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Towards Etirnity
 Assalamu aleikum brothers and sisters, in today's video, we'll explore the inspiring stories of 10 women who embraced Islam and their journeys.
 Intro
 Can you tell us briefly about your life?
 What impressed you the most about our Prophet
 How did you take your shahada?
 How did your family and the people around you react?
 Did becoming Muslim and wearing hijab (headscarf) restrict your freedom?
 So is it possible to stick to your culture and be a Muslim at the same time?
#WeAsked10FemaleConverts #WhyIslam #FemaleConverts #ConversionStory #IslamicFaith #WomenInIslam #InspiringJourneys #FaithJourney #EmbraceIslam #SisterhoodInFaith #IslamicConversion #SpiritualAwakening #CulturalExploration #WomenOfIslam #FindingFaith #ReligiousReflection #EmpoweredWomen #DiversityInReligion #IslamicVoices

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Transcript
00:00I think I used to get scared if I heard the words,
00:03Allah-u-Akbar.
00:05There were so many stereotypes.
00:07I used to think Muslim women are suppressed.
00:09Why do they have to wear a hijab?
00:11It's not right.
00:12I had lots of issues.
00:15I was that girl that when she went out in the streets,
00:18that wanted people to look,
00:20but also got upset if the wrong person was looking.
00:23I started to read the Quran for one very arrogant reason,
00:28and that was that I wanted to find a contradiction.
00:34Islam liberates women in so many ways.
00:38It puts women up here, actually.
00:40In my head, women were oppressed.
00:42Then I started reading into Islam,
00:44and I realized, no, it's society that's oppressing women.
00:47All I could find was a comprehensive way of life.
00:50All I could find were scientific proofs in the Quran.
00:54All I could find in my research
00:56was the literary miracle of the Quran.
00:59There was no contradiction.
01:02I started to enjoy walking down the street,
01:04and actually just walking down the street,
01:06not putting on some show.
01:08Like, I actually got to enjoy life for the first time
01:10without worrying what people were thinking about me.
01:12And that's what Islam gave to me.
01:16My name is Lauren Booth.
01:18I am a journalist and a writer and an actor.
01:22So I was born in 1967 in Hampstead, North London.
01:25So in 2010, I accepted Islam.
01:29Alhamdulillah, I grew up as a Sikh.
01:32My parents are Indian.
01:34Born and raised in the UK.
01:36I became Muslim at the age of, I think, 24, 25.
01:40I was born and raised in London.
01:43I would actually consider myself to have been an atheist.
01:46I was born and raised in East London.
01:48My mother is Italian.
01:50I remember going to church with my mother.
01:52I would go to church and spiritually and emotionally,
01:55it would be very, very fulfilling.
01:56But I had questions and I couldn't understand logically and rationally
02:02how I could worship another human being.
02:04That didn't sit right with me.
02:05And at a very, very young age.
02:07And so I questioned that and I remember one particular day speaking to the pastor of the church
02:11and saying to him, you know, and asking him this question.
02:14And he said, just have faith.
02:16There was a level of respect for my grandmother that I couldn't ask too many questions.
02:21And when I was growing up, I would ask her, why is it three?
02:26And she would just tell me, you just have to believe.
02:29So it was always like the door was closed.
02:32There was questions that I didn't know the answer to.
02:34And I really struggled with the concept of Jesus being the son of God.
02:38If God's sort of all powerful and almighty, why does the concept of why does Jesus need to
02:45die for our sins?
02:46Why does Jesus, why do we need to pray to Jesus?
02:49That concept to me was bizarre.
02:51I couldn't understand it.
02:53So I can remember asking questions and I can remember being kind of shut down
02:57and kind of told that I shouldn't be asking questions.
03:00I didn't so much get angry, but they kind of like, I was dismissed.
03:05I couldn't understand if he's God, why was he dying?
03:07God doesn't die.
03:08That was always hard to understand.
03:11Why would God do that to his child?
03:13If that's his child, why would he torture?
03:15Why didn't he save him or take him?
03:17I used to think that as a child.
03:19What kind of God did this to his child and let this happen?
03:23How did you first hear about Islam?
03:25Did you have any prejudices?
03:27I did.
03:27Maybe I was slightly Islamophobic.
03:29I thought that, you know, there was a lot going on, Iraq and so on.
03:35I think I used to get scared if I heard the words Allahu Akbar.
03:38It used to scare me.
03:39I used to think that Muslim men are all, you know, very strict, you know, beat their wives.
03:45And there was, there were so many stereotypes.
03:48I used to think Muslim women are suppressed.
03:50Why do they have to wear a hijab?
