 Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahirrahmanirrahim. Allahumma salli ala Sayyidina Muhammadin wa ala Alihi wasabbi wa barak wa salam. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Thank you so much for joining us for MCC's New Muslim Rabbanon Stories series. Today, alhamdulillah, we have Sister Heather with us. Salam alaikum Sister Heather. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your story with us. It's definitely an honor and we look forward to hearing from you. Can you tell us more about yourself or a little bit about yourself? How long have you been Muslim, background info? Wonderful. Thank you for the invitation to speak this evening. I'm excited to be here and I really appreciate it. Alhamdulillah. So for me, new, new converts. I was invited to recite the shahada by my now husband, but at the time a new Muslim friend back in September. So, so many things have changed for me very, very quickly. But after reading the Quran from cover to cover, I realized that I am on the right path and home. And this will be, is kind of the beginning for me of a journey that I look so very forward to. And I will add to that that most recently I married this very wonderful person who is the answer to prayers that had, who is Muslim and had invited me to be Muslim, his Muslim wife, just recently on the 17th of March in Qatar. Mashallah. Congratulations. So there's been so much going on. Mashallah. Mashallah. May Allah bless your marriage. I mean, can you tell us more about your journey to Islam? And you're, you know, just basically a kind of a little bit more about the things that led up to that point where you felt in your heart that you believed and you wanted to take that step. Absolutely. So for me, my journey was I was born to a single mother under dire circumstances and was raised without religion. There was no conformity, freedoms, unimaginable freedoms and things that probably exposed me to ways that were certainly not healthy. But in reflection, I realized my mom was doing the best she could. And so in raising me in a very non-religious environment, I had just kind of lived my life a certain way up to a point where I was in a situation where I lost a loved one who was most dear to me and it was the worst experience. I was, for the first time in my entire life, most devastated, just broken. And that set me on a path to start exploring deeper meaning. Why am I here? Why is, why do these things happen? And I stumbled upon a Buddhist monastery and was invited to attend and studied for several months and met the most wonderful Buddhist monks and nuns and learned prostration and prayer and meditation and how to more discipline my mind and I still have in memory some of the wonderful mantras. However, there was still something that I was searching for and a beloved family member had suggested I pray and it was a Christian prayer that was brought to my attention and so I began my journey of prayer and ultimately ended up reading the Bible cover to cover then decided on baptism and started attending church. But again, I was just really, there has to be more to this and I had so many questions and I felt a connection but I was really to a degree feeling like I didn't fit and I had experienced within the past couple of years some additional deeply felt very hard hitting losses and I was once again faced with why are these things happening and you know, I feel like I'm a little more spiritual but I just turned inward and really was in a certain way more lost and the questions that I had, I wasn't finding answers to and this wonderful person just kind of stumbled my way and from that point there were conversations that opened up and he began speaking to me about Islam. I realized I had so many questions and then they just flowed from me very naturally and when he was talking about Muslims and I did I know Muslims and I hadn't ever met a Muslim that had ever spoke to me about being Muslim or Islam so I knew virtually nothing. The only thing that I could relate to was while I was reading the Bible there were parts of the Old Testament in scriptures where it was talking about prayer and prostration and it was obviously I identified once reading the Qur'an that a sequence of events obviously are very well accounted for and had some understanding of who the prophets were and felt a real deep connection to the Qur'an and so that I had this person readily available to ask questions to and to answer my questions was certainly most beneficial. I was truly grateful and then of course set upon the journey of learning Salah and I'm still struggling because the Arabic language does not come easy for me. I think I'm one of those people that I've tried learning other languages and I learn a little and I forget more than I've learned and I do realize that this is going to be a very long journey and I just have to be gentle with myself. I tend to be a little bit harder on myself and sort of expect myself to do everything to a measure of not necessarily perfection but in order and to make sure everything makes sense and has some deep meaning and that I'm getting it and so maybe I have a tendency to overthink things but this is one thing that just feels so natural to me to a point that when I discovered by doing a DNA ancestry test that I actually have ancestry from Tunisia, a Muslim country so I'm realizing this makes perfect sense. Mashallah, that's an amazing story, Mashallah. Allah brings us to Islam in such beautiful ways, Mashallah and that's definitely the case for you, Mashallah. Okay, so you just took Shahada, Mashallah just recently so this is going to be your first Ramadan. Yes. And Ramadan is just a couple of days from now so how are you