"BE SINCERE TO THE TRUTH - ACCOUNT 1"

We have, up till now, refrained from publishing conversion accounts of former-Sikhs to Islam primarily because a conversion account is not, in and of itself, a proof for the truth and validity of a religion. Nonetheless, we have decided to publish the following story on the basis that its underlying theme is one which, we expect, every theist or seeker of truth will agree to: being honestly sincere to nothing except the truth from God.

The sister's story has been left relatively unchanged except for minor grammatical corrections. Since this is a personal account, it does not necessarily reflect this site's overall aims and objectives.

MY JOURNEY FROM SIKHISM TO ISLAM 

By Umm Muslim

Asalam alaikum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu, 

I don't know why I was hesitant to post my conversion story; I've mentioned it before briefly without mentioning Sikhism. I felt I may be mocked by other Sikhs; they may not take me seriously or consider me a traitor. However, even if just one Sikh reads this and benefits, it is worth me sharing the story. So here goes. Another conversion story, but probably not like the ones you've heard of before.

It is firstly important to know some background information about the history of the Mughal Empire conquering India. There is a lot of detail here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_Empire [1], feel free to read what you want.

Most people consider there to be only three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Of course, only Islam is the religion where one believes in only One God without partners. However, most people (non-Muslims) would consider Sikhism as a monotheistic religion as well since the Sikhs say they believe in One God. The Sikhs, however, believe that the Essence of God is different because they believe he is Omnipresent (exists everywhere and in everything). It's only today that I can realize this is seriously major shirk: you have associated all of creation with God. But none is comparable to Him. Alhamdulilah I get it now.

What the normal Sikh grows up learning is that when the Muslims (Mughals) came to India, they oppressed the Hindus. They forced them to convert and tortured them (99.9%, if not more, of Sikh temples have graphic portraits of Sikhs and their prophets being tortured by the Mughals, such as being boiled in pots of water/oil, being sawed in half, woman with their children's body parts put on a string and placed around the mother's neck like a necklace. Sorry to be so graphic, but I am not exaggerating; just try to put yourself in my shoes over what the average, or probably all Sikhs, see on a daily basis, or at least once a week, when they visit the temple, regardless of how religious they are or how tolerant they are).

The Sikh children grow up being told stories revolving around these portraits; they are gifted books with such graphic portraits; this is the bulk of the Sikh history we learn at home and at a Sunday school. However, we are taught all religions are different paths to the same God. I think it's hard to be a Sikh and not grow up with a deep-rooted hatred for Muslims, even if it's a secret hatred. However, a lot of teaching of Sikhism are taken directly (or mixed up and combined) from Islam and Hinduism/ Buddhism). But, it is impossible to have a discussion about this with a Sikh as they will become angry if you mention this; they believe their religion is unique and not taken from polytheistic Hinduism. In fact, they will argue that they believe in one God. The first words in the Sikh Holy Book translate to exactly: There is One God.

The first few words, however, all say He is omnipresent (everywhere), which contradicts He is One. [2] But the Sikhs will argue and describe their belief in one God as a drop of water, and God is like the body of the water, so we are part of Him and somewhat separate. I no longer believe this, nor does it make sense to me anymore. But yes, once it made sense, and I did believe it. But it left me with a lot of other unanswered questions, such as: if God is everywhere/ in everything, isn't everything worthy of worship? Also, what part of us sins, our body or soul? Of course the soul, [3] so how could that be part of a Perfect Creator? In Sikhism we are taught that we need to overcome our egos. Now, I feel this is the most egotistic and arrogant claim, that any part of you is part of the Divine Creator. This is not a humbling belief at all. For example, if you look around you now, EVERYTHING has been created for a purpose. But the creator/ maker is not physically part of it. Take a basic table for example. It's made for sitting at and putting dishes and food on. The man who made it is not physically in there. Not at all. The table is a sign of the maker, and he is SEPARATE from his creation. This is so basic.

Now that I've bored you (hope I haven't), I personally grew up not hating Muslims, I had Muslim friends. I hated, HATED what the Mughal Muslims did, but I personally could not associate the Mughals with all of the Muslims (unlike my parents and other Sikhs). Growing up, I was told to stay away from the womanizing Muslim boys and men. This is extremely common of Sikhs to tell their children to stay away from Muslims (especially of the opposite sex) and not to listen to what they say of their religion. We are told they rip off the heads of the animals (cruelty), have 4 wives, etc. I would say similar views of the typical close minded non-Muslim.

However, we were told the Muslims killed our Prophets. Sikhism was created during the Mughal Empire's conquest of India. A man by the name of Guru Nanak came claiming he was enlightened by God, and that there was no Hindu or Muslim, we are all equal, his teaching a blend of Islam and Hinduism. They and their followers rebelled against the Mughal Empire and would not convert, and were tortured and killed brutally.

