I was brought up in a devout Catholic family and raised with Catholic values and traditions. At fifteen, I entered the monastery. While inside the monastery, I was happy because I could perform my duties as a nun and the people around me including my family were also pleased with me. Until such time when … Read more
I was raised in a religious Christian family. At that time, Americans were more religious than they are now—most families went to church every Sunday, for example. My parents were involved in the church community. We often had ministers (Protestant “priests”) in the house. My mother taught in Sunday school, and I helped her. I … Read more
(part 1 of 2): Early Life Setup My name is Maryam al-Mahdayah – I was not born with this name, but chose it when I converted to Islam (in 1992). My Christian birth name is Maria (Mary in English, Maryam in Arabic). I would like to share with you my personal story of converting to … Read more
(part 1 of 2): Questions of Childhood Sana is an Egyptian Christian young lady whom God guided to the true religion after a long journey of doubt and fatigue. She narrated her own story as follows: I grew up like any other young Egyptian Christian girl… a fanatic Christian. My parents cared a lot about … Read more
(part 1 of 2) I came from a purely Hindu family where we were always taught to regard ourselves (i.e. women) as beings who were eventually to be married off and have children and serve the husband – whether he was kind or not. Other than this, I found that there were a lot of … Read more
My first memory is from the time I was three years old. I remember asking my father: “What would I become as I die?” He was very amazed to hear such a question from my little mind and unfortunately he was not able to answer me. Here, in Estonia, during the Soviet rule, faith was … Read more
My name is Viviana Espin. I am 21 years old from Ecuador. Life always has good and bad moments. Sometimes when I think about the past I feel a deep hole of pain. I’d like that things would have been different, maybe to have a normal family, maybe caring parents. I don’t know, but I … Read more
This article is based on an interview with Sandra La Bianca, a Muslim revert who lives in Perth, Western Australia. La Bianca is a country girl; she was brought up on a farm in Western Australia. When she was a child, she had a pet kangaroo and helped with taking care of the cows and … Read more
(part 1 of 4) Introduction Lynda Fitzgerald, now known as Khadija, is an Irish girl from a town called Wicklow, close to Dublin. She hails from a very strict Roman Catholic family, comprising of nine children. Her father is an Electrician and her mother a Housewife. Lynda was educated in Wicklow and then went on … Read more
How was your life before finding your way to Islam? My life before Islam was empty in a way. Just the feeling to live for the day and not knowing the meaning and purpose of life. My self-confidence was quite weak. I didn’t feel that I belonged anywhere in the society, something was missing. I … Read more