Touched by the beautiful character of one Muslimah, Sister Farah talks about how gentleness and mercy brought her closer to the deen of Allah.

Every time someone asks me how I became religious and so attached to Islam, I tell them about how Allah guided me through an amazing woman.

About 6 years ago, my friends and I heard about a particular young woman who gives Islamic lessons at her house. We heard so many good things about her, how she’s so cool, and so much fun. The descriptions were amazing. When I heard the descriptions, I really wanted to meet this young woman.

We decided to go to one of her “deen” lessons everyone has been talking about. One fact I clearly remember was her expression when she opened the door and saw these five strangers, me and my friends… five strangers that she had never met before. Her expression was one I will never forget.

When she opened the door, she had a warm and lovely smile and welcomed us. She said the salam with such friendliness! Alhamdulillah.

The first lesson that day, I remember, was about the mercy of Allah. She was talking about how Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

I was a young teenager then. You can probably agree with me that the teenage years are some of the toughest. May Allah make our lives easy. Balancing the Islamic way of life and then the way of the society is not easy for a young girl growing up with much confusion. I was going through so much in life. Peer pressure was a problem, along with other problems.

I remember asking her, “Why do good things still happen to ‘bad’ people?” in my mind “bad people” were those who disobeyed Allah, those people I used to go to school with, those people who were my friends, who encouraged me to lie to my parents, to ditch class, and to do other bad things. She simply answered me by saying that Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful, Most Loving and He gives us chances to repent and to come back to the Right Path.

After that day, I went home, thinking about Islam, wondering, why don’t I pray? Islam is a beautiful religion, Islam is my religion, but why don’t I follow its teachings? It was indeed a powerful moment of self-discovery and questioning. And with this, Allah would open doors and guide me more to the truth.

Believe it or not, from that day, I started to pray! I prayed that day!

I wanted to stop listening to music. I then started to listen to Islamic nasheeds. I was going forward and forward, Alhamdulillah! I began reading Islamic books, and of course the Qur’an!

Allah is there and He is the One Who guides. My whole life started to slowly change!

I still went to the deen lessons every week and learned so much from this wonderful woman. This woman, who had opened her door to strangers with such love and mercy, was to become my best friend. (What a change from the other friends I had!)

She use to smile a lot and had a positive attitude. If I wanted to discuss anything no matter what it was, she was the one I would talk to. I will never forget how this Muslimah tried to do all she could to spread the deen of Allah – Islam. On weekends, she would give tours of her local masjid to tourists and others who were interested in Islam and answer their questions.

She was such an inspiration. Subhan Allah. Like no other I have met. She has been through so much in her life, yet her faith was the strongest I have witnessed. Her attachment was not to this dunya, she had her eye on the akhirah, and acted upon her goal.

A couple of months later, we all went to Mecca for Ummra. This amazing women, Masha Allah, began to encourage me to wake up for Salat al-Fajr. Fajr was tough and I wasn’t praying it regularly. Fajr just seemed so tough! But maybe my iman and taqwa wasn’t strong enough at the time.

She told me to call her or send her a message every time I prayed Fajr on time. Subhan Allah. Look at the way she cared! Look at the way she served the deen of Allah. She was an individual who sincerely cared about helping the ummah! She was concerned and helped me keep my duty to our Creator, Allah.

I eventually got used to waking up for Fajr every single day. It felt amazing every time I woke up in the morning knowing I had prayed. Alhamdulilah.

Finally, after knowing this amazing woman for 5 years, I decided I was ready to wear the hijab. Yes, the hijab! The hijab is not easy, sisters. But after striving in the path of Allah, learning about Islam, making righteous friends, and praying five times a day on time, I thought I was ready for the hijab.

She always encouraged me to do it. She was the only person in my life that would talk to me about it, and how I should not waste any more time and wear it. I always told her I wasn’t ready.

After performing the Hajj, I finally wore the hijab. Allahu akbar! What a moment!

Something I remember and admired about this Muslimah was how she would tell me she was proud of me. She also would tell me that I inspire her to do her best. Allahu akbar. The benefit of a friendship based on the pleasure of Allah.

I love her for the sake of Allah! I love Allah and am thankful to Allah for bringing her into my life! She’s inspired me to do better in life, to always strive to be the best Muslimah I can be.

I am amazed about how much I learned from this righteous Muslimah and how much I changed. Now, I know, that we can all make a difference in each others’ lives for the sake of Allah by simply encouraging one another… encouraging one another to please Allah, to learn Islam, to practice Islam and to come to the true conclusion that simply, this life is a big test.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving.”[67:2]

Allah guided me to righteousness and piety through this woman. Alhamdulillah. Allah guides His slaves in many ways and through different means. Allah guided me through her.

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Originally submitted by Sister Farah to The Ideal Muslimah fan page for their “December: Hijab Month Project.”Our thanks to The Ideal Muslimah for the permission to repost.