Thursday, January 9, 2014

Why Did I Revert?

Asslam Alaikum, So in this post ill discuss about how i came to know Islam and a little about my life before i had Islam but to get started lets look at a verse from the Qur'an.


Surat Al-Jinn (The Jinn)72:14

 And among us are Muslims [in submission to Allah ], and among us are the unjust. And whoever has become Muslim - those have sought out the right course.

  

So Lets begin shall we? why did i Revert to Islam? why would a young White American boy be lead to a religion widely hated by many? how has Islam changed my life? And what are the events that lead up to my reverting?

    So I guess the first thing to do is discuss a Little bit About myself. Hello all my birth name is Nicholas Michael Teausant but upon reverting changed my name to Asad Abdur Al-Raheem. You may Call me Nick,Ased, Or Papa Smurf I'll leave it up to you to decide. I am 20 years old and a Single Parent to a Beautiful 7 month(almost 8) baby girl Named Brooklyn and like me she also has an Arabic name which is A'isha. I was born but not raised in a small town called Lodi,California where i currently after many years live again. I was 5.5years old when my Parents got divorced,after about 1 year and then 4 more years after that my dad met a woman who would soon become my Step-mom. see my Dad met my step mom at work in Stockton,California where he was a delivery driver and she tested the blood. they got on great and blah blah blah one thing led to another and boom they got married. Now my step- mom was born and raised Catholic as was my father but i hadn't ever been to church before. When my father started dating this woman we started going to church and it was really the first time i ever heard of god, my father is a thinker he has no problem questioning things to find what he truly believes which is why when we moved to Des Monies, Iowa in 2005 i wasn't surprised when we changed churches.  but then again i was only in 5th grade so i didn't really care. we went to a Mormon church and got baptized and raised in the church for 3 months before my dad changed his mind and we started church "Hopping" as i call it because we moved churches so much. So it's safe to say it was okay to explore other religions, i mean the good thing about having moved almost every year of my life is i have come into contact with a lot of people from a lot of different faiths and beliefs. However it wasn't until i moved to Seattle, Washington did i meet my first dedicated Muslim...oh I've met them before in the past but the ones we have met as a family drank beer and ate pork so they were not..well lets leave it at they need to pray and really think about the Sunnah. So as you imagine this gave me a bit of a clouded Judgment on what Muslims were. And the same goes for my family Muslims were seen as trash,dirt a religion full of fakes and liars. but with the help of a Muslim friend i was able to slowly change the opinions of my family and myself he was/ still is one of the most dedicated Muslims that i know. 

     So the following year after Seattle i moved to Great Falls,Montana in 2011 where i took the Shahaddah for numerous reasons one of which was because i read a book called "Misquoting Jesus" written by Bart D. Ehrman. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why is a book by Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The book introduces lay readers to the field of textual criticism of the Bible. Ehrman discusses a number of textual variants that resulted from intentional or accidental manuscript changes during the scriptorium era.this book was such an Eye opener and i highly suggest you read it, if your christian and reading this be warned the contents of the book will shake your faith and everything you thought you knew. Another main Reason why i Reverted to Islam is because the Qur'an has NOT been changed the entire 1,400 years its been around and has stayed in its actual Arabic language unlike the bible which was written in Hebrew and Multiple other languages over hundreds of years. Here is yet Another thing i read the book "A Brief Illustrated guide to Understanding Islam" this book talks about all the scientific proofs that we didn't even know about until the last 60 years with modern science things that the bible could never even explain, how do you explain that? 

   So back to the Original Question why did i revert? 

Well with the help of a Turkish exchange student i had learned all about these proofs and well it helped that she was quite Attractive,lol. but no i saw how the Muslims WANTED to be in the Mosque they WANTED to obey the fast, how the men and woman are taught to respect each other and how we have to realise that Allah has the power over our lives and everything has been written out for us already. Islam has Brought me Peace,Happiness and closer knowing that i don't need to fear anything because someone is watching over me and because "For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease." Surah 94:5.

So in conclusion i became Muslim because i felt the impact on my life and my family even though most have persecuted me for my choices they all tell me each day they can see the change within me. 

 

 

 

5 comments:

  1. I've read your post and it was a great and good post to be read nick :) so , if you don't mind to tell me , how did you learn arabic ? did you learn that from book ? or from your friends ? I mean there are 5 main prayers in islam and the duas are using arabic . I'm sure that Allah understands all languages . I just wanna know how you learned that all . I'll save more questions and gonna ask them to you after you reply my comment :)
    Thanks "papa smurf" . Lol

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    1. i Actually learned Arabic in the Masjid and from several sheikhs who are now good friends of mine they were really paitent and i am blessed to have them, i love speaking arabic!

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    2. Then, shouldn't you stand for Islam and tell her about Islam? You see, having a friendly argument about this is one of the way for dakwah. I have known a person who is a daughter of a Father. She dislikes Islam, we did a friendly argument and I told her how we, Muslims are asked to protect others, someone like her... And now that I know, she turns to be my very best friend, and dated a Muslim. Even her father, aren't going to be agree, but for now he is just okay with it.
      These people has misinterpret Islam and the teaching. At least the best thing is you will need to explain to them. Without they feel any hatred towards you. Just explain with a low and positive manner. Don't sound like you are going to beat them up or something, hehe. =)

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  2. Hey Nick...just a point on something you mention. In the book, Misquoting Jesus, the author (at the end) says that he believes there is no god after all he's experienced. He had a lot to say about Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and all other religions being not real. How do you rectify using that as a source but converting to a newer religion rather than an older one or no religion at all? I really am curious, because becoming agnostic or atheist is the direction of that book that you cite.

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