Gevriye Shamsid-Deen - Texas / America

In these blessed days, when we entered the spiritual air of three months, Isabella began a new and clean life, cleansed by bringing witness to her past sins.

Isabella is 22 years old of Colombian descent. She came to America five years ago with his mother to attend college.

Isabella, who turned 22 on January 26, decided to convert to Islam by declaring the Shahada after Jumu’ah Salaah on January 28, 2020, two days after her 22nd birthday, and chose to accept the Shahada as a birthday present for herself.

Imam Zafer Anjum, who is a professor who teaches Islamic culture at the university where Isabella attends, invited Isabella to the Masjid in the Colony, Texas where she became a Muslim by repeating the words of the Shahadah after the Imam Anjum.

Isabella, who lives in Irvine, Texas, chose to take a stand with her professor, who is also the Imam at the Masjid in The Colony.

Islam has given me hope again

Imam Anjum asked Isabella what was most appealing reason for you to accept Islam. She described "Islam has given me back hope again, the will to live, and the will to believe in Allâh of my own choice" as the most important reasons. Imam Anjum said that when Allāh intends to guides a person He opens up his heart to Islam and said Isabella is the best example of this.

We asked Isabella, whose parents are Catholic and who was also a Catholic before, my own questions.

What made you choose Islam?

I used to go to church, but somehow I couldn't find the peace of mind I wanted. I started to question myself, whether I had a deficiency or I didn't know how to think about it.

After that, my interest in religions grew and I started researching. At first, I studied my own religion, Christianity, deeply, but I couldn't find what I was looking for, yet my interest in religions continued. I heard that there was a course in Islamic culture at the university, and I immediately went and registered.

And then I looked into it myself. I began to believe with all my heart that this was the religion that best suited reason and logic. But how was I supposed to do that? On the one hand, my family, my circle of friends, on the one hand, the media influence of the society I was in, the way they viewed Islam and Muslims, made me seriously concerned.

SHE TOLD HIS MOTHER FIRST

I finally started to open up to my mother. She wasn't too happy about my decision, saying I'd be excluded, scorned, and maybe even attacked, voicing the same concerns. But the torch of believing in Allāh in the best way I could once ignited, and I had to overcome my fears and worries after all. Gradually, I began to tell my friends about the situation. My friends, who I thought would condemn and snore at me, were extremely understanding and tolerant. I'm both very surprised and very happy about it. My friends said, "But you're going to have to make a lot of sacrifices." So, you're not going to be able to go to parties, you're not going to be able to do most of the things you're used to doing by now." I said, "They don't make me happy anyway so I can see them as sacrifices." Gradually, I began to learn to pray. Two months before the Shahadah, I started praying to myself. I had to overcome my fears now.

My mother went to visit our hometown, my father and half-sister are here. I've decided to open the case for my father. Contrary to what I thought, my father understood perfectly and said that if it makes you happy, he supports you, and he made me very happy. My parents are separated, I have two half-sisters, so my father adopted a daughter of my aunt's age when she was married to my mother, I don't have any other own siblings, then after I broke up with my mother, she married another lady, and my father adopted her daughter, and now I have two half-sisters, but we love each other like real brothers.

I told my dad I don't know how they're going to react. He said, "It's up to you a little bit, and if you don't exclude them, I think they'll understand your choice."

Now, my mother's the only one who didn’t know I'm officially a Muslim. I'm going to wait for she to come home, and I think it would be better if I talked to her face-to-face, in person.

I turned to Allâh’s love

I was going through a very stressful time during my Islamic studies. I had no motivation to live my life. I'm just saying this special part of my life in case it helps our other younger brothers. I was in a friendship with a Muslim teenager who mistreated me, and it affected me very badly.

I've almost lost my life force. I moved away from that person and turned to the love of Allâh, I tried to fill the void in my heart with the love of Allāh, I no longer needed that person's love or himself, I found a love that is way beyond that person, a love that is more worthy, and that is the love of Allāh. Al-Hamdulillâh.

The reason I opened this up to you is because the bad experience with that Muslim person actually led me to investigate Islam more and to inform myself more about it, to find Allâh in accordance with my own efforts. While most people thought that such an experience would drive me away from Islam, on the contrary, this led me to find Allâh and lead my life.

Islam motivated me, gave me the power to live again, made me succeed in my goals, and my parents are proud of me.