My name is Tarik Preston.  I embraced the religion of Islam in 1988 at the age of 19.

The story of how I came to embrace Islam is not a very long story, and in many respects, I think that the story of how Allah (God) continued to guide me after I entered Islam is more of an inspiring story.

Nevertheless, this story begins with my name.  I was given the name Tarik at birth.  In the 60s, the 70s, and even the 80s, it wasn’t all that unusual for some Americans to give their children African names.  Many times, the names they chose from Africa were actually Islamic names, which is what happened with my name.

[…] Someone who knew the significance of my name […] would ask me, “Do you know what your name means?” I would reply proudly as I had been taught: “It means ‘star of piercing brightness.’“

[…] I started college at the age of 16 majoring in pre-med/biology with the intent, at that time, of becoming a doctor. […] During my freshman year, I attempted to read the Bible, but Christianity had begun not to make sense to me.

While studying the marvelous complexity of cell biology that year, several of my classmates and I reaffirmed our belief in the Creator and that creation was not an accident as some scientists speculated.

During spring break, I had a theological discussion with my grandmother, with whom I was very close.  And she, despite being a Christian, made a remarkable statement that I paid close attention to.

She said: “I worship God and I don’t worship Jesus, because I feel safer worshipping God!” She advised me not to pray in the name of Jesus anymore and to just pray to God!

When I returned to college after that conversation, I continued to pray every night before sleeping as I had been taught.  But I decided that I would no longer pray in the name of Jesus, and to direct my prayers only to God. […]

Still searching for something that would guide me safely through life, one day I asked God to guide me while walking across campus.

During my junior year in college, a fellow student who I knew embraced Islam saw me walking across campus, and he greeted me. […] He then asked me if I was a Muslim, to which I replied (at that time), “No.  I am a United Methodist.” He replied: “Oh! I thought you were a Muslim because your name is Tarik!”

Not long after that encounter, he came to a study session that a few classmates and I were having, and he attempted to inform us about Islam.  He was very young and very new to Islam himself, so he didn’t know very much.  […]

[…] When I returned home that summer, I took a summer job as a telemarketer where I met a Muslim named Ahmed.  Despite being a Puerto Rican convert to Islam, he had the same distinct look and demeanor as my friend from college. […]

He began talking to me about Tawheed (the oneness of God).  I was impressed with the concept of Islamic monotheism.

Eventually, he invited me over to his house and showed me a copy of the English translation of the Quran.  I was very impressed by the respect that he had for this Book, and I asked him if I could borrow it in order to read it.  He reluctantly agreed, saying that it was his only copy of the Quran, and he sternly advised me to respect the Book and keep it clean and in a place of respect in my home. I couldn’t wait to read it!

Two weeks later, I invited Ahmed to my house, and we sat and talked again about Islam.  I informed him that I believed the Quran was the truth and that I wanted to convert to Islam.

The very next day we went together to the Islamic Center in Washington D.C., and I embraced Islam.

A few years after my conversion, Allah blessed me to be able to study Islam at the Islamic University of Medina where I earned an Associate’s degree in Arabic language and a Bachelor’s degree in Hadith Sciences.

I hope the story of how I came to Islam encourages others to convert to Islam.  I also hope that my story encourages my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters to share the true message of Islam with those around them in word and deed.

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I feel honored to be a Muslim... And I feel that way for many reasons.  There are many norms in the society I live that are opposite to what it is to be a Muslim.   And when I first came to this way of life, I didn’t know how well I would fair with it.  […]

Having spent a large portion of my short life not being a Muslim, I know the darkness that God speaks of in the Quran.  I remember what it was like when Allah opened my eyes and shined a light where the darkness had once been.  At the beginning of my life, I had no definite form of absolute guidance.

The simplest aspects of creation would boggle my mind. I was totally oblivious to the miracles God put in nature.  One time, in particular, I recall learning about evaporation in science class.  I was unable to comprehend it.  Not the how, but the reason it happened.

I understood the idea of the water cycle and its importance for life, but what would make the water essentially disappear and float back up to the sky?

When viewing this question, without knowing God, my mind ran into a mental block at which point I could not come up with the answer.  Boggled by the thought, I merely shrugged my shoulders and threw it to the back of my mind.

When looking at the human body, and how it’s made largely of water, or looking at the universe and trying to comprehend what was beyond it.  I would be faced with the mental barricade of not being able to comprehend the reason for its creation.

Time and time again scientists could explain the how, but never the why.  They could explain purpose within the mechanics of creation, but they could never explain the purpose of the mechanics itself.  What caused the mechanics?  What caused nature to have laws?

Having been brought up in a non-practicing Christian family, I had a general understanding of the principles of Christianity.  […] My problem with Christianity was the dogma, and more specifically the beliefs about God.  The issue of a “Triune” God that is essentially three different individuals that all unite to take on the role of the “One” God.  I know that is not how the Doctrine of Trinity is officially promoted, and any Bible-thumping Christian would probably accuse me of not understanding the Doctrine, but that’s the reality that I saw in it

[…] Around that time, I unofficially rejected Christianity. I became a Christian / Atheist / Agnostic.  I began to live life trying to come to terms with my surroundings and myself.  Not knowing of a greater purpose, I saw no problem in taking part in destructive activities of any kind; on the condition, I would receive some sort of satisfaction from it.

[…] I began to turn to the common reality escape, namely drugs and alcohol.  At first, using them as a social tool, and eventually using them habitually as a sedative.  If people ever told me I should calm down, I would tell them I could stop if I had a reason, but I had no reason. […] But eventually, I started to feel a consciousness within me looking for some sort of console.  Although I was lost and in the dark, since I never saw the light, I didn’t know the difference between the two.  I began to think of “the bigger picture.”

I began to think about death.  I tried to comprehend the concept of nothingness, and as many times before in my life, when trying to contemplate the purpose, my mind drew blanks.  Until one night, while I lay on my bed, deep in thought, I turned my face to the sky, and I said: “God, if you’re real, and You exist, please help me!”

I went to sleep that night never really thinking twice about it.  Then on 9/11, I watched the uncanny events unfold.  I was confused about the whole situation, why it happened, what exactly happened, and how they knew who did it almost immediately.  For the first time there was meaning being applied to foreign terms that I had heard, but never knew anything about, namely Islam.

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