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This story was shared by a Malaysian girl who used to be a party girl, but she turned over a new leaf after meeting her Muslim boyfriend.
I used to be a Christian girl that went to church. I was baptised, took my communion and even went for weekly Sunday School.
My parents were Christian and they were very traditional and they would tell me how important our God is for the blessings in our life. It was also very common for them to mention that I cannot date any Muslim boys.
Their fear was that I would convert. I guess they were right, because I found Islam through my boyfriend. When I first told my family that I had become a Muslim, they did not take it well. I was 17 years old and still in high school.
I grew up a wild child
If you saw me a few years ago when I was 14, you wouldn’t know I’m the same person. I liked to party hard, take drugs, and had many boyfriends.
Since I was 11, I was sexually active, doing things that were inappropriate for girls that age. I started drinking alcohol when I was just 13, and that’s when I began partying with my friends, who were all 18 years old and above.
At that time, I thought it was cool to have friends older than me. Now, I see that I was severely misguided. As I reflect on it now, I see it was because men who were older than me were taking advantage of me.
Where were my parents, you may ask?
My parents were both workaholics. They ran their own company which sold medical devices and machines. They were often busy and when they were not back late from meetings, they were away on business trips, mostly in Europe.
I got used to learning how to be independent from a young age. When I was 13 to 16, a driver would take me to an international school every day, and we had a helper that would keep the house clean.
In my house in Damansara Heights, there was always plenty of money on the kitchen table to buy food or anything I needed. As an only child, I had the house to myself most of the time.
So, I became “that kid” in school that threw those big epic parties. We had a pool and I often held these parties when my parents were away.
I met my boyfriend after an attempt to end it all
From the ages of 11-16, I did everything that kids shouldn’t do at that age. I snuck out every night, invited older boys into my house, and overdosed on alcohol till I would black out and pass out. I even went out on dates with random men in their late 20s.
It may have looked like I was having fun, but I was actually severely depressed. One day, I tried to take my own life and ended up in the hospital. I was 16 years old. I was admitted to the psych ward where I spent a week there.
My time there really made me evaluate my life. I picked up reading as a hobby, and was committed to instil good habits in myself.
Soon after, I met Azmi, my current boyfriend. We met at a book club that was held in school. Azmi was the opposite of any guys I had dated before. He showed me respect, care and he never took me for granted.
He was also very religious and took his religious duties seriously. He prayed 5 times a day and often shared with me the teachings of Islam. Slowly, I started falling in love with the teachings of Islam.
One of the principles that I really admired about Islam was that the Quran was objective morality. I didn’t have to guess whether something was good or evil. Instead, here was a text that told you point blank what it was.
It’s also a text that has been authenticated by many scholars, so it wasn’t just a random set of rules. During a time where I felt so lost, it was my guide on how to live a good life.
Coming out as a Muslim to my family
After a year of practising secretly from my family, I decided to convert and be fully committed. I started using the hijab when I went out, but I would hide it from my parents.
Finally, I decided to tell them the truth as I wanted to be fully covered when I went out with them. I planned on breaking the news on a day when they were not going to be rushing to a meeting.
We were having lunch at a restaurant in Ampang. At this point, my parents already knew that I was practising as a Muslim, but this would be the first time I wore the hijab in public.
When he saw me come out of the car wearing it, my dad raised his voice at first, but quickly lowered it as he realised we were out in public. The rest of the meal was spent in awkward silence. My mom tried her best to pretend that everything was normal, but the air was tense and all of us felt it.
In all fairness, I could really notice that my parents were trying to be as understanding as possible with me. But after that lunch, our relationship has never been quite the same.
My extended relatives criticised my parents
My heart broke when one day, we went to a family dinner, and I wore my hijab for the first time in front of uncles and aunts.
The backlash was painful to witness. No one said much to me, but they did not hold back on my parents. I couldn’t believe the things they said. They were openly attacking my parents parenting skills, with me right there.
I was disgusted at their behaviour for blaming my parents at something that was my choice. That was the last family dinner I went to.
After I was out about my faith, I believe that my parents could see that I’m much happier and not depressed since then. I was mentally stable and I could tell they worried less about me now.
Currently, I’m a full time student at Sunway College, and no one knows of my past. They all know me for being a religious, well-mannered and soft spoken girl. They don’t know the version of me that was wild and crazy. I have almost forgotten that version of myself.
Do you know anyone who reverted to Islam?
Submit your story to this Google form or email us at hello@inreallife.my and you may be featured on In Real Life Malaysia.
Read also: I Converted To Islam To Marry The Love Of My Life
https://inreallife.my/i-converted-to-islam-to-marry-the-love-of-my-life/
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