My name is Abdullah DeLancey.  I am Canadian and I am employed as a Patient Service Worker at the local hospital. […] I was a Protestant Christian for all of my life.

My family brought me up in the Pentecostal Church until I was an adult at which time I moved to a fundamental Independent Baptist Church.

As a faithful Christian I was very involved at Church, giving lectures for the Adult Sunday School and other duties.  I was eventually elected as the Deacon of the Church.  I really wanted to further my dedication to God and decided to pursue a career as a Minister.

I was awarded a scholarship to help me start taking a degree in Divinity.  My goal was to be a Pastor of a Church or a Missionary.  […]

I thought it best to look at Christianity critically and ask some very serious questions about my faith.  I questioned the Trinity, why God would need a son, and why the human sacrifice of Jesus, as stated in the Bible, was needed to provide me with forgiveness.

I questioned the Christian belief of how all the righteous people in the Old Testament were “saved” and in heaven if Jesus wasn’t even born yet. […]

Realizing that I had always accepted Christianity, with blind faith for my entire life and never had questioned it, was perplexing to me.  How could I have not realized this before?

I could not find the answers in the Bible.  Once I realized that the Trinity was a myth and that God is powerful enough to “save” someone without the need for help from a son or anyone or anything else.  Things changed.  […]

I left the Church for good and my wife dutifully left with me, as she was having trouble accepting Christianity too.  This was the start of my spiritual journey.  I was now without a religion but believed in a God.

This was a very hard time for me and my family as Christianity was all we had ever known.  I had to search for the truth.  I began studying various religions and found them as false one after another.  Until, I heard about Islam.

Islam!!!  What was that? As far as I could remember, I had never known a Muslim and Islam was not heard or spoken of “as a faith” in my part of Canada.  Unless, of course, it was news stories talking bad about Islam. […]

But then I started to read a little about Islam.  Then, I kept reading a little more.  Then, I read the Quran.  This wonderful revelation of truth changed my life forever.  […]

I discovered the nearest mosque was about 100 miles away from my city.  So I promptly loaded the family van and drove my family to this mosque.  […] I asked myself, was I even allowed in the mosque because I wasn’t an Arab or a Muslim?

However, after arriving at the mosque, I quickly realized I had nothing to fear.  I was greeted by the Imam and the Muslims with a most warm greeting.  I found them very nice.  Nothing like the bad things the news always said about Muslims.

[…] After studying I was in shock.  How could I have been a Christian for so long and never heard the truth? I now believed in Islam.  I knew it and I wanted to convert.

I was put in contact with the small Muslim community in my city.  […]  Just before Friday prayer started and with most of the local Muslim Community present as witness; I testified that “La illaha ill Allah, Muhammadur Rasul Allah” (There is no God but Allah, Muhammad (PBUH&HP) is the Messenger of Allah).  I was now a Muslim.  It was the best day of my life.  I love Islam and have peace now.

Difficult times have come since I became a Muslim.  When people started realizing I was now a Muslim they would shun me or laugh at me, most of our old Christian friends have never talked to us again.  My parents have all but disowned me.

I love being a Muslim and it doesn’t matter if some of my fellow Canadians think of me as odd for becoming a Muslim.  Why? The reason is that I alone, am the one that will have to answer to God after my death. […]

To read the complete version of this text, go to this link

As far back as I can remember as a child, I was always astounded by this universe in which we live […].  And from that early time, I always in some way knew, there just had to be a Creator responsible for all this.

But then as I segued into my teens, it was much easier to succumb to peer pressure, and I lost interest in the Divine and instead devoted my time to alcohol, sex and the immature games of a young male growing up in America.  Growing into young adulthood, my obsessions became money, power, a better house, a faster car, and a prettier woman--all shallow pursuits.

I lived this way for many years, slowly losing control of my life, thinking I was pursuing happiness when all I was getting was more depressed, more confused, and making more and more of a mess of my life.

[…]  My immediate response was to turn to God, and, having been raised Catholic, it was to that church that I turned.  At the time, I had been divorced and remarried and came to find out that the Catholic Church didn't want me.  Hurt and angry, but also realizing a need for a spiritual order in my life, I turned to Buddhism.

The Buddhist sect I became involved with followed a Tibetan tradition, where importance is placed on gaining empowerments, which are basically blessings from various Buddhas.  At some point I realized I was not really bettering myself […].  All of a sudden, I realized that one of the last things the Buddha said before passing away was not to worship him.  I realized this whole practice was BASED on worshipping not only "the" Buddha, but also all these other Buddhas.  I became very discouraged and reverted to my old ways of indulgence in alcohol and other forbidden pleasures.  And once again, I became very depressed […].

When I was a young man, I was very much "into" the music of Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam).  When I heard he had embraced Islam, I was in the U.S. Navy at the time and this was during the "hostage crisis" in Iran.  So, I immediately drew the conclusion that Cat Stevens has become a terrorist, and I kept that belief for many years.

A couple months or so ago, I heard he was going to be interviewed on TV, and I wanted to hear about this crazy man who had left a great life to become a terrorist.  Well, needless to say, I was just floored by the interview, because he was certainly no terrorist, but a soft-spoken, articulate, peaceful man who radiated love, and patience, and intelligence.  The very next day, I began researching Islam on the Internet. [...] It all made so much SENSE, the existence of God was so SIMPLE to understand!  […]

Well, the more I learned the more I was convinced that this was truly the path I had been searching for.  It contained the discipline--physical, mental, and spiritual--that leads to true peace and happiness.  […].  Pronouncing my Shahadatainwas such a CLEANSING experience, and since this time, I have often just … cried and cried and cried.  How wonderful!

I have received such a warm and embracing welcome from all Muslim brothers and sisters from around the world; I take great comfort in this, knowing that, despite any adversity or setback, I am literally surrounded by my Muslim family that will never abandon me as long as I remain Muslim.  No other group of people has ever treated me in this way.

[…]  Accepting the reality of Islam is the easy part, walking the Straight Path is the hard part, especially once one had firmly implanted himself in a society of unbelievers.  But I pray to God every day for strength and guidance, and I just take it one day at a time, trying to improve in Islam little by little each day.

By Dawood Kinney

To read the complete version of this text, go to this link