Reverting to Islam is not as easy as some make it out to be. There are many challenges that come with it and being accepted as a Muslim by your family is one of them, explained a Muslim revert.
Speaking to Salaamedia, Portuguese born revert Ammara Patel shared her story about how she first discovered Islam at the Oriental Plaza – a popular shopping destination in a Fordsburg, Johannesburg.
“My mom used to work at the Oriental Plaza when I was still in school. I was kind of exposed to the religion and to the way of life and I was always impressed at the calmness [and] the simplicity of the of the people that I used to visit when my mom was at work.”
Patel met her husband in 2005 and it was at that point that she decided to do her own research on Islam.
“In 2005, when I met my husband, I was encouraged to do some research, so I did some major research online. When you do all the research online you see all the stories from previous reverts and then you see it’s like a whole change of lifestyle.”
Things were not easy in the beginning for Patel as some family members did not even want to talk to her, but, as time passed by, those same people have now become her best friends.
“I think in the beginning, when my husband and I got married, we had some of those major challenges. I’ll be honest, we used to visit some family, and nobody would talk to me at all. We used to be having lunch on the same table and literally there wasn’t a stitch of conversation on the table only because I was there and the one thing my husband always told me was ‘don’t mind what everybody says, don’t mind whatever they do… just greet, do your duty and carry on’ . I have to admit the people that never talk to me in the beginning, if I can say, are my best friends right now.”
Maryam Mkwanda spoke to Ammara Patel, Portuguese born revert, on ‘My Journey To Islam’. Listen to the full discussion here:
