I Became Muslima When I Saw Islam In Action. S. S. Lai of Chinese background hailed from a family of idol worshippers. But her perception about Islam started changing as soon as she got into touch with her new Muslim friends. THE day I write this, I have lived my life knowing what Islam means for approximately 5 years and 11 months. I believed that every child is born in a pure state and that only their parents brought them up to the way they think best and the only way they probably know how. May Allah guide their hearts to Islam! I came from a Chinese background. My whole families believed in worshipping the idols and the dead ancestors. Throughout my childhood I was made to believe that there were many gods, god of mercy, wealth etc. Every year, I would have high hope and enthusiasm that my grandfather would bring me to the temple to worship ‘our’ gods. What drew me to them as a child was that there were many foods (I thought the foods would taste nicer because they had been served to the great and mighty ones) and the ‘gods’ look very mystique. Some of the idols projected a sense of fear, some reflected beauty and so on. On a particular day, we would burn paper money and worship our ‘gods’ using some incense sticks. We would observe all these in silence and these bring more impact to my young mind. I used to hope that one day I would know how to say the words that my grandfather said to the idols and the little secrets and tricks he used with the ‘magic stones.’ At home we have pictures of dead ancestors. Every full moon, I would eagerly ask my grandmother if she would honor me by throwing the two coins. If the coin shows both the head or tails then they (the dead ancestors) have not finished eating. I also lived in Brunei Darussalam, a Muslim country and by the blessings of Allah, I came to a school with the majority of the students being Muslims. I remembered once a friend brought a comic book with pictures of the punishment of hellfire. I didn’t fully comprehend them at that time. The only lesson I had at that time was never to ‘tear any packages of sweets or crisps, otherwise we would be punished equally in the Hereafter. A lesson in geography on why we could all stand and walk on the surface of the earth and not thrown out into the dark space initiated my journey to Islam. I came home feeling confused, and asked my uncle why this was so. My uncle appreciated my curiosities and encouraged me to ask ‘why’ for anything I wanted to know. Since that day I never stopped asking ‘why.’ In the year 1988, I won a scholarship to come to UK to study. This had been my lifelong ambition and I had worked long and hard for this. My main aim in life up to that point was to become rich and useful and to make my parents very proud of me. The only way I know how then was to become a doctor. The helpless feeling I had when I was forced to sit next to my great grand mother’s deathbed till her last breath had never escaped my memory. I studied ‘A’ level in girls-only school. Although I had many Muslim friends and despite the fact I hailed from a Muslim country, all I know about the faith was that Muslims did not eat pork, that they fasted in Ramadan and they were the losers. All my experience with Muslims did not make me attracted to the faith although I had a strange feeling at age seven that I will become a Muslim just like my uncle. I had never asked anybody about Islam for fear they will go very excited and this always frightened me and made me very shy. In the college, one night I dreamed I heard a loud Adhan. I walked toward it and stood in front of a big gate with Arabic writing on it. I didn’t know what it meant for I did not know not Arabic then. I felt an immense sense of peace and security. The room was illuminated with light and I saw white figures praying. The feeling I had then was greater than I could write or expressed. This first conversation helped me ask many more questions that had been on my mind for all these years about Islam. I had always thought the Muslims were bad and they oppressed the non-Muslims. That year I went back to Brunei, I told my families I wanted to have a year out, for my mind could not concentrate on my previous aim. I felt there was something more important than everything I had worked for all those years. Not surprisingly, I was not allowed and had to continue in this state of mind. Days and nights I cried because I could only feel the voice of Adhan echoing in my mind. My best friend thought I was crazy. I even believed I was. My first contact with real practicing Muslim was my childhood friend. At that point in life she was also renewing her faith. I learned a lot from her mostly from her actions. That was the first time I saw Islam in action (like people praying etc.) I tried fasting then and also attempted to eat only halal food for 2-3 years before my conversion. The turning point in my life was when I was rejected from all the universities to study medicine. I pondered about the attributes of Allah and promised Allah that should I be accepted to a medical college, I would believe all that my friends had told me. Allah is ever listening and ever presence. Miraculously, the next day I was told that despite their initial rejection, I was accepted. What can I say after that but “There is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the last Prophet of Allah.” — Courtesy: islam-universe
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 20:13:41 +0000
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