Islam Is For Everyone
By Yahiye Adam Gadahn

 
My first seventeen years have been a bit different than the youth
experienced by most Americans. I grew up on an extremely rural goat
ranch in Western Riverside County, California, where my family
raises on average 150 to 200 animals for milk, cheese, and meat. My
father is a halal butcher [a butcher who slaughters in an Islamic
manner -ed.] and supplies to an Islamic Food Mart a few blocks from
the Islamic Center in downtown Los Angeles.

My father was raised agnostic or atheist, but he became a believer
in One God when he picked up a Bible left on the beach. He once had
a number of Muslim friends, but they've all moved out of California
now. My mother was raised Catholic, so she leans towards
Christianity (although she, like my father, disregards the Trinity).
I and my siblings were/are home-schooled, and as you may know, most
home-school families are Christian. In the last 8 or so years, we
have been involved with some home-schooling support groups, thus
acquainting me with fundamentalist Christianity. It was an eye-
opening experience. Setting aside the blind dogmatism and
charismatic wackiness, it was quite a shock to me when I realized
that these people, in their prayers, were actually praying TO JESUS.
You see, I had always believed that Jesus (pbuh) was, at the very
most, the Son of God (since that is what the Bible
mistranslates "Servant of God" as). As I learned that belief in the
Trinity, something I find absolutely ridiculous, is considered by
most Christians to be a prerequisite for salvation, I gradually
realized I could not be a Christian.

In the meantime, I had become obsessed with demonic Heavy Metal
music, something the rest of my family (as I now realize, rightfully
so) was not happy with. My entire life was focused on expanding my
music collection. I eschewed personal cleanliness and let my room
reach an unbelievable state of disarray. My relationship with my
parents became strained, although only intermittently so. I am sorry
even as I write this.

Earlier this year, I began to listen to the apocalyptic ramblings of
Christian radio's "prophecy experts." Their paranoid espousal of
various conspiracy theories, rabid support of Israel and religious
Zionism, and fiery preaching about the "Islamic Threat" held for me
a strange fascination. Why? Well, I suppose it was simply the need I
was feeling to fill that void I had created for myself. In any case,
I soon found that the beliefs these evangelists held, such as
Original Sin and the Infallibility of "God's Word", were not in
agreement with my theological ideas (not to mention the Bible) and I
began to look for something else to hold onto.

The turning point, perhaps, was when I moved in with my grandparents
here in Santa Ana, the county seat of Orange, California. My
grandmother, a computer whiz, is hooked up to America Online and I
have been scooting the information superhighway since January. But
when I moved in, with the intent of finding a job (easier said than
done), I begin to visit the religion folders on AOL and the Usenet
newsgroups, where I found discussions on Islam to be the most
intriguing. You see, I discovered that the beliefs and practices of
this religion fit my personal theology and intellect as well as
basic human logic. Islam presents God not as an anthropomorphic
being but as an entity beyond human comprehension, transcendent of
man, independent and undivided. Islam has a holy book that is
comprehensible to a layman, and there is no papacy or priesthood
that is considered infallible in matters of interpretation: all
Muslims are free to reflect and interpret the book given a
sufficient education. Islam does not believe that all men are doomed
to Hell unless they simply accept that God (apparently unable to
forgive otherwise) magnanimously allowed Himself to be tortured on a
cross to enable Him to forgive all human beings who just believe
that He allowed Himself to be tortured on a cross... Islam does not
believe in a Chosen Race. And on and on...

As I began reading English translations of the Qur'an, I became more
and more convinced of the truth and authenticity of Allah's
teachings contained in those 114 chapters. Having been around
Muslims in my formative years, I knew well that they were not the
bloodthirsty, barbaric terrorists that the news media and the
televangelists paint them to be. Perhaps this knowledge led me to
continue my personal research further than another person would
have. I can't say when I actually decided that Islam was for me. It
was really a natural progression. In any case, last week [November
1995 -ed.]I went to the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden
Grove and told the brother in charge of the library I wanted to be a
Muslim. He gave me some excellent reading material, and last Friday
I took Shahada [accepted the creed of Islam -ed.] in front of a
packed masjid. I have spent this week learning to perform Salat and
reflecting on the greatness of Allah. It feels great to be a Muslim!

Subhaana rabbiyal 'azeem!