Aasiya Upshal

Revert Q&A

I grew up religious and really interested in knowing more about God. My family are all Christian but they are from different sectors, so i grew up hearing different points of views and angles. However, there were certain things that just didn’t make sense to me. For example, the holy trinity. Due to my lack of understanding of this, I was still religious but didn’t label myself as Christian. I’m always intrigued in conversation about religion and one day I was explaining to my friends why I don't class myself as a Christian. They told me that in Islam there’s a different perspective and explained to me about things such as prophets and jannah/jahannam. I continued to learn from one friend in particular who guided me a lot throughout my journey. I did my own research and read books about Islam, and the more I learned the more I fell in love with it. I completely understood everything i was reading and didn’t feel the need to question any of it, just learn and expand my knowledge. I even listened to podcasts about Islam and being a revert when i was out and about and I knew it was something I wholeheartedly believed in.

I became muslim on the 10th of july 2021. It was my first time going to the mosque with my friend, and we were planning for me to just go and try praying there, however after praying I told my friend that I knew I was ready and I didn’t want to wait anymore to become muslim. so on the spot we went to speak to the imam and I reverted the same day alhamdulillah.

I havent experienced my first ramadan yet! However I am very excited for my first ramadan this year and honestly quite nervous. It will be a good time for me to reflect in sha Allah and I am very lucky to have good friends who I know will support me throughout the month alhamdulillah

Becoming a muslim has completely changed my life. I feel like since reverting I have discovered a whole new meaning to this life and my view on the world has totally changed. I can cope much better with hardship as I know it is all a test from Allah (swt) and I am greatful for every obstacle in my journey. I’ve become a more understanding and gentle person and I really hope that as I become closer to the deen, I will become an even better muslim in sha Allah.

I was Christian before reverting to Islam, but I was not practicing.

A lot of mixed reactions. my dad is not really bothered about my religion however my mum is not very accepting of my reverting. My mum is from slovakia and there aren’t many muslims there, so my family don’t really understand why I would become muslim. I do understand from her perspective, as if I had a child and they told me they wanted to become christian I would find it hard to accept. Everyone has their own journey with the deen and in sha Allah my mum will come to accept it in time. I have to say my brothers have been so supportive in my journey. One of them is always reading my Quran and asking me questions about the deen, and the little one loves to learn new words and how to pray etc. He was so excited when I told him I reverted and it honestly helped me so much to feel support from the people I love.

Definitely wearing hijab. I wore it for some months after reverting but ended up having to take it off as I had rushed into it too fast and wasn’t ready yet. I would definitely say that you should take your time perfecting your salah and learning more about the deen rather than pushing yourself to be perfect in every aspect, as reverting is already a big step you should be proud of. Another thing that is difficult is eating halal. My family doesn’t buy halal meat so often i don’t eat with them which can be lonely at times.

Trust yourself & don’t worry about other peoples opinions or whether you live up to their expectations. Your deen is between you and Allah only. You are good enough <3.