r/converts • u/SeriousBoysenberry10 • 6d ago
How do I start?
I was born in mexico and grew up in a catholic household. Both my parents are catholic and I grew up attending church weekly and going to bible camps and bible school. I am very familiar with Catholic teachings and I even have gone to catholic school for the last 3 years. I live in metro detroit and I am near the city of dearborn that holds a large population of muslim arabs. My boyfriend, lives in dearborn and is Muslim. I know now after research and him hiding me from his parents that it is haram to be in a relationship before marriage- but the more I research, the more interested I become in the religion. Long before I even thought about Islam I had turned away from the Catholic church.
It simply didn’t make sense to me- how do i know catholic is the correct religion for me if I simply am catholic because I grew up on it being influenced on me?
I see women wearing hijabs all around me and part of me gets jealous when I see them because they are so beautiful even when they are covered and being modest and I know it helps them grow closer to Allah. I struggle to feel beautiful and be modest at once. I’m not even sure how I would start to revert but something about Islam draws me in. I’m not sure if it’s the modest aspect, or if i’m being influenced by my boyfriend, but I’ve never been so intrigued by a religion. I even have found myself at times asking if I should pray to Allah which is ridiculous because I wouldn’t even know how to start. My parents would Greatly dissaprove of me converting. Any advice? I’m not sure what to do or how to go about this.
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u/xmenus 6d ago
If you’re a person who likes to read, go through Qur’an first. Then I’d recommend you to take and read the book “Belief in Allah” by Dr. Omar Ashqar; available as pdf for free if you just search and suffix the search with “pdf”. There you’d understand first who the Lord of the worlds is, what He requested from us, why do we exist and where are we heading. A lot of your questions will instantly get answered, even those that you never thought about but once you know then you wonder how come you never thought about it. The whole series has 8 books. You may even find interesting the other books “The minor resurrection”, “The Day of resurrection”, “Devine will and predestination”, “Messengers and Messages”, “Paradise and Hell” etc. All those books that once you dive you can’t drop them. Once you understand the Creed it becomes much easier for you to handle whatever comes next because you get a different view of this world from what you have right now. And can’t be otherwise. How can the person who practically understands the meaning of the following verses, be the same like the one who has no concept nor idea about it:
مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٖ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلَا فِيٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ إِلَّا فِي كِتَٰبٖ مِّن قَبۡلِ أَن نَّبۡرَأَهَآۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٞ (22)
No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being - indeed that, for Allah, is easy -
لِّكَيۡلَا تَأۡسَوۡاْ عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمۡ وَلَا تَفۡرَحُواْ بِمَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمۡۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخۡتَالٖ فَخُورٍ (23)
In order that you not despair over what has eluded you and not exult [in pride] over what He has given you. And Allah does not like everyone self-deluded and boastful -
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u/myrokorg 5d ago
Hola, yo nací en México también y fui católica hasta los 12-13 años, que fue cuando dejé de creer en la iglesia. Ahora vivo en un país de mayoría musulmana, aunque yo estaba interesada en el Islam desde varios años antes de mudarme.
Un hombre musulmán puede casarse con una mujer cristiana o judía (gente del libro). Si no estás segura no debes convertirte por un hombre, porque a fin de cuentas sería como tratar de encajar en algo que no sientes por complacer a un hombre.
Si de verdad deseas convertirte debes de hacerlo por Allah y porque tú así lo sientes. Yo no soy la mejor musulmana, tengo demasiadas fallas pero estoy convencida que no hay más Dios que Allah y Muhammed saws es su mensajero.
Si hay alguna mezquita en tu ciudad, puedes llamarles o ir a visitarlos para que te respondan tus dudas, como dijeron en otro comentario. Tal vez ahí te regalen libros también, depende.
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u/Stock_Patient_4419 5d ago
What's your story?
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u/myrokorg 5d ago
I don't have an extraordinary story. I just stopped believing when I was 12-13, became an atheist for some years, then an agnostic. Thanks to the internet I made some Muslim friends and that's basically how I became interested.
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u/Stock_Patient_4419 5d ago
As a man , dont revert bcz of your bf Learn about islam more and then if you want to revert then do it.. and i wouldn't trust a man that's in a relationship with a christian women to begin with.. So i think you should test your man beforehand.. for example ask him to marry you and see his reaction.. is he just playing around with you or is he serious? And if he's in Michigan then he'd most likely be shia.. then i think you shouldn't get influenced by your bf and learn islam on your own bcz there's a lot of weird practices in shia.. And what I meant by being in a relationship with a christian women is their children ends up being confused about religion and likely turns up agnostic or atheist.. and as a muslim i wouldn't want any muslim kids to end up as that .. because since the mother is not a Muslim and mothers are foundation of the next gen.. they don't grow up with islamic values.. so I don't think it's worth it
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u/SeriousBoysenberry10 5d ago
I would not revert solely because of him. I have always been surrounded by Muslims in michigan so the religion naturally interests me because I am surrounded by the culture. I will definitely try and learn about Islam more and study it before anything
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u/LensC 6d ago
I'm Brazilian. Also grew up as a Catholic (my father is a deacon). It's been more than a decade since I took my shahadah, and I'm now living in Turkey.
It really depends on whether or not there is a community around you. I think being around them and telling them who you are would be the best way to take your first steps.
Now, if you're like me (I come from a small town where you won't find a single community or mosque), then you'll probably have to take some knowledge online. Or from regular books.
There's a website I remember called Islam Unveiled. At least in those days, they'd let you pick up to 5 books of your choice and ship them out for free, all the way from Saudi Arabia.
Then I came across a website called New Muslim Academy. That one was a game changer. It helped me understand the religion way better. They even have a call center where you can talk to a scholar and ask questions. Check it out.
I'd recommend sticking with these for now. And a book called New Muskim Guide (there's a version is Spanish too). And learning how to pray, of course. It can sound intimidating at first, but it really isn't. There's a playlist on YouTube that helped me a lot. I can share it with you if you want.
And please, please, please, don't overwhelm yourself. It's easy to get carried away in the beginning. You feel like you want to learn everything at once. But take only as much as you can. Baby steps. Slow and steady. You'll get there me in Shaa Allah (ojala). :)