Al-Huda
Foundation, NJ U. S. A
the Message Continues ... 5/132
Newsletter for August 2012
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Why I Embraced Islam
by Michelle Hutchins
"Allah has blessed me in so many ways. He has given me a
wonderful family who is very accepting of me, he has given me a
wonderful husband whom I can come to with all my needs, a
husband who lives Islam and teaches me more and more about Islam
everyday. Allah has given me opportunities to share Islam with
others and I am forever grateful to Him for His many blessings."
Background
I was born to wonderful parents who were not always so
wonderful. But as a child your parents are all you have, and no
matter what they do you think they are wonderful. My parents
especially my father drank, did drugs, and occasionally my dad
would hit mother. My parents divorced when I was six and my
brother was not even a year old, later remarrying again.
At the age of six I was pretty much the caretaker of my brother
while my mom worked. We would visit my dad and step-mom on the
weekends and that is when I began going to church with them.
Junior year of high school was when I decided to except Jesus
into my heart and live my life as a dedicated Christian,
although I had my struggles to live right. It seems that for
everything I did I was going to go to Hell, and therefore I
struggled to be perfect so I would not end up in Hell.
As my spiritual relationship with God grew I began to take on
roles in the church. I sung in the choir, taught Sunday school
and children's church. I became the vice president of the ladies
minister, and also had a clown ministry going. I decided, in
1999, to take my dedication to God to a higher level by taking a
class called the M.A.P (Ministerial Affirmation Program) in the
Church of God, which was to affirm that one truly wanted to go
into the ministry for the Church of God. In 2000 I finished this
class and started the M.I.P. (Ministerial Internship Program),
which is basically to complete the internship.
I began my intern under a male pastor in the Church of God. This
pastor did not want women to have any authority at all. During
this internship some things happened that really hurt my spirit.
I began questioning myself and my relationship with God. I did
not know whether I should or should not obey this pastor. I felt
I needed to obey him because he was grading me on the program. I
continued and eventually graduated from M.I.P in May of 2001.
I stayed at that church and continued working there. However, I
never took my license test to be an ordained minister in the
Church of God because of the hurt this man had caused me. But I
realize that because of the hurt he caused me, God blessed me
and that is how my journey to Islam began.
Meeting the First Muslim
In September of 2001 we all know the tragedy that happened but
for me September of 2001 was where my life began to take shape.
On September 14th 2001, I went to a ladies conference to hear a
lady pastor speak. That night really started me on a life long
journey to worship God and only God. The speaker was Janice
Jostrand and she spoke from Hosea Chapter 2. She talked about
how God wanted to get us into a one on one relationship with
Him. I always thought I had that type of relationship with Him
but because of the things that had happened in my internship
program, I felt as though I worried about people more and Him
less. That night I prayed to God to give me this type of
relationship with Him. Janice Jostrand said that if we prayed
for this, then people and things that keep us from God would
slowly fall by the waste side. She was right. The choice I made
that night changed my life and my journey to Islam soon began.
After that, I met a young man whom was not of American decent
and I was not sure what his religion was. When I found out that
he was a Muslim we talked about his feelings of Sept. 11th and
politics. He was very knowledgeable about his religion and to my
surprise my religion as well. Unbeknown to me, Allah had just
placed the first step for me toward Islam.
We began to talk more frequently about religion. I never tried
to convert him, and nor he tried to convert me. He would ask me
questions about my religion. I thought I knew the answers but
when asked to back them up by scripture, I could not. This
became frustrating to me because despite taking all these
biblical classes and tests, I did not have any evidence for my
answers.
I began to do an in-depth study into Christianity and Islam. I
started to find a lot of similarities between the two religions,
but also differences. I found that Muslims believed in the
Prophets I believed in, in the miracles, in Virgin Mary, in the
Day of Judgment and Hell, and in Jesus' return to earth in the
final days. The main difference that I found was that Islam
rejects the belief that Jesus is the Son of God.
Studies in Christianity
I am a little different from most converts in that I believed
whole-heartedly in the Trinity. I could not comprehend what
would happen to me if I denounced Jesus by saying that he was
not the Son of God. This is where my struggles began. I had to
find out for myself what the Bible said about Jesus. The first
thing I studied was the authenticity of the Bible which I found
to be disturbing. I found that the original manuscripts of the
Bible were not available. I knew that we had many versions of
the Bible but that never bothered me until I realized that
people took it upon themselves to change the Bible starting at
the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.
I went on to study about the differences in the Old Testament
and the New Testament. I always heard that we should live by the
New Testament now because Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old
Testament by God becoming flesh and dying on the cross to save
all mankind from their sins, provided that they only believe in
him. I found scripture that disproved this theory in Micah 7:18,
Psalm 78:38-39, Isaiah 43:25, Jeremiah 36:3, Isaiah 55:7, Psalm
32:5, Proverbs 16:6, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Ezekiel 18:21-30,
Proverbs 21:3, Hosea 6:6, Micah 6:6-8, Isaiah 1:11-18, and in
many other places.
I also found that Paul, who was a Jewish Pharisees, is really
the true founder of Christianity. In Matthew 23:15, Jesus (pbuh)
had something to say about Paul's sect:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass
sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make
him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Paul was a very big persecutors of the followers of Jesus and
here are some places that refer to this: Galatians 1:13-15, Acts
8:1-3, Acts 9:1-2, Acts 9:41, and Acts 6:5. Paul took everything
that Jesus said and worked against it. Jesus said in Matthew
5:18-19:
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot
or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
Fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the
least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
[them], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Yet Paul abolished many laws that Jesus observed. Here are some
sayings of Paul:
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews;
to them that are under the law(Gentiles), as under the law, that
I might gain them that are under the law"
(I Corinthians 9:20),
...I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means
save some
(I Corinthians 9:20) and
...all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under
the power of any.
