My story begins
in El Salvador. I was born in San Salvador, El
Salvador, and at the age of 12 (19 years ago), I
migrated to Australia with my mother, my brother and
sister.
From the moment
we arrived in Australia, I remember visiting different
Christian churches of differing sects as we used to do
back in El Salvador. Unfortunately, none were solid
enough for us to remain in. I was originally baptised
in the Catholic Church and as a teenager I found that
being a Catholic was too comfortable. I began looking
for more guidance in following God's commandments.
At the age of
15, my family and I started to attend "The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" commonly known as
the "Mormons." My auntie has been a long time member
and we found it was making a lot more sense than many
other Christian teachings we had heard. The only
thing was that along with the good things came many
that didn't seem to have a logical explanation at all,
like the fact that there are prophets inspired with
revelations within the church. So I just thought that
with faith, one day I would understand them and they
would make sense. A few months later I was baptised.
A few years went by and I really liked the Church but
once again I found that I was confused at the fact
that they didn't seem to think there was anything
wrong with young people enjoying the nightlife as long
as you didn't drink, smoke and make any bad choices.
As a teenager,
could you tell me how it could be possible to enjoy
all of this but yet keep away from temptation? Staying
away from a lot of temptation was kind of hard, so I
was "inactive" as they say for a while.
At the age of 19
I met a guy who now happens to be my husband. He is a
Muslim. He was not a practicing Muslim at the time,
but what I liked about him was the fact that he had
principles and loved God dearly. We talked about
marriage and concluded that we wanted to be together.
At the time, being an inactive Christian and he being
a Muslim, we came to a mutual agreement to be married
only through the marriage registry to avoid any
preference of our respective religious beliefs.
As the years
went by, I actually thought about going back to church
– any church, as my love for Jesus was there and I
felt the need to be close to God. But the thought
would soon go away when I thought about one of the
main reasons I had stopped attending church in the
first place. There was too much bickering, back
stabbing and criticising. This has always been going
on in the many churches that I attended, which I found
made people forget the real purpose of being there.
Going to church felt more like a Sunday social event
rather than worshipping God.
I can honestly
say that, at that time, Islam was of no interest to me
and believe me, becoming a Muslim would never ever had
been an option on my "preference list" of ways to get
close to God. There was no interest whatsoever, until
recently.
A few months ago
I had a dream that really shook me up. I felt quite
scared and would wake up praying seeking guidance from
God.
Two weeks later
I had another dream very similar to the first, so I
woke up saying in Spanish "¡En el nombre de Dios todo
poderoso y todo piadoso!" (in the name of God all
powerful and all merciful).
I prayed and
asked God for guidance, to help me be close to Him and
help me do His will and to show me how or what I
needed to do to be closer to Him. I continually asked
Him if he wanted me to go to church to worship Him, to
please guide me to the correct one. But more
importantly, I asked Him to make it clear for me to
understand how and in which way He wanted me to get
close to Him. I also asked Him to make it so clear
that my heart could not deny any of His will.
Within that week
I had a third dream. I was in the car heading up
towards a very high mountain. I could not tell if I
was the driver or a passenger. But as the car almost
reached the top of the mountain, I had a really bad
feeling that something bad was going to happen. I
looked out from the car window and noticed that I had
reached the highest point of the mountain and could
see a blue lake at the very bottom. It was so tiny
that you could barely see the blue water in it. In
that split second the car lost control. I tried very
hard to gain control of the steering wheel but it was
impossible. I remember thinking how death had come my
way and that there was no chance or hope of me
surviving and that as soon as the car went over the
cliff, I was going to die.
I felt so afraid
and frustrated and really scared that there was no
chance of salvation. I was actually facing death.
I began to feel
extremely stressed from fear as the car was falling
down towards the lake in the distance. As the car was
falling, I then heard a loud voice echoing through the
mountains. It was so loud that it made the mountains
shake and tremble. The voice was loud but beautiful.
It was so beautiful it gave me inner peace and made me
lose the fear of dying but more importantly, what gave
me this peace were the words being said.
I then heard the
voice for the second time. This time it was carrying
on for a longer period. A bright orange, yellow light
then appeared between the mountains – it was the
sunrise. As the car was about to hit the ground, a
road appeared out of nowhere. It was the road to my
salvation. But what had really saved me were the
words spoken by this voice through the mountains,
those words were
"Allah Akbar."
The call for prayer, the Adhan, is called out by the
muezzin in the mosque.
