Bismillah ir-Rahman
ir-Rahim
Assalamu Alalikum
Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh!
Almuslima, Inc.
Joins in Welcoming You
to the 39th
Annual ISNA Convention!
“Islam: A Call for Peace and Justice”
More than 30,000
American Muslims gathered in the nation’s capital to attend the 39th annual
convention of the
Islamic Society of
North America during the long, Labor Day weekend Aug. 30 through Sept. 2.
(2003).
ISNA’s annual meeting is the single largest
congregation of American Muslims each year,
and the first event of
this scale since the Sept. 11 tragedy.
[Note:
Since this was originally published the website “Almuslima.com” has
ended its web presence]
Al-hamdu illah!
Almuslima, Inc. would like to take this opportunity to announce the
launch of their new website, Almuslima.com, and to introduce to the Muslim
Community, one of its newest members, Sister Aishah Schwartz! Subhanallah!
Almuslima had the opportunity to interview Sister Aishah, on Saturday, August
16, 2002. Below is just a small portion
of our interview.
Almuslima: When did
you become a Muslim, Sister Aishah?
Aishah: I
officially embraced Islam on Friday, April 19, 2002.
Almuslima:
Subahanallah! Please, Sister,
tell us how you came to Islam!
Aishah: Oh,
wow…are you sure you have time? It has
been quite a journey…
Almuslima: Take as
much time as you need, Sister!
Aishah: Okay, here
goes! I came to Washington, D.C. about 2½ years ago, after living in a
small southern town for the previous 18 years of my life. After about three weeks of earnest legwork
on unfamiliar streets, taking buses, trains, and cabs to navigate my way
through the city, I landed a job with a reputable law firm. Working with attorneys is what I have done
throughout my adult life. I threw
myself into my work, striving to prove to everyone that this small-town girl
could make it in the big city. I found
myself working very late hours, sometimes not leaving until 11 or 12 o’clock at
night at least 4 out of 5 days of the week.
Unbeknownst to me when I started my new job, the team I joined happened
to be in preparation for a major trial!
Amongst the benefits of working with the firm was
the provision of transportation home at night if you worked overtime. It was
late one evening into my second month on my new job when I happened to call for
a cab, and I quite unexpectedly became friends with the driver, who, as it
turned out, happened to be a Muslim!
I have always believed that everything happens for
a reason and in retrospect, I know that God brought that person into my life,
at that particular time, because He had a plan...and He knew a friendship would
be cultivated that day that would ultimately peak my curiosity about the
religion of this new friend.
The friendship grew because whenever I called the
cab company for my nightly ride home, I would request the same cab! The relationship had its ups and downs, as
do most relationships, but the resounding proclamation, “You don’t understand
me!” seemed to have become all too familiar over the long run, and given
my natural inclination to try to figure things out, and because Allah (swt)
seems to have given me a heart filled with compassion, I began to consider that
perhaps if I tried to learn more about the religion of my friend, that I would
come to have a better understanding of him.
This decision marked the beginning of my journey.
Even though I was working many hours at the time, I
found myself staying behind at the office, well past the time that I had
clocked-out for the day, scouring the internet for information about
Islam. Having been raised in
a Baptist environment, I also researched Islam from the perspective of
Christianity. This pattern or searching
for information continued for about two months. I had grown totally fascinated with each passing day, and as
I passed through website after website, printing article after article,
clicking on link after link, and after exhausting myself out at my desk, I
would make my trip home with an armful of print outs, and stay awake even
longer after arriving at my apartment, devouring the material I had printed
like it was some kind of treasure…little did I know…
Almuslima: So you
researched Islam on your own?
Subhanallah!
Aishah: Yes. I
researched it from every angle, of course having spent so many years working
with attorneys, you might imagine I am not one to formulate an absolute opinion
about something without giving it full investigation, so in order to
explore the pros and cons from every angle, not only did I print articles on
Islam from Christianity’s viewpoint, I even engaged in an email exchange with a
Christian who converted to Islam, and then re-converted back to
Christianity! Subhanallah! I did not listen to that person, as Allah
(SWT) was already working in my life and I immediately dismissed that persons
attempt to dissuade from my quest. And
even though I had printed so much material on the Christian perspective, I did
not waste much of my time reading it, as it seemed to me that the truths I had found
in my research were speaking to my heart, and something inside kept me pressing
forward.
