Assalamu Aleykum brothers and sisters,
I am new to this website and would like to introduce myself.
I am a Muslimah by birth. I was born to a Shia father and an Orthodox Christian mother. Although both of my parents are quite conservative, my father never was a strictly practicing Muslim and, like most of the Muslim kids born and raised in a non-Muslim countries, me and my sister knew almost nothing about Islam. Our mother on the other hand is a practicing Christian, but she never would force us into Christianity. We always were one of those families where both the Bible and the Qur'an are kept next to each other on the same shelf & the kids are raised to identify themselves as Muslims however were never really taught to practice anything, except for occasionally fasting the Ramadhan and not being allowed to have boyfriends/drink alcohol.
I have always been seeking the truth and what I knew about Christianity and Shia point of view/practices never appealed to me for various reasons. Not going into much detail here, I always had this feeling that something just isn't right about both. Unfortunately, where I come from, people in general are very ignorant about Islam, although there are many Muslims there.
Now I live in Dubai, and Alhamdulillah I have found a lot of information I needed. I have bought the Qur'an in English and started reading it. In my mother tongue Qur'an is very hard to read and understand. The English translation of the meanings turned out to be way better. Literally from the very first pages I have realized that THIS IS IT, no need to look any further, this is the guidance I've been looking for and I want to live in accordance with Islam and its rules. It felt like coming back home from a very long journey. I'm sure all of you know this feeling.
Since everything I read in the Qur'an made a lot of sense to me, and I did feel that this indeed is the Word of the Creator, I decided to start practicing. The first step was the hijab. Then, little by little, with the help of the online videos I started learning how to pray. Very soon I started praying the 5 obligatory prayers. Alhamdulillah, it was very easy for me. Thanks God, I don't even have any problems waking up for Fajr and I always pray to Allah that He makes it easy for every Muslim out there, exactly how He (SWT) made it easy for me.
To cut the long story short, Alhamdulillah, Allah (SWT) was extremely merciful to me by guiding me to the real Islam and I am so very thankful for this gift. I have found all the answers I have been looking for. Everything made a lot of sense, especially having lived in a non-Islamic environment for the most of my life.
I have decided not to go back to my country as it will be very hard for me to live there and practice Islam. Here everything is so much easier. All food is Halal. I can wear the hijab and not be afraid of being attacked on the street. I live next to a Mosque and hear the Athan, whereas in my hometown even getting the prayer timings would be an issue. Moreover, all my friends thought I went crazy, their explanation being "no sane woman would ever want to wear nun clothes at your age"
The problem now is that I am on my own here and am kind of shy& conserative by nature and I wasn't very lucky to meet any practicing Muslims here (yes, I know this is strange for a Muslim country!). My profession could be defined by what most people would call "a nerd" lol, and I don't really go anywhere except work, home and gym. I don't have any practicing Muslims at work either. I don't really know where to meet people like myself, so I am living in a sort of a vacuum. Obviously, I do know a few people here, however we don't have much in common, especially now. Those of you who has been to Dubai knows how it is here. Most of the people are here for fun and I obviously have no desire of being around the wrong people. Moreover, the good decent people here stick together and are very cautious about foreigners, and I wouldn't ever want to push myself onto anyone. They mostly deal with members of their own families or people of their own cultural/ethnic background whom they have known for a long time.
I hope to make some friends here InshaAllah and may peace and blessings be upon all of you
Sincerely,
*Kawthar*
I am new to this website and would like to introduce myself.
I am a Muslimah by birth. I was born to a Shia father and an Orthodox Christian mother. Although both of my parents are quite conservative, my father never was a strictly practicing Muslim and, like most of the Muslim kids born and raised in a non-Muslim countries, me and my sister knew almost nothing about Islam. Our mother on the other hand is a practicing Christian, but she never would force us into Christianity. We always were one of those families where both the Bible and the Qur'an are kept next to each other on the same shelf & the kids are raised to identify themselves as Muslims however were never really taught to practice anything, except for occasionally fasting the Ramadhan and not being allowed to have boyfriends/drink alcohol.
I have always been seeking the truth and what I knew about Christianity and Shia point of view/practices never appealed to me for various reasons. Not going into much detail here, I always had this feeling that something just isn't right about both. Unfortunately, where I come from, people in general are very ignorant about Islam, although there are many Muslims there.
Now I live in Dubai, and Alhamdulillah I have found a lot of information I needed. I have bought the Qur'an in English and started reading it. In my mother tongue Qur'an is very hard to read and understand. The English translation of the meanings turned out to be way better. Literally from the very first pages I have realized that THIS IS IT, no need to look any further, this is the guidance I've been looking for and I want to live in accordance with Islam and its rules. It felt like coming back home from a very long journey. I'm sure all of you know this feeling.
Since everything I read in the Qur'an made a lot of sense to me, and I did feel that this indeed is the Word of the Creator, I decided to start practicing. The first step was the hijab. Then, little by little, with the help of the online videos I started learning how to pray. Very soon I started praying the 5 obligatory prayers. Alhamdulillah, it was very easy for me. Thanks God, I don't even have any problems waking up for Fajr and I always pray to Allah that He makes it easy for every Muslim out there, exactly how He (SWT) made it easy for me.
To cut the long story short, Alhamdulillah, Allah (SWT) was extremely merciful to me by guiding me to the real Islam and I am so very thankful for this gift. I have found all the answers I have been looking for. Everything made a lot of sense, especially having lived in a non-Islamic environment for the most of my life.
I have decided not to go back to my country as it will be very hard for me to live there and practice Islam. Here everything is so much easier. All food is Halal. I can wear the hijab and not be afraid of being attacked on the street. I live next to a Mosque and hear the Athan, whereas in my hometown even getting the prayer timings would be an issue. Moreover, all my friends thought I went crazy, their explanation being "no sane woman would ever want to wear nun clothes at your age"
The problem now is that I am on my own here and am kind of shy& conserative by nature and I wasn't very lucky to meet any practicing Muslims here (yes, I know this is strange for a Muslim country!). My profession could be defined by what most people would call "a nerd" lol, and I don't really go anywhere except work, home and gym. I don't have any practicing Muslims at work either. I don't really know where to meet people like myself, so I am living in a sort of a vacuum. Obviously, I do know a few people here, however we don't have much in common, especially now. Those of you who has been to Dubai knows how it is here. Most of the people are here for fun and I obviously have no desire of being around the wrong people. Moreover, the good decent people here stick together and are very cautious about foreigners, and I wouldn't ever want to push myself onto anyone. They mostly deal with members of their own families or people of their own cultural/ethnic background whom they have known for a long time.
I hope to make some friends here InshaAllah and may peace and blessings be upon all of you
Sincerely,
*Kawthar*
