Part-time DJ finds her Escape Route through Islam

Lynne Ali, 33, from Dagenham in Essex, freely admits to having been ‘a typical white hard-partying teenager’.

‘I would go out and get drunk with friends, wear tight and revealing clothing and date boys.’

‘I also worked part-time as a DJ, so I was really into the club scene. I used to pray a bit as a Christian, but I used God as a sort of doctor, to fix things in my life. If anyone asked, I would’ve said that, generally, I was happy living life in the fast lane.’

But when she met a Muslim guy at university, something dramatic happened.

‘His sister started talking to me about Islam, and it was as if ­everything in my life fitted into place. I think, underneath it all, I must have been searching for something, and I wasn’t feeling fulfilled by my hard-drinking party lifestyle.’

Lynne converted aged 19. ‘From that day, I started wearing the hijab, and I now never show my hair in public. At home, I’ll dress in normal Western clothes in front of my husband, but never out of the house.’

Lynne Ali remembers the night this hit home for her. ‘I went to an old friend’s 21st birthday party in a bar,’ she reveals. ‘I walked in, wearing my hijab and modest clothing, and saw how ­everyone else had so much flesh on display. They were drunk, slurring their words and dancing provocatively.’

‘For the first time, I could see my former life with an outsider’s eyes, and I knew I could never go back to that.’

‘I am so grateful I found my escape route. This is the real me — I am happy to pray five times a day and take classes at the masjid. I am no longer a slave to a broken society and its expectations.’