Almuslima: Was there something in
particular that you found when you were reading that influenced your decision
to become a Muslim?
Aishah: I wish I
had an easy answer for that but I don't really... it wasn’t exactly one
particular thing…but what I did find fascinating was what I learned about the
respect and the fairness with which the Qur’an seemed to instruct men to treat
women. It also became clearer and
clearer to me that the Qur’an is a blue-print for how we should conduct
ourselves in our daily lives, and how we should treat other people, and that if
a person lives their life according to its instructions, that person could
expect to receive blessings and reward beyond anything previously imagined in
his/her wildest dreams! And sure
enough, from what I have experienced so far…
Almuslima: Since your
Shahada?
Aishah: Yes, since
April 19th,of this year!
Subhanallah! Every time I think
about the things that have happened in my life since that date, I am
overcome by emotion! Every person I
have encountered, and everything that has happened to me since that day, has
been linked in one way or another to a wonderful walk through blessing after
blessing!
Almuslima:
Al-hamdulillah! Sister, what has been happening?
Aishah: Prior to
April 19th, it seemed that I had closed myself off from everything and everyone
that existed in the world outside the walls of my apartment and the halls I
walked throughout the day in the office where I work. My sole purpose in life seemed to be to live to work. That was the sum of my existence, which
doesn’t make for much of a life, by any stretch of the imagination! As long as I was at work I had a
purpose. I knew what I was supposed to
do when I was at my desk...There were so many times when I would leave the
office late at night, or, well, for that matter, no matter what time I left the
office, and as I walked out the front door of the office building, I would feel
the tears welling up in my eyes, and then they would stream silently down my
cheeks, to be quickly brushed away before anyone could notice…I was absolutely
afraid. I was afraid of getting on the
bus - once I walked out the front doors of the office I had no control over
anything, and I was afraid of everything; all I wanted to was run back inside
the shelter of the office building! If
I could have arranged a space with a bed and personal hygiene items for use in
the locker room downstairs, it would have suited me just fine! The office was like my shelter from the rest
of the world…I felt protected within the confines of its walls…I felt had a
sense of appreciation for my efforts from the people I worked with, who are
wonderful people - I am really so blessed to be employed by them…but at the end
of the day, I had other choice; I had to go home! I would fight the tears on the ride home, and when I would get to
my apartment, I would shut the door on Friday evenings, and never leave again
until Monday morning when it was time for work (unless I was driven out by
absolute necessity). It would not
matter how beautiful the weather might be outside, I was petrified of
everything…I don't know...I felt like I was disappearing...you know...so, since
coming to Islam…it has been literally like being re-born! Its like I have my life back!
Almuslima: Sister,
mashallah, I am so happy for you!
Aishah:
Subhanallah! I am amazed with each passing day the difference Islam has
made in my life! I have always been a
compassionate person by nature, but now I find such happiness in knowing that
Allah (SWT) is using the talents and gifts he has given me to communicate with
people in so many ways!!! And for some
strange reason people seem to connect with me...I don't know why...and
umm...it’s just been so amazing! Once
you open up your mind and open up your heart and you let go of the control that
you have been holding onto in regards to your will and life, and you let Allah
(SWT) take charge, and let Him guide you…everything coming to you after that is
inter-connected, and you find yourself becoming conscious of one blessing after
another! Subhanallah! And even though I have gone through a
difficult period...if I think about all the positive things that have happened
to me, the bad days dim in comparison, you know? So, umm...if sharing all
of that helps someone…well...Insha’Allah, it will! It has been such an
amazing journey...even though its been so short, already I just can’t help but
feel and believe with all my heart that Allah (SWT) has something so amazing
planned for the rest of whatever time, Insha’Allah, He is going to allow me to
be on this earth…I don't know why, but the power of everything that I have felt
happening in my life has been so energizing!
Allah (SWT) seems to be making up for lost time in using me in so many
ways…and I just feel so blessed, and so lucky that He would even consider me
the slightest bit worthy of His mercy and blessings! I’ve grown to have such an acute awareness of His presence in my
daily life...in every little thing that happens...and even when I get
frustrated...I’m reminded to say – Al-hamdul illah!
Almuslima: Can you
share with us some of the ways your life has become different since you
accepted Islam?
