My name is Ali. I’m a 3-year-old Mexican born in America or as some would say a Chicano. […].  I think it will Insha’Allah (God willing) help people understand Islam and why it attracted me. People have a wrong perception About Islam and Muslims, what little they know is usually from movies and television which is almost all the time false and not in peace.

My life before was bad I had no direction in life.  […]  I would hang out in the streets with my friends “partying” getting high, drinking, and selling marijuana, most of my friends were gang members. […]

One day a friend of mine told me that he knew where to get some good marijuana, I agreed to go check it out.  We arrived and went inside this apartment. There were a couple of people inside […].  My friend and I bought some and were getting ready to leave when my friend said one of the guys there invited us to his apartment to give him a book.

We left for this guy’s apartment when we got there, he gave my friend a book and asked him to read it, and said that it might help him out with his problems in life.  On the way home I asked my friend to show me the book that the guy gave him, it was the Quran (Koran).

I had never in my life heard of The Holy Quran, I began to briefly read some pages, while I was reading I knew that what I was reading was true, it was like a slap in the face, a wake up call.  The Quran is so clear and easy to understand. I was really impressed and wanted to know more about Islam and Muslims.

The strangest thing is that I was not looking for a new religion, I used to laugh at people that went to church, and I sometimes said that there was no God.  Although deep down I knew there was.  I decided to go to the library a couple of days later and check out the Quran.  I began to read it and study it, I learned about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) and the true story of Jesus son of Mary (Peace be upon him).  The Quran stressed the fact that God was one and had no partners or a son, this was most interesting to me since I never understood the concept of the trinity.  The Quran describes the birth of Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, and his mission.  There is also a Surah (Chapter) called Maryam (Mary) and tells her story as well.

As a child I always went to church, my mother was a Seventh Day Adventist and took my sister and me every Saturday.  […]

I did months of research on Islam. I bought a Holy Quran at a bookstore and studied about world’s and Islam’s contributions to medicine and science.

[…] After months of study and research I could not deny the truth anymore I had put it off too long, but was still living the life I was before and knew that if I became Muslim I had to give all that up.  One day while reading the Quran, I began to cry and fell to my knees and thanked Allah for guiding me to the truth.  I found out that there was a mosque by my house so I went one Friday to see how Muslims prayed and conducted their service.  I saw that people from all races and colors attended the mosque.  […] After going a couple of Fridays I was ready to be a Muslim and say my Shahada (declaration of faith).

I told the Khatib (person giving the lecture) that I wanted to be a Muslim, the following Friday in front of the community I said my Shahada first in Arabic then in English […]

When I finished a brother shouted Takbir!  and all the community said “Allah u Akbar (God is great)!” a few times, then all the brothers came and hugged me.  I had never received so many hugs in one day, I will never forget that day it was great.  I have been Muslim since 1997, I’m at peace with myself and clear in religion, being Muslim has really changed my life for the better thanks to Almighty God.  I went back to school to get my High School equivalent and computer repair training.

[…] Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) in December of 2002, I got married in Morocco to a very good Muslim woman.

I think that Islam is the answer for the problems of the youth and society in general.  I hope my story Insha’Allah (God willing) will attract more Latinos and people of all races to the light of Islam.

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The current of life can drag you to a place you would never think of going.  Our fate is not in our hands, although it would seem to be; in its very veins are traces of handprint totally in contrast to ours.  I have learned this wonderful truth in my own personal laboratory called life.

My spiritual adventure started when I was a teenager.  Worldly life gave me no fulfillment so I turned my head to a different road-“Religion”.  I joined the Born-again movement and was very enthusiastic.  My passion brought me to full time ministry and I was trained to become a Pastor.

Years went by, the challenges and my personal assessment in the church led me to question my faith.  What came after was years spent in struggle that eventually led me to distance myself away from the church and into the worldly life once again.  But maybe because I was really searching for fulfillment my craving for spirituality continued.  This time I experimented with other religions: Vaisnavism (a branch of Hinduism), new age philosophy, Buddhism then Islam.

What I found in Islam was totally different from what I heard in the news and saw in the movies.  I discovered that it is a religion of peace that seeks the betterment of society.  The laws and moral codes are there to forge equality, justice, and dignity among the people.  Islam dwells more on solving real life issues than ecclesiastical doctrines by providing practical solutions. […]  By the guidance of Allah I was able to find one here in Cebu, Alhamdulillah!

Now I am training to become a good Daa’ee (propagator of Islam).  The more I read about Islam the more I am falling in love with it.  There are more jewels to be discovered as long as we stay focused and look for solutions rather than burying our hands in the mud of negativity.  As long as we are determined, we will be successful.  Ameen! Ameen! Ameen!

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