Danya converted to Islam in Ramadan. Her journey to Islam is an interesting one and began when she was 18 and when she married a man, whom she met at work in Manila in the Philippines. The man later turned out to be an alcoholic.
Her marriage was unhappy. Convinced that she was not meant to be happy, she started looking for happiness in other things.
Born a Catholic, she began studying the Bible and became a Born Again Christian. While Catholics are obliged to practice Christianity from what priests understand from the Bible, Born Again Christians have the freedom to study the Bible themselves and act as they see fit.
During that time, Danya’s sister married a Muslim man and embraced Islam. When Danya told her sister she had become a Born Again Christian, her sister replied sarcastically, “You still worship a creature; it’s useless!” It was then that Danya began praying to “God Almighty” to guide her to the straight path.
Her husband’s attitude grew worse and he started to mock her prayers. “Depression, agony and deep sadness overwhelmed my life. Nothing made me happy except praying,” she said.
Once the couple fought. Her husband left home and disappeared for two weeks. Feeling lonely, Danya applied for a job abroad to escape her problems.
She was hesitant as she had no qualifications and could not work as a housekeeper because she did not have any training. It was then that she visited a hairdresser’s shop that was frequented by actresses. She asked the manager to let her work for free and be trained.
After gaining some training, Danya applied for a job as a beautician in Saudi Arabia and underwent a test. She was the only one who passed.
As she was preparing to leave for the Kingdom, her husband returned home and saw her happy.
“He became jealous and mad at me. He said he would kill me. He took a knife and threatened me,” she said.
While preparing her paperwork to come to the Kingdom, Danya had also undergone a medical test that showed she had breast cancer and had only six months to live.
“I was happy to know my destination and was praying that God would guide me to the straight path. My employer liked my work and did not care about my health condition. In the end I came to Saudi Arabia in 1987,” she said.
When she came here, she was faced with a different culture. There were no churches and no bibles. One of her Christian colleagues gave her a small bible. “My sister’s words were haunting me. I asked myself if I was worshipping a creature or the Creator,” said Danya.
She used to read the Bible and asked God to help her understand it. She read that the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) fasted and so she fasted as Christians do, abstaining from solid food. She wanted to pray as much she could before she died.
One day her employer asked her, “Why don’t you become a Muslim?” Danya asked whether Muslims believe in Jesus. Her employer, not being able to understand English properly, said “No.”
Danya’s Muslim Indonesian colleague also advised her to accept Islam. She refused and said that she would not change her religion and beliefs for anyone.
Her brother in law also worked in Jeddah and so Danya asked him about Islam. He was kind and sent her a letter that explained details about what Muslims think of Jesus and the five prayers.
She prayed five daily prayers before accepting Islam. A Christian colleague asked her to join an Islamic center. She attended four sessions on the recitation of the Holy Qur’an and comparative religion.
Sometime later she became convinced that Islam was the truth and so went to Makkah. “I went to Makkah and saw the true meaning of equity, mercy and tranquility,” she said.
She told her employer that she wanted to embrace Islam. They took her to a court in Ramadan and there she formally took the Shahada (a declaration that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger). Danya has lived longer than the six months she initially thought she would live and is currently undergoing treatment for her illness.
Maria is another convert. Born in an Italian Catholic family, Maria initially wanted to become a Catholic nun. While studying at a theology college in Italy, she found contradictions in the new and old testaments. After studying for three years she quit and decided to travel to a country where she could find peace of mind.
She did not have enough money to travel and so applied for a job as a maid and went to Jordan to work for a Muslim family, who did not tell her anything about Islam. “I felt guilty and traitorous to the church. I was of the conviction that God shows the true path to those who seek to correct themselves and prayed for that,” she said.
Once I was cleaning the house, I found a book about monotheism and started reading it. “At that moment I realized that Allah Almighty has answered my prayer so quickly. Before that I didn’t know that monotheism was the basic creed of Islam. Nobody told me. So I kept reading and studying Islam,” she said.
She used to listen to the Qur’an although she did not understand it. She said she loved the sound of the words. After a few days, Maria told her employer that she wanted to convert to Islam. She said the Shahada and after finishing her contract applied for work in the Kingdom so she could visit the two holy mosques.
“I would like to advise every non-Muslim person to search for the truth themselves. They don’t need others to help them make up their minds, they can do this themselves through reading and learning,” she said.
Dania, a homecare assistant helping diabetic people, was born in a religious Catholic family in the Philippines. However, her family used to pray five times a day.
“My mother used to tell me that Jesus (peace be upon him) was only a prophet. He is neither God nor His son,” she said.
When she started working in Saudi Arabia in 1986, she found some correlation between her religious teachings and Islam. Her employers gave her books about Islam.
“I loved hearing the Azan, and I loved the Muslim way of praying. But still I needed time to know more,” she said.
In 1993 she returned to the Philippines as a non-Muslim. However, she had fallen in love with Islam.
One day, on the way to church Dania was involved in a motorbike accident and remained in hospital for three months.
After leaving hospital she was unable to walk for three months and had to do so with crutches. Her father was sick and her mother jobless.
She prayed that she would be cured fast so that she could support her family. Once she asked her Muslim neighbor to take her to the mosque, as she was planning to become a Muslim.
Just a few meters before she reached the mosque, Dania asked her neighbor to stop the car. She got out using her canes and prostrated. “My friend was very happy and said Allahu Akbar (God is Great),” she said.
Dania added that she came out of the mosque so elated that she was even able to walk without the crutches.
She came back to Saudi Arabia 1997 to work for a Saudi couple. The man was a scholar and would often give her books on Islam. In 2003, the sponsors went to Madinah and were hesitant to take her with them because she is non-Muslim. However, they finally took Dania with them. On reaching Madinah she told her sponsor’s wife that she wanted to become Muslim.
It was on a Friday when she said the Shahada and went to pray at the Holy Mosque in Madinah. On holiday to the Philippines, Dania was happy to tell her family and friends about her conversion.
Her mother was willing to listen and was actually thinking about Islam herself. Her friends were eager to find the true religion and she hopes that one day they will also become Muslim.
