ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Daughters of Another Path (experience of American Women Choosing Islam) What They Left Behind +The journey in the Muslim path required the women to leave behind many of the things they grew up with. The women respondents didn't indicate the they felt any great sense of loss or grief for what they had left behind in converting to Islam.

Most responded with statements of thanksgiving that they had found this way of living, but some admitted having to adjust to giving up something previously enjoyed. +I feel no loss or grief in the life I left behind." I don't feel I left anything behind, only grew into what I wished to become. I don't know what I would have become, but I know I prayed for deliverance from the way I was seeing my life go and the manner of the society.

+The hardest change Was when I started eating only Islamic meats not being able to eat the main courses at my family's dinners. At the time I converted, we had to kill our own sheep and chicken at the beginning and it was a pain. +There is nothing in my life before my husband or before Islam that I miss. I have always wanted a logical solution to my religious questions and the ability to research in peace.

Religion is an institution of faith and obedience to the intangible, and I have found something in Islam that has touched my heart and feels as natural as breathing. +There are no areas that I left behind that I feel a loss or grief for. The only thing that I grieve for is my family to come to Islam. +I still feel grief and loss-although not as much as before-during Christmas time.

I loved to sing the carols and feel the "magic." I've always been deeply committed to God (except those few years in college) and am very spiritual. +The only thing I miss about Christianity is decorations and giving and receiving gifts at Christmas. That's it. +The area that I feel a loss is being able to go swimming because I love to swim and my husband doesn't know how. I want my son to know how much fun swimming can be. Now I don't see how I can help him learn except for a stranger doing it.

+I miss the air going through my hair because I wear hijab. But I tell myself to keep a strong faith and that Allah will reward me. +I can't think of anything I left behind that I miss. I was already tired of the party scene and longed to get married and have babies, just before finding Islam. I could see my previous life was headed downward.