I would say I was "safe" from the Muslims until I went to college. There I became more open minded, maybe too much to the point that I wondered what was wrong with gay marriage - two people loved each other. I met my husband [a Muslim], and we married despite my parent's disapproval and disownment. I was actually harassed quiet a lot by them (phone calls, cursing, etc). I think now there was a lot of wisdom behind this, because this got me to somewhat disconnect from Sikhism. I always wanted to know more about God growing up; I used to call to God to make me understand more about Him. I was not finding it in Sikhism, but I never even THOUGHT about leaving Sikhism. I thought if I learned about other religions, I could apply it and "add" it to Sikhism and better understand God. I don't know why I had an urge to learn about Islam, especially after I got married. My husband was not practicing at that time, in fact he told me once, "You know what a kafir [non-Muslim] is Aman? A kafir is one who does not believe in God, so you are not a kafir." This always makes me laugh when I think of it now.

I used to ask him questions about Islam, but I didn't always get the right answer and sometimes no answer at all, so I gave up asking although I wanted to learn more. Once, after having my first son, we went to Morocco where my wonderful father-in-law (may Allah bless him and have mercy on him) gifted me the Quran in English. I was happy to get it and curious to see what this book said. And there wasn't my parents to grab it and throw it away or yell at me and make me feel nervous and guilty for holding it or wanting to read it. Alhamdulilah for the distance, I don't know if I could ever have read it without this distance. Exalted is the Wisdom of Allah, truly!

Mind you I was not familiar with the Bible or Torah, stories of the prophets. I asked my sisters-in-law questions, like how did Noah fit all the animals on the ark? How did Moses separate the ocean? One sister-in-law, may God Bless her (I love her, she's ma'shallah very intelligent and a teacher), said to me, "Do you believe God performed miracles through the prophets?" She asked me if I believed God was capable of this? I said yes, definitely. She said that that's how He did it. It clicked. Now I feel stupid for not having considered that. The question was simple, and yet the answer was even simpler and I got it.

Then when I read the Quran, I found it so strange, but in a good way. I said to myself that this is different, it says "We" for God, like it's written in the first person. I never read anything like this before. It was wonderful. I got through Surah al-Fatiha for the first time and I couldn't put it down. I used to wonder why children die, and why is there suffering, hunger, poverty, etc. When I got to the line in Surah al-Baqarah where Allah says that we will be tested with loss of wealth, loss of life, etc. and glad tidings are given to the patient ones, I wept. Again, I got an answer to a basic question I had that I could not find a clear answer for in the Sikh Holy Book. In the Sikh Holy Book, I was taught that affliction is a result of bad sins committed by us in our past lives. This reasoning never stuck with me, it didn't seem fair/ correct to me. But in the Quran, the purpose of affliction was that it was a test, and the solution was to be patient. It was like my heart and my head had said the shahada [declaration of faith that brings one into the fold of Islaam] without me uttering it; and you know, it was weird, because I didn't want to be Muslim, but here I was. I could not deny it. I could not be dishonest to my soul. A few months later in Ramadan, I completed reading the Quran in English and I said the shahada out loud with just Allah as my Witness. It was something special to say it alone in private, it was from my heart, it was witnessed and heard by the One and Only Knower of All who had guided me. Perfect Praise be to Him.

I still find it so strange that I am the only Sikh I know that has converted to Islam. Sometimes it makes me smile and laugh; I used to go to the temple every Sunday and sing hymns there often! And sometimes I feel humbled and honored at the drastic change and wonder: why me? And I feel I have some duty to fulfill due to my conversion, like write a book or article debunking omnipresence, because this is the heart of Sikhism, and if they just got it that God is not omnipresent, then only Islam would be left for them to consider. Sikhism already believes God has no children. Inshallah one day I will. But I think the beauty of Islam is hidden from Sikhs and others behind a veil of misconceptions and deep-rooted hatred all due to the horrible actions of a few misguided ones.

This makes me sad and I wonder how other Sikhs will ever come to Islam. But it brings peace to me to know it is Allah who Guides whom He wants regardless of who it is and in what circumstance they are in.

I say to the Sikhs, SEARCH! After all, Sikh means learner or to learn. Learn about other religions, Islam AND other religions, but read the Holy Books of other religions and not what people have said about them. Go to the correct source, read it with an open mind and ask the Creator to guide you to the truth. After all, if Sikhism is preferred to you over other religions, then through your study of other faiths you will only come out a stronger and more convinced Sikh. You may love Sikhism more, but you will probably question it more. But I ask you, what/ who are you afraid of, your parents or the truth? What is preventing you from learning the truth about Islam from the best and correct source: the Quran? Aren't the Sikhs, like the Muslims, supposed to fear none but God their Creator?

Many Sikhs like to say they are Sikh by choice. My Sikh brother even has a shirt that says precisely that. But I feel a lot of Sikhs are Sikh by choice because they would rather choose not to disappoint their parents, their friends and they don't want to betray a minority religion whose followers were brutally tortured. Sikh by guilt/ anger. I challenge any Sikh reading this, read the Quran and then tell me if you are still Sikh by choice, and do not lie to yourself, or to your Creator.

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