I converted to Islam AMA.

[Mvslimah]

10 years ago and not for a man

AMA all the difficult questions, I got some time to kill

Did you look at any other religions? I always wonder (atheist here). I guess it’s because if I believed and thought one of the religions was right I would have probably studied as many as possible and then chose one.

Did you feel like there was something missing in your life before you converted? I remember an article about prison guards converting and it suggested that they had a particular need for order and guidance. Do you feel that is you?

None of that is meant in a condescending tone btw. I struggle to get it. What are you looking for?

Do you genuinely believe in it? Are you rational in other areas of your life? Why do you think there are magical beings who care about what you do?

I'm not 100% sure if jilani is the original founder of Sufism but he has a huge influence.

I was lucky that I did learn about a lot of other religions, pretty much the biggies and neo paganism as part of my UG

did I feel something was missing… not in the beginning, I wasn’t on a grand existential quest for my purpose on the world but by the end of my studies and when I became more involved in the Muslim community (prior to conversion) then yes I suppose I did then. I dont especially need or crave order or purpose or whatever but I do find the fact that we all belong to God, and one day we’ll return to him quite comforting, along with being reunited with loved ones.

Of course

id day I’m pretty rational yeah

Hope your this critical of all religions not just mine. I guess belief in a higher power is about comfort, purpose and justice

Do you struggle to behave appropriately in your off-line life?

I’m not sure what you think gives you the authority to be quite so rude to someone else even if you do disagree with them.

You come across very poorly.

For people who criticise Aisha being young when she was married…

Up until the industrial revolution it was common practice among most societies that puberty was regarded as the age of adulthood

After that men were expected to fight and women to have families. Things are different in most places now, but that was simply the mark of a time when life was too harsh to allow for a teenage phase.
Same was true in Europe. Under Scottish law prior to the 20th C any girl above the age of 9 was allowed to marry, regardless of the age of her husband.

Child marriage is abhorrent and no one here is excusing it. What some are wilfully misunderstanding is that our concept of a ‘child’ is relatively new, it was completely normal to considered an adult at puberty.

WTF.

Why would you assume people who believe in a higher power are not rational. Do you think that you are more rational because you don't?

It's not "magical beings" it is a power which just is and we believe in it because we see the evidence of its omnipotence everywhere. I'm a Muslim .

Find your post very insulting and condescending.

Hmm. Puberty doesn’t start at 6 though. She married at 6, pregnant at 9. It’s disgusting. And this will get deleted but it’s still happening today.

She did not get married until puberty.

Her exact age at marriage is not universally agreed, but she had reached puberty.

I expect anyone who is hell-bent on only taking one piece of (disputed) evidence to
suit their narrative will take no notice of the above. But for the rest who are open minded and interested in discussion it’s worth understanding this.

Also bear in mind a ‘betrothal’ is not marriage. Some may confuse the two.

It is very normal for parents in positions of leadership in all cultures throughout the ages to agree their children’s marriages when they are very young. This does not mean they actually get married at this age. This also does not mean they are forced into it - as noted previously a requirement for an Islamic marriage is free consent.

I didn’t know this so thank you for pointing it out.

Who gets to decide what "modestly dressed" looks like?

Aisha never had children. Check your facts, she was not pregnant at 9

Thank you Blueberry for defending Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. She was much older. The arrangement was made @Blueberry111 when Aisha was younger, by her family, as her father wanted her to marry s good man when older. And who better than RasoolAllah. Our beloved prophet Muhammad. When she was 19, she married him. She was not a small child qt six being whisked away and forced. No, and Aisha wrote so many of the great hadiths, the true authentic ones we go by today. Alhamdullilah

Hi OP, I've read this whole thread, really interesting. Sorry about the gotcha questions and hostility you've had. I'm white British (as I'm guessing you are) and was brought up in Christianity (but now more agnostic), have also spent time living in the Middle East in adulthood. I'm really interested in how, after living there, you were able to isolate Islam itself from some of the more negative social and cultural norms that are prevalent in the ME and are often conflated with the religion and the scripture. I know the distinction exists but having lived there I would have found (and still would find) it difficult to do that. My question is: do you yourself wear a hijab? And if so, was it something you adopted at the time of conversion or later on? Thank you!

you know living in the ME and the US and UK, I actually found it all the same… the meta discourse if you will, you know, a woman is sexually harassed (or worse) and it’s all well what was she wearing, did she lead him on, was she alone etc etc (granted the nuance is different but the overarching points are the same). So funnily enough that’s what actually ‘helped me’ separate it.

yes I do. I’d say I actually played about with it before, seeing if I could commit to wearing it, what it felt like etc, but I didn’t wear it consistently, only at the mosque or with Muslim friends or in Muslim areas. It’s still quite hard in person because I look so visibly ‘un Muslim’ that people Muslims included always stare at me or ask me really personal or uncomfortable questions, which despite this Ama, I absolutely hate irl