Within three days I received an e-mail from a young woman...

Within three days I received an e-mail from a young woman named Maryam who is a born Muslim, but her mom is a revert. Maryam and I began talking just about school, family, friends, and our problems. We became very close friends, almost sisters. As I was continuing to watch the American Media, which I would later find out is very bias, and usually sides with the Jewish people, I had more and more questions on Islam. Except this time I actually had someone to ask the specific questions to.

The first question I asked was Do u think UBL did this? and she kind of avoided my question (which I later found out why and will explain) so I went on. The next question was about the scarf (hijaab); she answered me with unwavering attention and precision. The hijaab was the hardest thing to put into action for me (I will explain later). But Maryam (bless her soul) did her best and told me everything she could and what she couldnt she gave me URLs which I could read more information if I wanted.

Then there were the rules about boyfriends, pork, and more. The rules werent the things that caught my attention, it was the benefits, love, structure, discipline, and most of all spirituality. I was never religious before Islam. I went to church maybe a total of five times in my life. My mother grew up in a strict Roman Catholic family in New Hampshire with 6 children. My father grew up in a Protestant\Atheist household really not practicing ever once.

So our religious life in the Koenig family was not very strong. I can remember going to church as a child and hating it. The other times I can only remember are funerals and weddings. I just remember listening to the Priests babble on and on never made sense to me. Once in a great while when I was feeling low I would read some of the Bible but always felt like it was a boggled mess that was so difficult to understand and comprehend. Not just that but it didnt make sense to me at all.

Before Islam I always felt like there was a big chunk of my heart missing yet I didnt know what it was. So, how do I convert? I asked Maryam on an early fall day. Take the shaada. I took the shaada. Now I am a Muslim. The date is September 18 th , 2001. My heart felt full, I felt I have a purpose, life inside me to live. I went to good ol Wal-Mart and bought some plain handkerchiefs blue, red, green, and pink. I decided to wear these as my souped up version of makeshift hijaab.