Thread by @shaira_mp, FROM THE CROSS TO THE QIBLA (How I Became A [...]

FROM THE CROSS

TO THE QIBLA

(How I Became A Muslim)

A thread…..
(As requested)

وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىٰ

(And He found you lost, and He guided you.) - Surah Ad-Duha, 7

I can’t remember exactly how I came to the fold of Islam but what I do remember is that I just woke up one morning with a strong urge to do…something. I think it is safe to say that I woke up with an epiphany but I didn’t know what it was. That was during my junior year as a—

—college student and is on my phase in life where I’m trying to figure out how to live my life in a big city because I grew up in a very small town with limited experience. I’m not gonna delve into the details about the past because of what Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an:—

وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ اللَّهَ يَجِدِ اللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا
(And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself, but then seeks forgiveness from Allah, he will find Allah forgiving and merciful.) – Surah An-Nisa, 110

Because of that moment, I started looking for answers. Naturally, I sought the answers from the religion that I was born into, Catholicism. I borrowed my roommate’s bible and started reading its first few chapters between classes and during classes and found myself having a—

—hard time understanding it. I think it’s because of the fact that it’s written in Old English. And so, I started to attend masses from churches more often and Christian gatherings but still, I was unsatisfied which is why I decided to find the answers outside Christianity.

I found myself attending Islamic seminars and I could never forget that one particular Islamic seminar that I went to which was about Hijab, conducted by Ustadh Muhammad Bani, inside the College of Nursing amphitheater. Ironically, during the lecture, I was wearing my not-so—

—“modest” clothes and I gotta say, I was really embarrassed because puro mga Niqabi at mga naka-Abaya ang mga nakatabi ko sa upuan.

And I think that was it, the time my interest in Islam sparked. During the lecture’s Q and A, I wrote my question in a piece of paper and—

—anonymously submitted it to Ustadh and my question was “I want to wear the Hijab but I’m a Catholic Christian, can I still do it?” And his answer was probably the first knowledge I gained about Ikhlaas. He answered my qustion, not in verbatim but just the gist “Yes, you can.—

—It’s always better for a woman to be covered properly but at the end of the day, a question must be asked, why are you wearing the hijab and for who?” And there it was, I found myself being attracted to islam because of the idea of Hayaa’.
After the lecture, I started reading—

—the Qur’an but just its translation and was utterly surprised when I got the chapter where the names of Jesus, Mary, Abraham and Moses were mentioned. It never occurred to me that there are similarities between Christianity and Islam. I have always been under the impression—

—that Islam is a completely different religion, like Buddism and Hinduism. I thought that it was an exclusive religion which can only be attained by a certain group of people. I was utterly mind-blown by all of the information and realization that I’m getting just by reading—

—the Qur’an that I decided to become a Muslim. I searched online how to become one and I found that you only have to utter the Shahada. And that’s what I did, alone in my table at a coffee shop, I said the Shahada. After that, I began wearing the “drape-style” Hijab using the—

—only scarf that I owned which was a white travel scarf and I started to get really expressive about Islam by posting Qur’anic verses on my FB until a certain ukhty noticed my posts and sent me a message on FB, inviting me if I want to talk about Islam with her over dinner.

I immediately said “yes” and we agreed to meet up at Mcdo. After the introduction, I found out that she was also a convert in Islam and is also a student in IIT. We talked for hours about the beauty of Islam until until she asked me if I want to become a Muslim. I told her I—

—was already one because I already said the Shahada but she insisted that I do it again, only this time with witnesses and someone to guide me to perform the Shahada. It was already very late that night so I asked her if we can do it tomorrow or during her spare time but she—

—insisted, again, that we do it that night because she cannot bear the thought of delaying the Shahada because it is always uncertain if we will still be alive the next day. And so, we set out to her friend’s out at midnight via motorcycle and TBH, I was really scared kasi—

—first time ko lang siyang na-meet pero sumama na kaagad ako sa kanya but the excitement of becoming a Muslim overpowered my fears. We arrived at her friend’s house and knocked on the door. Luckily her friend (an Islamic Studies student from Marawi City and she was living with—

—her fellow colleauges) was still awake from studying and was surprised to see us outside her house at 12 in the morning but later shared our excitement when the ukhty explained to her my decision of becoming a Muslim. She welcomed us in her home and we talked about Islam again,—

—only this time it was about Tawhid. And there it was, I found myself falling in love with Islam because of Tawhid.
Since it was really late, I think we concluded our conversation at around 2 am, we finally decided that I will be proclaiming the Shahada after Salaatul fajr.

We spent the night at her friend’s house and woke up at 4am. I took a bath that morning and properly wore the Hijab for the first time, which was BTW, a very cute baby blue slip on. They prayed Salaatul Fajr while I observed and after that, the friend finally guided me to—

—testify that there is no God but الله and Muhammad is His messenger. We took pictures to commemorate the historical event of my life of becoming a Muslim and after and crying our hearts out because of sheer euphoria. I was named خيرالنسلء after testifying and I went out of—

—the house, faced the new day, fully clothed with Hijab and with Islam as my new found faith الحمدلله

To Ustadh Muhammad Bani, jazakallahu khayran po for conducting a beautiful lecture about the meaning of Hijab and Hayaa’ and for inspiring me to learn more about modesty.

To the sister who helped light up the flame of Islam in my heart, kung nasaan ka man ngayon, jazakillah khayran. I hope you will find Islam again and whatever rewards I gained for becoming a Muslim, may الله (swt) also reward you for it.

To her Muslim friend who gave me my first knowledge about Tawhid and who guided me in performing the shahada, may الله (swt) bless you with all the goodness this dunya can offer and all the goodness in the Akhirah.

Looking back now, I can’t thank Allah swt enough for giving me the most precious gift a human can have, and that is belief. Belief in Allah swt, His angels, His Books especially the Qur’an, His messengers, the Yawmul Qiyamah, and Qadr. Nothing is more factual that what is—

—Allah says in the Qur’an and that is:

…إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الْإِسْلَامُ
(Surely the (true) religion with Allah is Islam…) – Surah Al-Imran, 19

To conclude this thread, I think it is safe to say that I was attracted to Islam because of it’s idea of Hayaa’ (modesty) and I fell in love with Islam because of Tawhid and I clung to the deen beaucase of Tawbah.

…وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ
(but Allah guides whom He wills. And He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.) – Surah Al-Qasas, 56

Alhamdulillah for the gift of Islam.

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