feeling as we approach the blessed month? Candidly, I have moments of nervousness and anxiousness however I'm realizing that my approach is just really with a high degree of humility I know so little and I'm really putting effort into wanting to learn so that I can value at the highest level the blessings and the benefits and the rewards and knowing that it's going to come with challenges I'm embracing those challenges that it's going to come with difficulties I'm embracing those on the front end realizing that they will shape me and mold me into a better Muslim woman a better Muslim wife, a better Muslim sister within the community so I'm grateful and I'm so very dependent upon a lot of strength in me and fortify me and bring the wisdom to me and bring good people to me that have experience and wisdom and I'm really genuinely just feeling so grateful Mashallah, I really appreciate that you're offering yourself some self-compassion and trying to just take it easy and put in Allah's hands Mashallah So are you feeling apprehensive at all about any particular aspects or do you feel like you're going to just take it a day at a time? Exactly, it's probably really going to be an hour at a time I am fasting as something I've always kind of had a tendency to not do the things that I should do so never am I ever eating at the same time sometimes I donate until two in the afternoon and sometimes I donate at all in the evening and I was actually just joking with a family member and saying that I realized that the fasting will be beneficial because I've struggled with framing what I should be doing in terms of food there have been things that for the longest time I've overindulged in and as a consequence of that it's certainly had an impact on health and so I'm wanting to just really reevaluate my thinking about what I put in my body and how often and that there are so many people that struggle for just the basics so I'm feeling a certain amount of responsibility to make sure that I don't overindulge so that more can be shared with others it's a sensitivity that I have more now thinking about my intention going in which is just to really value all parts of Ramadan and that the fasting even though I know it's not going to be easy I will take it hour by hour day by day and do my very best and I haven't even really looked into what the consequences are if I break fast or if I don't do things the right way I'm just really trying to focus on what I should do and just the leanings on Allah to strengthen me and ensure that I'll do what I'm supposed to and find the right guidance and counsel Insha'Allah, insha'Allah I'll fall into place and you'll figure it out it's definitely a journey like you mentioned earlier that it's a life-long journey so insha'Allah with each Ramadan we learn more and grow more insha'Allah and also like you mentioned SubhanAllah it really is a great time to be more mindful about what we're eating and how we're eating insha'Allah it's really such a multifaceted benefit during Ramadan, insha'Allah okay so let's talk about non-Muslim family members and friends and do you foresee interactions with them during Ramadan and how do you think that's gonna go? I actually just received a phone call from a sister who lives in New York she's coming to California for a week with her boyfriend and has invited me to a night of comedy next Wednesday and she had mentioned going to dinner before and I explained to her that this is Ramadan so there's fasting from the early morning prayer until a later evening prayer and that dinner will be out for me and so it was very sweet it was a touching moment because she immediately said I will eat when you are able to eat and I realized that even though my family doesn't fully understand this change in my life and they have questions and when I answer I'm trying to be most patient and not impart more than what I actually know I'm not trying to overstep boundaries because I realize that I'm so new and that this is all still so very new to me but that I have read the Quran and so I'm able to just draw from some of what I've learned and when I'm talking with them about Prophet Muhammad's teachings Prophet Muhammad SAW he was Salem in his teachings or mother Aisha and I am able to share with absolute joy and enthusiasm that I'm learning and these things though they're very new to me are such an important part of my journey and my growth and that it is in many ways creating in me a much better person and so I will be a much better sister a much better daughter and just all I in inshallah a much better well-rounded human being and so I'm actually excited more and more to be sharing as I know best how to explain what it is to be Muslim and to explain more about Islam and even though I feel very limited in my knowledge I can certainly share at least the basics of my own experience and the wonderful people that I've met and the joy that I'm experiencing and the love that I feel and that is being shared with me which is unparalleled to any other experience in my lifetime so I want to share these things what a blessing that they're open and open-minded and being supportive inshallah inshallah they will continue to be that way and inshallah may Allah just increase the love and care between you and all of your family members inshallah okay so since this is your first Ramadan again and I think anyway as each Ramadan passes by or as each Ramadan approaches we would want to set goals for ourselves but this is your first Ramadan so do you have any goals in mind and what is the most what are you looking forward to most this Ramadan? it's not a good question I'm still putting the pieces together but one goal is that I really do so I'm almost finished