Wonderful story....

Strong woman, must read

Aminah is a renowned female scholar of Islam she travels around
the

United States to give lectures , her personal story has admired

hundreds of individuals ,she is also President of International Union
of Muslim Women , the organization that has many achievements
under its
belt.

"I am so very glad that I am a Muslim. Islam is my life. Islam is the

beat of my heart. Islam is the blood that courses through my veins.
Islam is my strength. Islam is my life so wonderful and beautiful.
Without Islam I am nothing, and should Allah ever turn His
magnificent
face from me, I could not survive." Aminah

It all started with a computer glitch.

She was a Southern Baptist girl, a radical feminist, and a broadcast

journalist. She was a girl with an unusual caliber, who excelled in
school, received scholarships, ran her own business, and were
competing
with professionals and getting awards – all these while she was
going
to college. Then one day a computer error happened that made her
take
up a mission as a devout Christian. Eventually, however, it resulted
into something opposite and changed her life completely around.

It was 1975 when for the first time computer was used to pre-
register
for a class in her college. She was working on her degree on
Recreation. She pre-registered for a class and then went to
Oklahoma
City to take care of a business. Her return was delayed and she
came
back to college two weeks into the class. Making up the missed work
was
no problem for her, but she was surprised to find that the computer
mistakenly registered her for a Theatre class, a class where
students
would be required to perform in front of others. She was a very
reticent girl and she was horrified to think about performing in front
of others. She could not drop the class for it was too late

Failing the class was also not a choice, for she was receiving a
scholarship that was paying for her tuition and receiving an ‘F’
would
have jeopardized it.

Advised by her husband, she went to her teacher to work out some
other
alternative to performing, such as preparing costumes, etc. Assured
by
the teacher that he would try to help her, she went to the next class
and was shocked by what she saw. The class was full of Arabs and
“camel
jockeys”. That was enough for her. She came back home and
decided not
to go back to the class anymore. It was not possible for her to be in
the middle of Arabs. “There was no way I was going to sit in a room
full of dirty heathens!”

Her husband was calm as usual. He pointed out to her that God has
a
reason for everything and that she should think about more before
quitting. Besides, there was the scholarship that was paying her
tuition. She went behind locked doors for 2 days to think about.
When
she came out, she decided to continue the class. She felt that God
gave
her a task to convert the Arabs into Christianity.

Thus she found herself with a mission to accomplish. Throughout the

class, she would be discussing Christianity with her Arab classmates.
“I proceeded to explain to them how they would burn in the fires of
hell for all eternity, if they did not accept Jesus as their personal
savior. They were very polite, but did not convert. Then, I explained
how Jesus loved them and had died on the cross to save them from
their
sins. All they had to do was accept him into their hearts.” They still
did not convert, and so she decided to do something else: “I decided
to
read their own book to show to them that Islam was a false religion
and
Mohammed was a false Prophet”.

At her request, one student gave her a copy of the Qur’an and
another
book on Islam. With these two books she started on her research,
which
she was to continue for the next one and half years. She read the
Qur’an fully and another fifteen books on Islam. Then she came back
to
the Qur’an and re-read it. During her research, she started taking
notes that she found objectionable and which she would be able to
use
to prove that Islam was a false religion.

Unconsciously, however, she was changing from within which did not
escape the attention of her husband. “I was changing, just in little
ways but enough to bother him. We used to go to the bar every
Friday
and Saturday, or to a party, and I no longer wanted to go. I was
quieter and more distant.” She stopped drinking and eating pork.
Her
husband suspected her of having an affair with another man, for “it
was
only for a man that a woman changes”. Ultimately, she was asked to
leave, and she soon found herself living in a separate apartment

"When I first started to study Islam, I did not expect to find anything
that I needed or wanted in my personal life. Little did I know that
Islam would change my life. No human could have ever convinced
me that
I would finally be at peace and overflowing with love and joy
because
of Islam."

Throughout these times, she continued studying Islam and although

she
was changing subtly from within, she remained a devout Christian.
Then
one day, there was a knock on her door. It was a man in traditional
Muslim robe, who appeared to her as a “man in a long white night
gown
with a red and white checkered table cloth on his head”. His name
was
Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik and he was accompanied by three other men in
similar dress. She was very offended by Muslim men coming to her
in
nightgowns and pajamas. She was further shocked when Abdul-Aziz
told
her that he understood that she waited to be a Muslim. She replied
that
she was a Christian and she did not have any plan to become a
Muslim.
However, she had some questions to ask if they had the time.

