Abu Cuyler

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger. Peace and blessings be upon you all. My story of how I reverted back to Islam is quite interesting. I am actually 24 years old now, going on 25. I took my Shahada 8 years ago when I was a Junior/Senior in High School('91) Ma sha'allah.

My parents are both Christians, my Father is a practicing Baptist, and my Mother is a non-practicing Catholic. My Mother wanted my brother and I to be raised so that we can make our own choice when it comes to spirituality. My Father wanted us to be raised Baptist. However, my parents divorced when I was very young(age 3 or so), and we lived with our Mother. I can remember going to church with my Father, but all I remember from it was trying to stay awake. It was boring and uninteresting to me, to the point where I disliked going. The last time I went to church with my father was around age 12. As I grew a little older and gained more knowledge about my people's history in this country and how religion has played a part, I began to not only dislike Christianity, but despise it. With El Hajj Malik Shabazz being a great mentor and role model for me, I began to question why it is that our people are still in the same conditions when we are known for being a very spiritual people. My conclusion was that the religion of Christianity(As being practiced in recent history and present) did not work. Somehow God was not listening to Christians. I also began to associate Christianity as being a slaves religion. Back in 1990 I stopped eating pork because I felt a force coming towards me, and I also knew it was not fit for anyone to eat. I didn't know for sure what was happening but during the next year after I stopped eating swine, I began to see signs of Islam. Being a rap video fan, various rap videos by people in the Nation of Islam started appearing. I saw them as signs. Back then I did not know the difference between the Nation of Islam and Islam. They were all the same to me. Also, my cousin had become Muslim, and she had given me several pamphlets on the life of the Prophet(S.A.W.), and Islam Alhamdullilah. She wore hijab and basically was my resource for any questions, concerns, or events going on. She was the only Muslim I knew or had ever been in contact with (outside of Farrakhan video tapes), and provided a great example of a Muslim through her actions.

One of my other concerns with Christianity was why I had to pray through a Middle-Man? Why did I have to pray to a man? I believe in God Almighty. I also didn't know how to pray to God. Islam provided answers to all of my questions on how to be a worthy servant of God. Islam taught me how to live, and how to pray. My first visit to the Masjid was very powerful. Islam gave me a since of community and peace immediately although I hadn't accepted it yet. It was more realistic to me to pray to God everyday, rather than just thinking about God on Sunday. A way of life, as opposed to just a religion. Those brothers and sisters treated me like family. I took my Shahada on my second visit.


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