My name is Mariano Ricardo Calle. I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina. […] Since my childhood, I was connected with religion through my mom and my grandmother […]. I read the Bible since seven years old. I began reading the Bible for kids in Spanish. My heroes were David, Nuh and Job. " My first desire was to learn Arabic, but my soul awakened when I began to read the Quran "
[…] I fell into drugs until a crisis at twenty one years of age. I have always been searching for the truth. […] This I did for a whole year. But that didn't help me too much, but God knows better.
[…]I began to study the Arabic language on my own, with the help of a book from the internet. […] In the book fair, my mom took two little books for free about Islam. I read them, and the subjects of science mentioned in the Quran, seemed very interesting to me. And, I read about Muhammad (PBUH) and I felt that person was a model for me.
So, one day I left smoking and drinking. I never was a drunkard, but I left completely whatever was related to alcohol. That was my own decision, and I never thought of being a Muslim until the day I said my Shahadah.
I thought of buying a Quran to read something in Arabic and that way, learn faster. My teacher told me that I could get one for free, in the mosque of Palermo (Buenos Aires).
On the same day, I went to the mosque, just to ask for a Quran and I wondered how such a great place could be so empty. I understood that Argentina is not an Islamic country but that this mosque was the greatest in Latin America.
That day in the mosque a man […] gave me a link to the Quran that I could download from the internet, I later printed it. It was just an hour, and I had the Quran. […] The Quran I got was in Arabic and Spanish, that way I could read it in Arabic directly.
Since my childhood I have read the whole Bible twice, and the Gita from India also twice, and now I had the Quran to read, and much better, in Arabic. My first desire was to learn Arabic, but my soul awakened when I began to read the Quran. […]
Alhamdulillah, I could realize that what the Quran says was the parts that were missing in the Bible. And I remember well, I understood as well when I read it that all that the Quran says could perfectly be the truth I was looking for. […]
Since then, I began to go to the mosque and in two weeks I said the Shahadah […] because, I was sure that Muhammad was a messenger of God, like Jesus or Moses. So, I began to read everything I found about Islam and began to study Arabic in the mosque. […]
In the two weeks before I said the Shahadah, I was going to the mosque to learn, and I felt that the place was full of peace. I prayed with the Muslims there while I wasn’t a Muslim yet, but I wanted to know how it feels to prostrate in front of God, because I knew that intention was important for God. So, in two weeks, I learned the whole salat (Prayer). […] I continued going to the mosque and then came Ramadan, which was a beautiful experience. […] Since I said the Shahadah, I haven't missed a salat.
What was difficult to me was to leave girls, because I had a girlfriend, but I knew that it wouldn't have worked. So, I left her and asked God to grant me a good wife. I remember that was the first thing I asked God for. And I got to know a woman, the same week I said the Shahadah! […]
I told my mother and father that I now was a Muslim. My mother was a little afraid, but I began to treat my parents better. […] I got a job and in my first day I asked my boss for a place to pray, which was not a problem […]. So, my life changed to the better, because I began to smile more, and try to act good with everybody.[…]
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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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My story is quite brief but my journey has been such an eye-opener, and I thank Allah for the mercy that he had on me, bringing me to this beautiful religion which is now my way of life.
I have always been interested in learning about different cultures and religions, especially, because of living in Australia. We have such a diverse society; I have always believed it to be important to understand all the different and beautiful cultures and religions. This way you can understand why people are the way they are.
I have always believed in God, coming from a Macedonian Orthodox family in which religion was more based on the cultural side of things. We went to church for Easter or Christmas as a family or for christening or wedding ceremonies, but we never regularly visited God's house for any other reason.
I come from a very good family with great values and morals, but when it came to religion it was just something that was from the old days and not really enforced or practiced. For me, though, I knew something was not right with Christianity. Things just did not make sense to me.
I was never very religious and, in my younger years, went through questioning my beliefs, even the existence of our Creator.
But deep down, I knew there was a stronger force in action thirsty for knowledge, I quickly learned with my love for reading that the Almighty was there; reinforcing what is truly the undeniable existence of Allah.
I learned about Islam from some of my Muslim friends, but it was from my own research that I found Islam and its true beauty. All the teachings from the Quran then made sense, since there was a guideline for everything in life.
I stopped reading for a while, since the Western lifestyle, then, was still very appealing to me at that age.
But one day, I came across a video called the miracles of the Quran...
What really grabbed my attention was how over 1400 years ago Quran revealed the 3 trimesters of a woman's pregnancy when scientists in the 21st century have just uncovered this fact!
This then made me say the two testimonies (Shahadatain) and I started going to private Islamic classes and lectures.
But still, I kept my conversion to Islam a secret from my non-Muslim friends and family. To my non-Muslim friends I said, I believed in Islam, but I did not say that I made the change.
It was only 3 years ago that I realized, I could not deny or hide my true beliefs anymore. I told my non-Muslim friends and family that I am a Muslim. Alhamdulillah, it was the best thing I have ever done.
Some of my old friends left me, but I am not sad. I realized that it was all part of Allah's plan. Allah made me acquainted with new amazing people who were striving just like me to please our Almighty. My family did not take it as bad as I thought they would. They had their moments and did not truly understand the reason for the change. But I did not have such a hard experience like others who have made this beautiful journey.
In December 2011, I did the most life-changing act, which was putting on Hijab. It was the best decision of my life. I have never been mentally happier in my life. Now I feel I am complete. In 2012, I was invited by Allah to do the holy pilgrimage (Hajj).
Every day, I ask Allah why he had chosen me?! I am not the best of His servants. I cannot thank Him sufficiently, for the mercy He had on me, for giving me the opportunity to open up my eyes and heart to Islam, worshiping and getting closer to my only Creator.