At her invitation, they came inside. She now brought up the

questions
and objections that she noted down while she was researching. “I
will
never forget his name”, she said of Abdul-Aziz who proved to be a
very
patient and soft-mannered person. “He was very patient and
discussed
every question with me. He never made me feel silly or that a
question
was stupid.” Abdul-Aziz listened to every question and objection and
explained it within the proper context. “He explained that Allah had
told us to seek knowledge and questions were one of the ways to
accomplish that. When he explained something, it was like watching
a
rose open – petal by petal, until it reached its full glory. When I
told him that I did not agree with something and why, he always
said I
was correct up to a point. Then he would show me how to look
deeper and
from different directions to reach a fuller understanding.”

It would not be long before she would externally submit to what she
had
already been submitting to internally during the last one and half
years. Later in that same day, this Southern Baptist girl would
declare
in front of Abdul-Aziz and his companions: “I bear witness that there
is no god but God and Mohammed is His Messenger.” It was May 21,
1977.

Conversion to Islam, or to any other religion for that matter, is not

always a simple thing to do. Except for a few fortunate ones, a new
Muslim usually face consequences. The convert may face isolation
from
family and friends, if not pressure to go back to the family faith.
Sometimes, a convert may even face sever economic hardship, as in
the
case of those who are asked to leave the house because of
converting to
Islam. Some converts are fortunate to continue to be well respected
by
family and friends, but most of them face minor to severe hardship
especially during the first few years after the conversion.

But the difficulty that Aminah Assilimi had to go through and the
sacrifice that she had to make for the sake of her conviction and
faith
is almost unheard of. There are few who could rely so much on Allah
as
she did, standing firm and meeting the challenges, making
sacrifices,
and yet maintaining a positive posture and influencing people
around
with the beauty of what she found and believed in.
She lost most of her friends, for she was “no fun anymore”. Her
mother
did not accept her becoming a Muslim and hoped that it was a
temporary
zeal and that she would soon grow out of it. Her “mental health
expert”
sister thought that she lost her mind. She attempted to put her in a
mental health institution.

Her father was a calm and wise man. People would come to him for
advice
and he could comfort anyone in distress. But when he heard that his
daughter became a Muslim, he loaded his double-barrel shotgun and
started on his way to kill her. “It is better that she be dead rather
than suffering in the deepest of Hell”, he said.

She was now without friends and without family.

She soon started wearing hijab. The day she put it on, she was
denied
her job. She was now without family, friends, and job. But her
greatest
sacrifice was yet to come.

She and her husband both loved each other very much. But while
she was
studying Islam, her husband misunderstood her for her apparent
changes.
She became quieter and stopped going to the bar. Her changes were
visible to him and he suspected her of having affair with another
man,
for whom she must have been changing. She could not explain to
him what
was happening. “There was no way to make him understand what
was
changing me because I did not know.” Eventually he asked her to
leave
and she started living separately.

After she openly accepted Islam, it went worse. A divorce was now
inevitable. This was a time when Islam was little known, much less
understood for what it is. She had two little children whom she loved
dearly and whose custody should have rightfully be given to her. But
in
a grave violation of justice, she was denied their custody just
because
she became a Muslim. Before giving the formal verdict, the judge
offered her a harsh choice: either renounce Islam and get custody of
the children, or keep Islam and leave the children. She was given 20
minutes to make a decision.

She loved her children very dearly. It is perhaps the worst nightmare
that a mother can have: asked to willfully leave her child - not for
one day, month, or year, but forever. On the other hand, how could
she
keep the Truth away from her children and live as a hypocrite? “It
was
the most painful 20 minutes in my life”, she said in an interview.
Those of us who are mothers and fathers, especially of young
children,
little imagination is needed to feel the pain and torment that she
must
have passed every second in those 20 minutes. What added further
to her
pain was that according to doctors, she could never bear another
child
because of certain complications. “I prayed like I had never done
before … I knew that there was no safer place for my children to be
than in the hands of Allah. If I denied Him, there would be no way in
the future to show my children the wonders of being with Allah.”

She decided to retain Islam. Her two dear children – one little boy
and
one little girl – were taken away from her and given to her ex-
husband.

For a mother, is there a sacrifice greater than this – a sacrifice that

is done for no material reason but only for faith and conviction?
“I left the court knowing that life without my babies would be very
difficult. My heart bled, even though I knew, inside, I had done the
right thing” . She found comfort in the following verse of the Qur'an:

There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No

slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens
and
on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He
permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before
or
after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His
knowledge
except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and
the
earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for
He
is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory). (Quran 2: 255)

Perhaps the air of Colorado was too thin for justice. Or perhaps
there
was a plan in Allah’s greater scheme of affairs. Aminah Assilimi later
fought back and took her case to the media. Although she did not
get
custody of her children again, a change was made in the Colorado
law
that one cannot be denied child custody on the basis of his or her
religion.

