In my search I found Wicca, the Bahai faith, and finally Islam.

In my search I found Wicca, the Bahai faith, and finally Islam. I studied Islam quietly, on my own, in secret, for two years. I wanted to be able to separate fact from fiction. I did not want to confuse Islam with the cultures that claim to practice Islam while instituting things that are clearly against all that Allah has revealed to us. I wanted to make the distinction between the religion and the societies that adopted it. That took time and patience.

I met a lot of helpful brothers and sisters via e-mail who answered all of my questions and opened their lives up for me to examine. I never liked the image that I was handed as to what a woman was. In popular culture we are portrayed as very sexy, lady like, independent enough so that men have no real responsibility toward us or the children they help create, but dependant enough that we are continually in search of a new man.

The average woman on the street is honked at, whistled at, has had her butt or breasts pinched, slapped, rubbed, or ogled by some strange man. I never agreed with any of that and never found a come on flattering. In Christianity I was taught that as a woman I should not teach in church or question the authority of any man in public. The picture painted of women in Christianity was one of inferiority. We were supposed to be chaste and silent with children about our feet.

In Islam I found a voice, a system that gave me ultimate respect for being a mother and acknowledged the fact that I was equal to man in every way except one: physical strength. The hadith are littered with stories of women who spoke publicly and Islamic history is full of women who were leaders. It was a theology that I could respect because it respected me. I had to ask myself if I really wanted to be like all of the people I saw around me. Who was really oppressed?

The girl wearing skin-tight jeans getting catcalls from boys rolling by in cars was not free. She was societys whore and she got no respect. I was thankful that my mother had never allowed me to wear such things, not that I ever wanted to, but her disapproval was an added incentive. After examining the position of the Muslim woman and what I felt to be truth in my heart, how could I deny Islam? Six weeks ago I made the decision to convert to Islam. I did so and have not looked back since.

My friends respect it because they see that it has not changed who I am and what I stand for, in fact it has backed it up.