A Muslim in the family
A Muslim in the family
A Muslim in the family
Rageh Omaar
Rageh Omaar
Taking Shahadah - the statement of faith, whereby a convert
becomes a Muslim - is a very simple process. There's none of
the theatricality of a total immersion baptism or some of
the other rites of initiation favoured by other faiths.
Don't bother taking the video recorder along. It will be
over before you've even got the lens cap off.
Quite simply, in the company of two Muslim witnesses,
converts just have to make the declaration that there is
only one God, Allah, who created the universe, and that
Muhammad (PBUH) is his final messenger on earth. And that's
it. End of story. Finito.
Except, of course, that for most converts, taking Shahadah
is only the start of the story. Or rather, it's the end of
one chapter and the beginning of another.
On the one hand, it's a totally life-changing experience - a
spiritual car wash, from which you emerge with all sins
expunged and the purpose of your life clear. On the other
hand, it's still you. A clean Ford Mondeo is still a Ford
Mondeo.
That's the bit that families and, to be fair, some converts
have difficulty accepting. Many of them are in a rush to
change their names, grow a beard (the men, that is), change
their clothes and throw themselves into observation of
Islam's rituals of prayer and fasting.
Well, fine. Nothing wrong with any of that. It's all
recommended in the Qur'an. But not all of it is totally
necessary to the faith, and the speed of change can
sometimes be bewildering for the convert's non-Muslim family
members. Not only might they be confused by this new-found
religious zeal, but they might actually be offended by it.
"Why do you have to change your name for an Arabic one?
What's wrong with the one we gave you?"
"What's with the funny clothes?"
"Why do you suddenly have to wear a headscarf, when half the
Asian Muslims I see don't wear one?"
"If you spend all your time at the mosque, you're going to
be brainwashed. I'm not having a suicide bomber in my
family."
And so on.
In many respects, such questioning is healthy. Although
non-Muslim family members often reveal a lack of
understanding of the faith, they do at least make sure that
converts don't make the change lightly. They also show that
new Muslims have some explaining to do. And in the present
climate, that can only be a good thing.
When so many of the images of Islam we see are coloured by
ignorance or fear, it can only be positive for new Muslims
to have to explain to their families:
"No, Mum, Islam's not like that. I'm not joining al
Qaeda..."
"Islam is a religion of peace, not violence, and those who
commit atrocities in its name commit not only murder, but
blasphemy."
"No, Dad, the Qur'an is not a handbook for the oppression of
women. It actually contains one of the world's oldest
charters for women's rights, insisting that we are equal in
dignity and education."
Et cetera, et cetera.
Having new Muslims saying those things out loud is not only
good for non-Muslim understanding of the faith. It's also a
useful reminder for existing Muslims, whose faith can be
corrupted by cultural practices that have nothing to do with
the Qur'an.
All four of the new Muslims in this article came to the
faith from a position of profound ignorance. And all four of
them have had to square their conversions with families, who
have been, at best sceptical, and at worst fearful and
resentful of the change.
Yvonne Ridley
Yvonne Ridley
Yvonne Ridley ©
Yvonne was the journalist captured by the Taliban while
reporting undercover in Afghanistan, soon after 9/11. Held
on spying charges, she feared she would be stoned. Instead,
she was treated with respect. She promised her captors that,
after her release, she would study Islam. She read the
Qur'an looking for an explanation of the Taliban's treatment
of women, only to find there wasn't any: "It's a magna carta
for women!"
She converted in 2003 and has found that her new faith has
helped put behind her three broken marriages and a
reputation as the "Patsy Stone of Fleet Street." But she
still can't persuade her Mum that converting was a good
idea.
John Standing
John Standing and his wife
John Standing and his wife ©
John used to try to talk his Muslim girlfriend, Nasera, out
of her faith. It was only when she stood firm that he
decided to read the Qur'an for himself. Within months, he'd
converted to Islam. His father, Tony, admits that John seems
a calmer, kinder person since his conversion, but can't help
worrying that John's been brainwashed. He's warned him that,
if he gets involved in violent extremism, the family will
disown him... Not that they expect him to.
What his father can't understand is why John feels the need
to change his name to Jamal Udeen; why he's abandoned a
promising musical career (John believes Islam forbids
music); and why he's now talking about emigrating to a
Muslim country. Does Islam really demand all those changes?
Aqeel Burton
Aqeel Burton
Aqeel Burton ©
Aqeel was brought up in Manchester by Jamaican Christian
parents, but rejected his parents' faith because it seemed
to him a white person's religion. Not that Islam seemed any
less exclusive. The only Muslims he knew at school were
Asians. It was only when a Jamaican friend converted that
Aqeel became interested in the faith. He read the Qur'an and
found that whereas in the past his head had been full of
questions, in Islam he found answers.
A former professional boxer, Aqeel no longer fights, because
of his new faith, but he still trains and finds that the
discipline of boxing goes hand-in-glove with the demands of
his new faith.
Shahnaaz Malik
Shahnaaz Malik
Shahnaaz Malik ©
Shahnaaz grew up in a white family in Slough and converted
to Islam when she married her Asian boyfriend, Naseer. Back
then, he wasn't even a practising Muslim, but over the last
six years, she has brought him back to the faith. First, she
started wearing a headscarf or hijab. Then, this year,
without any prompting from Naseer, she started wearing the
full burkha veil. "Ninjas, we call them," says Nas, a little
bemused.
Not that Shahnaaz is discouraged. She feels liberated from
"the beauty contest" that, she says, dominates western
culture. Interestingly, her veil provokes abuse from both
Asian and white people.
All four of the converts have found different ways to
reconcile their old lives with the new. However, the fact
that all four of them are determined to reconcile the
"before" and "after" versions of themselves is a very
hopeful sign. Perhaps, in them, we can see a living bridge
between Islam and the West - two cultures that many see as
being on an inexorable collision course.
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