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Don Trammell, Ex-Christian, USA (part 1 of 2)
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Description: A conversation about Islam leads a man to travel to Egypt and finally accept Islam. Part 1: The first step.
By Don Trammell (from IslamOnline.net with permission)
- Published on 16 Jan 2006 - Last modified on 04 Oct 2006
Viewed: 9516 - Rating: 4.1 from 5 - Rated by: 18
Printed: 306 - Emailed: 15 - Commented on: 1
Category: Articles
> Stories of New Muslims
> Men
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It has been said that the journey of a thousand
miles begins with the first step. My journey to Islam was a bit more
circuitous but in the end, it led me to the waiting mercy of God.
I first heard about Islam back in 1999 while
working for a Finnish software house. I was searching the Net and entered a
chat room. While here, I met an Egyptian woman that was curious about wireless
technology. We continued to meet and chat via the Internet and discuss the
different aspects of wireless solutions and the future of the technology. Throughout
our conversations, I asked more and more about Islam and why she believed what
she believed. Through it all, she was very patient and understanding of my
questions and was very good at explaining things to me about Islam and the differences
between Islam and Christianity.
My religious upbringing was fostered by my
mother, a devout Christian that has a deep sense of spirituality and belief in
God. In some ways, I could say that seeing her faith throughout my upbringing
has left my heart open in the search for the true meaning of life. God has
blessed me with a mother, who in many ways lives a life of Islam through her
daily Christian actions of compassion, and understanding of those around her. My
burgeoning interest in Islam coupled with an already instilled belief in God
was perhaps the opening that I needed on my journey. Prior to my reversion, I
could have been considered a “Christian-lite”. Basically, I was a Christian in
name only. While I did believe in God, I had not submitted Him as the maker
and creator of my destiny. I felt that this was something I was better off
handling rather than letting God decide my fate. Being raised in the West and
subjected to the influences with which we are constantly bombarded did not help
the situation neither. In a word, you could say that I was living by my own
set of rules.
Over the course of about a year, a business
relationship developed and I was introduced to several other Muslim gentlemen
and we arranged that I would travel down to Cairo. It just so happened that my
trip coincided with the holy month of Ramadan. While in Cairo my hosts were [fasting
the month of] Ramadan and so were all of the individuals that we were meeting
with. I was intrigued that everyone was fasting and “suddenly disappearing”,
to return about 15 minutes later. To be part of the crowd, I decided that I
would also begin to observe the days of fasting as a sign of solidarity with my
hosts. I left Cairo a few weeks later wondering about the ritual with which I
had just participated.
I later returned to Cairo for business and was
paired with someone in the marketing section of one of the largest ISP’s in Cairo to talk about how to integrate wireless solutions into the market down in Cairo. We
were preparing for Cairo Telecomp, a large IT trade fair that required many
sleepless days and nights of preparation. My host, Ms. Noha, and I were
together night and day working on the presentation that we would deliver. I
noticed that at certain times of the day, she would simply excuse herself and
suddenly return about 15 minutes later. After a few days of interruptions I
confronted her as to what was so important that she had to stop in the middle
of or preparations. Shyly, and after several minutes of question avoidance,
she admitted that she was going to do her daily prayers, and that she was
performing them at their prescribed times. My feelings of annoyance quickly
faded away and were replaced with feelings of awe and respect. I too wanted to
have this feeling of the importance of God in my life. Slowly I began to ask
more and more questions about Islam and what it is like to be a Muslim. Noha
never pushed but used a gentle hand to guide me in the direction where I could
find the information that I needed to learn more. I left Egypt at the end of Cairo Telecomp confused but with a desire and burning on my heart, not to
mention a suitcase full of books to quench my thirst to learn more.
A quick four-day trip brought me back to Cairo towards the end of March 2001. My first stop was to my virtual Islam teacher, to ask
her more questions about the things that I had read. The time passed faster
than what seemed expected on this trip as there was not enough time in the day
to work and to talk about Islam. One important thing that I also realized is
that I had fallen in love. My heart was completely with the warm and friendly
people that I had grown to care for and to feel as good friends. It was as if God
was opening my heart to another side of humanity that I had not known before. Being
from the West, one can easily become jaded and not trust or accept the basic
acts of kindness that seem to be pervasive in the Middle East. I felt that my
heart had found a home.
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