Tag Archives: Egypt

I Was Once A Muslim

By Ordinary Servant | Published March 4, 2015

I am not sure if you knew I was once a Muslim. Yeah, it’s a long story. Perhaps one day I’ll write about it. But for now, I want to focus on tolerance or the lack thereof.

Courtesy of Creative Commons

I went to Egypt, in June following 9/11. I was there for about three weeks. I went alone and rented a spacious loft, overlooking central Egypt.

I thought Bombay had a lot of traffic, but Egypt took it to another level.

I’ve always been a seeker of truth. I had been a Christian and decided to explore Islam. I was in contact with a young, intelligent Muslim zealot, who convinced me to come to Egypt. I’m always down for an adventure. So I booked a flight and head over there. I didn’t even know what the dude looked like. I know, I was crazy, but what else is new.

I arrived to a crowded, hot, and busy Cairo airport. I didn’t speak the language. I stood in what looked like the center of chaos. It was overwhelming. I had to pull myself together and figure things out quickly.

When I exited the airport, he was waiting there with his mother. The first thing I noticed was how tall he was. Egyptians are tall.

We introduced ourselves. I fell in love with his mother immediately. She was by far the sweetest woman on earth. They drove me to where I would be staying for the next three weeks. Then the fun began.

I was driven here and there, meeting with so many powerful leaders. Yeah, little ole me. I was able to ask all sorts of questions and I learned a lot. The one thing I loved was their sense of community. I never saw that in Christian circles. They all helped one another and they showed me nothing but love.

I wept when I had to return to New York City. I didn’t want to leave. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was part of something meaningful. They demonstrated unconditional love that I didn’t experience. They will always hold a dear and special place in my heart until the day I die.

When I returned to New York City, I wore a hijab, which resulted in my getting spit at, cursed at, and accused of being a suicide bomber.

For the short duration, I experienced what it is like to be a Muslim in America. In a city, which is a known for its tolerance, or so I thought. I learned otherwise.

I learned more than I thought I would ever learn. I was able to identify what Muslim women go through and what they continue to go through today.

It saddens me, between the racism and religious intolerance in this country, we haven’t gotten very far at all. Jesus said, we must love our neighbor. This means, even if they believe differently than you.

Have you been the victim of intolerance? What did you do? How did you handle it?

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Conversations With A Black Hebrew Israelite

By Ordinary Servant | Published August 17, 2013

It all began while at this billboard.

Of the HBO award-winning series called “Boardwalk Empire”.

What struck me was the photo of these gangsters. I’ve always been fascinated with the Italian mob.

While observing the billboard, there was a tall, well-dressed African American man to my left.

He says, “Those were the original gangsters and now there’s the Crips and Bloods.”

I say, gang violence makes me sad and mention how a friend in Chicago witnesses the youth dying from gang violence every day.

“That’s because my people don’t know who they are.”

I stop (big mistake), turn around and asked him what he meant by that.

He tells me his people, the American blacks (not the African Americans) and Latinos, are the real Jews and not Jewish people.

Somehow I made the second mistake by mentioning that my husband is half black.

There’s no half black!  He’s either black or he isn’t. Is his father white or black?

I tell him, black.

He’s black then. Period. End of story.

I proceed to bury myself even further by asking him a question.

I asked him what his thoughts were on inter racial marriage.

He responds, there is no hope for me. But there is hope for my husband if he repents by divorcing me.

Is this guy for real?

He says, I’m white and there is no hope for rednecks. White people are from the lineage of Esau. All white people are of the devil.

At this point, my head is spinning.

He continues with his rant about New York City being like ancient Egypt. The buildings like Rome. And all white people will become slaves or destroyed by fire.

He criticizes black women passing by, saying they dress like whores, and they learned it from white women.

He then spots a group of Jehovah Witnesses’ and shouts for them to come over.

They see me, I’m sure with a forlorn expression and asked if I was ok.

I told them that according to him, I have no hope of salvation because I’m white and if my husband, who is black, doesn’t divorce me, he and my children will be destroyed for eternity.

