IslamReligion.com.
\nBy C.S. Mathos<\/p>\n
I am C.S. Mathos.\u00a0 I was born into a secular family on August 1st, 1992, in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 My mom was once a Christian, and as a kid she went to a Quaker church.\u00a0 She went to a church camp, and was literally scared away from her religion due to some priest that preached Armageddon all the time.\u00a0 She remained secular for the rest of her life, really.\u00a0 She was more of an agnostic, not atheistic like I was.\u00a0 To explain, I was surprisingly logical as a child, and reasoned that it was impossible that a god existed.\u00a0 Really, I didn\u2019t care about religion back then.\u00a0 I had an obsession with dinosaurs, and wanted to learn more and more about them.\u00a0 I remember things like a T-rex weighed 7 tons, a Triceratops herd would protect their young by forming a circle, and fight off the predators, and a Veloceraptor was able to run about 75 mph.<\/p>\n
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I was obviously ridiculed when my love for paleontology did not subside.\u00a0 It did go away (somewhat) when I became interested in dragons and such.\u00a0 The insults didn\u2019t affect me very much because I was always in an \u201cemotional shell\u201d, keeping things I wanted to really say in my head.\u00a0 When I did speak, I was most often honest, soft spoken, and didn\u2019t have much to say, because I didn\u2019t trust people, and I liked my imagination better than the real world.\u00a0 Even when 9\/11\u2019s attacks came, I didn\u2019t talk much, and didn\u2019t react to it.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t scare me at all; I thought the word \u201cMuslim\u201d was the term for an ethnic group, and I was only concerned about the Iraq war when innocent people were raped in that Abu Ghraib prison scandal.\u00a0 Even then, I just got over it and became annoyed when it was repeatedly appearing on the news.\u00a0 When I did come out of my shell (5th grade), I fought with people about religion and politics.\u00a0 I believed there were hypocrisies in Christianity, which was the only religion I remembered at that time.<\/p>\n
When I became 13 years old, I really received insults, and took them seriously.\u00a0 I was depressed, my grades were only acceptable, and at that time I wasn\u2019t interested in anything.\u00a0 I decided I needed a religion.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t really search for one, just believed there was one God, and, because of my bitterness, I blamed my problems on Him.\u00a0 I started paying attention more and more to politics, forgot about religion for the most part, and I started reading books on Hitler and WWII.\u00a0 I was really interested in WWII, Nazism, and, increasingly, communism.\u00a0 I was told all my life communism was a failed ideology, but I wanted to learn the other side of the argument: the side of the communists.\u00a0 I picked up the Communist Manifesto, read Wiki articles, looked up Communist Party materials, and I joined the Marxist movement.\u00a0 I saw myself actually fighting for something; a society that is truly free and just, equal and united.<\/p>\n
I busied myself with the movement, and joined a group.\u00a0 I\u2019m not naming it.\u00a0 I told people I was a communist only when they asked.\u00a0 Boy, you thought someone can be made fun of before I became a communist.\u00a0 Don\u2019t want to talk about it.\u00a0 It\u2019s too depressing.\u00a0 I actually broke down crying at the dinner table because of so much torment by my classmates.\u00a0 I just needed a religion.\u00a0 I tried out Christianity, however I flat out left it.\u00a0 Too many contradictions, sectarianism, and hypocrisy.<\/p>\n
I looked around, and around, I looked at everything, from Christianity to Greek Mythology.\u00a0 I decided to look at Islam last, since I took into account the prejudices of war and the possibility that I may actually be killed by someone due to following such a religion.\u00a0 I gave up on everything else, and I said to myself: \u201cThe last thing you have to go to is Islam.\u00a0 Just get a Quran and read it.\u00a0 Hell, it may be what you\u2019re looking for.\u201d \u00a0I got the Quran off of a website, and got it in the mail 5 days after it was ordered.\u00a0 It was dark green; so dark green, I thought it was black.\u00a0 It has a beautiful leather binding, gold imprints on it.\u00a0 I started reading it, and I just saw that it was nothing as it was portrayed on TV.\u00a0 I saw that there was only one God, and there was no one else to worship but He.\u00a0 I saw this, and I wanted to join the religion.<\/p>\n
I searched on the Internet on how to pray, and found the site www.islamreligion.com, and I saw \u201cHow to Convert to Islam and become a Muslim\u201d on the menu.\u00a0 I decided that writing down how to pray was for later, conversion was needed for me.\u00a0 I needed to submit to God.\u00a0 NOW.\u00a0 I found the Shahada, and I wrote it down.\u00a0 Then, I took the Shahada, and became a Muslim.\u00a0 As soon as I did, I felt the pain in my heart lift, and I felt truly happy.\u00a0 God has been good to me, and I try to pray 5 times every day to him.\u00a0 However, due to the circumstances of war prejudices, other people\u2019s intolerance, and other people\u2019s sectarianism, I have to practice my religion in secret.\u00a0 I pray to God in the morning, noon, sundown, evening, and at 11:00 or 12:00 at night.\u00a0 When I can drive, I\u2019ll drive to the nearest mosque every Friday.\u00a0 My own mother doesn\u2019t even know I\u2019m a Muslim.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell her when I\u2019m truly ready, or when I\u2019m an adult and live elsewhere, or I\u2019m in college.\u00a0 I pray that God keeps me away from disbelief, and help me become the best Muslim I can be while practicing in secret.\u00a0 If my mom is reading this, try to understand my religion before you pass judgment.\u00a0 Let me practice my religion in peace, without your ridicules and jokes, which are hurtful.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been practicing Islam for a week, I think.\u00a0 I lose track of time.<\/p>\n
Non-Muslims that are reading this, I suggest you read the Quran and become a Muslim.\u00a0 Peace be upon you, and God\u2019s blessings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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