Indeed Allah’s love and mercy engulfed her so much that, as if, she
has
been granted the touchstone of Islam. Wherever she goes, people
are
touched by her beautiful words and Islamic manners and become
Muslim.

By accepting Islam, she became a changed person, and a much

better
person. So much so that her family, relatives, and people around her
started appreciating her mannerism and the faith that brought about
such changes in her. Despite her family’s initial reaction, she
remained in touch with them and addressed them with respect and
humility, just as the Qur’an enjoins the Muslims to do. She would
send
cards to her parents on different occasions, but she would always
write
down a verse from the Qur’an or the Hadith without mentioning the
source of such beautiful words of wisdom. It was not long before she
started making a positive influence among her family members.

The first to become Muslim was her grand mother. She was over 100
years
old. Soon after accepting Islam, she died. “The day she pronounced
Shahada, all her misdeeds had been erased, while her good deeds
were
preserved. She died so soon after accepting Islam that I knew her
“book” was bound to be heavy on the good side. It fills me with such
a
joy!”

Next to become Muslim was her father, the one who wanted to kill
her
after she became Muslim. Thus he brought alive the story of Umar
ibn
Khattab. Umar was a companion of the Prophet who persecuted the
early
Muslims before he converted to Islam. When he heard one day that
his
sister became a Muslim, he went out with an open sword to kill her.
But
upon hearing some of the verses from the Qur’an that his sister was
reciting, he recognized the truth and went straight to the Prophet
and
accepted Islam.

Two years after she (Assilmi) accepted Islam, her mother called and
said that she appreciated her faith and hoped that she would keep
it.
Couple of years later, she called again and asked her about what
one
would need to do to become a Muslim. Assilmi replied that one had
to
believe that there is only One God and Muhammad was his
Messenger. “Any
fool knows that. But what do you have to do?”, she asked again. She
replied that if that is what she believed, then she was already a
Muslim! At this, her mother said, “Well … OK. But let’s not tell your
father just yet”.

She was not aware that her husband (Assilmi’s step father) had the
same
conversation with her a few weeks earlier. Thus the two lived
together
as Muslims for years in secret without knowing that the other was
also
a Muslim. Her sister who wanted to put her in mental institution
accepted Islam as well. She must have realized that becoming
Muslim is
indeed the most healthy and sound thing to do.

Her son, upon becoming adult, accepted Islam. When he turned 21,
he called her and said that he wanted to become a Muslim.

Sixteen years after the divorce, her ex-husband also accepted Islam.
He
said that he had been watching her for sixteen years and wanted his
daughter to have the same religion that she had. He came to her
and
apologized for what he had done. He was a very nice gentlemen and
Assilimi had forgiven him long ago.

Perhaps the greatest reward for her was yet to come. Assilmi later
married another person, and despite the doctors’ verdict that she
could
never conceive another child, Allah blessed her with a beautiful boy.
If Allah (swt) makes a gift to someone, who can prevent Him? It was
truly a wonderful blessing from Allah (swt), and so she named him
“Barakah

The sacrifice that Assilmi made for the sake of Allah (swt) was
tremendous. And so Allah (swt) turned in mercy to her and rewarded
her
with enormous blessings. Her family discarded her after she
accepted
Islam, and now by Allah’s mercy, most of them are Muslim. She lost
her
friends because of Islam, and now she is being loved by so many.
“Friends who loved came out of nowhere”, she said. Allah’s
blessings
came upon her so much that wherever she goes people are touched
by the
beauty of Islam and accept the Truth. Both Muslims and non-Muslims
now
come to her for advice and counseling.

She lost her job because of wearing hijab, and now she is the
President
of the International Union of Muslim Women. She delivers lectures
nationwide and is on high demand. It was her organization that
successfully lobbied for the “Eid Stamp” and had it approved by the
United States Postal Service, but it took many years of work. She is
now working on making the Eid Day as a national holiday.

She has tremendous trust on Allah’s love and mercy and she never
looses
faith on Him. She was once diagnosed with cancer some years ago.
Doctors said that it was in an advanced stage and that she would
live
for another year. But her faith in Allah (swt) remained strong. “We
must all die. I was confident that the pain I was experiencing
contained blessings.” As a brilliant example of how much one can
love
Allah, she mentions about a friend of her named Kareem Al-Misawi
who
died of cancer when he was in his 20’s:

"Shortly before he died, he told me that Allah was truly Merciful.

This
man was in unbelievable anguish and was radiating with Allah’s
love. He
said: “Allah intends that I should enter heaven with a clean book.”
His
death experience gave me something to think about. He taught me
of
Allah’s love and mercy."

All praise is due to Allah, she continues to live in good health. She
now thinks that having cancer was the greatest blessing that she
ever
had.