Remembering My Shahadah Pt.2(My Story)

[Baluug]

It's been a couple of years since I posted my story on how I converted to Islam, and due to a request from a good friend, I will re-post it and for the nomads who joined after I told my story, they can hopefully gain some inspiration from it and learn a little about who I am.

 

For those who don't know or are wondering why I have the nickname Cadaan, that's because I actually am caucasian.

 

I grew up in southern Alberta, a place known mostly for its cattle, so it's not much of a shock that I ended up working in a beef factory in 1997. The place where I used to work is the largest abbatoir(fancy word for slaughterhouse) in Canada. It employs around 2500 people all dedicated to ending the lives of cows and bulls. A large percentage of the employees are Muslim, coming from places such as Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Algeria and other north African countries, and of course Somalia. To this day there are quite a few Somalis living and working in Brooks, Alberta, where this place is located.

 

On one winter night, I ended up meeting a Somali woman(let's call her "Idil" for the purposes of this thread) after her shift had ended. She was talking on the phone trying to get a ride home from work. I walked past and sat down in the cafeteria with a co-worker, and she sat down at the same table as us because she knew my friend. We started talking, and she explained that she was a Muslim, while I explained that I didn't follow any religion. I was very interested in her, and kept trying to see her, but she explained that she would have nothing to do with me unless I was a Muslim as well, otherwise we would just remain friends. Honestly, I was more interested in Idil than I was in learning about Islam, but I thought I'd give it a shot and learn about Islam. I thought, why not? Maybe there would be the chance that I would actually accept it, although at the time I would have thought the chances of me choosing any religion would be slim, much less "the religion where you have to pray 5 times a day and speak in some foreign language".

 

So I ended up on the MSA website of some university in the US after I received the link for it in a Yahoo Islam chatroom, and sent an e-mail asking for some links to sites that would teach Islam to non-Muslims like myself. One of the links they gave me was a link to a website called islam-guide.comSo I checked it out while I was using my parents' computer one night. They have a section called The Scientific Miracles in the Holy Qur'an which they discussed certain verses in the Qur'an relating to things such as the mountains, clouds, sea, and the cerebrum. They explained that these verses and the topics they dealt with were scientifically proven in the last 100-150 years, and that no one in the 7th century, much less an illiterate camel driver in the desert, could know these things, therefore how could he have spoken these verses and have been so accurate without being given this knowledge from God Himself?

 

After I was finished reading that section, my eyes were wide open, because not only did it make sense to me, I was also beginning to think "Wow, maybe this actually is the truth!" So I began to learn more about this illiterate camel driver, known to Muslims as the last prophet of God Almighty, Muhammad. I was shocked to learn that this man was the ruler of all of Arabia, but was so humble that he died without even having any money, although he was previously well-off and belonged to the ruling tribe of the land, the Quraish. He was tortured and beaten by other people for the message that he spread, and he was offered money and power if he would only stop spreading that message, but he never gave up, and always preached the message that there was only one God, and that his name is Allah. My mom saw all the websites I was looking at, and called me at my place because she was worried I was getting in with extremist elements and that I might be joining Al-Qaida(sounds funny now, but this wasn't long after Sept.11th and she didn't know any more about Islam than I did, so I guess her worries were justified) but I explained to her what I knew about Islam, that it actually wasn't a violent religion, in fact it is very peaceful and she calmed down and asked "It's about that girl at work, isn't it?" but I explained to her that I actually believed it and that I was going to accept it. She and my dad were supportive about my intentions, they only wanted to remind me that I am Canadian, and not to forget my roots.

 

It seemed like a no-brainer after that to accept Islam, and that's exactly what I did. I went and told Idil, and she was overjoyed, much more than I was. As there were no mosques nearby, we had to drive to Calgary, 2 hours away, in order to do my shahadah, but after some trouble from the imam(who apparently thought I was only becoming "Muslim" so I could get married) I pronounced my shahadah on May 18, 2002. Idil and I were married the same day.

[Johnny B]

^Very moving indeed!

[Baluug]

It's been close to 6 years since then, and I honestly can't even remember what it was like being a kafir. All I know is that today I am a proud Muslim, and whatever happened in the past has been forgiven by Allah SWT(another thing that definitely convinced me was the fact that all my previous sins were washed away the minute I converted).

 

But the initial stages of being Muslim weren't easy. I still had misconceptions, not really about the diin itself, but how I was supposed to live. I figured that I would have to be Arab automatically, meaning I would have to dress like one, talk like one, and basically live like one. Obviously those fears were unfounded and my wife explained to me that Somalis were just as Muslim as Arabs were, and they had almost nothing in common, other than their names, and some small things. I think I was worried about losing my Canadian identity and "forgetting my roots" like my parents had said, but that obviously never happened.

