at Guelph University. They were such a wonderful help, may Allah reward them. Now, I cannot imagine my life any other way.

People always ask what does your family think. In truth, they are not pleased with my conversion because they feel that I am rejecting my culture and them. My friends were very surprised, and also not happy. I felt like an outsider for a long time, but I could understand where they are coming from because it’s hard to understand things that are so foreign to you, things that you do not know a lot about.

As time progresses, I am trying to show them that my choice was the best for me, Allah willing. I also try to give them information so they can understand Islam.

I want to say to the other brothers and sisters who are reverting or thinking about coming into Islam that it may seem so scary at first; in fact it can be scary I cannot say that it is an easy thing. But it is worth it. I’ve never been so happy in my life.

Islam is the most precious and beautiful religion, and alhumdulillah we are so lucky to have been shown the light. When you see it and grasp its value, you should make the struggle, because in the end you will benefit more than you can ever imagine.

You may feel alone and an outcast, but you are not alone because Allah is always there for you. When you feel like you cannot do it anymore, pray and supplicate to Allah and read the Quran: it will uplift your spirits. You will then realize why you are doing what you are doing. You can also pass the knowledge onto your family and friends.

Through your actions, they will see that Islam is not so scary after all. It simply takes a little time and a little patience.