reading the Quran for the second time and I want very much to be able to complete it a third time for deeper understanding and I feel that the impact that it'll have in terms of hopefully inshallah finding some deeper meanings and moving more towards more self-discipline and knowledge that will fortify me going forward as I delve deeper into more of the responsibilities of upholding the five pillars of Islam and embarking on studies and really trying and inshallah hoping that the Arabic language takes hold so reading the Quran and prayer is highest on my list of priorities learning du'a so I feel like I will be utilizing this time as much as possible I think the bigger challenge is that I work Monday through Friday to 4.30 so I know trying to do all of this and balance it with measured discipline is going to come with challenges and that's maybe where I feel like I could potentially stumble if I miss a prayer and if I'm still struggling after a week or two with certain words or parts of prayer am I going to feel disappointment within myself or you know how I deal with that as I go but you know just kind of keeping everything as simple as possible manageable inshallah inshallah may Allah make it easy for you and give you success in all of your efforts mashallah I think I've read today by one of our teachers a post about making goals during Ramadan and making them meaningful and I think it was consistent or making them practical so mashallah it sounds like you have that covered like your goals are mashallah very meaningful and important to you and then you know you have some consistent or you know goals that you can try to make consistent for yourself inshallah so inshallah okay so fun stuff inshallah you know Ramadan for people who have grown up as Muslims they have a lot of stuff that brings you know brings nostalgia for them whether it's food or just you know gatherings with family there's a lot of things that just for like with us maybe you know there's different holidays that have nostalgic memories for us Ramadan and either like that for born Muslims but since we weren't born Muslims we have the opportunity to make traditions and build things in our in our Ramadan so that will be nostalgic for us in the future so have you thought about that have you thought of any traditions that you want to build for you and your family or start for you and your family inshallah the one thing that most stands out for me in terms of what I find I want to accomplish or it's kind of part goal but I want to develop this into a tradition during Ramadan is where I have kind of the minimalistic approach I mean not truly or as much as I would like to commit to but a pretty minimalistic approach to life in general I want to basically kind of go through things that I've accumulated over time that might not have the value and donate and do things for others that if I think something that I have might be of benefit to someone else who may value it more be willing to part with that and that's kind of part one of the second part for me which is really to be more available to help others I feel like that's kind of the one thing that will really allow me to experience the benefits of being a good Muslim woman in a sense because I am right now my husband lives in another country and I'm here alone and my family lives in other states so outside of work it's just me at home and to become a more community oriented more community involved and to really build within the community but first by building relationships with others through and giving up myself of my time of my efforts any talents that I may have is something I most look forward to so I hope to translate that into tradition somehow Sister Heather that's an amazing answer Masha'Allah beautiful I can't imagine that you know just really such a beautiful and humble tradition that you want to start for yourself and again may Allah give you a success in your efforts I can tell you that MCC always needs volunteers during Ramadan so you're always one of them Masha'Allah that's really beautiful okay so last question as a new convert would you like to share with the community viewers who are watching this outside of the MCC community and how do you feel we could support new converts better? Great question I most would like to really develop relationships within the Muslim community and I feel Alhamdulillah it's such an incredible blessing to have been guided and come into contact with so many wonderful people at MCC when I was first reaching out to masjids in the area it was because I needed the Shahada certificate to go to the country to marry my husband I hadn't yet really felt comfortable knowing that I wasn't so well rounded in prayer and to go to the mosque to pray and so I'm still at a point where I have so much more work to do but I'm so willing to learn and so any sisters who have knowledge, wisdom, experience they are willing to impart, I am eager to listen, to learn, to share and I'm very excited to be among such a good community of people and the resources here are absolutely fantastic and I will say that to my experience it was a phone call and an email and the response was so immediate my brother Manir just orchestrated everything so split second literally just dropping everything to accommodate me and I was thinking who does that wherever in the world do these things happen so there's such a special place in my heart for you and brother Manir and sister Jose Alhamdulillah I feel so incredibly blessed to be invited here and to be sharing in this experience and my experience with others but also be able to be a part of something so much bigger and I'm truly grateful for this and in terms of I think you guys do so well