Marina Zouaghi, her mother and family moved into their new home only two days ago.
The two women who now live in Oak Creek, Wisconsin recalled the emotional, spiritual, and deeply personal reasons behind converting to Islam, Wisconsin Muslim Journal reported on August 6.
Her spiritual journey to Islam started when she met an Egyptian Muslim couple back in 2010 during Ramadan.
“I was kind of afraid of it. I didn’t know what it was,” said Marina about the Egyptian woman who donned a hijab.
Marina now puts a hijab as well as her mother Jill Ochoa.
First Encounter
Marina’s journey to Islam began in her early 20s when she worked as a barista, waitress, and delivery driver for an Egyptian couple who owned a coffee shop called ‘Sphinx’ and other businesses.
Starting work in Ramadan, the American young lady asked her Muslim employers why they fasted. “Some of those reasons included understanding the feelings of people who don’t have enough to eat.”
Being Christian at the time, Marina thought, “then I should be doing it too.” She began to fast as best she could.
“One time I was delivery driving, and it was so hot and busy on the East Side. I bought a strawberry frappé and downed it, and then I continued fasting.”
She also “tried being modest. I quit wearing nail polish for the month and wore a longer skirt.” But an interesting thing happened. “At the end of the month, it felt good.”
Marina even joined the Muslim Student Association at Alverno College, where she was an international business student. There she met Sakina, who taught her the basics of Islam.
Afterward, Marina visited the Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM) in Wisconsin on June 29, 2012, to take the Shahadah and become a Muslim.
Happier
The mother Ochoa said that her daughter’s conversion to Islam changed things – health, finances, self-respect, outlook. And all the changes were positive.
“I felt really restless before – that subsided when I became Muslim. I was much calmer. Me and her dad [saw] that Marina was happier, wasn’t as stressed,” she said.
Ochoa’s conversion started by receiving an email from a friend to attend an interfaith panel at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). The panel included an imam, a priest, a rabbi, and a Christian pastor.
Ochoa asked, “If someone does something horrific to a child, and they ask for forgiveness before they die, do they still go to heaven?” The priest and pastor both said yes. The rabbi said, “We’re not quite sure what happens.”
But the imam said: “We think of this world as a scale. Not every deed weighs the same. When you go before God, you want to have more good deeds than bad deeds. You don’t just say you’re sorry. Sometimes you have to answer for them.”
“And I said okay, and that was the day I decided I wanted to be a Muslim,” the mother said happily.
To date, two more of Ochoa’s daughters have converted to Islam, Jade, who became Muslim three years ago, and Melissa, who became Muslim on the 27th of Ramadan this year.
Pew Research Center estimates that there were about 3.45 million Muslims of all ages living in the US in 2017 and that Muslims made up about 1.1% of the total US population.