Wings of Faith

People ask me all the time how did I convert. I sit there awkwardly not knowing what kind of answer they truly want. I can say when, or how but I am short of words when it comes to the why. Nothing  I can comprehend let alone verbalize can answer that question. I could begin to describe my emotional state at the time but is that really what people want to hear? So I always hesitate when asked that question. I don’t know what to say. It’s like being asked what is my purpose? In fact it’s exactly like being asked what is my purpose. Could I really ever know?
However, I often go with the less complicated answer. I say it was a gradual journey that began when I was born. As a child I worshiped God through the religion of my parents, even though I didn’t understand it, I followed because I felt the need to give my faith a name. Then it got to a point where the walls of that faith no longer could explain or contain the God which I worshiped. My God had become too great for the dogma in which I grew up. My heart needed more. It was desperate for answers. It was desperate for home. When I heard of Islam the choice was as easy as breathing. I found so many aspects of my life make instant sense. The purpose I had been searching for fell at my feet. Or should I say I discovered it within my heart. For the seed of Islam is in every human heart. But Allah guides whom He wills. So why am I Muslim? I simply say, why does the bird fly? 

مْ يَرَوْا إِلَى الطَّيْرِ مُسَخَّرَاتٍ فِي جَوِّ السَّمَاءِ مَا يُمْسِكُهُنَّ إِلَّا اللَّهُ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Do they not see the birds controlled in the atmosphere of the sky? None holds them up except Allah . Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe.” Quran 16:79

The bird flies from the infinite wisdom and power of the creator of all things. My heart, like a bird’s wings, knows to trust and just believe that it is doing what it was prescribed to do. I just let it take flight. I let my heart become my wings. I embraced my Islam.