03:52It's not right.
03:53I had lots of issues.
03:55What impressed you the most about Islam?
03:57Funnily enough, with all the stereotypes that I had of Muslim women,
04:01the first thing that I looked into in Islam was women in Islam.
04:05So I listened to so many talks, read a lot on the internet.
04:09There's a book called The Great Women of Islam by Darul Salam, which is absolutely incredible.
04:13In my head, women were oppressed.
04:16Then I started reading into Islam and I realized, no, it's society that's oppressing women.
04:21And Islam is very advanced.
04:24In fact, it's so advanced that I think we're still struggling to catch up with it now as a society.
04:29And inshallah, it will come back stronger.
04:31Because now with all the issues we're having with gender roles and identity, I think Islam has all the answers to that.
04:38And maybe it's time we caught up because Islam liberates women in so many ways.
04:43It puts women up here, actually.
04:45If society understands that, they will realize, like I did, that subhanAllah Islam gives women so many rights.
04:53Rights that we never had before in this country, in the Muslim countries.
04:58The Prophet Muhammad SAW taught us how to respect women.
05:01You know, that's through giving us, like I said, the dowry, just as an example.
05:07The woman had to give money to the man.
05:09Now the man gives the dowry to the women.
05:12That's like a big thing for the people that used to, you know, get upset when they gave birth to a daughter.
05:17You know, it's so much that they would kill her.
05:19The Prophet Muhammad SAW would say that, you know, if you raise a daughter, if you raise daughters, you know, you're giving Jannah.
05:26You know, you'll be like this with me in Jannah.
05:28And then, you know, like the smallest of things.
05:30If a woman's fighting with you, she's arguing with you, she's shouting at you, stay quiet.
05:34That's what he did.
05:35He stayed quiet.
05:36Umar bin Khatab learned.
05:38He was like, you know, he would like argue back with his women, but he learned.
05:42You know, stay quiet.
05:43It's okay.
05:44Let them be emotional, allowing women to have their emotions.
05:49You know, subhanAllah, which deen teaches you that?
05:52There's so many examples I can give, but I think your recording will take further.
05:56I remember in 2008, as a non-Muslim, I was stranded in Gaza, under siege with those people who are still under siege to this day.
06:04And it was Ramadan.
06:05And I saw that the people were doing kind deeds for each other, even though they were poor.
06:09So I thought one day, let me do a kind deed and take some lamb to a family in Rafa refugee camp.
06:14So I took this food to a Muslim family in a refugee camp.
06:18The mother opened the door, ta fidel, salam alaikum.
06:20So full of light and noor, and she was living in a cell, nothing to eat, nothing to drink.
06:24And I said to her, why are you fasting?
06:26I said, I don't think your God loves you.
06:28I'm sorry to say it.
06:29I don't think he does.
06:30Why does he make you a Garzan, thirsty for 30 days, when on day 31, do you have water?
06:34She's like, no, we don't have water.
06:36I'm like, well, so what then?
06:37On day 30 days, you in Gaza, you're going without food.
06:40Day 31, is your fridge going to be full?
06:41She said, no, it will not be full.
06:43I said, well then, your God doesn't love you.
06:45Give me one good reason why you're fasting.
06:47And she said, in a room of nothing, I fast in Ramadan to remember the poor.
06:54And that, I thought at that moment, if this is Islam, let me be Muslim.
06:59Because if there is a faith where you can believe in God and be grateful when he's given you nothing
07:05that day, if there is a faith where you have one bowl of food and you give it to a stranger, oh my God, wow.
07:13Allah placed someone on my path.
07:15It was a classmate at secondary school now.
07:19And she was a practicing Muslim.
07:21And I started to look into Islam.
07:24I started to read articles.
07:25At that time, it was listening to tape cassettes.
07:28We started to read the Quran for one very arrogant reason.
07:32And that was that I wanted to find a contradiction in the faith to save her.
07:37Because I just felt that the hijab was wrong.
07:40I felt that it would hold her back from a successful career, a successful life.
07:45You know, I felt, you know, growing up in the area that I did, what I saw, you know,
07:50was men walking, you know, two miles ahead whilst their wives walked behind them.
07:54You know, these were the stereotypes that I had.
07:56And so it was interesting because on the one hand, I could see that there was something
08:03about this faith that produced this beautiful sense of peace in her.
08:08And on the other hand, this was going to restrict her.
08:11This was going to oppress her.
08:13This was going to hold her back.
08:14So I started and we used to debate and, you know, we would talk regularly.
08:19And as time went on, I started to become convinced that Islam was the truth.
08:24And it terrified me.