I woke up
instantly and was so emotional that I could not stop
crying. I think I seriously cried for a good two
hours, but it was the most beautiful feeling ever. I
couldn't even talk and my husband kept asking what was
wrong. I told him my dream. I then told him I wanted
to read the QURAN. I felt this was a message from God
wanting me to seek knowledge.
The next morning
I started to look into Islam. It's so funny, for the
last 13 years I had been surrounded by so many Muslims
and was never aware of the true beauty of Islam. I
remember my brother in law, a practicing Muslim,
explaining the divinity of God alone and the
importance of worshipping God alone and that no other
being should be worshipped along with Him or instead
of Him, but my heart was completely sealed. I was
never interested in knowing anything about it. In
fact I would get offended and at times I felt like
telling him how misguided he was. I was convinced
that it was not the right religion – definitely not
the one for me anyway.
When I was
seeking knowledge, I investigated so much that I
learned quite a lot. I even began emailing people
with knowledge from the other side of the world. I
discovered how Islam is not only for Middle Eastern
people or Arabs as most people think. Islam is for
everyone regardless of their race, nationality or
ethnic background. It's for those who truly love
Jesus' (peace be upon him) teachings just the way I
do. It is for those who love all the servants,
messengers and prophets of God, and most importantly
for those who acknowledge the importance of the
benefits that follow when you truly worship God
alone.
Alhamdulillah
(All praise is to God) I was so fascinated about the
treasure I had just discovered, the beautiful truth,
the evidence and benefits of the teachings of Islam.
I read the history of Christianity and I studied a few
verses from the Bible. I read not only from the
Islamic side but the real history of all of these
beliefs that had so blindfolded me into following for
so many years.
Who would have
thought that hearing the call for prayer not only
saved me in my dream but was the truth and salvation I
had been asking for in reality? God had answered my
prayers.
I put my
spiritual feelings aside and looked at the evidence
that I had in front of me, and my conclusion was
this:
"Ashhadu Alla
Ilaha Illa Allah Wa Ashhadu Anna Muhammad un
rasulullah"
"I bear witness
that there is no true god but God, that none has the
right to be worshipped but God alone, (and that God
has neither partner nor son) and I bear witness that
Muhammad, may the blessings and mercy of God be upon
him, was a true Prophet (and messenger) sent by God."
Now in 2010,
after 13 years of being married to my husband I have
reverted into Islam. My husband is still shocked that
I have reverted into Islam, so is his family and of
course mine too. But when you know that all that you
are doing is for the sake of Allah, and no one but
him, it feels so right.
Some of my
closest friends were very supportive as they know that
Islam has given me inner peace and humility. Others
think I have become an extremist just because I pray 5
times a day and have changed my dress code completely
Alhamdulillah. (All praise be to God)
When I started
to pray, I remember feeling so strange at first but it
seemed so right at the same time. Islam is not just a
Religion but a way of life.
Alhamdulillah,
wearing a Hijab now makes me feel so free and so
respected. People who don't know me automatically get
the impression that I'm Middle Eastern and when they
find out I'm Latin American, they get shocked as a
Latina Muslim is odd here in Australia. I still have
not met one. They ask me why the dramatic change, but
Alhamdulillah, it's a good thing because it gives me
the chance to actually give them a small explanation
of the beauty and wonders of Islam. Wearing the Hijab
gives me a sense of pride because I feel I have
contributed to the good values most of us have
forgotten. The Hijab is not a responsibility, it's a
right given to me by my Creator who knows us best. I
definitely feel like I'm contributing to today's
society in stopping women from being oppressed by
having to dress or behave in a certain way to fit in.
I cannot say how happy I am, Alhamdulillah, that Allah
has guided me into His path and I know that we plan
things but Allah is the best planner. Just like the
Aya (verse) from the Quran says:
"He it is Who
gives life and causes death. And when He decides upon
a thing He says to it only: "Be!" and it is." (Quran
40:68)
In just a matter
of weeks, I knew that this was the right path. My
heart felt the complete opposite of the rejection I
had for Islam. Reverting into Islam helps me to
strive to be by His side in the hereafter—my life in
this earth is not for ever. Therefore I have to
strive to be a good servant of God to be in Paradise
one day. The happiness I get here is not eternal, but
if I return to my Creator's side I will have eternal
happiness.
Please ask God
alone with full submission for guidance and seek
knowledge because you will be rewarded by our Creator.
My name is
Marcela, I was born in El Salvador and I'm very proud
to be a Muslima. I'm truly grateful to Allah for
guiding me to revert into Islam. Those that Allah
guides can never be misguided. Insha'Allah (God
willing) my story will be an encouragement to bring
more Latinos into the true beauty of Islam
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