 

I was also getting a hard time from my co-workers and my old friends, who called me various names such as "******", "*****", and "p****-whipped", as if I had converted just to get married. I guess it was easy to get away from my friends' taunting, I just stopped seeing them LOL, but I still had to see my co-workers every day, but they calmed down on bothering me after time had passed and they started to realize that I wasn't "acting Muslim for my wife" and that I actually believed it.

 

The story continues later on insha Allah......

[N.O.R.F]

Mashallah. Every returner to Islam has his/her initial jolt. Whatever that jolt may be, one should always be greatful and what better way than marriage and beautiful kids (those smiles on your facebook page ).

 

I still had misconceptions, not really about the diin itself, but how I was supposed to live. I figured that I would have to be Arab automatically, meaning I would have to dress like one, talk like one, and basically live like one.

 

Keep it coming.

[peasant]

Thanks bro Cadaan sharing with us your lovely story.

[chubacka]

thxs for an interesting read....dnt keep us waiting for part 2.

[Lois Lane]

What a beatiful story Cadaan. And like Chubacka said dont keep us waiting for part 2.

[Aaliyyah]

Masha allah Cadaan am so proud of you brother. Thanks for sharing your story with us, it is very inspiring.

 

Each one of us has the responsibility of sharing Islam, it is gift that Allah swt gave it to us to share w/ others.

 

 

May Allah swt guide us and everyone out there to the right path.

[Kool_Kat]

^Aamiin...

 

 

Cadaan, mansha'allah...I am so very proud of you walahi...Thnx to 'Idil' we now have a muslim cadaan brother...

 

How sweet and romantic...Gosh...Bless your heart...

[Jacaylbaro]

sweet and romantic ??? ,,,,,,, ehem ehem ,,,

 

 

Cadaan, keep it up bro.

[Ms DD]

Pls do continue our adopted son ,. I never get tired of hearing these stories.

[Ismahaan]

assalamou alaikum brother Cadan!

 

A beautiful story Masha ’Alla, it’s always a great joy for me to hear someone become my brother and sister in Islam. Thanks for sharing your beautiful story with us. I hope you find peace, contentment and happiness in your decision. May Allah continue to guide you and strengthen your faith ameen.

[Baluug]

Living in a small town in Alberta, there weren't many people around who could teach me more about the religion and since I didn't have a computer at our place, I couldn't check the internet whenever I wanted to. That's when my wife found an Ethiopian Muslim lady at work, whose husband was black Canadian, also a convert to Islam, who lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He got into contact with me and told me he was going to send me some books. When I got them in the mail, it was only then that I realized just how much stuff he brought me, masha Allah!! Apparently he knew the owner of an Islamic bookstore in Halifax and they both sent me a ton of awesome stuff.

 

There were books upon books, from the fiqh of marriage, to the descriptions of jannah and jahannam, Sahih Bukhari, books about the differences between christianity and Islam, biographies of the prophet SCW and his companions RA, and co-incidentally, a book which was really the aforementioned islam-guide.com in book form. It was the exact same as the website(I tried showing it to my dad, but he would have none of it. I guess he's happy for me becoming Muslim, but as he put it, he's a "devout Catholic". Funny that I've never seen him in church in my whole life. Oh well.....)He even sent me a prayer mat, kufi, tasbix, and perfume(cattar). The only thing he didn't send me was a Qur'an, because I already had one. I got to meet the brother after we moved to Calgary and he stayed with us for a weekend, he was a really awesome guy, he told us he was going to get a 2nd wife and move to Ghana, and his first wife approved of it, so I think that's what he did.

 

It was probably a month or so later and I had read quite a few of the books from end to end, especially a book which really interested me called "The Spectacle of Death", which went through the descriptions of heaven and hell, the barzakh(trials of the grave), hadith, and went into detail about the Signs of the Hour which the prophet SCW mentioned in hadith. That was probably my favourite book out of the bunch. I'm not sure why, but the subject matter intrigued me and of course it was always good to get some cilm.

 

A few months passed and Brooks was getting a little expensive, so we moved in with my parents in Suffield, Alberta, my hometown, population 200, full of old white people who like to stare at you as you walk down the street. Not the best place for a Somali immigrant to live, but I was trying to save some money and pay some bills. "Idil" never liked it from the beginning, and 5 months later, she gave me an ultimatum...."I'm moving to Calgary, and I don't care whether you come with me or not". That's basically the story of how I ended up in Calgary. It's not like I wanted to live in that small town anyways, but I was just trying to put some money aside. So for about a month, I was spending my days off in Calgary with my wife and daughter(who was born by that time), and looking for a job while I would spend my working days at my parents' house. Then I found a job at the potato chips factory, and I've been there ever since. Not the best job, but I don't really do much work and it pays well.

[Baluug]

P.S. Part 3 will be short and sweet and coming soon insha Allah.....

[The Zack]

Masha'allah This is awesome story, it proves the verse of "Man yahdiLLAHU fala Mudilla LAH!"