Aishah: Well, I
guess I could start with the subject of prayer! A teacher from a Sunday class I have been attending at Masjid,
introduced to me the prospect of this year’s upcoming trip for Umra, which, of
course, at the time I had no concept of whatsoever! In a discussion one afternoon after class, my teacher suggested
that I begin to prepare myself by getting up in the morning for the earliest
salat. Well, at that time, the earliest
prayer was in the 3:30 am time range! I
thought to myself, “He must be crazy!”
But I found myself obeying his instruction, and I began setting my alarm
clock to wake me up at 3:30 am! Was I
nuts, you ask? Some people might not
rush to my defense too quickly! But,
Subhanallah! Sister, you might not
believe this, but within one week I had already begun to wake up automatically! It is as though I have a tiny guardian angel
that comes to tap me on my shoulder...and I sit up to look at the clock, and it
amazes me every day when I see the time…Al-hamdul illahi! It’s time to pray!
Almuslima:
Subhanallah!
Aishah: Yes! I know!
And I know a lot of people might think it impossible to wake up so early
in the morning just to pray, but I promise you, considering how stagnant
my life was before, and the way God has brought so many things and so many
people into my life since I began to practice my new religion, its almost as
though I have two full time jobs with all of the things that have come my way
to do for the sake of Allah! (SWT). And
just when I finish one thing, the next thing I know Allah SWT) is bringing
me a new task! I just feel so
blessed! I feel so much like...for each
small task I accomplish, what comes back to me in return seems to be multiplied
times ten! It doesn’t even seem fair or
normal even, that good things, blessings and rewards, are now so much a part of
my life...it just amazes me each and every day! Al-hamdul illah!
Almuslima: Please
tell us more!
Aishah: Well, I’d
like to continue the subject of prayer…that's been a journey all by
itself! And so important!! I have gone
through different phases...after Shahadah...I sort of floundered a little
bit…um…I kept trying to read and study the material I had gathered, and
amazingly enough, still had not completely exhausted! I'd go home in the evenings and lay across my bed with the
mountain of stapled, or paper clipped or binder clipped by subject
material, and I'd sift through the stack until I came upon something that
jumped out in my mind saying, “Read me!
Read me!” I was still reading
and trying to absorb the seemingly insurmountable material on the subject of
prayer. Let me tell you, coming from a
Christian background, the whole prayer issue was overwhelming to say the
least! I'd read for a while...and then…I
remember so many times just laying my head back and succumbing to the tears
that would escape from my eyes…thinking, “This is too much, I can’t do it!!”
and I’d say to myself, “God, I am going
to rest now…let this sink in and I will come back again tomorrow...and,
Insha’Allah, I will learn some more…” I could not help but believe that He
heard my pleas, and hears them still today, as I have already commenced to
memory the words, “Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;” words that are laced
throughout the text of the Qur’an! And
then one evening I found an awesome website that had these wonderful little
pictures and I printed the pictures…I call them my “cheat sheets,” and I
have hand written notes on each one with my personal choices of surah’s
(chapters) or ayats (verses) recited in different portions of the prayer, and
I have English translations beside everything (as “Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most
Merciful regarding the fact that I cannot yet speak Arabic!),.and this is how I
began to learn and practice the 5 daily salats (prayers)! I’ll never forget the day I made it all the
way through Surah Fatihah without looking at my “cheat sheets!” “Al-hamdul illahi!” I proclaimed! And one by one, I have, over a period of time, been able to put
away the cheat sheets! Yes, I still
keep them with me though, as I have not totally mastered the whole thing…and I
use the sheets whenever or wherever I can in an attempt at every opportunity to
master my prayer…even at work!
Almuslima:
Subhanallah! How have the people
at your office responded to the changes in your life – and appearance?!
Aishah:
Insha’Allah, we will have to continue our conversation very soon! We are out of time today! But I hope the readers will visit www.sisteraishah.com
because, Insha’Allah, I am looking forward to answering more questions, and
being able to share with readers many other things that have been, and continue
to happen since I came to Islam!!
The testimony of faith is saying with
conviction,
"Ash hadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ash hadu anna
Muhammadar Rasul Allah."
("I declare
there is no god but Allah and I declare that Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah.")
The first
part, “There is no true god but God,” means that none has
the right to
be worshipped but God alone, and that God has neither partner nor son.
This testimony
of faith is called the Shahada, a simple formula that should be said
with
conviction in order to convert to Islam.
The testimony
of faith is the most important pillar of Islam.
SISTER
AISHAH'S ISLAMIC JOURNEY