My name is Abdullah Al-Kanadi.  I was born in Canada.  My family, who were Roman Catholics, raised me as a Roman Catholic until I was 12 years old.  I have been Muslim for approximately six years, and I would like to share the story as a new muslim with you.

During my childhood I attended a Catholic religious school.  […] The more I learned about my religion, the more I questioned it! 

At the tender age of twelve, I decided I would be an atheist in order to punish God. […] My teenage years were filled with misery and loneliness. I was accepted in a local technical school and decided that I should further my education and maybe make some good money, so that I would be happy.  […]

I would forget my family and be with my friends all the time.  One night, I told my parents I was going to move out.  They told me, I couldn’t, and that I wasn’t ready for it and that they wouldn’t allow it!  I was 17 years old and very headstrong; I swore at my parents and said to them all sorts of evil things, which I still regret to this day.  I felt emboldened by my new freedom. […] I was working and going to school when my roommates introduced me to marijuana.  […]Soon though, I started to smoke more and more, until during one weekend I had smoked so much, that it was Monday morning and before I knew it, it was time for school.  I thought, well, I’ll take one day of school off, and go the next day. […] I never returned to school after that.  I finally realized how good I had it. […] Who needed school anyways?

I was living a great life, or so I thought; I became the ‘resident’ bad boy at work. […]I felt worthless and completely valueless.  I was stealing from work and from friends to help maintain the ‘chemical haze’.  […] I was beginning to crack and I needed a solution, and I figured that religion would help me.

[…] I bought a couple of books on Wicca and Nature Worship, and found that they encouraged the use of natural drugs, so I continued.  People would ask me if I believed in God, and we would have the strangest conversations while under the ‘influence’, but I distinctly remember saying that no, in fact I don’t believe in God at all, I believe in many gods as imperfect as me.

Through all this, there was one friend who stuck by me.  He was a ‘Born Again’ Christian and was always preaching to me, even though I would mock his faith at every opportunity.  He was the only friend I had at the time who didn’t judge me, so when he invited me along to go to a youth weekend camp I decided to go along.  I had no expectations.  I thought I would have a huge laugh making fun of all the “Bible Thumpers”.  […]They played all sorts of music which praised God.  I watched as the young and old, male and female cried out for forgiveness and shed tears over everything.  I was really moved and I said a silent prayer along the lines of “God, I know I have been a horrible person, please help me, and forgive me and let me start fresh.”  I felt a surge of emotion come over me, and I felt tears roll down my cheek. […]

I returned to my party home and eschewed all drugs, intoxicants, and girls.  I promptly told my friends how they needed to be Christians so they could be saved.  I was shocked that they rejected me. […]

I started to hang out at a Christian “youth house” which was basically a house where teens could go.  […] In spite of this, I felt like a fraud, for I started drinking and dating again.  […] Through all this, my one Christian friend would try to council me and keep me on the right track.

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I am ethnically a Russian Jew.  My quest began when I was 19 years old.  […] My belief in God was uncertain.  […] One night I was walking to the kitchen and encountered a dark fellow.  I remembered asking him: “Can I keep this vodka in the fridge tonight?”  We shook hands and went to sleep.  After that point, my life changed drastically…

This dark fellow, a Muslim, was the first Muslim I had ever met.  Extremely curious, I conversed with him about his faith.  What’s this stuff I hear about praying 5 times a day?  […]

Our talks were accompanied by our Christian roommate, Wade.  Together, we created “The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim dialogue sessions”.  In it, we discovered many differences and many commonalities.

My interest had then shifted from sex, drugs, and parties, to a massive search for the truth.  A search that I had to complete.  A search for God.  And a search for how to follow him.

In my quest for the truth, I asked myself: “Ok let’s start simple, how many God’s do I think are out there?”  I figured only one; knowing that a divided God is weaker than One God; figuring that if one God didn’t agree with the other, there might be arguments and feuds.  One God was my choice.

Once I opened up my mind to the possibility of the existence of God, I analyzed both atheist and theist beliefs.  The thing that directed me to the latter was the quote “Every design has a designer”.  With that in mind, eventually, I woke up with certainty that God exists.  […]

The major religions I encountered that fell under the title of Monotheistic, where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Well since I’m a Jew, I started with Judaism.  One God, some prophets, 10 commandments, Torah, Jewish souls…uh, what: “Jewish souls?” […]

So God makes Jewish souls, and Christian souls, and Muslim souls, and Hindu souls?  I thought all men are created equal?  So, because one is born into a religion that means by the decree of God he must remain in it… even if the person believes it to be false?  Hmm…I don’t agree with that.

Another thing really bothered me…there is no strict concept of hell in Judaism…then why be good?  Why not sin?  If I don’t have fear of strict punishment, then why should I be moral?

Moving on, I discovered Christianity.  Ok, one God, a father, a son, and a holy ghost…one more time: one God, a father, a son, and a holy ghost.  Uhhh, please explain.  How can all those things be one God? 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 right?  So how can you say you believe in only one God?

[…] Ok then, so are you saying that we are all born as sinners?  And to sin is to do something wrong right?  Then you’re telling me that a one-year old baby is guilty of sin or doing something wrong?  […]

Islam; Islam means submission.  The main beliefs are as follows: One God, worship God five times a day, give 2.5% annual charity, fast during Ramadan (to be closer to God and appreciate life…among other reasons), and finally journey to Mecca for Hajj if you are able financially.  Ok, nothing hard to understand so far.

There’s nothing that conflicts with my logic here.  The Quran is a book with all of these interesting miracles and timeless wisdom.  Many scientific facts only discovered recently where proclaimed 1400 years ago in this book.

Ok, Islam had passed my initial religious prerequisites.  But I wanted to ask some deep questions about it.  Is this religion universal?  Yes, anyone can understand these basic beliefs…no analogy or equation is needed.  Does it agree with science?  Yes, dozens of verses in the Quran agree with modern science and technology.

[…] Naming is the very basis which humans identify with objects, both physical and non-physical.  If religion is supposed to be practiced and spread to every person on earth, shouldn’t there be a NAME for it?

Moreover, shouldn’t the name be given to us from God Almighty?  YES, my point exactly.  The names “Christianity” and “Judaism” were not written in the Holy Scriptures.  Humans named them, not God.  […]

Islam is the ONLY of these religions to include the NAME of the religion in its scriptures.  This is so huge for me.

I realized I would follow Islam at that point.  I then became a Muslim.  I knew the truth.  I was out of the darkness.  I came into the light…

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