Journal

I will never know what it is like to grow up in a Muslim majority country, where the call to prayer is broadcast for all to hear… where all the faithful stop what they are doing, as a community, to perform the daily prayers at a mosque within walking distance. Is that how it is in those places? This is what I envision. Things sure are different than that in

I first read the Qur’an (English translation) as a non-believer. I wanted to better understand the religion my wife ascribed to, for even though I was not an adherent myself, I did want to be a good husband, a tolerant husband. One word perhaps best describes the tone I perceived in the Qur’an in my unbelief: anger. The God described in the Qur’an seemed angry, vengeful, full of wrath. God

Ramadan is here. I’ve watched my wife observe it in years past, so I get the general idea. But I don’t feel like I fully understand it. I have decided it would be best to spend this month observing, studying, and learning – but not fasting. I don’t even know how to do it properly. I understand what it means to go without eating and drinking, not that I’ve done

At this point, here’s what I knew (or what I thought I knew) about prayer in Islam. One must face east. There are parts done standing, bowing, kneeling, and other parts done with your face on the floor. Prayer is done multiple times a day, at specific times. Not much to go on, but what did I expect? I hadn’t paid any attention to it until just recently…

The Internet is a modern marvel. It is also a haven for great misinformation. I knew this about the Internet long before I began searching for information on how to “officially” become a Muslim, but I was afraid I would look silly if I asked one of the two Muslims I knew – my wife and her mother. Then an interesting opportunity arose…

That first trip to the masjid with my friend really stuck with me afterward. I still didn’t quite know what to make of the experience, I just knew that I felt welcome. Not just welcome from the people, but this inexplicable sense of welcome from the One they were worshiping. I wasn’t a stranger to prayer in general. Raised as a Christian (Protestant), I’d done my share of praying…

Hello and welcome. I’m an American “white” guy of mostly Welsh descent. I was raised Protestant (Christian), and then spent most of my adult life (so far) as someone opposed to religion of any kind. I tended to proclaim myself atheist and/or agnostic, even though that wasn’t accurate – but more on that later. My wife has been a Muslim since well before I married her about a decade ago.