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• Puerto Rican/American
• Was a Baptist Christian
• Became a Muslim on Sept. 26, 1997
“I was born & raised in a Puerto Rican household in NYC. Once I was able to think for myself, without getting into much trouble, I started asking questions. ‘How can it be that
Jesus IS God?’ ‘How do you figure 3 different entities to BE 1 God?’ ‘Why can't we pray directly TO God, instead of through others?’ ‘Who said you HAVE to be Christian to go to Heaven?' 'How come we're only religious on Sundays and holidays?' The usual response was, 'Because that's the way it is.' I found, and still find, that answer unacceptable.
By the time I finished high school I'd decided on my own religion: ‘Jubieism’. I believed in 1 God. I believed that God sent various Messengers and Prophets to various people in order for His message to be spread.
And then in 1993, I went to college... a CATHOLIC college... a Catholic college where you were REQUIRED to take a religion class to graduate... So I took "Survey of World Religions".
We had several guest speakers on various religions. We only studied Islam for a month, but it was definitely the most interesting section of the semester, and a lot of misconceptions were knocked down.
I remember asking one Muslim lecturer If `I'm a Christian who believes in 1 God only, and believes that Mohammed was a Messenger of God, and am a good person, am I still going to Hell?' She smiled, and said `No. But that means you aren't a Christian either.'
She was right...
And here I am...1 year after I've graduated from that Catholic College (and after a lot of research, and even more soul searching), I still have the same beliefs I did before. Except now, it’s not ‘Jubieism’, it's Islaam."
Mohtadeen |
