Are Religious Conversions Taking Place In Sri Lanka?

(Muttukrishna Sarvananthan)


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UK Glamour model, Carley Watts, 24 converts to Islam

Once we are married, my body is for his eyes only': Glamour model to cover up and convert to Islam after falling for Tunisian lifeguard

• Carley Watts, 24, is to marry Tunisian lifeguard Mohammed Salah, 25
• Carley will move to Tunisia in October and convert to Islam
• His parents will not be told about her career as they 'wouldn't understand'
• Carley's two-year-old daughter Alanah will also move to Monastir

By Ruth Styles

She used to spend her days posing in her underwear but now glamour model Carley Watts, 24, is to cover up after falling in love with Tunisian lifeguard, Mohammed Salah, 25.

The model, from Dearham in Norfolk, met Salah during a holiday in Tunisia in April and says she is so serious about the lifeguard she is set to Islam to become his wife.

From October, Carley and her daughter Alannah, two, will live close to his family in the city of Monastir, where she will spend six months learning about the faith - and planning their wedding.

Carley told the Sun on Sunday that her friends think she is mad and that this is just a phase: 'They can’t get their heads round me going from being the last girl standing on every night out to wearing a veil and converting to Islam. Meeting Mohammed has made me really look at my life. I don’t want to be going wild, flashing my boobs and falling out of nightclubs any more. But we couldn’t be more different.

 

'As a glamour model I show off my boobs, dress up in kinky outfits and generally act outrageous. Mohammed is solely focused on family life. If I’m drunk I like to take my clothes off and recently I walked all the way home from a nightclub totally starkers. I love going to raves and staying up dancing all night in little tutus and bra tops. Now my life is set to change beyond belief. I don’t have any worries, though.'

 

Although Mohammed does know what Carley does for a living, she told the Sun that his family aren't aware of her career and won't be told.

She explained that the fact she is a single mother was already enough of a shock for them.

She said: 'He explained that he loved me and wanted me to be his wife and they have come round to that. He accepts that [glamour modelling] is what I do and doesn’t try to change me. But he says once we are married my body is for his eyes only.'

Single mothers are almost unheard of in Tunisia, where sex outside of marriage is frowned upon and is punishable by law.

'Single mums don’t exist in his world and men who get unmarried women pregnant go to prison. It is all about family and he idolises his mother,' she added.

'These are the kind of values I love about their culture. Women are treated with respect and they also respect themselves and their bodies. They don’t do one-night stands or casual flings. When I’m with Mohammed I feel so content, calm and happy. I know he’s the kind, family man for me.' (Daily Mail)

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Michelle Leslie, Convert to Islam …

Convert to Islam … Michelle Leslie

MICHELLE Leslie, the Sydney underwear model facing drugs charges in Bali who made her name wearing next to nothing, has declared herself a Muslim and adopted a burqa-style Islamic outfit covering her body from head to toe.

Wearing black pants, shirt and a Muslim headdress with netting covering her eyes as she was led from her police holding cell to meet with her new legal team yesterday, the 24-year-old Antz Pantz model made it clear her week in the Bali lock-up had inspired a new devotion. "Michelle as a Muslim made the decision to wear the hijab (head-covering) to find solace with God, not for any other purpose," family spokesman Sean Mulcahy said yesterday.

However, her Australian solicitor Ross Hill, who is working with Ms Leslie's team of five Indonesian lawyers, earlier said the veil was intended to shield his client from media attention. "That (the outfit) is just something that we all thought about just to keep her covered, you know, we're just trying to keep things down," he said.

Ms Leslie, who is of Australian and Filipina heritage, regularly models underwear and swimwear, and last year appeared in little more than body paint at a raunchy photo shoot.

Mr Mulcahy would not comment on how long Ms Leslie had been a Muslim or whether her career in modelling conflicted with her beliefs.

Leslie dropped out of Adelaide Catholic private school, Sacred Heart College, at 15 to pursue a full-time modelling career.

Ms Leslie has shrouded her face and upper body with a sarong since her arrest at an open-air party in Bali, when police found two small pink pills thought to be ecstasy in her handbag.

Hasan Ali, the Bali chief of the Indonesian Council of Islamic scholars, said everybody of religion was free to practise it as they saw fit. "But if it's a lie," he added, "it's a sin."

Mr Mulcahy said Ms Leslie's parents had been advised not to come to Bali, and the model's friend, Norah Cullen, was comforting her.

Ms Leslie faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for possession of a psychotropic drug.

Meanwhile, police said random urine tests on nightclubbers and party-goers in Bali had yet to net any foreigners.

