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Why Has Nobody Told Me About Islam Earlier?

Greta is in her mid-seventies. She grew up in a Roman-Catholic family of Italian immigrants to the United States. She converted to Islam at the hands of her own daughter a few years ago. This is her story.

Trying Out Different Churches

I have also been a pious person. I was raised as a Catholic and my parents were very traditional. We went to church and prayed at home.

However, I came to marry a Lutheran guy, which upset my parents a lot. I did not exactly leave the Roman Catholic church, but I also started joining my husband in his church. I liked the light-hearted way of the Lutheran church but never really felt at home there either.

When my husband became less regular in attending the Sunday service in his church, I started trying other different churches and Christian denominations. My husband did not mind. And my parents did not know. However, although the different variations were interesting, I never found what I was looking for. The truth.

My Most Sincere Prayer

My children grew up. They left the house. My husband passed away. And I was still looking for the right church, the right way to come close to the truth. Eventually, I ended up in my local neighborhood church.

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It was a matter of convenience. I did not like driving long distances anymore and the local church was in walking distance. I knew the people and they also helped me out when I needed help.

All my children decided to live abroad. That is why I was happy about the help from the young church community.

Nevertheless, there was still this desire burning inside my soul. The desire to know the truth. I prayed regularly and one evening after I came home from my church, I just opened my heart to God. I asked Him to guide me to the truth. I told Him that I wanted to know the truth. To worship Him as He deserves to be worshiped. It was the most sincere prayer I had ever made.

A Surprise Visit

A few weeks later, my daughter visited me from Egypt. We had not seen each other for several years. And I was happy but also surprised to see her. She wore a headscarf.

When I saw her standing in the door, I was reminded of my prayer to God. And in my heart I asked myself whether my daughter is bringing the answer to my prayer. However, I did not ask her about her headscarf for several days and she did not mention anything either.

One afternoon I saw her performing the ritual prayer of the Muslims. She was in prostration and I quickly closed the door so not to disturb her.

The image of my daughter kneeling with her head on the floor impressed me deeply. And again, I wondered if God had sent her as an answer to my prayer.

Why Has Nobody Told Me About This Earlier?

One evening after dinner, I finally asked my daughter if she was still a Christian? And she denied. We had a very long talk after that. She brought the Bible, the Quran and her notebook and explained everything to me. She talked about Jesus (peace upon him) and our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him). I just listened to her.

My tears kept flowing down my cheeks. And I was extremely certain that it was God Who had sent her to me now as an answer to my prayer. Asking Him to guide me to the truth. This was the truth. I was totally convinced.

When she had finished her detailed explanations, I just hugged her. And asked her: Why has nobody told me about this earlier?

The Only Regret

It was there and then on my kitchen table in the middle of the night that I accepted Islam. I had to reach old age to finally find the truth. I am so grateful that God has shown me the truth.

The only regret I have is that nobody has told me about Islam earlier. But I guess, this is also part of God’s wisdom in guiding me to the truth.

Alhamdulillah

(From Discovering Islam archive)

About Claudia Azizah
Claudia Azizah is originally from Germany and mother of two children and writer. She served as Assistant Professor at the International Islamic University in Malaysia until August 2019. She is co-founder of the Ulu-Ilir-Institute in Indonesia. She regularly writes for the German Islamic newspaper. She is interested in Islamic spirituality, art and Southeast Asia. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram: #clazahsei