Why Are Women Turning to Islam

Why Are Women Turning to Islam

At a time when Islam is faced with hostile media coverage particularly where
the status of women in Islam is concerned, it may be quite surprising to
learn that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, and even more
ironic to discover that the majority of converts to Islam are WOMEN .

The status of women in society is neither a new issue, nor is it a fully
settled one. And where Islam is mentioned, for many the term 'Muslim Women'
prompts images of exhausted mothers chained to the stove, 'victims'
suppressed in a life of indoctrination, frantic to be westernized and so on.
Others will go to great lengths to explain how the hijaab is an obstacle,
clouding the mind, and comment that female converts are either brainwashed,
stupid or traitors to their sex. I reject such accusations and pose to them
the following question: why is it that so many women who have been born and
brought in the so called 'civilized' societies of Europe and America are
willing to reject their 'liberty' and 'independence' to embrace a religion
that supposedly oppresses them and is widely assumed to be prejudicial to
them?

As a Christian convert to Islam, I can only present my personal experience
and reasons for rejecting the 'freedom' that women claim to have in this
society in favour of the only Religion that truly liberates women by giving
us a status and position, which is completely unique when compared with that
of our non-Muslim counterparts. Before coming to Islam, I had strong
feminist tendencies and recognized that where a woman was concerned, a lot
of shuffling around had been going on, yet without being able to pin her on
the social map. The problem was ongoing: new 'women's issues' being raised
without the previous ones being satisfactorily resolved. Like the many women
who shared my background, I would
accuse Islam of being a sexist religion, discriminating, oppressing and
giving men the greater privileges. All of this, coming from a person who did
not even know Islam, one who had been blinded due to ignorance and had
accepted this deliberately distorted definition of Islam.

However, despite my criticisms of Islam, inwardly, I wasn't satisfied with
my own status as a woman in this society. It seemed to me that society would
define such terms as 'liberty' and 'freedom' and then these definitions were
accepted by women without us even attempting to question or challenge them.
There was clearly a great contradiction between what women were told in
theory and what actually happened in practice. The more I pondered, the
greater emptiness I felt within. I was slowly beginning to reach a stage
where my dissatisfaction with my status as a women in this society, was
really a reflection of my greater dissatisfaction with society itself.
Everything seemed to be degenerating backwards, despite the claims that the
1990's was going to be the decade of success and prosperity. Something vital
seemed to be missing from my life and nothing would fill this vacuum.

Being a Christian did not do anything for me, and I began to question the
validity of only remembering God one day a week - Sundays! As with many
other Christians too, I had become disillusioned with the hypocrisy of the
Church and was becoming increasingly unhappy with the concept of Trinity and
the deification of Jesus.

Eventually, I began to look into Islam. At first, I was only interested in
looking at those issues, which specifically dealt with women. I was
surprised. What I read and learned, taught me a lot about myself as a woman,
and also about where the real oppression of a woman lies: in every other
system and way of life outside of Islam. Muslim women have been given their
rights in every aspect of the religion with clear definitions of their role
in society - as had men - with no injustice against either of them. As Allah
says: «"Whoever does deeds of righteousness, be they male or female, and
have faith, they will enter paradise and not the least injustice will be
done to them"» [Nisaa 4:124]

So having amended my misconceptions about the true status of women in Islam,
I was now looking further. I wanted to find that thing which was going to
fill the vacuum in my life. My attention was drawn towards the beliefs and
practices of Islam. It was only through establishing the fundamentals that I
would understand where to turn and what to prioritize. These are often the
areas, which receive little attention or controversy in society, and when
studying the Islamic Creed, it becomes clear why this is the case: such
concise, faultless and wholly comprehensive details cannot be found
elsewhere.

http://www.beconvinced.com/en/article.php?articleid=0073&catid=09&subcatname=Conversion%20To%20Islam


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