(I Corinthians 6:12).
Paul was the major player in Christianity and I followed him
because I did not know all the details. I continued to find that
Jesus (pbuh) never said he was God. He always talked about God
as being greater than him and he prayed to God just as we do. It
made no since to me that if he were God, then why he would be
praying to himself.
One should understand that these conclusions came only after
intensive studying. I truly believe that Jesus was God before I
began to study. Now I see many references where that he tells us
to worship God, such as John 4:2, John 4:23, Matthew 7:21,
Matthew 22:37, and where he prays to God, such as Matthew 26:39,
Matthew 26:42,44, Mark 1:35, Mark 14:35,39 Luke 5:16, and Luke
22:41.
The more I read the bible the more I found that there was only
one God and I was to worship Him only and that was exactly what
I had prayed for Sept 14th, 2001. The Bible says:
Know therefore this day, and consider [it] in thine heart, that
the LORD he [is] God in heaven above, and upon the earth
beneath: [there is] none else.
(Deuteronomy 4:39),
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
(Exodus 20:3),
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name
[is] Jealous, [is] a jealous God.
(Exodus 34:14)
Ye [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I
have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand
that I [am] he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall
there be after me. I, [even] I, [am] the LORD; and beside me
[there is] no savior.
(Isaiah 43:10-11)
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the
LORD of hosts; I [am] the first, and I [am] the last; and beside
me [there is] no God.
(Isaiah 44:6)
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the
west, that [there is] none beside me. I [am] the LORD, and
[there is] none else." Isaiah 45:6 "For thus saith the LORD that
created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made
it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed
it to be inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none else.
(Isaiah 45:18)
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I
[am] God, and [there is] none else.
(Isaiah 45:22).
I started to study more about Islam after this and I found that
Islam was different from many religions. It was the only
religion that was not named after a person. It simply meant
submission to the will of Allah (God), which again is what I
prayed for on Sept 14th, 2001. I began to see Islam and Muslims
for who they were not as the media project them to be.
In November 2002, I found a local mosque here in Greenville, SC,
and that was my second step to Islam. It took several visits to
the Mosque to finally meet up with one of the sisters. I was
very persistent and I began asking many questions. Alhumdulillah,
the sister I met was very knowledgeable about Islam. She had
some knowledge about Christianity but not much. I began to
attend the mosque regularly and in January 19th 2003, I
converted to Islam.
Challenges Faced as a Muslim
If I tell you that my life as a Muslim was easy I would be lying
and so I will not commit that sin. After submitting to the will
of Allah my challenge as a Muslim began. My first challenge was
praying. I could not pray like the Christians and I did not know
how to pray as a Muslim. I went back to the sister whom I first
met and she taught me along with other sisters how to pray. I
had one advantage: the wonderful Muslim man in the first part of
my story was teaching me Arabic and verses of the Qur'an to help
me say my prayers in the original language instead of in my
mother tongue. Alhamdulillah, I learned how to pray very quickly
and I was off to my next challenge: my parents.
How could I break my parents hearts! They knew me as a faithful
Christian lady. They would not be happy to know that I was now a
Muslim. Their understanding about Muslims was that they worship
a false God, have a false Prophet, and, of course, had to be
trained to be terrorists. I decided to hold off on telling my
parents about my conversion until I gradually tell them Islam. I
began by talking to them about what I had studied and showing
them things I had found in the Bible to be questionable, and
they began to question themselves as well. Almost a year passed
before I told them that I was a Muslim, but by then they were
already used to my way of thinking and it was not to shocking
for them. My parents could only respond to me by saying: "Well
we know you are much more happier now and you seem to be at such
peace with yourself."
Now that my parents accepted my decision, my biggest challenge
came. And that was to obey Allah and begin to wear Hijab. It
really was a challenge. I wore hijab to the mosque and that was
it. I chose not to wear it out in public or around my family for
fear of what they would say. I did wear hijab in public but only
sometimes. I made the choice to wear hijab full time in May of
2004 when I got married so I could follow the Qur'an and protect
myself. Hijab came with occasional remarks, such as "You aren't
going to wear a diaper on your head are you? What are you
suppose to be?" A young man once pointed his finger at me and
saying, "Bang! Bang!" But my decision has been the best one of
my life. I chose to not fear the people and only fear Allah and
that helped me a lot. I also answer those questions and remarks
with "I'm a Muslim" or "Grow up!"
Faith and Reliance on Allah
My life as a Muslim has just started but yet it is not easy, and
no one said it would be. There is a verse from the Quran that I
hold fast to. It says:
Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear
from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath
grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And
Allah heareth and knoweth all things.
(Quran 2:256)
I know that I have grasped the most trust worthy hold that will
never break. I fear Allah and only Allah, and I know since the
first time I came in contact with Islam that He heard my
prayers.
Allah has blessed me in so many ways. He has given me a
wonderful family who is very accepting of me, he has given me a
wonderful husband whom I can come to with all my needs, a
husband who lives Islam and teaches me more and more about Islam
everyday. Allah has given me opportunities to share Islam with
others and I am forever grateful to Him for His many blessings.
Whoever reads this story, I request him or her to pray to Allah
to guide my family to Islam so that on the Day of Judgment we
can be there all together. The seed has been planted. Let us
hope that it will grow.
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