08:26I started to become convinced.
08:27My heart started to change.
08:29My mind started to change.
08:31I couldn't find anything.
08:32All I could find was a comprehensive way of life.
08:35All I could find were scientific proofs in the Quran.
08:39All I could find in my research was the literary miracle of the Quran.
08:44There was nothing.
08:45And that scared me because even though I was young at the time, I've always been the type
08:50of person that if I adopt something, if I choose something, I give it 150%.
08:55So I knew that as I was beginning to change and I started to become convinced that that would
09:00mean that I would have to change my life.
09:02And that scared me.
09:03All I could think about was Islam.
09:04All I could think about were the things that I had discovered.
09:07It was almost as though I was bombarded by these thoughts, you know, these thoughts
09:11about the scientific proofs in the Quran, the existence of God, the proof of, you know,
09:16the messengership.
09:17And it was just thought after thought after thought.
09:20And so I took myself out for a walk around where I lived at the time, just to get a bit
09:24of a breather.
09:25I came to a road that I would regularly cross.
09:28I stood there waiting for the green man.
09:31And the green man came and people were crossing and I just couldn't cross.
09:34It felt as though my legs were pinned to the ground.
09:38And the thought that was in my mind was if I cross this road, or in fact, any other road,
09:44and I'm hit by a car and I die knowing what I know, what I truly know, what would that mean
09:49for me?
09:49And it just dawned on me.
09:51Why am I not testifying to that which has already entered my heart?
09:55One thing that really convinced me that Islam was the truth is that the Quran has not been changed.
10:01And that millions memorize it.
10:04I've never heard millions memorizing the Bible.
10:08So for me, that was a miracle.
10:11It's not a little book, it's a pretty big book.
10:14So it really caught my attention.
10:16What impressed you the most about our Prophet?
10:19His character.
10:20Always his character.
10:22Always his character.
10:23His treatment of women first.
10:25His treatment of women when he didn't want to speak to the man who doesn't kiss his daughter.
10:31The fact that he would allow his wives to have emotions, to have feelings and deal with it in the best way.
10:39The fact that he didn't go to the companion's dinner because he didn't invite his wife Aisha.
10:45Everything.
10:45His gentleness.
10:48His justice when dealing with his wives.
10:53His, you know, softness at home.
10:56And then his strength on the battlefield.
10:59You know, his vulnerability when he was in Taif.
11:02When he went for help.
11:03And instead, look what happened to him.
11:05The fact that he can cry.
11:07Men now, they think, you know, we can't cry.
11:09We've got to be these big.
11:10No, he cried.
11:12You know, we talk about gender and what's a man, what's a woman.
11:15You know, look at the Prophet Muhammad SA.
11:17You know, right now I'm reading his Seerah by Yasir Qadhi and every paragraph I'm learning something.
11:23What an incredible book.
11:25I'll tell everyone to read it.
11:27Everything, you know.
11:28From the point on his deathbed, Aisha's complaining about her headache.
11:33She's complaining about her headache.
11:35And he makes a joke and says, no, but what about my headache?
11:38I'm dying, you know.
11:39And SubhanAllah, it's everything he went through so that we could be better people and get to Jannah.
11:48It's all his sacrifices with his family, with his wealth.
11:52All the tests he went through for what?
11:54For us.
11:55How did you take your shahadah?
11:57It was the happiest day of my life, to be honest with you.
11:59It was very overwhelming.
12:01I can't even explain the feeling.
12:03It's like everything just falls off your shoulders.
12:07You feel very light.
12:09You feel like a new person.
12:11So that was the happiest day of my life, honestly.
12:14I never did take it in a mosque or anything.
12:16Because as far as I understood, I took my shahadah.
12:18It's between Allah and me, so.
12:20I wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building and shout down to the people,
12:25get a hold of the Quran and read it.
12:26You just don't know.
12:27You'll know everything there is to know about the world if you just read this book.
12:30Seriously.
12:31So my next visit to that masjid was when I took my shahadah.
12:35Yeah.
12:35Alhamdulillah.
12:36And there was about 60, 70 people there.
12:38And the closest people to me at that time that took my shahadah are still the closest
12:42people to me now.
12:44Alhamdulillah.
12:45So taking my shahadah was amazing.
12:47I remember shaking a lot, but it felt good.
12:51It felt really good.
12:51I remember doing the ghusl of, you know, taking the shahadah and I literally felt
12:56this is a new life for me.
12:58It's a new start.
12:59You know, knowing that Allah swt wipes everything clean,
13:02but then still gives you the reward of the good that you did.
13:04It felt really good.
