Khadijah: Assalamualaikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatu sis! Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in my small project! May Allah grant it success and may it blossom into something great Ameen! Please tell me a bit about yourself (your age, your cultural background, likes and dislikes - doesnt have to be Islamic)
Ruhina: Wa Aleikum as salaam, may Allah SWT bless you for making this project! My name is Ruhina, I am 13 years old, and i am Russian/Romanian/Irish. I guess thats just a bunch of types of white, but my dad is Jewish and my mom is Catholic so there is a lot of cultural and religious diversity in my family. I love to read, write, learn about Islam, and pray. I dislike the phrase YOLO--You Only Live Once. Instead, I use YOLT--You Only Live Twice.
Khadijah: How did you find out about Islam? When did you become Muslim?
Ruhina: I found out about Islam in a very short time period. I guess it started when I was 9 years old, when my best friend moved to the neighborhood. She wore hijab, and I never asked about it until I was 11, in the summer between when I started 5th grade and was going into middle school. We became very close and both read a book called "The Faith Club." After that, we started talking about religion a lot, and suddenly she emailed me asking me if I wanted to convert to Islam (later, she told me that she could tell I was interested in Islam because I asked so many questions). I declined, but thought that if I say no, I should at least learn about the religion so I knew why. After that, I went on a website called islamreligion.com and literally read hundreds of articles about Islam. At that point I knew I wanted to became Muslim. At first I said that I was going to convert when I was 18, but the number slowly moved down as I learned more and more. Once I read about family in Islam, about how everybody has a role, I decided I wanted to convert as soon as possible. Also, I met many online converts--some from Israel, Norway, England, and Turkey, and realized how large this Ummah is. This just made me more determined. Then, after around 4 months about learning about Islam, from December 2011 to April 2012, I said my Shahada via phone with a brother from Saudi Arabia, on April 3, 2012. It was a day I will never forget.
Khadijah: What do you think makes Islam such a beautiful religion?
Ruhina: I think the reason it is so beautiful because it is pure. There is only One God, Allah SWT and nothing really that is hard to understand about it. It pretty much takes into account all of humanity--because there were Prophets sent to each tribe. I also think the concept of family in Islam is very beautiful!
Khadijah: How do your parents feel about Islam? Do you have any struggles you face with them? How do you deal with the struggles?
Ruhina: My parents do not accept my reversion to Islam. We don't really talk about it too much, and they try to ignore it. They are pretty much against it because I am so young, and try to make me feel bad for being interested in Islam. I try not to get into any big arguments, because I have to live with them for 6 more years before I go to college inshaAllah.
Khadijah: If you could tell your parents about Islam , what would you say to them?
Ruhina: I would tell them that it is a very beautiful religion, and there is One God. That is the most important thing, there is only one God, and everything else comes after that. Also, I would like to tell them all of the miracles of the Quran. I think that after that, they would understand Islam so much more instead of just thinking about the thing that "ruined" their perfect daughter.
Khadijah: What is your favourite verse from the Qur'an?
Ruhina: "My prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds" Al-Anam 162
Khadijah: What do you think about the recent events of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) and what advice would you give to the Muslims and non-Muslims?
Ruhina: I think it is horrible that the video was made, and I am extremely offended by it as I love the Prophet SAWS more than anyone except Allah SWT. Although, this could also turn into a blessing because people inshaAllah will want to know about the real islam. Non-Muslims, I would say that this is not the true Islam, and the Prophet SAWS is amazing, you just have to gain knowledge about him. And to Muslims, I would say, that violent protesting is not what the Prophet SAWS would do, and if you are protesting against a harsh video about Muslims, then you should not be harsh yourself and instead prove them wrong by being peaceful.
JazakAllah for giving me the chance to be interviewed on the blog and I hope this artical is beneficial inshaAllah!
0 comments:
Post a Comment