Confessions of a Muslim Convert

As I mentioned in my previous post "My Conversion Story", I only takes a minute to be a convert to Islam but being a good Muslim is a life long journey. Honestly, it's not an easy process. Learning everything about Islam, reciting the prayers, learning the "wudu" and "ghusl", identifying 'halal' and 'haram',  finding a mosque and of course looking for friends who will help you to make the journey towards Islam memorable.

The Big News

My mother and father via Skype

Telling your family members that you converted to Islam is not an easy task. My family is Catholic and my parents are very religious people. I was trying to figure out the best way to tell them. I told my closest friends first and luckily they accepted my decisions wholeheartedly. One of my friends warn me about hate crimes against Muslims. I told her that I live in a mixed community in Brooklyn. Jews, Christians and Muslims live peacefully in my neighborhood so she have nothing to worry about. Another friend of mine asked me about a certain verse in the Quran which I am not familiar with. I told her I am just learning and I explained to her that we are still praying to the same God it's just that there are certain ways how we do it. Then, I got engaged so me and my husband talked to my parents via Skype about our wedding plans. They congratulate us and my parents gave us blessings for our marriage. Then, they were asking us, "So where will you have the ceremony? You know marriage is a sacrament and you should have a blessings in the church." I replied, "Hmm,...I converted to Islam." And they become speechless for a while. I explained the process of the wedding and I can see from the webcam that my parents are teary-eyed but then they still supported us. I am forever grateful for my parents about it. 

My friends Toneth de Leon and Dina Teodoro
wear tradional Bengali dress on my wedding

Learning Materials

When I converted the Imam gave me a learning kit. I have my second Quran, book about the Jesus and Mary mentioned in Quran, DVD about Islam and the prayer book. I also searched on Google about Quran, Islam and the life of a convert. The information are overwhelming. Honestly, there are thousands of site that could mislead someone  about the true meaning of Islam. It is one of the concerns of being a convert in filtering the information that we see on-line. There are different Schools of Thought in Islam and there are also people who are using Islam to promote violence. I hope there is a way that we can classify and validate if the information is valid and true to the essence of Islam.  

Learning the prayers

My husband was teaching me how to pray. All the prayers in Islam are in Arabic except for Du'as which you can say in your native language. At first I was shocked because first I am Filipino my native language is Tagalog and my parents are also speaking Illonggo, a native dialect from their province. Now I am in America I am speaking English, some of my students speaks Spanish so I am learning to speak Spanish. I have Rosetta Stone to help me learn. Then my husband is from Bangladesh his parents were asking me to learn Bangla because they said it is hard for them to learn English. Then, in order to practice my faith I need to learn Arabic. Before I doesn't makes sense to me. God is our Creator, He understand and sees our heart then why do we need to speak Arabic? Now, I see the value of learning Arabic. Quran was in Arabic in order to understand the full meaning of Quran we need to understand the Arabic language. Second, people from all over the world speaks different language. If all the Muslims learn Arabic, it will unite us as community. I enrolled in New Muslim Program and Perfecting the Prayer class at M.E.C.C.A. Muslim Education and Converts Center of America. I met wonderful converts who have their different stories of coming to Islam. I would highly recommend M.E.C.C.A. to all people who would want to learn more about Islam.

My friends at M.E.C.C.A.

Wearing Hijab

My hijab during Eidul Adha 

There are about 2 billion Muslims all over the world. There four schools of thought in Islam and they only agree on the 70% of the principles. I also read that there is no compulsion in religion. Many Muslim women are not wearing hijab. Some women wear burqa, some women wear niqab, some women wear hijab, some women don't cover their hair so totally it up to the person and your faith. Hijab is one of the most controversial issues among Muslims and people of other faith. Other people say that hijab is form of oppression and women were forced to wear hijab. Personally for me you have to belief on the purpose of wearing a hijab. It should come from your heart. Your love for Allah should be your main reason of wearing a hijab. Hijab is more than a piece of cloth. Hijab is modesty in appearance, in the way you speak and the way you behave. When I first wore hijab and used public transportation I experienced disapproving looks from people on the subway. People choose not so sit beside you even the train is crowded. At first it bothers me but then as months went on I just get used to it that wearing a hijab is part of my lifestyle. Honestly, I am not wearing it 100% maybe like 90% of the time. I love watching YouTube videos of  hijab tutorials from women all over the world. One of the YouTube channel that I like is the Hijabi Bengali Sisters

Finding a mosque

Finding a mosque is one of the issues of converts. There's a lot of mosque in New York City but each one of them have some kind of rules. Majority of the mosque were built by different communities and they speak their native languages and translate it English too.  Some of the mosques also don't have place for women. Some of the mosques also are overcrowded during Jummah. I've seen some Muslim brothers who were praying outside of the mosque and they placed their praying mat on the street. I feel bad especially during winter time but Subhaan Allah their faith is enough to keep them warm. Personally, I prefer to go to the mosque in 96th St. It's where I converted and got married so during Eid this is where we go to.

