As a child, I always had access to a short-wave radio.  I used to listen to the BBC World Service about the Middle East.  I also loved the music from that part of the world, and I probably was listening to the Quran being recited but did not know it at the time.

As I grew older, I continued to listen to the BBC World Service.  Back then, they had a program called Words of Faith in which they had a five- to an eight-minute talk given by a different religious speaker each day of the week representing all the major religions in the United Kingdom.  Out of all the speakers, the Muslims were the ones I loved listening to most.

Every time the Muslim representative spoke, I wanted to find out more about Islam.  My impression of the religion was that the person who practices Islam is a happy person, not like the mean people portrayed by the American media.  I just refused to believe people that loved Allah so much could be like the people portrayed by the media.  Because I come from a Jewish background, the thing that united me with Islam was the belief that Allah had no partners.

Work in the United Kingdom

An important time in my life came when I met a real Muslim but did not know it yet.  I was doing contracting computer programming work in New York State when I had a strong urge to visit the United Kingdom.

[…]

Meeting a Real Muslim for the First Time

Sometime after I started working at LogoTech, I found out that my supervisor, Anis Karim, was Muslim.  I asked him if he knew how I could get a copy of the Quran.  To my surprise, he obtained a copy of the Quran for me within a few days. […] The next day, while eating breakfast, I started to read.  Later I found out that “read” is what Allah had the Angel Gabriel instruct our beloved Prophet to do, even though he could not read or write!

Well, words can’t describe how I felt when I read just that small portion of the world’s most holy book.  It took only 10 pages, when, at that point, I told myself that this religion was for me.  This occurred around 1990.  The more I read, the more I wanted to know, and I loved what I was reading.

At the time, I did not know anything about how to pray or any of the details of Islam.  If Anis had invited me to go to the masjid [mosque] in London, I would have gone with him. […]   At the time, I knew that Muslims prayed several times a day, and so I started to do so at night before I went to bed and in the morning when I woke up.

[…]

My First Trip to a Masjid

[…] My sister asked me if I could help her find Islamic jewelry as a gift.  At that time I had no idea that there were Muslims in Huntsville.

Then Allah put things into place for me.  I remembered that there was a shop called Crescent Imports, which I thought was run by Muslims.  It was not.  It was run by the group called Nation of Islam.  […]

I do thank Allah for having them direct me to the masjid. […]I spoke to the imam, and he invited me to perform salat (Prayer) with the Muslim brothers.  This was a turning point in my life.  I loved it and started to visit the masjid once a week at night.  Then I started to visit it several times a week at night.  The urge to come more times was stronger and I now perform most of my prayers at the masjid, except `Asr and Maghrib prayers when I am at work.

I Officially Accepted Islam in Peace

In November of 1996, I publicly made Shahadah.  At work, I pray Zhuhr and Asr by myself or with other Muslim brothers in a small mosque in my workplace.  I proudly carry my prayer rug in the hallways at my work in an attempt to get people to ask me what they are.  When they do ask me about it, I tell them that I am Muslim and the mats are what I use to pray on.  Also, my work area, including my computer, is decorated with Islamic artwork.  My background on my computer is usually the Kaaba or our masjid.

Now that I am a Muslim, there is no turning back to disbelief!

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My name is Darrick Abdul-hakim.  I am a 20-year-old Muslim brother living in the United States.  […]

I grew up as a Christian who had a good deal of information.  I was very excited to express my Christian belief to my friends, co-workers and colleagues.  However, at the age of 17, life became a bit more complicated than before.  I began to observe my fellow Christians in more depth.  I was shocked how most didn’t practice the Christian faith to 100% expectation. 

To make matters worse, I became increasingly dissatisfied with the Biblical scriptures.  For example, the belief that Jesus claimed to be God was a church addition.  Jesus certainly never asserted that he was the God of the world. 

[…] I wondered what would happen if I were to become more religious, but that never happened and instead I left the Christian life and bid it farewell.  Not only that, but also my faith and belief in God, slipped quietly out the door.  I was now an agnostic, not knowing what faith to follow, or knowing if we are surrounded by God or not, I was just lost in a chaotic world.  I wasn’t an atheist, I was just confused about who, or what God really was. 

[…]  I began to have thoughts about the Universe whether we are really humans at all.  I began to ask why I should remain moral (I refused to drink because I felt it was a sin, interesting for someone who didn’t have a faith or believed in a God!). I began to question my own existence.  I began to contemplate whether I should be here or not and on account of this, I had seriously considered suicide.  I wanted to quit my job because I was coming under stress, by this time I was 18 years old.

Alhamdulilah, I had the comfort of friends to keep me from committing such a catastrophe.  But, I was still without a faith, life couldn’t get much better from my end, and I still didn’t know how to cope with my grandmother’s death. 

Eventually, I began to read for myself.  I ran across a book, which was discussing the world’s faiths, and I came across Islam.  I simply never had given Islam any thought at all.  On the following day, when I was on my way to work I saw a man with a copy of the Quran in his hand so I asked him if I could see it, Alhamduliah (all praise is due to Allah) he not only let me see it, he gave it to me! I was stunned, excited, and compelled.  I went to read it and was amazed by its literature; the things I didn’t notice before struck me.  It was comprehensible, and lucid for a layperson like myself. 

On September 11th, I saw the world trade centers go crashing down.  I wondered to myself, could the teachings of Islam have provoked such an act? Could Islam be this bad?

But, the more I read, the more I found out that Islam was a faith that denounced all forms of extremism.  Islam by all means is peace.  We certainly wouldn’t judge Christianity by the barbaric abortion clinic bombings, or we wouldn’t describe Judaism as an ethnic faith that just wants a Jewish world from the Israeli who assassinated the Israeli prime minister in 1995 because he felt the Prime minister was an apostate of God. Why must we do the same to Islam? 9/11 compelled me to learn more about Islam.  I bought and read a total of 10 biographies on Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.  I was amazed by his life.  I didn’t look at Muhammad from a Christian perspective, but from a Historical, Political and cultural perspective.  After my readings into Islam, I decided to convert.  I was on a quest for the faith, and I found it.  Alhamdulilah.

Now, after my conversion, I have read a large number of books on Islam.  I still am currently reading the Biographies of Prophet Muhammad.  I can truly say that life now is much better!

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