13:06And I was ready to take on that identity of a Muslim woman.
13:10So I just started reading, reading, reading.
13:12I went home and for the next seven days, everything was changed.
13:16I wanted to pray.
13:17I wanted to cry to Allah.
13:19I put my head to the ground like I'd seen the Muslims do.
13:21And I said two things over and over again.
13:23I just said, thank you.
13:24And I said, sorry.
13:25I said, thank you for giving me this life,
13:28for giving me all the love that I've had, everything that I haven't recognized.
13:32You know, beautiful daughters.
13:34I've known love.
13:35I've had opportunity, had a good family.
13:37And I know you and thank you.
13:39And then I said, sorry, just a lot of sorry.
13:41And I cried a lot for about a week.
13:43How did your family and the people around react?
13:46After taking Shahada, I wasn't sharing with everybody that I was a Muslim.
13:50I didn't mind if people found out, if they knew that was fine with me.
13:53But especially in those early stages of my conversion, I wasn't out telling people I was a Muslim.
13:59So I didn't share that with my family at all.
14:01One of the reasons why I didn't do that, and I think for some of us it's important,
14:05that we have to find the strength within ourselves, especially if you are by yourself.
14:09You need to figure out who you are in this religion and, you know, strengthen yourself
14:13and what you know before you engage in these conversations.
14:16And personally, I didn't want to have any debates.
14:20Like, I didn't want people to give me these opinions and telling me that it was wrong,
14:23or that why did I do this, or all of these questions that were going to come out out of love.
14:28You know, they were probably going to ask me this because they love me.
14:31They care about me.
14:32They were worried.
14:33This was so new to them.
14:34But I knew what I was doing.
14:36And like I said before, this was something very much between me and God.
14:40And I didn't want anybody else to come in the way of that.
14:44I felt at the end of the day, I'm going to be standing in front of my creator with what I just did
14:48and the actions that are going to follow this.
14:50And nobody else is going to have any role in that.
14:52So I didn't tell anybody.
14:53Also, maybe I was a little scared, you know, to tell people.
14:57But the way my family found out, I don't think they remember this, but I remember.
15:02We all went out to dinner and we were sitting in this restaurant and I'm the only girl in my home.
15:08So I'm the eldest only girl.
15:10So for my dad, you know, I'm his little girl.
15:12And they were talking about my wedding.
15:14So my dad was saying when Alma gets married and this beautiful church and walking her down the aisle.
15:20And it was a lot of these plans that my dad had for my wedding.
15:23So I was very quiet and I was just, you know, enjoying my meal.
15:27Just very quiet, letting them have that conversation.
15:29Then my mom turns around and said, that's not going to happen.
15:33And so my dad obviously reacted and he said, why would that not happen?
15:38And she said, because your daughter's Muslim.
15:40So I started eating a little bit faster.
15:43She saw me praying.
15:44I think she saw me praying in my room and then she made the connection that I had
15:48already taken my Shahada and became a Muslim.
15:50But I think they thought it was a phase for a long time.
15:55And again, maybe because of my age and just who I was at the time, when I was passionate
16:01about something and this was one of those things, I became very protective.
16:06So I defended my religion.
16:09I was scared to lose my religion.
16:11I was scared to lose what I had just found.
16:13So they were very respectful of the choices that I had made.
16:17They didn't understand it, but they're my family.
16:20My grandmother pulled me aside and she asked me if I was happy.
16:24And I said, yes, I'm very happy.
16:26She says, okay, do as you wish.
16:28And she told my family, leave her alone.
16:30She is not drinking.
16:33She's not smoking.
16:34She's not outside at night.
16:35She's taking care of her son.
16:37She dresses okay.
16:39It's okay.
16:40Eventually she accepted me and she asked the whole family to respect my new faith.
16:46Did becoming Muslim and wearing hijab restrict your freedom?
16:49Upon embracing Islam, I have gained my freedom because freedom is removing the shackles placed
16:58by people.
16:59When you truly connect with your creator and you connect with your purpose, you live for
17:05him and you don't live for others.
17:08And that is true freedom.
17:10So whilst yes, I'm now wearing hijab and yes, there are certain obligations I need to fulfill
17:17for the sake of my Lord.
17:19I am free because my decisions, my choices, where I go, what I do, what I don't do is for
17:26the one that created and fashioned me.
17:28It's not for those who are, who are on a similar journey to me.
17:31So yes, I'm free.
17:33I felt a sense of liberation.
17:35Like I felt the hijab liberated me completely.
17:39I choose, I have the power to choose who sees me and who doesn't.
17:45Unlike a billboard that's selling alcohol and it's a woman that's half naked.