National police drug directorate deputy director Indradi Tanos said it was possible that foreigners could be arrested and prosecuted as the sweep broadened.

"It has happened to Indonesian citizens. It has proceeded to the court," he said. "They (foreigners) could be deported, but the procedure is still being decided," he said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer warned that Australians who tested positive in Indonesia would be arrested and "almost certainly" face a jail term.

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A Brazilian Sister has Embraced Islam few days ago

பிரேசில்லை சேர்ந்த சகோதரி பல மதங்கள் ஆராய்ந்து இறுதியாக மனித நேயமிக்க

மார்க்கம் இஸ்லாம்தான் என்று உறுதியாக ஏற்று கொண்டார்..பின்வரும் வீடியோ பாருங்கள் மேற்கொண்டு தகவலுக்கு...............

அல்லாஹ் அக்பர்

பிரேசில்லை சேர்ந்த சகோதரி பல மதங்கள் ஆராய்ந்து இறுதியாக மனித நேயமிக்க

மார்க்கம் இஸ்லாம்தான் என்று உறுதியாக ஏற்று கொண்டார்..பின்வரும் வீடியோ பாருங்கள் மேற்கொண்டு தகவலுக்கு...............

அல்லாஹ் அக்பர்

After seeking so many religions, she has chosen ISLAM

a brazilian sister has embraced Islam few days ago, may Allah (swt)guide her ....watch when she recited the kalima sahadas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A66yRJPy8hg&feature=player_embedded

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Police converts to Islam after helping ‘honour’ violence victim

A mum-of-two has told how she was inspired to convert to Islam – after helping a victim of honour-based violence as part of her job in the police.

Police Community Support Officer Jayne Kemp, 28, decided to find out about the faith while helping a Muslim woman suffering domestic abuse. 

After speaking to other Muslims on Twitter, she was inspired to give up her Catholic faith to fully convert last year and now lives a completely Islamic lifestyle.

She now goes out on her  PCSO patrols in?Eccles, Salford, wearing the traditional hijab headscarf and makes time up at the end of her shift to attend Friday prayers.

Jayne, single mum to a son, nine, and daughter, seven, formerly converted in a Shahada ceremony last April and now plans to change her name to Aminah.

While her children spent Christmas Day at their dad’s so they could still celebrate, she went round to her mum’s – but had to cook her own dinner so it would be halal.

Jayne, who joined GMP in August 2009 and lives in south Manchester,  said: “It started when I had a woman approach me at work who was experiencing honour-based violence.

“Where I work in Eccles there’s a big mosque and big Muslim population, so I thought I should find out more about it.

“I’d thought Islam was all about women being forced to slave away in the kitchen – but found out it was about being generous with your time, patient and respectful of others.

“As I looked into it I saw similarities with Catholicism and also values like looking after your neighbours and valuing the elderly that older people say younger people don’t have any more.

“I wasn’t looking for any religion at the time but for every question I got answered about Islam I just had five more – I think I fell in love with it.”

Jayne made the decision to tell colleagues she had converted when she wanted to start wearing a hijab to work – and says they have all been supportive.

She is now working with the Greater Manchester Muslim Police Association to design a regulation police hijab and tunic – as one has never been needed before in the force.

Jayne said: “I was worried about what my colleagues would think but they have been so understanding.

“People in Eccles have been great too – most don’t even mention it.

“If my children had struggled with me covering my hair I wouldn’t have done it.

“They have both asked a lot about it but I would never push Islam on them and they will be brought up Catholic.

“I just hope by speaking out I can show it is OK for a Muslim woman to work in the police force and also change negative stereotypes about Islam.”

Jayne, who grew up in Wythenshawe, said: “My family in general are supportive. As long as I’m happy, they’re happy.

“I was very open about my reading and studying Islam. My sister said the other day I’m the happiest she’s ever seen me.”

Jayne was helped to find out about Islam by Muhammad Manzoor, who runs Muslim Twitter account Local Masjid from his Whalley Range home.

He said: “I was humbled Jayne was asking me these questions as it made me find out more about Islam too.

“She has found this religion for herself and hopefully it shows Muslims can mix in society without compromising their faith.” (Manchester evening news)

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An Indian Family Converts to Islam

VJ Muhammad Usman Durez

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A former fashion Model and VJ Muhammad Usman Durez who has became a practicing Muslim by virtue of Dawah.

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A Convert To Islam Finds Discrimination On Both Sides Of The Veil

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A woman wearing hijab enters the 7 train. She glances around and smiles, searching for a friendly face. Heads turn and eyes stare back. A strange silence envelopes the subway car. The woman walks towards an empty seat and sits down, selects a new song on her IPod, sips from her coffee and closes her blue eyes. She pretends she doesn't notice the stares, the tension and the energy in the air. She asks God to surround her with healing energy, love and light. She asks to be able to stand up and speak up for herself when necessary and to respond appropriately from the right place. She asks for patience, guidance and wisdom. She asks for it to all be made easy for her. 

