in the name of Allah the most
beneficient of the most
merciful my journey to Islam started
when um a friend of mine a couple of
friends of mine they wanted to take me
to the mosque I was hanging out with a
lot of people that were Muslim they
didn't behave as Muslims but they were
Muslim so the first initial group and
then alhamdulillah I met a sister that
is still very near and dear to me
and um she actually took me to the Masid
alhamdulillah but it all
started me wanting to go to the Masid
came from me wanting something better
for my kids I was looking for something
better for my kids because my life was
very disorganized you know I my I come
from a household where my mother was a
drug addict my father was a cartel he
was in the Colombian cartel he got 30
years in jail my mother died from a
heroin overdose
so my lifestyle was very similar to them
and I was going down that path and I
didn't want to leave my kids the way my
mother left us so the more I reflected
on that that kind of pushed me to look
for something like you know for
something and when I was hanging out
with them they told me that being Muslim
was about just believing in one God and
that was appeasing to me you know I
didn't have to have any statues and it's
just one God and I got curious that's
where it started
they did my the rest of my family did
not react in a positive way to me being
Muslim it wasn't so much me saying Allah
that bothered them because they're not
Catholic to the sense where they're
constantly in the church or you know
they just go to church when it's the
palms or the ashes but it was my attire
that Disturbed them and the things that
I changed I no longer was Natalie that
came in with the Coronas and was like
hey party over here you know I was now
Natalie who was like Salam alayum how
are you and they're like they didn't
understand when I didn't want to go to a
barbecue because they had pork they
didn't understand when I didn't want to
go because they were drinking they
didn't understand that I didn't
celebrate birthdays and that I wasn't
going to celebrate a birthday so and
they didn't understand how a person that
was so fond of her 6in heels and her
little dresses and her hair I'm talking
about extensions eyelashes Nails
everything they didn't understand how a
person like that can turn into this so
they didn't recog one Christmas I went
to visit them and they literally slammed
the door in my face they didn't
recognize who I was my cousin looked at
me was like what the so um they didn't
have a good reaction at first but
alhamdulillah with time they you know
they came to accept it it's just
something you have to push through you
have to push through it and eventually
if you hold on to it hard enough they'll
accept it you know I compared my dress
attire to that of the Virgin Mary I'm
like how do you pray to her and it's
okay for her to dress like that this is
supposed to be the person that you think
is the greatest woman on Earth you know
and you don't want me to dress like her
and that kind of shut them up and then
after reflecting I guess for a while
they realize they're like well you know
what if this means you're not leaving
the house drunk and they're not calling
us to tell us you drove yourself into a
tree or that you're high or whatever
then we like you like this so they don't
like it one of my sisters doesn't speak
to me to this day but alhamdulillah they
accept
it my first Ramadan was extremely
difficult for
me extremely difficult because I had not
that I was new to Islam I didn't have
that many sisters in Islam and well not
I had a lot of sisters but I didn't know
a lot of sisters like to go to iars and
this and that and it was my first year
wearing hijab it was in the summer it
was extremely long
hours I was also
um you know I'm I come from a family
where food is like you know we make huge
meals all the time and I had to cook for
the kids it was very difficult but
alhamdulillah like it's one The Thirst
was the biggest deal but once you push
through it and it just becomes you know
it becomes easier but but the good thing
is that the satisfaction you get when
you do break your fast of knowing that
you accomplished it and you know being
there what helped me was when I started
to get with the sisters you know
surround myself with these sisters and
like the bond you create with these
sisters that helped a lot to calling
each other how are you doing how's it
going I'm
thirsty I the one thing I love about
Islam is I love my sisters in Islam and
I also love the promise of something
better at the end cuz nobody wants to do
this forever right um I love my sisters
in Islam because they're closer to me
than my blood sisters always even before
I was Muslim the relationship that I had
with my sisters can never compare to the
relationships I have with my sisters in
Islam and I can say that that's for
every single Muslim woman I know revert
non- revert like sisters in Islam we're
just you know it's not like the friends
I had at the bar that you go there and
you know your friends while you're
getting drunk and you're only there to
hold each other's hair if you're
throwing up you know these sisters you
know they're there in the good the bad
the pretty the ugly everything you know
these sisters even though they're not
blood related to me they're closer to my
children than my family they're closer
to me than my family so alhamdulillah my
favorite part is definitely my sisters
in
Islam one piece of advice I'd give
Latinas is
[Music]
um look when you read the Quran read it
and don't just read it like reflect on
it you know think about it um for
Latinas especially in my country
Colombia it's very important our
appearance you know know our hair our
makeup like our whole our whole society
is about how these women look you know
and that's the hardest thing that's one
thing that I know Latin women are like
what oh no I'm not putting that on my
head uh-uh I'm not walking around like
that no no no no you got to think that
you're more than that you're more than
what you look like the person that looks
at you has to see something else you
know and you have to realize that you're
striving for something better at the end
it's just you just have to have an open
mind when you read it and just know that
it's beautiful every single word is
beautiful and every single word has so
much meaning and there's so much truth
and any and everything if you read one
thing in the Quran read the Quran read
it and if you find one thing in the
Quran that you do not see true then
close the book and don't open it again