Going to the mosque showed me the beautiful diversity Islam has to offer. In it you found African-Americans, Hispanics, whites, Arabs, etc., all worshipping and interacting with one another.
During this quest in search of a religion and a mosque I was extremely oppressed by many family members. I would walk into my mother’s home at times only to hear my grandmother (my mother’s mother) screaming at me and calling me a devil worshipper.
My friend, the foster kid, was sent to another home because of his conversion to Islam, but thank God that the new home was only a few blocks away. My family was upset that I left the religion of my forefathers for what they called the religion of the Arabs. They told me that I no longer had an interest in being Puerto Rican, but that I now wanted to be Arab. They continuously tried to divert me from the path that I began to walk upon.
I continued to push forward worshipping Allah alone, not allowing my family to discourage me.
I persisted in going to the mosque, learning and listening to the teachings of Islam. The teachings that called for the reformation of one’s soul, the teachings that called for leaving off one’s desires, for leaving off illicit sexual intercourse, for leaving off doing drugs, for leaving off drinking alcohol, and so on.
It was a religion that was actually calling to practise that which you preach. It called to be religious in every instance – not just once a week – but that you were to be religious and God-conscious every day.
To me this was very different from the traditional Christian environment that I grew up in, where people were religious on Sunday, but during the week they had girlfriends, illicit sex, did drugs, and drank alcohol.
This is not to say that all Christians act this way, only the ones I interacted with did. I was shocked to see that Islam was a religion of practice, and that speech meant nothing if it was not practised and adhered to.
In the beginning, I would still slip and drink alcohol and every now then I would smoke weed. I also still had a girlfriend. The more I learnt, the more I began to change.
I began to teach my girlfriend about Islam, stating to her the importance of marriage, while informing her of my intention to marry her. I soon stopped drinking and smoking weed. I stopped partying, and I began dedicating my life to Islam and the worship of Allah.
My family saw this drastic change in my life while witnessing how I stopped drinking, hanging out, doing drugs, and so on. It caused my parents to say, “Wow! This religion must not be as bad as we thought it was. It has changed our son for the better. He is a better citizen, he is a better father, he is a better son, he is more responsible, and so on.”
Their attitude towards Islam and Muslims changed, and they now loved the new faith which their son had embraced, even though they themselves have not embraced it.
Actually, my father once met a Muslim man and stated to him that his son was Muslim. The man proceeded to ask my father regarding his sentiments toward his son being a Muslim.
My father replied, “Now that my son is Muslim, I can sleep at night.”
After all of the struggle and trials I have been through, life had started to taste sweeter and I began to feel the tranquillity that I was in need of.
My girlfriend soon accepted Islam, thereafter marrying me, and by the grace of Allah we have been married now for 10 years.
I continued to study Islam and in June of 2001 I received a scholarship to study at the Islamic University of Madinah, which is located in Saudi Arabia.
I was ecstatic at such an opportunity. I discussed it with my wife and we came to the agreement that I should not turn down an opportunity of this magnitude. We agreed that she will stay behind for the first year thus allowing me to set up all accommodations prior to her arrival.
I accepted the scholarship and I left in August of 2001 to Saudi Arabia to study the religion of Islam.
We started school and it was an amazing opportunity that would come to an end sooner than I thought. In September of 2001 we had the tragic event of 9/11 and this event occurred while I was studying in Saudi Arabia.
After seeing and hearing what happened in America, I knew that I would have to return home. My wife, who had stayed behind, was residing with her parents but I did not feel comfortable with her traveling by herself to and from work, or to the grocery store. We lived only a half an hour away from the towers.
Many people did awful things to Muslim men and women after 9/11, and I did not want my wife to be a victim of one of these ignorant attacks.
Once the semester was over I returned home with the intention of taking a semester off and then returning with my family, but Allah had another plan for me, so my visa for some reason was revoked and not given back to me.
I continued studying on my own. I also did not cease to call my family to the teachings of Islam, which was now spattered all over the news, being falsely attributed to terrorism and the like.
I found myself more dedicated now than ever before. I felt as if I had to prove to my family that Islam does not promote terrorism and that their son would not be involved in a religion that was fanatical.
I strove to be the best example I could be, illustrating Islam’s beautiful teachings when it relates to family, especially when it came to the rights that the parents have over their children.
With the help of Allah two members of my family became Muslim. My family’s outlook on Islam and its teachings was changed from negative to positive. They felt proud to know that we were Muslims and that we stood for justice, peace, and righteousness.
They began to open up by asking questions regarding the religion. They were now more open-minded.
I have now been Muslim for 11 years and I am happily married with four children, two of which I had prior to Islam and two of which came after my acceptance to Islam.
I am proud to say that I have not drunk alcohol or done any type of drugs for almost 11 years now.
I went from being reckless to being cautious; I went from being irresponsible to being accountable for all of my actions; I went from being a boy to a being a strong responsible man.
I continued to study Islam by attending lectures and classes, until I found the Shari’ah Academy of America.
I enrolled in their bachelors programme for Shari’ah (Islamic Law) and I have been a student with them for about two years now.
I will strive to keep my intentions sincere when learning about the religion of Islam. My reason for learning about Islam is to get close to Allah first.
This is then followed by the intention to teach and educate those whom I love, accompanied with educating the society at large, especially Hispanic people who are the minority in Islam.
I will work to become a professor, Allah willing. I aspire to teach in universities, teaching subjects like: world religions, theology, and the like. I would also like to continue aiding my community with their spiritual growth to Allah.
In conclusion, I have been blessed with the opportunity to live in Saudi Arabia for about five months during my one semester in college. I was able to experience how worship is placed around one’s daily life and not one’s daily life around worship.
The most important lesson learned in my short stay in Saudi Arabia is that seeking Allah’s pleasure and striving to enter Paradise is paramount.
I have been blessed to make the pilgrimage (hajj) to Makkah once and I have made the minor pilgrimage (Umrah) twice since my return home from Saudi Arabia in December of 2001.
In brief, this is my life story regarding how I became a Muslim. I would like to end with the following quote: “Never forget where you came from, but always remember where you are going.”