JEDDAH, 26 November 2005 — Amid the strident smear campaigns against Islam and Muslims all over the world, more and more people are embracing the religion. Three American women, who converted to Islam recently, want to live in Saudi Arabia in the vicinity of the holy mosques.
The three women, who are now in the Kingdom accompanying their husbands, regularly visit the Call and Guidance Center in Jeddah’s Al-Salama District to learn more about the religion and impart their knowledge and experience to others. According to a report carried by Al-Watan, they prefer to settle down in the Kingdom.
Aysha came to the fold of Islam after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. The kamikaze attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon ignited her interest in Islam.
A Muslim friend, Muhammad, explained the basic tenets of Islam to Aysha, who was born and brought up in a Catholic family in Texas. She then decided to start her journey to discover the truth.
Aysha was the victim of a rare type of cancer and was in hospital praying for speedy recovery. “My friend Muhammad used to visit me in the hospital and I saw him praying turning in the direction of the Holy Kaaba. I have learned that the Kaaba was built by the Prophet Ibrahim and is located in the center of the world,” she said.
Aysha’s quick recovery influenced her decision and she did not take long to pronounce the shahada “La Ilaha Illallah Wa Muhammad Arrasulullah” (There no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger).
Embracing Islam was not an easy task for Aysha. Her family threatened to kill her. At this difficult stage, Muhammad came to her rescue offering to marry her.
Safiya Joseph, an English teacher, said she was an ardent follower of Christianity. She became interested in Islam when a lawyer friend told her that he had embraced the religion 11 years ago. “It was a big surprise. He explained to me the salient features of Islam.”
Being an academic, Safiya started her research on Islam. “The more I read about Islam the greater was my excitement. I later joined an Islamic school attached to a mosque in Maryland. There I learned about the world’s greatest personality, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),” she said.
Hayat Othman said she was seeking the truth even when she was a child. She was not comfortable with the Christian belief in Trinity. “I studied religions such as Buddism and Hinduism. But they did not convince me,” she said.
Live television footage of Muslims praying impressed Hayat. She started practicing the Muslim way of praying. She thought it would take her closer to God. “Later I bought an English translation of the Holy Qur’an and studied it for eight years,” she said. The verse that translated “This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” [5:3] changed her life. “My eyes welled as I felt that this Qur’anic verse was addressing me,” Hayat said.
A few days later she declared her belief in Islam at an Islamic center in the US.
