ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Converts To Islam Faizah Jauharah My journey to Islam, or as I call it my adulthood 17 year journey through the wilderness of darkness - really began in childhood. For as long as I can remember, Ive had a great thirst for knowledge, and knowing about other religions was no exception. I grew up the only daughter of divorced parents - a Christian mother and, as I later learned, a Muslim father.

As I got a little older I began to feel some dissatisfaction with our denomination of choice, but as a dutiful child I did as my mother told me. The teachings of that denomination and finally Christianity itself just didnt seem logical; and the more I read the more convinced I became that something wasnt right. I tried asking questions of my family and of the pastors, but instead of getting answers I was dismissed as just a mere child.

Somehow, the phrase And the little child shall lead them or Suffer the little children to come unto me just didnt apply to me. Yet I just had to know. I mean I was smart, so how anyone could say that Jesus died on a Friday and rose on the third day and then tell me that the third day was a Sunday, mathematically was impossible.

Or even something as simple as God created the heavens and the earth and all that was upon it is six days and rested on the seventh, yet we went to church on Sunday - the day the calendar says is the first day. In my mind, these were simple questions and all I wanted were simple answers. I admit some of my questions were a bit more complicated. For example, how come some denominations allowed women to be spiritual leaders, but not the Catholic Church?

As I grew into a teenager, my questions became much deeper. I couldnt understand, for example, how the preacher could say that we should not be concerned with material things but rely upon God to provide; yet he was always dressed in the best clothing, drove a fancy car and lived in a great house, often at church expense, while many in the congregation didnt have much.

Then lets not even talk about tithing - Im supposed to give 10% of my gross income, something I never actually see (okay so I didnt have a job at the time, but still it was the principle) to God, but I was taught that God had no need of money. Although my father wasnt around much as I was growing up, in retrospect I realize that his influence was ever-present. I was raised in a way that was very Islamically based.