How did you revert?

[Anisah]

Anyone read the story of Yusuf Estez? www.islamtomorrow.net

I couldn't get this link to work. For those interested in reading about Yusuf Estes' story, please visit: http://www.islamtomorrow.com/yusuf.asp

The 'converts' section in the site links to the stories of others, including Yusuf Islam.

[Shadower]

That's the one, thank you Elephant person for the clarification I put .net because Awdah's website ends with that.

[Anisah]

Elephant person

Well, I should be grateful you didn't call me 'Elephant Man'...

BTW, how cool does Sheikh Estes look with his big beard? People should really check out his before/after shots. Subhanallah, what a transformation.

[Shadower]

Elephant Woman

[Shadower]

Yeah Estez rocks, I always get lost in his site for some reason, is it me or are the links there not right?

[Muhammad Abdullah]

My favourite story of repentance/coming to Islam is the story of the man who killed 100 people.
Also the old videos from IISCA, my way to Islam my abu ameenah bilal philips and abdur raheem greene had a big impact on me coming to Islam.

[Muhammad Abdullah]

Why Cat Stevens Accepted Islam

All I have to say is all what you know already, to confirm what you already know, the message of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as given by God - the Religion of Truth. (I didn’t find the first sentence phrased for an article, is this a speech? It is not clear for the reader, especially non-Muslims. Since these are his own words, I don’t know to what extent I have the liberty to modify them). As human beings we are given a consciousness and a duty that has placed us at the top of creation. Man is created to be God's deputy on earth, and it is important to realize the obligation to rid ourselves of all illusions and to make our lives a preparation for the next life. Anybody who misses this chance is not likely to be given another, to be brought back again and again, because it says in Qur'an that when man is brought to account, he will say, "O Lord, send us back and give us another chance." The Lord will say, "If I send you back you will do the same."

[Muhammad Abdullah]

MY EARLY RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING

I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the high life of show business. I was born in a Christian home, but we know that every child is born in his original nature; submission to One God (I have added the explanation of natural state) - it is only his parents that turn him to this or that religion. I was given this religion (Christianity) and thought this way. I was taught that God exists, but there was no direct contact with God, so we had to make contact with Him through Jesus - he was in fact the door to God. This was more or less accepted by me, but I did not swallow it all.
I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were just stones with no life. And when they said that God is three, I was puzzled even more but could not argue. I more or less believed it, because I had to have respect for the faith of my parents.

POP STAR

Gradually I became alienated from this religious upbringing. I started making music. I wanted to be a big star. All those things I saw in the films and on the media took hold of me, and perhaps I thought this was my God, the goal of making money. I had an uncle who had a beautiful car. "Well," I said, "he has it made. He has a lot of money." The people around me influenced me to think that this was it; this world was their God.
I decided then that this was the life for me; to make a lot of money, have a 'great life.' Now my examples were the pop stars. I started making songs, but deep down I had a feeling for humanity, a feeling that if I became rich I would help the needy. (It says in the Qur'an, we make a promise, but when we make something, we want to hold onto it and become greedy.)
So what happened was that I became very famous. I was still a teenager, my name and photo were splashed in all the media. They made me larger than life, so I wanted to live larger than life and the only way to do that was to be intoxicated (with liquor and drugs).

IN HOSPITAL

After a year of financial success and 'high' living, I became very ill, contracted TB and had to be hospitalized. It was then that I started to think: What was to happen to me? Was I just a body, and my goal in life was merely to satisfy this body? I realized now that this calamity was a blessing given to me by Allah, a chance to open my eyes - "Why am I here? Why am I in bed?" - and I started looking for some of the answers. At that time there was great interest in the Eastern mysticism. I began reading, and the first thing I began to become aware of was death, and that the soul moves on; it does not stop. I felt I was taking the road to bliss and high accomplishment. I started meditating and even became a vegetarian. I now believed in 'peace and flower power,' and this was the general trend. But what I did believe in particular was that I was not just a body. This awareness came to me at the hospital.
One day when I was walking and I was caught in the rain, I began running to the shelter and then I realized, 'Wait a minute, my body is getting wet, my body is telling me I am getting wet.' This made me think of a saying that the body is like a donkey, and it has to be trained where it has to go. Otherwise, the donkey will lead you where it wants to go.
Then I realized I had a will, a God-given gift: follow the will of God. I was fascinated by the new terminology I was learning in the Eastern religion. By now I was fed up with Christianity. I started making music again and this time I started reflecting my own thoughts. I remember the lyric of one of my songs. It goes like this: "I wish I knew, I wish I knew what makes the Heaven, what makes the Hell. Do I get to know You in my bed or some dusty cell while others reach the big hotel?" and I knew I was on the Path.
I also wrote another song, "The Way to Find God Out." I became even more famous in the world of music. I really had a difficult time because I was getting rich and famous, and at the same time, I was sincerely searching for the Truth. Then I came to a stage where I decided that Buddhism is all right and noble, but I was not ready to leave the world. I was too attached to the world and was not prepared to become a monk and to isolate myself from society.
I tried Zen and Ching, numerology, tarot cards and astrology. I tried to look back into the Bible and could not find anything. At this time I did not know anything about Islam, and then, what I regarded as a miracle occurred. My brother had visited the mosque in Jerusalem and was greatly impressed that while on the one hand it throbbed with life (unlike the churches and synagogues which were empty), on the other hand, an atmosphere of peace and tranquility prevailed.

