From visits to traditional muslim weddings to enrolling in Islamic classes in Japan, to quitting her job at an American finance company to study Islamic finance... Maya's story is purely filled with the seeking of the Truth, and is proof indeed that Allah truly is the Best of Planners.
“We started to talk about Islam. She told me what would happen at the end of this world and what would happen to non-believers... That night, my value of this world totally changed."
Eileen's first prayer following her reversion was a funny story. "I was dead sure that I was the first Muslim in the world that can’t pray because she's too stupid. I was looking at the pages and going “No way, man. That’s like, What?? This can’t be done!”
"I made Shahada led by Dr Zakir Naik in his lecture with over 1,200 witnesses. My question was how I could deal with other religious practice in society as Japanese Muslim. The answer by him was “If you do not go against what Quran says, it should not be a problem.” It was my last question before reverting. I felt so relieved that I am finally part of Islam and my heart gets clean."
“If I convert to Islam, I don’t want to be lazy about anything for Islam. I want to wear hijab to work, I want to fast, I want to avoid eating pork. But now it’s hard because we have always been taught since young that we must “always eat lunch with a smile and be in a good mood when eating with friends and teachers”."
"When my Muslim boyfriend left me, I was really heartbroken. But come to think if it, I would not have turned to the Truth if I had not met him. My heart is at peace knowing what is meant for me will never miss me, and what missed me is not meant for me."
"There will always be more challenges along the way, but I pray my journey with Him will never stop... Just as God brought people to me to guide me to the Truth, I hope that I too can guide others to the Truth, and not limit themselves to the labels of religion."
"I was a dance instructor and a performer. I loved and had passion for what I did. I did not believe in religion, none made any sense to me. I saw Islam as restrictive and oppressive to women.”
“One year later after I started to study Malaysian, I still had many words that I couldn’t understand. I realised that all of them were related to Islam, so I took classes of Islam….at the time it was only for studying.”