Looking Forward

After 8 months of being convert I memorized 5 Surah and I can pray by myself. But learning doesn't stop there. My goal is to learn to read Arabic and be productive member of my community. Since I converted I learned that there is limited shops that caters to active wear for Muslim women. My husband and I think of an idea on how to solve this issue. We will make a clothing company that would cater not just only for Muslim community but to all women who want modest clothing. And that's how the Farah Fashions NYC was born. 

Farah Fashions NYC Logo by: CAOM

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Photos, images and texts are properties of Cherry Ann Montehermoso. 

Finding Allah in NYC: My Conversion Story

   I was born and raised as a Roman Catholic in Philippines. My parents are very religious people. My mother used to be a President of Parish Pastoral Council and my father is Lay Minister. When I was in high school I joined youth groups in church. I was a member of a church choir. I love singing gospel songs despite being tone deaf (sintunado). I have nothing negative with my Roman Catholic faith before. Being Christian mold me to become a good person. I can say that I have personal relationship with God. 

   During the lowest point of my life I know that God is there. I called it grace under pressure because I realized how strong I was when I struggle in life. When I was studying, I barely had enough money to go to school. I remember my prayer was "God if it is your will that I will finish this degree You will guide me in finding a way to pay my tuition fee". True enough, I was able to finish my Masters Degree in Special Education.

  

 When my mother had brain surgery to remove the brain tumor few weeks before I move to NYC was the most stressful event in my life. I prayed like I never prayed before. Our family is really blessed to find superb neurosurgeon in PGH. If I could nominate someone to be our hero it would be Dr. Gap Legazpi. Even before the operation he made us feel that brain surgery is just like a small operation. Now my mother is doing good even with other health concerns.  

  

 The process of getting a job in NYC was like leap of faith. You need to spend a huge amount of money for something that you do not have any assurance.  I prayed that if God would give me this teaching job in NYC I promise that I will help my family and feed poor kids in Philippines.Then God answered my prayers that why I am here. Even I convert to Islam I am still keeping that promise until now. 

   Like other people I don't know anything good about Islam before. In Philippines, Muslims are minority group. Oftentimes, media presented Muslim with terrorist, wife beater, polygamy relationship. My husband introduced me to Islam. At first I was hesitant. In my mind I was thinking I am not going to be a Muslim. Then he was trying to explain to me what Islam is. I also did my little research=google about Islam still I was not convinced. We watched videos of Dr. Zakir Naik on youtube and makes me realize that it makes sense. Then my husband bought me my first Quran. He told me that my hands should be clean if I want to read it. I started reading it. Slowy, most of the negative things that I heard about Islam was like negative publicity in show business terms. I watched movies about the life of Muslim and pilgrimage to Mecca on Netflix. I feel like in need to learn more. So, I was looking for a place where non-Muslim can ask question about Islam.

   I found out about the Islamic Cultural Center of New York at 96th St in Manhattan. I asked my husband to visit the place after our 5k run at Central Park. I was wearing my running gear going to the mosque. I asked the secretary if they have a program for non-Muslim. She asked me to wait for the Imam who was at the meeting. I waited for about 10 minutes. Then, this odd looking guy came and talk to me. He told me about the basic principles of Islam. He asked me if I believe that there is one God, about Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him and I said yes. Then after about 5 minutes of conversation he asked me. "So, are you ready to take your Shahada? How do you want to say it in English or in Arabic?" And I just got emotional. He asked me to call my husband to be a witness. The secretary gave me my first abaya and hijab. When I was saying my Shahada tears just flow in my eyes. I couldn't believe that saying "La Ilaha Ilala, Mohamadur Rasululah" (I believe in Allah as the only God and the Prophet Mohammed is the Messenger of God) would change my life. The sisters hugged me and the Imam gave me study materials. 

   Now I am attending a New Muslim Program at M.E.C.C.A. (Muslim Education and Converts Center of America) . Converting to Islam is only 1 minute but being a good Muslim is life long journey to get closer to Allah. I am thankful for my family and friends who accepted and supported my decision.