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In the Name of Allah, most
Compassionate, most Merciful
Becoming Muslim
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,
independant 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!
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