Ingrid Mattson – How became Muslim Interview
AI: Summary ©
A woman discusses her past experiences with Islam and how it has made her feel more empowered. She talks about her faith in God and how her community of supportive people has helped her regain faith. She also talks about her experience with addiction and how it has affected her life. She encourages support for the 84 Why Islam Project and encourages donations to the organization.
AI: Summary ©
Tell us about how you embraced Islam
and how has it become.
And, actually, how how difficult has it been
being a Muslim woman here in the US?
Well,
I didn't know any Muslims,
growing up. I grew up in Canada, and
the first Muslims I met were,
from Senegal and Mauritania
when I was,
studying in France.
Wonderful people.
They're from,
very solid communities,
caring, compassionate
communities,
and I, I saw in them the spirit
of,
generosity,
patience, compassion
that really appealed to me,
just as from a friendship point of view.
But because they were such kind people,
I wanted to know more about their life,
about the country they lived in, their cultural
context.
And because of that, I, I, realizing that
they were Muslim,
and they were very low key about it.
I mean, they weren't trying to push their
religion on me by any means.
I, I read about their religion.
I didn't know anything about Islam.
And, so for the first time, I opened
up a Quran,
and it was really the Quran
that brought me to Islam because when I
at that point in my life, I didn't
have any faith in God.
And by the time I had spent some,
some time reading the Quran,
I found that I had regained my faith
in God.
So it was really,
out of gratitude to the Quran
that I felt that I should continue to
learn,
you know, what is this tradition that brought
me
this, sacred book that allowed me to regain
something so valuable
in my life?
And how difficult has it been here in
the West to actually accept the ISOM?
Well, I think that, I mean, the first
hurdle for,
for, certainly for my friends and family was
just,
understanding the implications of Islam.
You know, I became a Muslim in the
mid, mid eighties and at that time,
Islam wasn't in the news like it is
now, for better or worse.
So there was a lot of fear about
what that would mean, with respect to my
life.
And, of course, many of my friends and
family
felt that at least, putting myself in a
position where,
I was affiliated with a group about which
there was little known,
and certainly now it would be little known
or a lot,
known that's, that's untrue,
would make my life more difficult.
You know, I can only say that that
my life has been filled with blessings.
Being a Muslim means that I,
not only that I have this,
this long tradition
of
teaching of spirituality and ethics that I can
draw upon and learn. And my life has
been in scholarship,
but also a community of people who are
supportive.
And, of course, there are some people who
are,
who will treat anyone who's different,
in a negative way. People who have prejudices.
People who have fears. But my experience has,
has,
you know,
mostly been positive.
I think most people simply want to know
that that you will treat them with respect,
and they'll treat you with respect.
If if you are a kind person
and and try to be helpful,
to anyone, try to contribute positively to your
society, then others will value that.
And,
you know, no matter who we are, we're
going to face obstacles.
We're going to face some people who are
ignorant,
whether,
you know, from whatever reason. They, they, they
might treat you that way.
But if you have if you have a
community and if you have
values and principles,
that can support you and you can draw
upon to at least hold on to your
own sense of dignity,
and value,
then then you'll be able to get through
that. And and I'm so grateful
that I have all of that that wealth
that is within Islam,
to allow me to continue to go forward.
Are you satisfied with letting others misrepresent Islam?
No. We must do something.
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