Why Are Women Turning to Islam

[Islam is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth]

Why Are Women Turning to Islam

At a time when Islam is faced with hostile media coverage particularly
where the status of women in Islam is concerned, it may be quite
surprising to learn that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the
world, and even more ironic to discover that the majority of converts
to Islam are WOMEN .

The status of women in society is neither a new issue, nor is it a
fully settled one. And where Islam is mentioned, for many the term
'Muslim Women' prompts images of exhausted mothers chained to the
stove, 'victims' suppressed in a life of indoctrination, frantic to be
westernized and so on. Others will go to great lengths to explain how
the hijaab is an obstacle, clouding the mind, and comment that female
converts are either brainwashed, stupid or traitors to their sex. I
reject such accusations and pose to them the following question: why
is it that so many women who have been born and brought in the so
called 'civilized' societies of Europe and America are willing to
reject their 'liberty' and 'independence' to embrace a religion that
supposedly oppresses them and is widely assumed to be prejudicial to
them?

As a Christian convert to Islam, I can only present my personal
experience and reasons for rejecting the 'freedom' that women claim to
have in this society in favour of the only Religion that truly
liberates women by giving us a status and position, which is
completely unique when compared with that of our non-Muslim
counterparts. Before coming to Islam, I had strong feminist tendencies
and recognized that where a woman was concerned, a lot of shuffling
around had been going on, yet without being able to pin her on the
social map. The problem was ongoing: new 'women's issues' being raised
without the previous ones being satisfactorily resolved. Like the many
women who shared my background, I would
accuse Islam of being a sexist religion, discriminating, oppressing
and giving men the greater privileges. All of this, coming from a
person who did not even know Islam, one who had been blinded due to
ignorance and had accepted this deliberately distorted definition of
Islam.

However, despite my criticisms of Islam, inwardly, I wasn't satisfied
with my own status as a woman in this society. It seemed to me that
society would define such terms as 'liberty' and 'freedom' and then
these definitions were accepted by women without us even attempting to
question or challenge them. There was clearly a great contradiction
between what women were told in theory and what actually happened in
practice. The more I pondered, the greater emptiness I felt within. I
was slowly beginning to reach a stage where my dissatisfaction with my
status as a women in this society, was really a reflection of my
greater dissatisfaction with society itself. Everything seemed to be
degenerating backwards, despite the claims that the 1990's was going
to be the decade of success and prosperity. Something vital seemed to
be missing from my life and nothing would fill this vacuum.

Being a Christian did not do anything for me, and I began to question
the validity of only remembering God one day a week - Sundays! As with
many other Christians too, I had become disillusioned with the
hypocrisy of the Church and was becoming increasingly unhappy with the
concept of Trinity and the deification of Jesus.

Eventually, I began to look into Islam. At first, I was only
interested in looking at those issues, which specifically dealt with
women. I was surprised. What I read and learned, taught me a lot about
myself as a woman, and also about where the real oppression of a woman
lies: in every other system and way of life outside of Islam. Muslim
women have been given their rights in every aspect of the religion
with clear definitions of their role in society - as had men - with no
injustice against either of them. As Allah says: <<"Whoever does deeds
of righteousness, be they male or female, and have faith, they will
enter paradise and not the least injustice will be done to
them">> [Nisaa 4:124]

So having amended my misconceptions about the true status of women in
Islam, I was now looking further. I wanted to find that thing which
was going to fill the vacuum in my life. My attention was drawn
towards the beliefs and practices of Islam. It was only through
establishing the fundamentals that I would understand where to turn
and what to prioritize. These are often the areas, which receive
little attention or controversy in society, and when studying the
Islamic Creed, it becomes clear why this is the case: such concise,
faultless and wholly comprehensive details cannot be found elsewhere.

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