17:51To me, this is oppression.
17:53To me, this is liberation.
17:54It was definitely hard because I was that girl that when she went out in the streets,
18:00I was that girl that wanted people to look, but also got upset if the wrong person was
18:06looking and I had to leave that behind, which was really, really difficult because a lot
18:11of my identity depended on whether people were looking at me or not.
18:14And that's really difficult because when I walk down the streets in the UK, it's like
18:17I don't exist.
18:18I'm completely invisible.
18:20And that was, you know, someone who wants to be an actress, someone who dressed in a
18:23certain way, like that's something that she doesn't want.
18:25So it was definitely a big, big change for me.
18:28But I started to revel, I started to enjoy that invisibleness.
18:31I started to enjoy walking down the street and actually just walking down the street,
18:35not putting on some show, like I actually got to enjoy life for the first time without worrying
18:40what people were thinking about me.
18:41And that's what Islam gave to me.
18:43When you're looking into becoming a Muslim, you have to kind of look at building the connection
18:48with Allah.
18:48So there's a kind of process that needs to be followed in a way that will help you understand
18:54why you cover your hair, why you cover your body, why you refrain from doing certain things.
19:00So I think what I would advise people that are looking, that are thinking, you know what,
19:04I want to become Muslim.
19:05I believe in Allah.
19:06I believe in the Sunnah of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, but I don't want to cover my
19:10hair or, but I don't want to give up this or I don't want to give up that.
19:13It will come.
19:14The change will happen once you establish that relationship.
19:18There were things that I never envisioned myself doing.
19:21Covering up was one of them.
19:23Stopping partying was another, believe it or not.
19:25But as I grew my relationship with Allah, as I learned the religion,
19:29naturally, I just wanted to please my Lord.
19:32The focus should be on establishing a relationship with Allah, understanding,
19:37you know, Allah's mercy, understanding Allah's love, understanding who Allah really is.
19:42Take your time, understand who you're worshipping,
19:45understand why you're worshipping Him, and things will follow.
19:49Everybody has their own personal journey.
19:51And I see that from knowing so many converts in my life.
19:53Even at the Sira of how people embrace the religion according to Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
19:58everything was easy going.
19:59Even the alcohol took a while to get rid of, right?
20:01Things didn't happen all of a sudden.
20:03People have asked me many times, isn't Islam hard?
20:06Isn't it difficult?
20:07And without any hesitation, I can tell you that a life without Islam is what's hard.
20:13Our most merciful Creator is given to us as a gift, but He hasn't forced us.
20:18He says, here it is. It's your choice.
20:20The decision is yours.
20:22The result is yours. Choose wisely.
20:25People think that when you become Muslim, you'll become an Arab.
20:28You'll change your name, change your clothing, change your tradition.
20:30So is it possible to stick to your culture and be Muslim at the same time?
20:34I think that one of the big misconceptions that people have had is that when you embrace Islam,
20:40you're becoming an Arab or you're becoming some other cultural makeup that isn't yours.
20:45And I'll be honest, when I first came to Islam, which is like over 20 years ago,
20:49I didn't find any revert Muslims, any converts, any Latino Muslims at that time.
20:54And it was very difficult for me then.
20:56Now it is so different. It is so different.
20:59Times have changed.
20:59I think with social media and the different platforms and groups and exposure of Islam,
21:05we understand that you don't have to be Arab.
21:07You don't have to be Desi.
21:09You don't have to be Russian.
21:11You can be exactly who you are wherever you're coming from and be a Muslim.
21:16It was sent down for humanity and that includes you.
21:19So there's a lot of misconceptions, unfortunately, of having to change your name the day that you
21:25embrace Islam. It's a misconception.
21:27Nowhere does it say that you change your name.
21:29As long as it doesn't have a bad meaning, you're able to be Maria, Felipe, Pablo.
21:35It doesn't matter.
21:37This is important because this is your identity.
21:41You can definitely keep the goodness of your culture.
21:45I personally still cook mole, tacos, flautas.
21:49I enjoy my culture to the max.
21:53You don't have to stop loving and believing in Jesus and understanding that his mother,
22:00Mary, has a chapter in the Quran.
22:03So they're not very foreign to us.
22:05We love them and respect them.
22:07And you don't have to stop loving them and respecting them.
22:11On the contrary, Islam enhances our lives in so many ways.
22:16So continue eating your tacos.
22:18Continue enjoying all of the culture that comes with you.
22:22And continue learning about Islam because Islam is a way of life.
22:31As everything looks great as you are unique andlapping.
22:40.
22:41.
22:42.
22:43.
22:44.

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