already drawing resources and garnering resources for new converts I've not yet tapped into but been offered so many wonderful resources so that's where it will be picking up for me and I will definitely be doing a deep dive into these wonderful, wonderful resources but again just wanting to be more a part of a community and so I would never shy away from anyone that reaches out to me in any way or if I reach out to someone and they can guide me or direct me I would be ever so grateful it really is an honor for us and I know brother Manir and sister Jose we all feel that it's an honor to be able to support you and welcome you and you already are Masha'Allah contributing just by sharing your story and it sounds like you just want to be part of the community and give back Masha'Allah may Allah reward you for all of that and again thank you so much for sharing your story inshallah it'll be a benefit and for others inshallah thank you so much sister Heather thank you, it's a pleasure assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh you are here for this momentous event this incredible moment in your life that I hope you will cherish forever and remember forever and I just am so humbled to be a part of it with you you've met Manir and Edelah and Aisha and Masha'Allah they're amazing people and I'm sure they've already maybe even laid out the process for you but just for the sake of making this as efficient as possible I'll just quickly summarize I'm sure you know as well the shahada process is really easy Masha'Allah to come into Islam it just takes a sincere heart and a few words and that's it and we believe honestly though you're already part of this family of Muslims you're already our sister this is just a formal process to officiate it but I feel that just some analysis I came into the room and I saw your beaming smile I felt that from you so the actual process that we do is basically I'll just be reciting the shahada in Arabic and I'll go at a very slow pace so that you can repeat with me I'll say it in English are you familiar with that? I'm sorry because I usually get like all of this back sort of knowledge or context beforehand but this was a little bit done a little differently which is fine but are you familiar with the shahada? Do you know how the phrase or the declaration is stated? Do you know it? Alhamdulillah, beautiful Alhamdulillah and if you don't mind just for us just to have again total transparency here would you mind if I ask what your previous religious background if any what it is or what it was? I appreciate the question mine is one of those journeys that I can summarize fairly easily but was basically born of a situation where I was not planned I never knew my biological father and my mother not having a whole lot of insight as to how the world works was without religion and was basically just thumbing her way through life to the best of her ability made a lot of mistakes and so in short fast forward to 20 years she gave birth to my youngest sister I was nearly 20 years older then and when my sister was just one month shy of her 16th birthday she died from an epileptic seizure that oh did I lose you? Oh no I am here all of a sudden I was just seeing myself so in short that moment caused a real imbalance in my life and I was on the quest to find answers because she was the dearest person to me I had never been so close or really been able to measure what love was until she was born and came into my life so I ended up finding a Buddhist monastery studied Buddhism learned from some wonderful nuns and monks how to be more mentally disciplined and physically disciplined and so really the first if I could call it religion that came into my life was Buddhism and then sometime maybe nearly a year later my relative who was also affected by my sister's passing had suggested I pray a Christian prayer and so she gave me a book and I began to read and then I was inquisitive enough and read the Bible cover to cover started attending Christian churches and eventually was baptized but further on down the road I was really just sort of baffled how so many of the pieces didn't really fit and I was still searching and I had kind of stumbled upon some verbiage about the Holy Quran and I was curious but I didn't really aspire to learn because I knew it was a different language and I just thought I hadn't yet been fully inspired until September this year when I had been really just kind of at the lowest point in my life for a very long while just empty really depleted and feeling very defeated and this bright light came into my life that just illuminated the beauty of all things that I think that were pressing in my heart but that I hadn't really quite been able to piece together in terms of who Allah is and what Allah does for us and I was inspired to read the Quran so I bought my first Quran read from cover to cover and I know now that this was the definitive intention for me it just kind of took me a little longer road maybe and a whole lot of bumps and bruises along the way but I see how I've arrived at least whole enough to really recognize what is true and I am so genuinely grateful. Oh my goodness oh my goodness Aisha that was such a beautiful testimony I, wow you've left me really speechless thank you for sharing that I'm sorry because you probably are going to get this question so much as more and more people have learned of you coming into the faith and I have to just prepare you for that this will be the question that everybody wants to know like what's your journey tell us your story but what a beautiful beautiful story thank you Mashallah I mean first of all may God bring you peace over your sister's passing I pray that you are