Alhamdulillah ( thank God) , I have been blessed by God with the gift of Islam since 2006. When I was asked to write to the path I took and how God has blessed me , I hesitated . I saw other personal glory caught saying how they knew Islam and did not want to have the same challenge .blessed
I ask you to take this story as the work of God and focus on His mercy and greatness rather than my particular story , Insha'Allah . No one comes to Islam without the mercy of Allah and it is your job is not the restoration of what really matters .God
Was born in a nominally Roman Catholic family in upstate New York. I had a Catholic mother and a Presbyterian father converted to Catholicism to marry .Islam
We go to church on Sunday and I went through catechism, first communion, confirmation and possibly within the Roman Catholic Church .blessed When I was young , I began to feel a call Allah. This call took this as a call to the Catholic priesthood and told my mother as such. She's happy with it , I find the local parish priest .God
Fortunately or unfortunately , this particular priest was not happy with his vocation and advised me to stay away from the priesthood. This bothers me and to this day do not know how things would have been different if the response was positive .Islam
This brush before the call of God and my own madness and my teens , I went the other way. My family was broken at an early age , when I was seven and I have suffered the loss of my father , who was not present after the divorce God
From the age of 15, I began to be more interested in discos and parties that the Lord of the Universe .blessed}}} He dreamed of becoming a lawyer and politician with a penthouse in Manhattan in order to participate in the life of a party with style .God
After graduating with honors from my high school , I went to college briefly . But my own twisted accent led me to drop out of college and moved to Arizona (where I'm living so far ) instead of getting my degree .
It's something I regret to this day. Once in Arizona, my situation has gone from bad to worse. I fell into much worse than what I had at home and started using drugs crowd.blessed}}} Due to my lack of education, he was working low-end jobs and continue to spend my time with drugs , promiscuity and nightclubs .God
Meanwhile, I had my first encounter with a Muslim. He was a good man who was attending a local college as a foreign student . He went out with one of my friends , and often accompanied us for nightclubs and other parties who assist . I have not spoken to him Islam , but asked about his culture that he shared freely.blessed Islam did not come. Once again , I wonder how things would have been different if it had been a practicing Muslim .God
My unhealthy lifestyle continued for some years and I will not think about it in more detail . I had a lot of trauma , people I knew died , I was stabbed and otherwise, but this is not a story about the dangers of drugs .
I only mention it to say that no matter where you are, God can bring their Insha'Allah . I'll fast forward to when I got clean of drugs. Part of the process to stop using drugs and narcotics is to establish a relationship with a "higher power ." God
For most it is God or other expressions of divinity . I had long before losing the connection with God , so I went to find my higher power. Unfortunately , I have found the truth in the first place. Instead , I went to Hinduism attracted me by his explanation of why the suffering that happened .
I'm all in , even rename a Hindu name . It was enough to keep me off drugs and spend my life in a positive way , for which I am grateful. Finally , even though I started to feel the pull of Allah . It began to show that to me , Hinduism is not the right way .God
Allah continued until I left needle Hinduism and started to return to Christianity. I went to the Catholic Church to become a priest , because that's what I felt God called me and offered me an education and a job at a monastery in New Mexico . At that time, my family ( mother, brother and sister) had moved to Arizona and had a close relationship with many friends .God
Needless to say he was not yet ready . Instead, I found an independent Catholic church could see through its program of seminars of the house and become ordained and assigned where they already lived . This independent Catholic Church also appealed to my liberal ideals that had developed through my years living on the streets. I attended your seminar program and in 2005 , was ordained a priest .God
My first ministry was in my new role interfaith relations My mission was to visit and learn about different . religious traditions in the Phoenix metropolitan area and share a message of interfaith peace and understanding of my church with them .God
Most Christian traditions who had studied and knew . I brushed Judaism and other religions of the Far East. I was what is called a worker priest , which means I had a job while I was doing my ministry. I changed jobs in the corporate world working in a mental health agency . God
My position was across the street from a mosque. I thought this was my chance to learn about Islam for my relations. I went to the mosque and I met some very friendly brothers that I went to the mosque in Tempe , Arizona .God
I also began to read about Islam independently and was surprised by the way he was moved by what I read . God had me now, but do not know yet . I went to the mosque Tempe and had to meet a wonderful teacher as Ahmad Al Akum 's .God
Br . At Akum , which is the regional director of the Muslim American Society , had an introduction to Islam open to people of all religions who started attending class. By attending this class, I began to see that Islam is the truth . It was not until shortly after giving testimony of faith in Tempe mosque with Sheikh Ahmed Shaqeirat . Both Br .God Akum and Sheikh Al Shaqeirat are great men , and without them there would have been as comfortable entering Islam. I resigned from the church and I have never been a Muslim and Alhamdulillah .God
My life has changed for the better since I embraced Islam At first my family was hurt because I left the priesthood and did not understand , even to fear Islam. But from the way they interact with them, based on the increase of my happiness and trying to comply with the Quran and the Sunnah , that has changed , because they saw that it was good .God
Br . At Akum knew that the first year is always the most difficult to restore. To reduce the stress of it, made sure it was included in many community activities and met many good brethren who follow . It is only through contact with another turn Muslims can succeed .God
Left on their own, can be very difficult and faith to slide too far , so if you know reverse , please visit at least once every three days. I've made more progress in my work due to my new base as a Muslim. I became manager of a program of alcohol and drug prevention , HIV and hepatitis for populations at risk .God
I volunteer , not just the Muslim American Society , but also the Muslim Youth Center of Arizona and other Muslim causes . I was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Tempe mosque where I took Shahadah . Alhamdulillah also said that my true friends were not against .God
I have less non-Muslim friends now that I cannot participate in the activities they choose to do for fun , but I have developed valuable friendships with fellow Muslims who are better than anything we had in the past . Insha'Allah , Allah willing , I would like to study Fiqh advance the cause of Islam and enjoy the Ummah that I love. This was all by the grace of Allah and the mistakes are mine .God
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