Ingrid Mattson – Muslim leader woman journey to Islam

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 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 read about their religion.

I didn't know anything about Islam,

and, so for the first time I opened

up a Koran. And it was really the

Koran

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 Koran,

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 last to actually accept?

Well, I think that I mean, the first

hurdle

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 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 will treat anyone who is different

in 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,

then they'll treat you with respect.

If

you are a kind person 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, for 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.