in the name of Allah the most
beneficient the most
merciful I said Shahara it will be 10
years in
December um I took Shahara I was 47
years old I considered myself a good
Catholic lady um but I always would go
to church and pray to God I couldn't
pray to Jesus it just didn't feel right
and I would always talk to God I didn't
come from a religious family uh my
grandmother took me to church once in a
while you know on the major holidays but
that was only when I was little so at 7
years old I would pick myself up and go
to church and just talk to God um when I
was eight I asked for my own Bible and
again I just always talk to God and and
I was always a big believer of the truth
um my whole life is based on the truth
and then um when I was was 47 I met
someone who was Muslim and we started
talking I had I had never met Muslims
till I was about 46 years old and um so
this was after
9/11 and I started reading the Quran and
I just kept saying but this is what I've
believed my whole life wait what's going
on here I thought I'm Catholic and why
is everything that I'm reading to be
true I mean to me it was the truth
and
within about 3 months through or four
months of reading the Quran I knew that
there was no other choice I this is what
I was my whole life I just didn't know
it until that time and then on December
25th I um said shahada with my Christmas
tree in the dining room because I was I
was still Catholic at the time but I
just knew it was over I knew that part
of my life that 47 years of being a
Catholic girl was over that I really was
Muslim and my parents when they B
baptized me just didn't know
it what is the truth what is the truth
there's only one God and that's who you
ask for help and that's that's just who
you go to you don't need an inter
someone to intercede you don't need to
go and speak to someone else you just
talk to God and your whole relationship
and you just lay everything to God and
it's just it's just it's so freeing you
you just you're just so free that's the
only thing and you know people look at
oh why aren't you hot look at how you're
dressed and I've never felt more free
that's it's it's truth and it's freedom
I mean the ultimate freedom of to be a
woman to be a Muslim
woman it's f a lot just
wonderful Ramadan oh I love Ramadan I
mean I fasted when I was you know
Catholic on some of the Catholic uh days
of of fasting and I just I know the
first couple days it's a little rough
but then it's just so amazing what
you're doing you're sacrificing and
you're doing this all for God and it's
just amazing and when Ramadan is over I
want to cry and I know I have some
sister friends are like that we just
want to cry you just you love it so much
it's just an amazing it's an amazing um
feat and it's just an it's just amazing
what you can do you know so many people
say oh I couldn't fast that many hours
especially you know it's been in the
summer but it's amazing what you can do
when you're doing it for God it's just
absolutely
amazing