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Dawood Kinney, Ex-Catholic, USA
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Description: After indulging in the pleasures of most teenagers, Dawood finds his faith in Islam after being rejected by the Catholic Church.
By Dawood Kinney
Published on 16 Jan 2006 - Last modified on 31 Jul 2006
Viewed: 11373 (daily average: 5) - Rating: 4.6 out of 5 - Rated by: 51
Printed: 506 - Emailed: 13 - Commented on: 6
Category: Articles
> Stories of New Muslims
> Men
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As far back as I can remember as a child, I was
always astounded by this universe in which we live; how everything works
perfectly. I used to lie outside at night on my parent's lawn, staring up at
the stars, just amazed at the unfathomable size of the heavens. And I also
used to be amazed at how the human body just ticked along, heart beating, lungs
pumping, with no help from me. And from that early time, I always in some way
knew, there just had to be a Creator responsible for all this.
But then as I segued into my teens, it was much
easier to succumb to peer pressure, and I lost interest in the Divine and
instead devoted my time to alcohol, sex and the immature games of a young male
growing up in America. Growing into young adulthood, my obsessions became
money, power, a better house, a faster car, and a prettier woman--all shallow
pursuits.
I lived this way for many years, slowly losing
control of my life, thinking I was pursuing happiness when all I was getting
was more depressed, more confused, and making more and more of a mess of my
life.
At some point, my life just sort of spiraled to
the bottom and I cracked. My immediate response was to turn to God, and,
having been raised Catholic, it was to that church that I turned. At the time,
I had been divorced and remarried and came to find out that the Catholic Church
didn't want me. Hurt and angry, but also realizing a need for a spiritual
order in my life, I turned to Buddhism.
The Buddhist sect I became involved with
followed a Tibetan tradition, where importance is placed on gaining
empowerments, which are basically blessings from various Buddhas. At some
point I realized I was not really bettering myself, just running around gaining
empowerments, performing elaborate rituals. All of a sudden, I realized that
one of the last things the Buddha said before passing away was not to worship him.
I realized this whole practice was BASED on worshipping not only
"the" Buddha, but also all these other Buddhas. I became very
discouraged and reverted to my old ways of indulgence in alcohol and other
forbidden pleasures. And once again, I became very depressed, only this time
with emotional side effects that began to manifest in very frightening and
self-destructive ways.
When I was a young man, I was very much
"into" the music of Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam). When I heard he
had embraced Islam, I was in the U.S. Navy at the time and this was during the
"hostage crisis" in Iran. So, I immediately drew the conclusion that
Cat Stevens has become a terrorist, and I kept that belief for many years.
A couple months or so ago, I heard he was going
to be interviewed on TV, and I wanted to hear about this crazy man who had left
a great life to become a terrorist. Well, needless to say, I was just floored
by the interview, because he was certainly no terrorist, but a soft-spoken,
articulate, peaceful man who radiated love, and patience, and intelligence. The
very next day, I began researching Islam on the Internet. I came across a
lecture in RealAudio by a brother, Khaled Yasin, and well, this lecture really
put me over the top.
The first one by Br. Khaled is really the one
that did it for me, but the other two by Br. Yusef (Cat Stevens) really speaks
to those of us who did not grow up in a Muslim society.). It all made so much
SENSE, the existence of God was so SIMPLE to understand! How could I have been
so stupid all this time???
Well, the more I learned the more I was
convinced that this was truly the path I had been searching for. It contained
the discipline--physical, mental, and spiritual--that leads to true peace and
happiness. But most importantly, it contains that path to God. Pronouncing my
Shahada was such a CLEANSING experience, and since this time, I have often just
… cried and cried and cried. How wonderful!
I have received such a warm and embracing
welcome from all Muslim brothers and sisters from around the world; I take
great comfort in this, knowing that, despite any adversity or setback, I am
literally surrounded by my Muslim family that will never abandon me as long as
I remain Muslim. No other group of people has ever treated me in this way.
I still have a very long and arduous path ahead.
Accepting the reality of Islam is the easy part, walking the Straight Path is
the hard part, especially once one had firmly implanted himself in a society of
unbelievers. But I pray to God every day for strength and guidance, and I just
take it one day at a time, trying to improve in Islam little by little each
day.
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