‘Islam is about real love, not just lust’: The party girl who’s embraced Islam !

[Ancient lion]

Her conversion from Ibiza party girl to hijab-wearing Muslim in barely three months may well raise a few eyebrows – and she admits that her friends probably think it’s another one of her fads.
But trainee teacher Heather Matthews, 27, says Islam has brought her ‘love and happiness’ that she never found in her old ‘shallow’ lifestyle.
Mrs Matthews, a mother of two, converted to the faith four weeks ago – two months after returning from a holiday in Ibiza. And she says that the photographs of the ‘old her’ taken on that trip show all that is wrong with Western images of beauty.

New faith: Heather Matthews, with daughters Ellah, 5, and Halle, 2, converted to Islam four weeks ago
She said: ‘I thought I needed to act and dress in a certain way to feel good about myself. I see girls now and think about what image they are portraying to other people, especially men.
‘It is about self-respect. If you dress and act in a certain way, rightly or wrongly, you’ll be treated in a certain way.
‘Islam has taught me about real love, not false passion and lust. I can even see the logic in arranged marriage.’
A study by multi-faith group Faith Matters found the number of Muslim converts in Britain has now passed 100,000, doubling in ten years.
The report estimated nearly two-thirds of the new converts were women, with an average age of 27 – like Mrs Matthews.
Her path to conversion began when she tried to convince her ex-husband Jerrome, himself a Muslim convert, that the religion was wrong. She was ‘very suspicious’ of the faith, and began reading up on it to support her arguments.
Although they separated last year, she continued to learn about Islam – and identified with it more and more. Then, four weeks ago, she completed the ‘revert’ process. She said: ‘I underwent the ‘Shahadah’ ceremony of conversion to Islam by repeating a declaration of faith in front of the Imam at my local multi-faith centre.
‘I had several Muslim sisters with me and they bought me a hijab and Islamic books to celebrate. It was wonderful.’
But she admits that her friends have been shocked at her conversion to a religion which is often seen as being oppressive towards women.
‘People are probably thinking “Oh, it is just another one of Heather’s fads”. It isn’t. It is what I’ve been searching for during the times I’ve been filling my life with instant gratification,’ she said.
Mrs Matthews, from Preston, has also had a cautious reaction from her family. But it is the response from passers-by that surprised her the most – especially the effect of her headscarf.

When I’m wearing the headscarf I can smile at people without them thinking it is a sexual advance,’ she said.

‘I definitely agree with Islam’s principles of not having sex with someone you’re not married to and to save your beauty for your husband.

So I think my next partner would need to be a practising Muslim to understand.
‘It is easy for me to say this now, with hindsight, having made the mistakes, but I think I would have been better off with partners who my parents thought were suitable, learning to love them through friendship first.’ Mrs Matthews has given up alcohol, sticks to a halal diet and plans to fast during Ramadan. She has an English-language Koran which she reads daily, and wants to learn Arabic so that she can recite prayers five times a day.
But she will not be forcing Islam on to her daughters – Ellah, five, and two-year-old Halle – from her marriage to Jerrome.
‘People think I must be oppressed but I’m a strong, confident and free woman,’ she said. ‘I know I’m one of the most unlikely people to revert to Islam.
‘It astounds me. But I’ve done it for love and happiness and it has completely changed my life.’
UPDATED: 23:02 GMT, 26 October 2012 on daily mail.

Related topics:
Where are the women in Islam??

Why are so many Women converting to Islam?

Western women on a journey of faith

Why European women are turning to Islam


May God keep her strong in faith

 

[Noomi]

I think its great that she is happy, but I think that it takes a lot longer than 3 months to decide whether you wish to follow a religion. There is no telling how she will feel this time next year. I would have waited 12 months, and in that time, read the Quran, acted like a Muslim and then converted. It just seems too soon for her, IMO.

 

[Rozman]

Good Grief....

