As the third day of Islam Awareness Week drew to a close, apanel group of converted Muslims shared personal experiences in apresentation titled "Why and How I Chose Islam."
Georgia Daleure, Renee Conley, Pete Danielson, and Jomo Williamseach introduced themselves by giving brief descriptions of theirchildhood experiences, religious histories, and the factors thatinfluenced their conversion to Islam. For Daleure, a Non-WesternCivilization class in college piqued her interest in the religion.She borrowed the Quran from a classmate and even skipped classseveral days in a row to finish the document.
"For me, it was a big decision, but I don't take time to dwellon things," she said. "I found something I needed to do and I didit."
Danielson, on the other hand, could not be satisfied with hisdecision until after he logged countless hours in libraries, bookstores, and surfing the Internet, determined to find as muchinformation as possible about the religion. A self-described"inquisitive" child, Danielson grew up in Wisconsin practicingCatholicism. After spending much time in discussion and study withchurch groups around the country, he met and began discussingreligion with a Muslim coworker. After exhaustive questioning andresearch, Danielson was "convinced through overwhelming means" thathe had found "a very pure form of religion" and that Islam is "whatI was always looking for."
Born and bred in Muncie, Conley split her childhood between herdivorced parents: her mother, a practicing Baptist, and her father,a member of the nation of Islam. At college, Conley realized thatshe had been attending church to "please others, fulfill socialrequirements, and out of habit. I realized I didn't know much aboutGod." Her quest, then, became about finding a way to "worship myMaker." After following Buddhist precepts for seven years, Conleybecame seriously ill; it was while she was confined to her bed thatshe first picked up the Quran.
"In reading the Quran, all the answers became clear," Conleysaid. "It was healing for my body and my soul. I cannot imagineanything better happening to me in this life and for that I ameternally grateful."
A strong Christian family is familiar to Williams: bothgrandfathers, his father, and his uncle are men of the cloth. A"typical Sunday school kid," Williams was frustrated that no onecould answer the questions he had about his faith. He prayed oneday for God to bring him clarification, and "the very next day Imet a man who showed me what being a Muslim is about. All of myprevious questions were answered."
One topic addressed by panel members was that of today's Sept.11, 2001 anniversary. Williams discussed the Islam tenet of peace.He asked that people "separate the culture from the religion."Although "people have their own agendas and they will actaccordingly, that's not the religion." Daleure also pushed fortolerance and awareness.
"We have to keep vigilant and keep ourselves aware so we stayaway from stereotypes," she said. "We know there are Muslims who dothings that we think aren't right, but it's not for us to judgethem -- someone else will do that later."
After the formal presentation, audience members were given theopportunity to ask questions or share comments. For some students,more questions were raised than were answered.
"I want to learn more about the religion," sophomore BerniceLiang said. "From the questions that they answered, more questionscame up in my mind."
The hour-and-a-half session was attended by students, faculty,and community members for a bevy of different reasons.
"(I came because) I was just interested in learning," seniorMoses Warren said. "You hear a lot of things about the religion,but you never hear it from the people who are actually(Muslim)."
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