They immediately whip out The Watchtower and Awake magazines, plus their New World Translation bibles.

He quickly bends down, unzips his black duffel bag and takes out his marked-up Apocrypha and King James Bible.

The four Jehovah Witnesses’ were black, so he was on a mission to open their eyes to his truth.

But what I was able to see in their exchange was that he was getting bible verses wrong.

I didn’t have a bible with me (I know, shame on me), but when the Jehovah Witnesses showed up, they were going through their bibles as he was quoting scripture and calling him out on his mistakes.

They all were smart, kind, educated and respectful.

I’ve always been impressed with the Jehovah Witnesses’.

I don’t concur with their theology, but I do respect their dedication.

I personally know of a few and their work ethic is impeccable. They are more dedicated than most evangelicals I know, myself included. They put us to shame actually.

I digress, what an experience.

I actually felt bad for the guy. I mentioned to him that most of my friends are black, so he called me a nigger lover.

At that point, I realized there was no reasoning with him. He was completely convinced white people are the enemy and can’t be trusted.

I walked away feeling helpless and sad. What a disappointing experience.

Have you ever encountered something like this?

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Why I Became A Muslim

By Ordinary Servant | Published January 14, 2013

Why did I become a Muslim? That’s a good question. Because I found the people who call themselves Christians don’t conduct themselves as such.

Courtesy of Creative Commons.

You see, it’s one thing to be a struggling Christian and yet another to be a Christian leader. As a leader, you are not afforded the same liberties as a lay person.

I think the mistake is that many leaders choose what they want to do, even though God didn’t call them. They want God to co-sign whatever they choose, even though He didn’t choose it for them.

This is where I believe things go awry and what causes unnecessary hurts and offenses within the body of Christ. Because they weren’t called to be leaders in the first place.

God allows them to be there because He gives us free will. However, if you are not called into those positions, you will eventually fall on your face and do some major damage in the process.

We see it time and time again amongst leaders; the misuse of power, misuse of money, misuse of position, misuse of authority and a host more.

I just went through something last week that completely threw me for a loop. I had no idea I would get the kind of response I did from someone who is a Christian leader. To make matters worse, they falsely accused me of something I wasn’t even doing.

I can’t tell you how devastated and hurt I was by this Christian’s actions and words. I wasn’t even able to be heard, get a word in edgewise or communicate on any level with this person. I was refused the opportunity, but was cut off and ignored.

The Bible says when we have an issue, we are to take it directly to that person to resolve it. (Matthew 18:15-16). We are also to live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:18).

Leaders are supposed to know how to handle and resolve conflict and not treat others as the world does.

Which brings me back to why I became a Muslim… because of instances like the above.

Christians who are cruel, insensitive and basically have no business being in leadership positions at all as they do not exemplify the love of Christ toward others.

If truth be told, I have been treated better by unsaved people more than I have from Christians. True story.

Which is why I fell in love with the Muslim community. I was hurt by the church in more ways than one, you can read about an incident here. When I decided step down from choir and leave the church.

After 9/11, I went to Egypt by myself. I met some Muslims there and spent time with them. I was treated better than I ever was treated by Christians. I was treated so well that I cried when I had to leave.

Is this shocking for you to read? Well, this is the honest truth. Something I’ve kept hidden all this time.

I have only experienced good things amongst the Muslim community. They are kind, loving, generous and will go out of their way to help you in a heartbeat. They really understand what community is all about. I felt like I was accepted and part of a loving family. A family I never had.

I have never experienced that in the church, ever. I see fragments of it here and there, but nothing to the extent or degree that I experienced firsthand in the Muslim community.

Why didn’t I remain a Muslim?  Because I had a supernatural experience with Jesus which I believe resulted from the faithful prayers of a few friends.

This is the simple answer, but there is a whole story behind this which I can’t get into now. Perhaps some other time though.

What about you? Have you ever been hurt by the church, a pastor or another Christian leader? If so, how did you handle it? What was the outcome? I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this.

 

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