 

[Saigon]

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised by this...there have always been western people attracted to Islam, just as there are to Buddhism, Bahai and Hindi.

It isn't for everyone, and it wouldn't be to me, but I can understand why some people find it attractive, and respect their choice.

 

[Meathead]

Western people can be ditzy too. This one's a slam dunk.

 

[Noomi]

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised by this...there have always been western people attracted to Islam, just as there are to Buddhism, Bahai and Hindi.

It isn't for everyone, and it wouldn't be to me, but I can understand why some people find it attractive, and respect their choice.

I admit that I am attracted to the religion of Islam, and have been for a number of years now. I can say I am not religious, but one day, I will convert to Islam. Its not a question of if, its a question of when.

About five years ago I was given a quote, or a statement, to read out. I was told that this was how you converted to Islam. I am not sure if that was correct, but I said those words in the way they were meant to be said. If those words were truly how one converted to Islam, then I would have been a Muslim for nearly five years now.

 

[Meathead]

Western people can be ditzy too. This one's a slam dunk.

Bingo! Thanks Noomi!

 

[editec]

Yeah those Moslem women are really odd dressers, aren't they?

 

[Dajjal]

See my thread, is the quran the words of God, for a lot of reasons why I am incensed by western women converting to Islam. How dumb can you get?

If they want to find out how Islam really treats women, The Taliban shoot little girls for wanting to go to school. That is probably because if they get an education they will realize the quran is evil trash.

 

[Saigon]

Daijal -

Using the Taliban as an example of how Islam treats women is like using the Irish Catholic Church as an example of how Christianity treats alter boys.

Most Muslim women in countries like Malaysia, Turkey, Tunisia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Albania, Jordan and Senegal work, vote, drive cars and dress as they please. That is the majority position.

 

[Hollie]

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised by this...there have always been western people attracted to Islam, just as there are to Buddhism, Bahai and Hindi.

It isn't for everyone, and it wouldn't be to me, but I can understand why some people find it attractive, and respect their choice.

I admit that I am attracted to the religion of Islam, and have been for a number of years now. I can say I am not religious, but one day, I will convert to Islam. Its not a question of if, its a question of when.

About five years ago I was given a quote, or a statement, to read out. I was told that this was how you converted to Islam. I am not sure if that was correct, but I said those words in the way they were meant to be said. If those words were truly how one converted to Islam, then I would have been a Muslim for nearly five years now.

I must tell you that I have certain mixed emotions about your proposed conversion to islam. Certainly in the West, you have a choice as to a religious belief. You also have a reasonable expectation that your choice of religious belief will not meet with interference by government.

Religion in Western cultures is largely a personal and private matter. By and large, it is not forced upon others or dragged into the public arena as with other cultures. In a democracy, one has the right to believe (or not) as you wish, and you have every expectation of that right being honored by others (even if grudgingly) and protected by law. This is demonstrative of the plurality in democracy which makes us strong. This tends also to fire the debates we engage in (without recourse to killing each other, burning down buildings and beheading one another in the streets) which help to insure and preserve our freedoms.

On the other hand, there is a dynamic surrounding the religious theocracy of islam that creates the conditions under which its adherents are prone to violent, murderous acts in the name of a god. Islam is the only followed religion which routinely produces terrorists who carry out the most gruesome and violent acts of terror explicitly in its name, all across the globe, every day. Most other religions have gone through enlightenment, a reformation, and are now amenable to peaceful cooperation and coexistence with each other and with the progress borne of the modern age in general. He politico-religious ideology of islam has yet to move out of the 7th century culture of violence and barbarism from which it was forged.

In a very real sense, your conversion to the polytheistic religion of islam is a simple matter of repeating a slogan that pairs a god with his self-appointed partner: muhammud (swish).
Fortunately, you will be protected from the horrors faced by women who live in the islamist Middle East and face a daily existence of second-class status, reduced rights and a sometimes tenuous existence in the fold of a patriarchal society that often defines women as mere chattel or property.

