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Why are Women Turning to Islam?

by Hanifah Ashawe
AT A TIME WHEN ISLAM IS FACED WITH HOSTILE MEDIA
COVERAGE PARTICULARLY WHERE THE STATUS OF MEN 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 IS THAT THE STATISTICS SHOW 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
Woman' 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 hijab 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 up in the so-called
"civilised" 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 favor 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 the 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 woman'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 this
coming from a person who didn't 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 the terms such 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 are told in theory and what actually happens in
practice.
The more I pondered, the greater emptiness I fell within. I was slowly
beginning to reach a stage where my dissatisfaction with my status as a
woman in this society, was really a reflection of my greater
dissatisfaction with society itself. Everything seemed to be degenerating
backwards, despite all the claims that the 1990's was going to be a
decade of success and prosperity. Something vital seemed to be missing
from my life and nothing would fill this vacuum. Being a Christian didn't
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 by the hypocrisy of the
Church and was becoming increasingly unhappy with the concept of the
Trinity and the deification of Jesus. Eventually, I began to look in Islam.
At first I was only interested in looking into 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 the real
oppression of women lies: in every other system and way of life outside
Islam. Muslim women have been given their rights in every aspect with
clear definitions of their role in society - as had men - with no injustices
against either of them. As Allah says: "Whoever does deeds of
righteousness, by they male or female, and have faith, they will
enter Paradise and not the least injustice will be done to them." [anNisa' (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 areas which receive little attention or
controversy in society, and when studying Islamic creed, it becomes clear
why this is the case: such concise, faultless and widely comprehensive
details cannot be found elsewhere.
The fundamental belief of Islam is Tawhid which is a simple message 'la
ilaha illallah'. It is recognized that Allah alone is to be worshiped and
then to direct all worship towards Him - the root message which strikes
at all false worship and it is the place where any person who seriously
wants to learn about Islam should start.
By this time I had begun to meet practicing Muslim women and how I felt
so secure and welcome in their company! There was a sense of
tranquility and humility about them and I wanted to share in that. These
sisters, I regarded not only as friends, but advisers, and supporters too,

and the beauty of their companionship was that every person was
attracted due to the same reason: to help each other in worshiping Allah.
This is what united their hearts together. Allah says: "And He has
united their [i.e. the believers] hearts. If you had spent all that is in
the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allh has
united them. Certainly He is All-Mighty, All-Wise." [al-Anfal (8):63]
Alhamdulillah, I accepted Islam willingly.
Through my reading, researching and attending lectures, I have come to
know my Rabb (Lord). I have come closer to acquainting myself with
some of His Names (Asma') and Attributes (Sifat) of Beauty and
Perfection. I have found this a great help in understanding the whole
Religion. To know, for example, that among Allah's Names is that He is
the Most Wise (al-Hakim) and the Most Just (al-'Adl), and therefore that
He commands only that which is wise and just, would completely relieve
a person from seeking to find justifications for Allah's Laws, or from
having having doubts about the fairness of Allah's Laws.
Now, alhamdulillah, I can appreciate much more why the true Muslim
scholars emphasize so strong for Muslims to learn about Allah His Asma' and Sifat - before trying to reason with Allah's Laws.
Unfortunate I would have been, had I taken the stance that "Islam gives
the best deal to women" and made this my reason for embracing Islam
because then my faith would have been without a firm ground and
sooner or later I would have come across some laws ordained by Allah
that I couldn't logically / rationally understand or see the wisdom
behind. Had I not studied the foundation of belief, namely Tawhid and
looked at how Allah describes Himself in His Book, perhaps I would still
be in darkness. And all praise and thanks is for Allah who guided me to
the truth - It is as He says: "Wherewith Allah guides all those who
seek His good pleasure, to ways of peace, and He brings them out of
darkness, by His will, into light and guides them to a Straight
Path." [al-Ma'idah (5):16]
The reason why women are turning to Islam must certainly have
something to do with the honor that Islam gives them and the equality
with which it deals with people, not only in terms of gender, but also in
terms of race, nationality, class, etc. However, the overriding reason why
I and so many others like me were attracted to Islam was because Islam
answered the most important question which I had ever asked: "Why am
I here on this earth?" So I crossed the divide and managed to see what
lies on the other side ... alhamdulillah, I chose Islam.

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