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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Converts To Islam Sister Susannah Alhamdullilah I came from the darkness to the light as they say and at the age of 19 became a muslim. How I decided to be a muslim and the long road I travelled is often a subject I am asked about so inshallah I shall try to explain here and my hope is that my story will be one of inspiration to others.

I grew up the typical American girl, born and raised here in the US in a middle class family which was composed of my parents and one younger sister. My father was in the military so we moved around quite a bit but eventually we settled in Virginia and this was where I grew up primarily. My family had a Christian background and tradition, but my parents, both of whom worked full time did not have the time to take us often to church.

It was confined mostly to holidays or whenever we would visit our grandparents. I remember vividly attending sunday school as a small child, I remember being taught about Jesus and various other Christian virtues. However life being so fast as it is as I grew up into a teenager these principles and ideas began to seem foreign to me and I didnt acknowledge them or implement them in my daily life at all.

My first introduction to Islam was in the 9th grade when my world history class went to Washington dc and toured the Islamic center there. It was a gorgeous spring day, all of us were wearing shorts and T-shirts of course and I remember being stopped at the entrance at the mosque.

The woman told us, You cannot enter Allahs house dressed like this I remember we all laughed, especially the boys because a moment later the woman returned with long white skirts and scarves and insisted we wear them in the mosque. How strange I remember thinking to myself, whats the big deal???

We were given a brief talk by someone who couldnt speak English very well, needless to say it didnt leave a great impression, but as a carefree teenager, at the time religion was the furthest thing from my mind. Approximately a year and a half later a family from KSA moved in next door to my family. One night shortly after they moved in I was walking my dog. When Umm Ali noticed I was walking towards the house next to hers, she immediately approached me.

She insisted in a very kind way that I come and eat dinner with them.