Embracing faith
JMD Morgan
Embracing faith
Lisa Kaaki | Arab News
Many Western converts to Islam will sympathize with Lucy
Bushill-Matthews� engaging story about her conversion to Islam. When she
mentions how her parents were the most affected, I could clearly see
myself in the same position albeit some 33 years ago. Her problems with
praying without being disturbed by family members echoed what I went
through. I simply locked myself in and had to put up with endless
knocking on my bedroom door!
Lucy�s infectious sense of humor contributes to making �Welcome to
Islam,� an entertaining read. Soon after her parents learned that she
had embraced Islam, she found letters of condolence addressed to her
them: � �How terrible for you� wrote one lady whom I knew well: She used
to baby sit me when I was a child. I thought somebody might have died
until I continued reading. Nobody had died. She was writing about me.�
Lucy also observes that her parents did not challenge her Muslim beliefs
but they had problems with her no longer drinking alcohol, refraining
from pork and wearing the scarf (hijab). She is so right; most converts�
parents rarely discuss theological differences but they bitterly resent
the most visible signs of Islam which clash with their traditional
lifestyle.
The idea for this book came while Lucy was living with her husband and
three children in South Africa. In an interview with Remona Aly
published by Emel, Lucy acknowledged that she not only had the time but
she also found it easier living in a different country. That gave her
the mental space and physical space to write about her experience: �I
didn�t just want to write a book about conversion; it is more about what
happens after that. I wanted it to be much more about the reality of
living everyday life as a Muslim convert. For me the book is a plea for
both tolerance and respect for our differences.�
In the introduction, we are told that in a YouGov survey conducted a few
years ago, 60 percent of those questioned said that they did not know
very much about Britain�s Muslim community and a further 10 percent said
they knew nothing. This lack of knowledge becomes particularly obvious
when Lucy covers her hair. Some people think she is a nun while others
feel sorry that she has brain cancer. Furthermore, her daughter Safiya,
despite a request not to feed her pork at lunch, was given pork. Members
of the school staff thought that with her white skin, she could not be a
Muslim. Lucy is also surprised one day to hear her six year old son
asking her if he was born a Christian because one of his friends assumed
that with his blond hair he must have been first a Christian and a
Muslim later.
Identity is an issue that Lucy takes seriously; she believes that
children should be given the necessary tools to deal with it: �My
daughter doesn�t like to be different so I�m trying to surround her with
a mixture of people, children of converts like her, Muslims from other
backgrounds, and plenty of non-Muslims. I�m just trying to open her eyes
to the fact that we are all different in our own way. The challenge is
for us to be able to bring children up as Muslim so they can function
anywhere in the world.�
The continuous flow of Western converts to Islam not only highlights the
importance of the concept of �Ummah� but it also brings to the forefront
the issues that Muslims of all backgrounds face in Western countries.
Dr. Jeffrey Lang, an American convert to Islam, warns of two divergent
trends dividing Muslim scholars and thinkers: �Liberal interpretation
that rationalizes established Western cultural practices on religious
grounds, and the formulation of �ideal� Islamic solutions that are
far-removed from the daily realities of the Muslim masses... There is a
danger of taking these trends too far, and this must be guarded against
by all Muslims. This is why we must discuss sensitive issues openly now,
especially during this rooting stage of Islam in the West.�
Many parents of Western converts, despite their doubts and ignorance of
Islam, rejoice in the fact that they have a better relationship with
their child. Islam, indeed, pays great attention to one�s obligations
toward the family and that includes grandparents, aunts, uncles and
cousins. Lucy recounts in her book how she resolved the problems of
celebrating Christmas, wearing the hijab and fasting without ever
severing her ties with her family. Her dedicated love of her parents
reached a climax the day her book was launched in their presence. As she
told the crowd how special it was for her to have her parents, she
completely broke down: �Afterwards my father said how proud he was and
explained that we are on paths that are different but parallel. I really
loved and appreciated what he said.�
�Welcome to Islam� will certainly appeal to all Western women who have
converted to Islam and to those who are considering becoming Muslim. It
certainly shows how Islam�s eternal truths are attracting an increasing
number of believers.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=124383&d=9&m=7&y=2009