Her conversion
from Ibiza party girl to hijab-wearing Muslim in barely three months may well
raise a few eyebrows. But trainee teacher Heather Matthews, 27, says Islam has
brought her ‘love and happiness’ that she never found in her old ‘shallow’
lifestyle.
Mrs Matthews,
a mother of two, converted to the faith in September 2012 – two months after
returning from a holiday in Ibiza. And she says that the photographs of the
‘old her’ taken on that trip show all that is wrong with Western images of
beauty.
She said: ‘I
thought I needed to act and dress in a certain way to feel good about myself. I
see girls now and think about what image they are portraying to other people,
especially men.
‘It is about
self-respect. If you dress and act in a certain way, rightly or wrongly, you’ll
be treated in a certain way.
‘Islam has
taught me about real love, not false passion and lust. I can even see the logic
in arranged marriage.’
A study by
multi-faith group Faith Matters found the number of Muslim converts in Britain
has now passed 100,000, doubling in ten years.
The report
estimated nearly two-thirds of the new converts were women, with an average age
of 27 – like Mrs Matthews.
Her path to
conversion began when she tried to convince her ex-husband Jerrome, himself a
Muslim convert, that the religion was wrong. She was ‘very suspicious’ of the
faith, and began reading up on it to support her arguments.
Although they
separated last year, she continued to learn about Islam – and identified with
it more and more. Then, in late September, she completed the ‘revert’ process.
She said: ‘I underwent the ‘Shahadah’ ceremony of conversion to Islam by
repeating a declaration of faith in front of the Imam at my local multi-faith
centre.
‘I had several
Muslim sisters with me and they bought me a hijab and Islamic books to
celebrate. It was wonderful.’
But she admits
that her friends have been shocked at her conversion to a religion which is
often seen as being oppressive towards women.
‘People are
probably thinking “Oh, it is just another one of Heather’s fads”. It isn’t. It
is what I’ve been searching for during the times I’ve been filling my life with
instant gratification,’ she said.
Mrs Matthews,
from Preston, has also had a cautious reaction from her family. But it is the
response from passers-by that surprised her the most – especially the effect of
her headscarf.
‘No men try to
chat me up. It is an idiot repellent. When I’m wearing the headscarf I can
smile at people without them thinking it is a sexual advance,’ she said.
‘I definitely
agree with Islam’s principles of not having sex with someone you’re not married
to and to save your beauty for your husband. So I think my next partner would
need to be a practicing Muslim to understand.
‘It is easy
for me to say this now, with hindsight, having made the mistakes, but I think I
would have been better off with partners who my parents thought were suitable,
learning to love them through friendship first.’ Mrs Matthews has given up
alcohol, sticks to a halal diet and plans to fast during Ramadan. She has an
English-language Quran which she reads daily, and wants to learn Arabic so that
she can recite prayers five times a day.
‘People think
I must be oppressed but I’m a strong, confident and free woman,’ she said. ‘I
know I’m one of the most unlikely people to revert to Islam.
‘It astounds
me. But I’ve done it for love and happiness and it has completely changed my
life.’
You are very fortunate.Allah loves you and as you learn more and more things will open up so much and you will wonder why the world cannot see the reality of this life
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