THE QUR'AN

When he came to London he brought back a translation of the Qur'an, which he gave to me. He did not become a Muslim, but he felt something in this religion, and thought I might find something in it also.
And when I received the book, a guidance that would explain everything to me - who I was; what was the purpose of life; what was the reality and what would be the reality; and where I came from - I realized that this was the true religion; religion not in the sense the West understands it, not the type for only your old age. In the West, whoever wishes to embrace a religion and make it his only way of life is deemed a fanatic. I was not a fanatic; I was at first confused between the body and the soul. Then I realized that the body and soul are not apart and you don't have to go to the mountain to be religious. We must follow the will of God. Then we can rise higher than the angels. The first thing I wanted to do now was to be a Muslim.
I realized that everything belongs to God, that slumber does not overtake Him. He created everything. At this point I began to loose the pride in me, because hereto I had thought the reason I was here was because of my own greatness. But I realized that I did not create myself, and the whole purpose of my being here was to submit to the teaching that has been perfected by the religion we know as Islam. At this point I started discovering my faith. I felt I was a Muslim. On reading the Qur'an, I now realized that all the Prophets sent by God brought the same message. Why then were the Jews and Christians different? I know now how the Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah and that they had changed His Word. Even the Christians misunderstand God's Word and called Jesus the son of God. Everything made so much sense. This is the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to reflect and reason, and not to worship the sun or moon but the One who has created everything. The Qur'an asks man to reflect upon the sun and moon and God's creation in general. Do you realize how different the sun is from the moon? They are at varying distances from the earth, yet appear the same size to us; at times one seems to overlap the other.
Even when many of the astronauts go to space, they see the insignificant size of the earth and vastness of space. They become very religious, because they have seen the signs of Allah. When I read the Qur'an further, it talked about prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a Muslim yet, but I felt that the only answer for me was the Qur'an, and God had sent it to me, and I kept it a secret. But the Qur'an also speaks on different levels. I began to understand it on another level, where the Qur'an says, "Those who believe do not take disbelievers for friends and the believers are brothers." Thus at this point I wished to meet my Muslim brothers.

CONVERSION

Then I decided to journey to Jerusalem (as my brother had done). At Jerusalem, I went to the mosque and sat down. A man asked me what I wanted. I told him I was a Muslim. He asked what was my name. I told him, "Stevens." He was confused. I then joined the prayer, though not so successfully. Back in London, I met a sister called Nafisa. I told her I wanted to embrace Islam and she directed me to the New Regent Mosque. This was in 1977, about one and a half years after I received the Qur'an. Now I realized that I must get rid of my pride, get rid of Iblis (non-muslims won’t understand iblis), and face one direction. So on a Friday, after Jumma' I went to the Imam and declared my faith (the Kalima).
You have before you someone who had achieved fame and fortune. But guidance was something that eluded me, no matter how hard I tried, until I was shown the Qur'an. Now I realize I can get in direct contact with God, unlike Christianity or any other religion. As one Hindu lady told me, "You don't understand the Hindus. We believe in one God; we use these objects (idols) to merely concentrate." What she was saying was that in order to reach God, one has to create associates that are idols for the purpose. But Islam removes all these barriers. The only thing that moves the believers from the disbelievers is the salatà prayer (or five daily prayers). This is the process of purification.

Finally I wish to say that everything I do is for the pleasure of Allah and pray that you gain some inspirations from my experiences. Furthermore, I would like to stress that I did not come into contact with any Muslim before I embraced Islam. I read the Qur'an first and realized that no person is perfect. Islam is perfect, and if we imitate the conduct of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) we will be successful. May Allah give us guidance to follow the path of the ummah of Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). Ameen!

- Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)

[Muhammad Abdullah]

I also thought, that if I became rich and famous I would be able to help save the world.

[Muhammad Abdullah]

Thousands of British elite embrace Islam

Jonathan Birt, the son of Lord Birt, and Emma Clark, the granddaughter of former liberal Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, are only two of 14,000 mostly-elite white Britons having reverted to Islam, reports said.

According to the first authoritative study of the phenomenon, carried by the Sunday Times on February 22, some of the country’s top landowners, celebrities and the offspring of senior Establishment figures have embraced Islam after being disillusioned with Western values.

The new study by Yahya (formerly Jonathan) Birt, son of Lord Birt, former director-general of the BBC, provides the first reliable data on the sensitive subject of Christians’ reversion to Islam.

He uses a breakdown of the latest census figures to conclude that there are now 14,200 white converts in Britain.

Speaking publicly for the first time about his faith, Birt argued that an inspirational figure, similar to the American convert Malcolm X for Afro-Caribbeans, would first have to emerge if the next stage, a mass conversion among white Britons, were to happen.

"You need great transitional figures to translate something alien (like Islam) into the vernacular," Birt, whose doctorate at Oxford University is on young British Muslims, was quoted by the Times.

"The image of Islam projected by political Islamic movements is not very attractive," he said.

Initially, Birt said he had no coherent reasons for converting, but "in the longer term I think it was the overall profundity, balance and coherence and spirituality of the Muslim way of life which convinced me," he said.

Meanwhile, it emerged last weekend that Emma Clark, the great-granddaughter of a British prime minister has converted. She said: "We’re all the rage, I hope it’s not a passing fashion."

Clark, who helped design an Islamic garden for the Prince of Wales at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, is now helping create a similar garden for a mosque in Woking, Surrey, on the site of a car park, said the British newspaper.

Furthermore, fresh evidence came last weekend that Islam has received formal acceptance at the heart of the Establishment. The Queen has approved new arrangements to allow Muslim staff at Buckingham Palace time off to attend Friday prayers at a mosque. A member of staff in the finance department is the first to take advantage of it, said the British paper.

Many converts have been inspired by the writings of Charles Le Gai Eaton, a former Foreign Office diplomat, it added.

"I have received letters from people who are put off by the wishy-washy standards of contemporary Christianity and they are looking for a religion which does not compromise too much with the modern world," said Eaton, author of Islam and the Destiny of Man

source: RADIANCE VIEWSWEEKLY 7-13 MARCH 2004

[Stranger]

Subhanallah, wat a beautiful read!

Jazakallahu kharian.

[Ur_Mate]

Salam walikum,

Allhumdulilah all are good journeys to islam, how Allah guides people to the straight path. I accepted islam 4 years ago. I cant remember the verse but it talkes abt how Allah guides ppl through the use of other ppl (muslims). Thats what happend to me in high school. I belived in wat my parents belived which was Karma (branch of hinduism and buhdism together mixed with sikhism(wierd)). anywaz a muslim girl asked me abt my belifs and asked me abt the creator, abt wat i know abt the creator. answer was nothing. she told me abt islam slowly slowly... i was her best freind in general, we were very close.

One day i went to the place where they hold lectures abt the karma thing, and jus listening to it, i neva heard of One God, no characteristics, nothing. all and all i was seeking the truth for a long period of time. time passed on, and a christian freind whom i knew for a while knew i was interested in islam... we where planning one night to goto the movies, goto the footy game and then go clubing.... estukferrulla.. the plan didnt work out so the christians went shoppin instead and i didnt go. anywaz, there were dawah ppl giving out pamphlets out abt islam and the christian guy got one for me :P and gave it to me when he saw me. i called the guy up and set up an interview wid him.

that week i had a week off from tafe i met up with him and he gave the story of adam and eve... suban allah coming from a background neva heard of adam or eve, or angels, jannah, shaytan... etc. it didnt sink in anywaz, it went for ages.... anywaz he gave me some books to read. 1 of them was called "Monothesism"by bilal phillips. allhumdulilah it was clear and was right wat i was interested in. cuz that is the core of wat i belived in general and thats wat i was looking for.

end of the week, i gave my shahada, prayed at the place and went home. allhumdulilah alot of things were off my back when i said shahada. good feeeling though. my parents are non muslims still and i still live them. it does affect me with wat they do, but i wanna give them a chance with seeing how i practice the deen.

anywaz thats wat happend to me in the start (year 2000).

salams

[Rahma_Minillah]

Allahu Akbar...dat was a nice story indeed
Jazakallau Kheir for sharing

oh and Welcome to the forums ahki, Inshallah u'll enjoy ur stay and benifit from here n we'll benifit from u

Assalamu Alaykum WarahmatuAllah Warbarakatu

[Stranger]

Wow, thats a great story akhi.

