How I Accepted Islam

By Mariam Mukhulishvili

“And We created you in pairs”
The Nobile Quran [78:8]

My name is Mariam and this is my story…

I always used to feel so proud, when I was introducing myself: ”Salam, I’m Mariam, wife of Moustafa”. The reason, that was making me proud and bringing me to this feeling, was my husband himself. Actually, I don’t like to speak about him in the past, so it’ll be better if I say that he is the reason for my pride…

I’m from Georgia, it’s small beautiful Christian country. My journey to Islam started a few years back, when at my work, I met one guy who was from Egypt, very smart, open-minded, and very kind. He was my boss, coming for business trips and leaving in maximum 2 weeks. After some time, I came to know that he was Muslim and the very first thought that came to my mind was: “How is it possible?! He is young, he is smart, He is kind, how come he is Muslim?! Muslims are terrorists, they kill others! How come this person is Muslim?! There must be something about this religion which I don’t know and I definitely wanted to know what is it”. A few months later, I decided to be brave and asked him to help me get some information about Islam. He told me, do you know that we, Muslims, love Jesus, he is our prophet and he is going come back??? Honestly, I was shocked, because I had no idea about it. And when he told me, that they love and respect Mariam, mother of Jesus, it melted my heart. He sent me some links and I started reading.

After few weeks I received a DHL pack, it was from him… I opened and there was a translation of the Quran and few other books about Islam and Prophet Muhammad. He told me, I know Jesus has a special place in your heart, but believe me, when you’ll get to know about Prophet Muhammad, you’ll love him more.

He gave me all the information, all the resources and left me alone with myself, to learn and discover more… After few months I told him that I was convinced that there is only one God and Prophet Muhammad, whom I really loved so much, is his Messenger. He immediately called me on Skype and I took my Shahada…

He used to call me every day and make sure that I memorized small surahs to perfect my prayer. He used to teach me how to pray, also He used to call me and remind me about my prayer times. He explained to me the sweetness of fasting and that year, in 2015, I fasted Ramadan secretly, alone, because my family didn’t know that I became a Muslim….
After Ramadan he came to Georgia and we got married and continued learning together. He never used to like it when I was mentioning his name as a reason for me becoming Muslim, but it is true and I can’t lie about it. I know that Allah used him as a tool to save me. This story is more about him then about my journey itself…

His main goal always was to build a true Islamic family… a family where we would depend only on Allah… Before our wedding, he asked me to imagine a triangle, Allah is on the top and we are on opposite sides of each other. The key of a happy, successful, and blessed family is in worshiping Allah, the closer we are to Him, the closer we are to each other, he said…

On the day of our wedding, he told me that today we’ll sit in the boat and start sailing through the huge ocean of life. We know that sometimes there will be a storm and sometimes calm weather, sometimes big waves will hit us, sometimes – small and we don’t have anybody in this boat except each other. He asked me to understand that these waves, rain, storm, wind are problems of this life, which we’ll have to go through together, by supporting each other and by working as a team… Whenever he becomes weak I must help and whenever I become weak he would always be there for me to make me stronger… He promised that he’ll never give up on me and I promised the same… And when with Allah’s help we’ll reach the other side of the ocean, there’ll start our real life together in Jannah, endless happiness and joy…

The reason why I decided to share my story with you all is to help anyone who might need it now, maybe a couple, maybe someone who’s single, I don’t know, but my heart was telling me that it shouldn’t stay untold…

A few weeks back my husband passed away due to cancer and the very first thing that I started searching for was some remedy, which could give me the possibility to help him in Qabr and somehow benefit him… Then I read about Sadaqa Jariya, which means ongoing charity. One of the ways of this ongoing charity might be the knowledge which the deceased left and from which others could benefit… That was the moment when I remembered about our story: how we met each other, how he was teaching me, how he changed my life, how he was motivating me… Ever since I’m thinking, isn’t it a Sadaqa Jariya for him? Every time I’m praying or mentioning Allah’s name, isn’t it an ongoing reward to him? I think and I believe that it is, because this knowledge from me will go to our children Inshallah…

We made a lifetime plan, we told each other that while we are sitting in the boat and sailing through the ocean of life, it was possible that one of us could leave the boat early. So we agreed that the one who stayed, will continue the journey with stronger faith, with love and trust in Allah and reach the other side, no matter the hardships, to complete our mission, to pass our test and earn the right to meet each other in Heaven and live happily forever, ever and ever…

After he passed away, I understood that Allah has chosen this test for me. In the beginning, He brought my husband into my life to change me and him, and then He took him away, so now I’ll have to prove that I believe in Almighty and I’ll continue worshiping Him…

Honestly, I’m so thankful for the plan that Allah made for us and I really accept whatever is happening in my life… I’m thankful for the happiness that was in our life. I know it’s a test and most importantly, I know this life is temporary… I pray to Him to guide me and help me to straighten my faith. On my behalf, I’ll be patient and will follow the plan which my husband and I made…

In conclusion, I want to tell couples, don’t waste your time in useless fights and arguments. Worship Allah and love each other for His sake, make your lifetime plan, make each other strong in faith, pray together, sit and talk about blessings that Allah gave you. Stop seeing only negative stuff around you! Make your Creator happy and believe that He’ll make you happy too…

At the end I’ll tell you, I’m Mariam, wife of Moustafa and this story is only 1% of the kindness which he left to me. Please love each other and take care of each other, trust in Allah’s plan, and thank Him for the blessings that you have.

Barak Allahu Feekum