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MOTIVASI
I WON MUHAMMAD
WITHOUT LOSING JESUS
An Interview With a Romanian Female Convert
Interviewed By Khalid Amayreh
In the small West Bank town of Dura,
ReadingIslam.com (RI) had an interesting
encounter with Manuela- Mirela Tanasecu,
a Romanian woman who embraced Islam
several years ago after meeting and marrying
her Palestinian husband, Walid Suleiman, a
globe trotter and popular Islamic preacher in
the southern West Bank.
He has toured more than a hundred
countries, mostly on foot, as part of his 7-year
global tour to promote peace and discourage
war and violence. They met andmarried in
Bucharest in 1991. A few months later, she
embraced Islam while on a tour in Iran.
The following are excerpts of what she
said: “My name is Manuela-Mirela. I am
my parents’ only child. My childhood in
Bucharest was beautiful and peaceful, as I
used to travel with my parents throughout
Romania . I excelled in my studies both
at school and in college (I majored in
chemistry). I was raised in a Christian
Orthodox family which was not particularly
religious. But we always believed in the
existence of God.
“I married a Muslim from occupied
Palestine, and thanks to him that I became
acquainted with Islam. Eventually, I decided
to embrace Islam following an extended tour
to several Muslim countries including Jordan,
Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia
. I declared the Shahadah, the article of faith,
(I bear witness that there is only one God and
that Muhammad is His messenger) in Iran in
1991.” Mirela answered RI’s questions on why
she embraced Islam.
RI: Was there anything particular that
attracted you to Islam and did you feel you
had to embrace Islam in order to adapt to
this new life?
Mirela: The doctrinal clarity of Islam is really
very striking. In Christianity, the Trinitarian
doctrine is vague, confusing and difficult to
understand. This doesn’t exist in Islam which
teaches absolute monotheism.
Also, I felt that Muslims took their
religion more seriously than many Christians.
For example, Muslims pray five times a
day, while Christians only go to Church
on Sunday and mostly only elderly people
go. In short, I saw that Islam was strong in
doctrine in comparison to other religions.
More to the point, I noticed during my visit
to Muslim countries, especially in Asia,
that regions inhabited by Muslims were
generally cleaner than areas inhabited by
non-Muslims.
RI: How did your family react to your
decision to embrace Islam?
Mirela: Actually, my father died before I
became a Muslim, and my mother never
discussed the issue with me. She seemed to
have reasoned that as long as I was happy, it
was fine with her.
So, I can say without any exaggeration
that my relations with my mother didn’t
suffer at all as a result of my embracing of
the Islamic faith. In fact, she visits me here
in Palestine and she plays with the kids. She
never mentioned to me, directly or indirectly,
that she was unhappy with my decision.
RI: When you compare and contrast Islam
and Christianity, are there specific aspects
that you think exist in Islam but doesn’t
exist in Christianity?
Mirela: Islam respects and venerates
all prophets and messengers and doesn’t
prefer one over another. Hence, I can say
that by becoming Muslim, I won Muhammad
(peace be upon him) without losing Jesus
peace be upon him).
This is really a point of strength in Islam which
shows that anyone who loves Jesus can
embrace Islam without having to stop loving
Jesus because Islam teaches Muslims to love
and believe in all the prophets of God.
RI: What was your perception of Islam
prior to embracing it?
Mirela: I had thought that Muslim women are
generally enslaved and that every Muslim
man has four wives. But what I found out later
is that the Muslim man cares about his family
and wife more than he typical western man
does.
Moreover, during my tours of the
Muslim world, I found that Muslims were
hospitable, gallant and magnanimous people
who wouldn’t flinch from helping us whenever
we needed help.
RI: In much of the West there is a
widespread misconception that the typical
Muslim woman is abused. What would
you say about this?
MAC 2010 11
Mirela: Well, this perception is true to a large
extent, and the reason for that is because
they don’t understand the true Islam, either
because of misinformation or disinformation
about it, or because some nominal Muslims
distort the image of Islam through their un-
Islamic behavior especially when they go
abroad.
Also, it is clear that the modern
woman in the West has become a victim of
the overwhelmingly materialistic western
civilization. The West claims to have liberated
women, but a closer and deeper examination
of the issue reveals that women have
been dehumanized to a great extent and
transformed into a cheap commodity and a
sexual object. Hence, I can testify after many
years of living Islam that no other religion has
honored women like Islam does.
RI: Do you have any advice to Muslim
women in Palestine and else where?
Mirela: I would like to offer this advice to my
Muslim sisters, especially in the Arab world.
Don’t get yourself occupied with imitating
western women. Islam gives you everything
that makes you happy and allows you to
live a serene life. Don’t hanker after blind
imitation. Have confidence in yourself. I am
not saying that everything western is bad.
There are many good things, like respect for
time and other positive aspects.
However, there are many negative
things that really undermine the value of
women. So, don’t harrow after imitation of
everything western.
RI: You are living in a country that is
languishing under a harsh military
occupation. How do you manage?
And haven’t you thought of returning
to Romania for a quieter and more
comfortable life?
Mirela: Yes, there is a lot of oppression
here, and freedom doesn’t exist here due
to the restrictions of the occupation, but our
patience and suffering in this world will be
rewarded in the hereafter. Allah says that
the reward of those who are patient will be
Paradise.
Source : islamonlinet.net
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