Ingrid Mattson – How became Muslim Interview

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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