It was the true Abrahamaic (pbuh) religion...

It was the true Abrahamaic (pbuh) religion, revealed through a man whose very lineage traced back to Abrahams (pbuh) first son Ishmael (pbuh) who worshipped the same one true God. This further fed my curiosity and interest in Islam. I had decided to keep myself open so I also read the history and doctrines of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Native American spirituality, and other smaller religious sects, cults, and movements.

Buddhism seemed to renounce the world too much yet was not clear on the afterlife. In Hinduism the worship seemed too loose and unfocused with its great deity residing in many reforms, Judaism seemed basically true but had had too much of a racial bias, and Native American to vary by the tribe. Islam was the only one whose theology and practices seemed truly universal.

The information that I had gathered so far was not enough to make me want to change my religion but that was soon to change when I came into contact with the Quran! I was working at a music store where a young woman used to come to the store with whom I used to have general conversations and on one occasion happened to bring up the topic of Islam.

I then found that she was a Muslim and she told me that I could get more information on Islam at a little session that her father helped teach with some other Muslim. I was both nervous and excited at my first visit but it was my first time being around real Muslims! I was initially impressed by the racial variety, the simple environment, and the warm humbleness of the attendants. They answered a few basic questions of mine but I was there mostly to listen.

When it was prayer time, I quietly watched from a distance with a smile. Seeing all the men, women, and children bow in unison and put their faces flat against the ground in prayer seemed a little strange and funny, yet so humble, so unified, and so natural. It seemed like this was the ultimate way that we as Gods creations were supposed to pray.

I recalled in my mind accounts in Bible of other prophets like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (pbuh), throwing themselves to the ground in humility and prayer to God yet this is not the way we prayed in church as Christians, but the Muslims did! Jesus (pbuh) told us to greet each other by saying Peace be with you, yet we Christians didnt do this. It was the Muslims who greeted each other saying As-Salaamu Alaikum which means Peace be with you.