I was raised up as a Muslim under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad and I attended Muhammad’s University of Islam in Detroit Michigan along with my older brother. The girls attended school in the afternoon and the boys went in the morning. Even at the Mosque, the women were seated on the right side and the men on the left. We wore our headpieces and floor length long skirts and dresses to school, the Mosque as well as in public. We were taught that Allah was God and Elijah Muhammad was the Messenger of God. We were given guidelines, rules and regulations that we had to adhere to and if they were broken there were consequences. I remember a friend of mine being expelled from the Mosque for committing fornication.
We were taught in a very structured environment with a very strong emphasis placed on moral and ethical principles. Some of the teachings included – respect for one’s self and their bodies, eating to live and not to die and being self-sufficient and not waiting or depend on the government or anyone to give you anything. The majority of the brothers and sisters owned their own businesses. It was also drilled and instilled in us that your word is your bond and the “golden rule” – Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. This is what Jesus taught as well and we need to see more of this among the body of Christ. We always greeted each other with “As Salaam Alaikum,” meaning peace be unto you and “Wa-Alaikum-Salaam,” meaning “And unto you be peace.
We didn’t eat pork (Chitterlings and pork chops were outlawed in our house!) or a lot of red meat, but we ate plenty of fish, navy beans and bean pies. People would laugh at us because we ate so much fish and beans, but let me tell you – we were much healthier back then.
At times, I felt like my parents were way too strict. We were not allowed to do very much. We couldn’t go to the movies without a chaperone. We weren’t allowed to go to parties or listen to certain kinds of music. I couldn’t appreciate my strict upbringing then. However I can certainly appreciate it now. We didn’t celebrate Christmas or Easter. I remember visiting my cousins during the holiday season and seeing all of their gifts under the tree and feeling slighted, not fully understanding why we didn’t receive any gifts. Yet, my parents definitely made my brother and I feel like it was Christmas the whole year round.
Now fast forwarding, I am now in my early 20’s and feeling such an indescribable emptiness and void on the inside. I felt very lonely and like something was missing from my life. At this time, I was no longer going to the Mosque nor was I going to Church. I didn’t feel a sense of purpose. Every day, on my way to and from work I remember passing by a Church on Alter Road and East Jefferson in Detroit that I felt compelled to visit. The pull seemed to get stronger every day. Something kept telling me to visit this House of Worship but I resisted because Churches had always been creepy to me. They reminded me of funerals. This is because in the past, the only time I would visit a Church was to attend a funeral. So, I associated them with death. So after wrestling with this thought for a few weeks, I finally surrendered and decided to go and to my surprise I had a really good time. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and everything the Preacher said agreed with my spirit. Although, the message seemed so right, why did I feel so torn? After all, these teachings went against everythingI had ever been taught. Nonetheless this felt so good it just had to be right! So I didn’t give into my reasoning, I gave into my spirit and went back to visit the same Church the following Sunday. I was baptized and accepted the LORD Jesus Christ into my life and my life has never been the same! JESUS was that missing piece from my life! I am so very happy and over thrilled that I obeyed and didn’t resist that small still voice. If I didn’t take that leap of faith and didn’t obey the Spirit of the living God I don’t want to even think about how differently my life would have turned out.
Now there was another hurdle I had to face. I had to figure out how I was going to tell my Family about my newly found faith that has ETERNALLY transformed my life. How was I going to articulate my new found faith? After all I don’t even understand this myself. What will my family think? “Oh boy, I’m in trouble now”, I thought. I knew my mother would probably understand because she had been brought up in the Church but converted to Islam after marrying my father. Well, I finally got up enough courage to spring this good news on them. Just as I expected my family thought I had lost my mind. They couldn’t understand how I could so easily convert to believing in Jesus Christ after basically being brought up as a Muslim, because after all – Islam was all I ever knew. It was difficult for me to explain to them that there is only one GOD. There is this misconception among many Muslims that Christians worship three gods. This of course is not true. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one. There is only one God!
One other thing I would like to address is the teachings that the white man is the devil. I have discovered as I’ve gotten a little wiser and older that the devil comes in every color white, black, red, yellow or brown and he will use any nationality. After coming into the knowledge and truth of Jesus Christ, I realized that He loves us all no matter what color or race we are! The scripture tells us in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that if we would believe on Him we would not perish but have everlasting life.” I learned that the love of God transcends all racial and ethnic boundaries. I John 4:8 says, “He that loves not knows not God for God is love,” and I John 4:20 says, “If a man says, I love God and hate his brother, he is a liar. For he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” Then Jesus said, “You would know my disciples by the love they show toward one another (John 13:35).” Blessed be His glorious name forever and ever! I must confess that I have found no GREATER LOVE, peace or joy than the unfailing LOVE that only JESUS CHRIST can give.
I cannot deny that I took away many wonderful attributes and traits from my Islamic background. In many ways, being raised a Muslim helped to shape me into the person I am today. I developed discipline, self-control, character, integrity and high standards. Because of my strict upbringing I was always cognizant about the way I dressed, what I ate, where I went and what I did. Now here I am over 25 years later to testify and praise the LORD for bringing me out of darkness into the MARVELOUS light! I was on my way to an eternal hell but HE saved me. To Him alone belongs all the praise, honor and the glory!! I don’t know why He chose me. Nonetheless, I am beyond euphoric and ecstatic that He did.