I’m a convert to Islam AMA

[Candyapplesandhearts]

All in the title really.

feel free to ask. I know this has been done before but irl people always seem fascinated but too afraid to ask yet have LOTS of questions

i’ll answer a few in advance: I’m white british
I’ve been Muslim 12 years. Since my early 20s
i didn’t convert for a man (Christians and Jews wouldn’t need to anyway)

hope this can be a place to ask a question you’ve wanted to ask IRL but maybe felt too shy or was worried someone would take it the wrong way

I read on here today that Muslims refer to it as 'reverting' can you explain why you haven't?

What was it about the religion that... you know, made you feel it's the right one?

Interested to know, quite simply, why? And what your beliefs were before.

Christians and Jews wouldn't need to convert?
Really?.

Do you wear the hijab (or niqab)?

What reactions did you have from Muslims when you began to show interest in Islam?

what was your reason to do this?

And now you've been a Muslim for a while, do you still feel it was the right one? And why?

Muslim men can marry a Christian or a Jew.

Do you absolutely believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, literally?.

Did you ever practice a different faith in the past?

Does that actually ever happen? I've never come across this.

Can I ask whether the woman in this situation has to agree to bring the children up Muslim?

Also, can a Muslim woman marry a Christian man?

Can Muslim women marry a Christian or a Jew?

Do you have children? Are you raising them as Muslims?

Yeah so do, some don’t. Personal preference, plus I think in the common vernacular (outside of the Islamic context) we tend to use convert when someone changes their religion.

why revert- some say its because we are all born In a state of fitrah (god consciousness) but it’s our parents and society that shapes us to be Christian/ Jewish/ Hindu etc. Some say that fitrah means you are born a Muslim, society shapes you otherwise so when you embrace Islam you are reverting back to your original state.

i find it a bit patronising but that’s my personal preference, I’d rather just be called a Muslim as I find the revert label Implies almost a second tier status

Were you religious before you converted, if so which one & why did you switch? And, if you weren’t, why did you become religious?

I have known this to happen a lot. Matthew Syeds father is Muslim and his mother Welsh ( I think). Unfortunately lots of Pakistani men when I was young had wives 'back home' and an English wife in the UK. I think because Christians and Jews are all seen as the children of Abraham its allowed. I don't think it applies to women though.

Personally i do know people who have. It's permissible. Salah socials on Instagram is married to a Muslim man and she's a Christian.

i was raised culturally Christian, and I always believed loosely in god, but it was only at university when I studied it more deeply that I felt certain things resonated with me, and there were lines/ verses that moved me to tears. That never happened to me before.

the verses that moved me to tears were of the Christians and Jews going to heaven
how all creatures will be brought before their lord included animals
and how the Quran and hadith speak about parents who have lost a child or miscarried a baby

even thinking of them now I’m tearing up

Right. Why doesn't it apply to women, do you know?

Yes the children would be Muslim in that scenario

and no, the vast majority of scholars say no a Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man. I’ve heard a minority opinion say that edict is for the ‘dominant’ party in that relationship which can apply to a woman but that’s not a widespread belief

Yes and yes :)

How would you feel if one of your children rejected Islam?

Women yes, a Muslim man can marry a Christian or Jewish woman

the prophet (pbuh) did, he married a Christian called Mariam and a Jewish woman called saffiyah (she became Muslim after a while though)

Would you be able to clarify the gender difference in this situation?