I often think that Western women who wish to convert to islam should do a tour of duty in the islamist Middle East and see what islam really means to women not protected by Western standards of law and of attitudes.

 

[geauxtohell]

Good for her. I hope everyone is so lucky as to find something in their lives that gives them meaning.

 

[BecauseIKnow]

Hollie that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What a moronic way to get her to Christianity. Back off. That explanation will only make her move away from you.

Absolutely lied about Muhammad pairing himself. The prayer says Abraham and Muhammad be blessed. The God is one God.

Also yes, she can go see for herself and I'm sure she will enjoy the Middle East. You've never been to the Middle East. Don't even talk without experience.

 

[Meathead]

Hollie that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What a moronic way to get her to Christianity. Back off. That explanation will only make her move away from you.

Absolutely lied about Muhammad pairing himself. The prayer says Abraham and Muhammad be blessed. The God is one God.

Also yes, she can go see for herself and I'm sure she will enjoy the Middle East. You've never been to the Middle East. Don't even talk without experience.

I don't know about Hollie, but I've been to the Middle East. It's a shit hole.

 

[Hollie]

Hollie that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What a moronic way to get her to Christianity. Back off. That explanation will only make her move away from you.

Absolutely lied about Muhammad pairing himself. The prayer says Abraham and Muhammad be blessed. The God is one God.

Also yes, she can go see for herself and I'm sure she will enjoy the Middle East. You've never been to the Middle East. Don't even talk without experience.

Firstly, I have no idea whether Noomi is christian or not. I am not christian so I have no need or desire to "get anyone back". Your complaints are thus pointless. It seems your ill-considerd comments are the stupidest ever.

There is no lie about the islamist enlistment slogan. Does it or does it not pair muhammud (swish) with a god or not? You apparently are familiar with the slogan. What is the citation?
Further, the idolatry surrounding muhammud (swish), is difficult to miss. Moslems have made muhammud (swish) islam's Pope/King and such that he is claimed by moslems as the most perfect example for humanity. Muhammud (swish) is as much a deity as any god(s).

And yes, I'm sure we can both encourage Western women to spend time in Pakistan or the KSA, or example. Possibly she could meet you for a cup of coffee somewhere in the KSA... and be arrested by the "virtue police".

 

[Dajjal]

All you have to do to become a muslim is say.
"Allah is the only God, and Muhammad was his messenger"

But why say something which any fool should be able to see, is not the truth?

 

[Sunni Man]

This is an American woman who convert to Islam who lives here in the U.S.

Yet there are all of these nitwits who start posting about, "Well in Afghanistan the Taliban do this and in Saudia Arabia the muslims do that.

Look, there are something like 59 muslim majority countries in the world and each one is unique.

They each have their own traditions, cultures, and ways of doing things.

And has absolutely Zero to do with American muslims living in the USA

 

[Hollie]

This is an American woman who convert to Islam who lives here in the U.S.

Yet there are all of these nitwits who start posting about, "Well in Afghanistan the Taliban do this and in Saudia Arabia the muslims do that.

Look, there are something like 59 muslim majority countries in the world and each one is unique.

They each have their own traditions, cultures, and ways of doing things.

And has absolutely Zero to do with American muslims living in the USA

What nitwit converts such as sunniboy are loathe to admit is that converts in the West are protected from much of the horrors of islamism that are such a part of the islamist middle east.

 

[Sunni Man]

Oh no!!....the horrors of the middle east!!!

 

[Dajjal]

The lady this thread is about said "So I think my next partner would need to be a practising Muslim to understand."
I wonder if she is prepared to be beaten by her new muslim consort. Because it says in the quran that men may beat their wives.

4.34 Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because God has given
the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their
means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the
husband's) absence what God would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear
disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their
beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not
against them Means (of annoyance): For God is Most High, great (above you all).