in the name of Allah the most beneficent
the most merciful
I remember my first Ramadan it was in
2009 and I actually learned on the very
first day of Ramadan how to pray even
though I had converted two months before
Ramadan but I was definitely convinced
that I was going to make my first
Ramadan the best that I possibly could
even though I knew absolutely nothing
about Islam but I knew that I believed
in the one God and that that feeling is
what was going to carry me through my
first Ramadan
my family it took them some time to
accept my conversion to Islam first and
foremost my parents are divorced my
father is a born-again Christian pastor
in Florida so I actually didn’t tell him
for almost a year because I was just so
nervous of what his reaction was gonna
be so I slowly gave him subtle hints on
that clearly I wasn’t celebrating the
Christian holidays anymore
my brother initially took it really hard
because he just felt he was losing not
only me but he was losing Christmas with
me and also due to his lack of knowledge
but as I sat with him and educated him
more about Islam he was more accepting
about it and I also made such a great
effort to still have somewhat of a nice
family gathering during the time that
they celebrate their holidays my mother
was the most accepting of all because
being her oldest child I’d always made
good decisions in my life and she knew
that if it was a decision I made I’d
thoroughly thought it out and looked at
all sides positive and negative so
obviously if my she said if my daughter
made this decision it must be a good
decision for her and I support her
the advice that I would give someone
about Islam depending on what their
religious background is is to really
look at what they really feel is their
relationship with God and feeling that
connected relationship and if their
worship whether it be from any other
faith do they really feel that they’re
making a sacrifice to God and look at
Islam at the level of sacrifice you’re
actually making for God before yourself
and before world like things and see
that that really will enable you to have
that peace at heart