That woman used to be me. It ain't easy being green, especially in this time of heightened Islamophobia. Ignorance begets fear, and fear introduces the concept of the "Other." The anti Islam rhetoric consumes our newspapers and news channels. It fills the heads, homes and hearts of citizens, immigrants and children all over the United States, and it invades the daily lives of many Muslims with harassment and discrimination. It has filled me with a need to speak out through writing.

Let me introduce myself: My name is Kim Joseph, and I am a convert to Islam. I attended church camp, I sold Girl Scout cookies door to door, I went to homecoming and prom and I sang in the school choir. You may now know me as your friendly hijabbi-wearing barista who works at Starbucks. I cannot imagine being without America or Islam, without one or the other I would be incomplete. I simply cannot be the Other.

My past experience wearing a hijab in New York City was full of harassment and discrimination. I've had raw eggs thrown at me. I've been called a traitor and a fucking terrorist bitch. I have been verbally abused publicly on the streets, subway, restaurants and at work. No one assisted me at any time when I was mistreated. Not one single person said anything on the train when a man yelled and screamed at me for being me. For being Muslim. I asked that man if he got some sick sort of pleasure from harassing women on the train. He said he was harassing my religion, not me. 

My faith in God flows through and from my very essence. I cannot be separated from it.Many people told me they didn't like me or my country of origin. I would respond, "Well, you don't like America then because I am from Ohio." That is spelled O-H-I-O, and it is west of Pennsylvania. It's the buckeye state, y'all. Where am I really from? Where are my parents from? If you must know I am German, Croatian, Slovak and Welsh. I am a "typical" American, a zesty and tangy Heinz 57, if you please. 

Six years and seven Ramadan's ago, I began my walk with God by way of the religion of Islam. I am finally reaching a place of fluidity and individuality within that path. I have stripped myself of all the societal pressures from the Muslim community to conform, and I am now finding my Islam, my Surrender. I have learned that it is much more important to me to perform my acts of worship from an internal place. Wearing a hijab made me extremely aware of what kind of Muslim I was "supposed" to be, thus making my practice very external. Much of my worship was done from a place of obligation and not from a place of sincerity. Because I had been looking inward in hope of discovering what was truly sincere and from me, about three months ago, while shopping at IKEA, I took off my hijab. I could no longer deny myself the right to be me.

Since that day I have experienced a profound difference in the way people treat me. I am safe. I am white. I am no longer the Other. I am now "passing." Historically within the US, "passing" refers to when a person is not of heterosexual orientation or is of more that one racial heritage. A person might choose to identify with the heritage or sexual orientation that does not give birth to prejudice and discrimination, thus passing from one heritage or sexual orientation to the next. Although I have chosen only to be my truest self, the result is that my choice to unveil has liberated me from prejudice. I now exchange smiles and conversations with neighbors and strangers, but I know now who my real friends are. 

Speaking of real friends, some of my Muslim friends avoid me like the Plague. They must think unveiling is contagious. When I'm running around the city it's very common to see Muslims. We're everywhere. I may greet them with the traditional greeting of "Assalam alaykum," but most times the greeting is not returned because I do not wear a hijab. They assume I am not Muslim. They look me up and down or avoid my eyes at all costs. Surely wishing someone, anyone, the peace and blessings of God is a beautiful thing. I now understand that if I am going to find community, I must search for and create that community. My exploration for community has propelled me into the most active career path of my life. For the first time I will be doing work that utilizes my creative talent in writing. I will be teaching a creative writing workshop called "Muslim Like Me" beginning in December at ICCNY. I have joined "Khadijah's Caravan", a community-based organization that connects people, places and communities through spiritually-based activism. I have connected with a progressive Muslim meet-up group. I am also entering the interfaith dialogue in the city. 

So, when a woman with chin-length blonde highlighted hair enters the 7 train, know that she is much more than what appears on the surface. She has a past, present and future self. She is constantly growing, learning and trying to become tall and wide in her understanding and compassion of herself and others. She never wanted to be treated differently because of her racial heritage, and she despises this unnecessary human limitation. She wishes the concept of the "Other" wasn't a reality for so many people. She hates that she lives in a world where gender equality will never be a reality. She deeply desires that hypocrisy, racism, sexism, ageism, discrimination, prejudice and superiority didn't run through the veins of society. She has promised to begin with herself. (Huffington post)

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