[Muhammad Abdullah]

subhan'Allah
mash'Allah what beautiful stories.
I really love hearing such things.

[effie]

my story is probably like many others

i was seeing my husband for about 7 yrs living a life that im not proud of.he was a muslim but not practising.when we married & our daughter was around 3 my husband suddenly began reading the Quran.i panicked, thinking i was to be beaten & oppressed so while he read the Quran i read the bible trying to CONVERT HIM. off course that didnt happen Alhumdu lillah, but i seriously started to question the bible. when i finished reading it i began reading the Quran. i remember reading SURAH AN-NISA 171 ".....so believe in Allah & his Messangers. Say not "three (trinity)! "Cease! (it is) better for you.For Allah is (the only) One Ilah (God), glory is to Him (far Exalted is He) above having a son........"
I was so emotional, I felt that Allah was talking to me ..PERSONALLY. Telling me to stop what i was doing. from that point i felt a difference.
After i read the Quran i went to the local mosque and said the Shahada. I thank Allah EVERYDAY for guiding me. ALHUMDU LILLAH.

[Sunshine]

Salam Alaykum

Masha'Allah nice stories!!!

Well i came from a Catholic background, my parents were not into Church but i was. I remember i would beg them to take me to Church but they wouldnt so i would ride my bike along the highway really fast and make it !!! I loved the ceromony of it all. My GrandMother was in the Choir and she would sing so loud !!!

I always felt and wanted to have a connection to God. I really did well in Religion class. Anyway my Dad was the one i would question about Religion and ask about the trinity and he would say "It is called Faith" meaning we believe in it because we were told to and its Faith, hmmm that wasnt a good enough answer...

So i got older and family life wasnt going well, parents were not getting along and my Mother needed me to nurse her back to health. After 2 yrs of this and working full time i had to get away and be by myself. In that time i was looking into many religions. I was at Spencer St one day and a Hari Khrisna gave me a book and thats where it all began. So anyway, i moved to Sunshine and was doing a Tafe course i noticed alot of Women wearing scarves and just thought it was a fashionable thing to do in thier cultures. Infact i didnt know anything about Islam, the first time i heard that word i thought must be a country, ooppss!!

So my Sister in law invited me for lunch at her Brother in laws and that is where i seen the Salat for the first time!!! I was shocked but really interested to know what this was all about. I learnt that the women who wore the scarf were also doing this type of prayer and it really interested me. So the Brother i seen making Salat i asked a few questions and he was nice enough to answer them. So i went along trying to make friends with the Muslims. Anyway, the Brother would talk to me about Islam and challenge me alot!!!

So about 9 weeks went by and i would sit at night crying at the end of my bed thinking about what he had told me, i knew it was the Truth and was battling Shaitan i guess.... So after 9 weeks the Brother and i were married!!!! Yes he asked and i said yes, it shocked me and my family but i could see how much he loved Allah and i really wanted to be like him.

So we finally had a real chance to talk about Islam, life and family... This was really an intense time for me. I was discovering a new way of life!!! It was so exciting for me.. I believed totally in Allah and Islam.. I had declared it to myself and Husband .

The one thing was HIJAB!!!!!!!!! What would i do, i knew it was what i had to face and i really wanted to wear it but was scared of reactions. So one day my Father in law (May Allah forgive him and give him Jannah) and Husband went out so i went shopping and bought my first Hijab. I got home and wore it around the house, then they came back. I left it on and just sat there, they came in saying Allahu Akbar!! My Father in law cried.

From that day i wore Hijab and said my Shahada. That night i felt so fresh and warm.

It was over a yr and a half but Alhumdulilah i was given Islam, again like the Brother earlier i dont know what it was that i did to recieve this gift. We are so Blessed to be Muslims.

Insha'Allah it wasnt a boring story for you.... Sorry if it went too long!

Fee Amanillah
Umm Tasnim

[dijma]

The greatest gift is surely eemaan

[abu soomaal]

what happened to the burmesse girl?

[mariam]

Is that MYYYYYY effie hehe...