reunited with her in the best of places she sounds like a lovely person so I'm sorry that you went through that but the fact that her passing led you to this path is just such an incredible gift that she left you with right even though she left she also left you this gift so we always say that we all have different paths but the fact that we get here is what matters right the fact that you're here even if you stumbled along the path we've all stumbled some of us were born into the faith we've certainly stumbled a lot but alhamdulillah for God's mercy and the fact that he awakens us as you said so beautifully you know that you just felt illuminated and that really is what I think many of us who embrace this faith whether we're again born into it or we come into it it is coming out from a darkness right that we just suddenly realize this is what I need to hold on to because otherwise we're just floundering trying to find our way in this very very complex world alhamdulillah thank you so much for sharing really beautiful I don't know if you're in local are you local in the Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area? I've been conquered. Oh my God that's where I was raised like oh wow my mom lives there I was just there in the other day okay I hope to meet you I would love to meet you I would love to you know sit with you and spend some time with you you're close that's wonderful news yeah I would love to get to know you more more about your journey you're so well spoken such a great storyteller Masha'Allah Brother Menir I'm sure you took note of sister Aisha we may have to bring her on to the to the speaker circuit at MCC at some point insha'Allah but no you really are you're very very captivating storyteller you had me gripping you know right from the beginning so Masha'Allah it's just such an honor but thank you for all of that and just again I feel like Masha'Allah you know you're already here but let's you know if you're ready we can proceed and we can we can go ahead and appreciate this beautiful moment insha'Allah so the Shahada as you know you know it it's very short and typically some speakers or some people who appreciate will do it one time or three times based on the preference are you comfortable with either or or would you like to the the Prophet I said him when he would emphasize something he would repeat it three times and that's where that practice comes from so I do prefer to do it three times just to kind of you know in line ourselves with him and also for us who are witnessing I think it's just really it's always beautiful to say the Shahada was someone who's coming to the page because we reaffirm our own faith in that moment as well so if you're comfortable with that we can do three but if you want to just keep it simple short and sweet we can do one too I love the idea of three okay I'm so again honored and excited to be here Bismillah so we'll begin and I'll repeat it in Arabic and then we'll do the definition after the three full statements in Arabic we'll do the English definition and then that will be it so Bismillah we first begin and say Ash hadu Ash hadu I'm sorry I forgot to give you the instruction so I will repeat I mean I will say it and then you repeat immediately after me so we'll start again Bismillah Ash hadu Ash hadu An La ilaha La ilaha Il Allah Il Allah Wa Ash hadu Anna Muhammadan Muhammadan Rasul Allah Rasul Allah beautiful masha Allah that's one down two more Ash hadu An La ilaha La ilaha Il Allah Il Allah Ash hadu Ash hadu Anna Muhammadan Muhammadan Rasul Allah Rasul Allah Ash hadu Ash hadu An La ilaha La ilaha Il Allah Wa Ash hadu Anna Muhammadan Muhammadan Rasul Allah Rasul Allah Masha Allah, Allahu Akbar God is great welcome to the faith sister Aisha you are now a Muslim although you were one even seconds ago but you are it is official you are alhamdulillah part of this incredible ummah welcome you are our sister in faith you are here is of course the Shahada which simply states that I bear witness that there is no God but the one and only God God and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God and that is all it takes for someone to come into the faith of course to feel it in the heart to testify it in the heart and on the tongue so alhamdulillah welcome I wish I could hug you alhamdulillah and that is usually what we do there is usually a line and we just everybody crowds around alhamdulillah you have to kind of get through that but really special moment jazaki l'akhirin for allowing us to be a part of it did you have any questions umm or sister elin or brother manir did you have any any announcements anything let's say I think it would be good to bring them back into the conversation inshallah anything to share Aisha how do you feel inshallah that was really beautiful thank you sister Aisha for sharing your story with us it was really moving and you know you've been through so much may Allah continue to open doors and bring beautiful blessings into your life I mean and also sister Hosea if you want to talk to her about her slate being clean and dua's being accepted inshallah yes but anyway thank you so much and inshallah like a brother manir will be or has already added you to my mailing the mailing list that I send out so inshallah I'll follow up with you about that because we have some stuff coming up inshallah thank you Aisha thank you elin Aisha I love it I love it brother manir did you have any for sister Aisha any announcements about it you just honored us sister heather by allowing us to be part of this special day it was just a special privilege to be part of your spiritual journey you'll hear this again and again from us because we lived this this saying that this is a this is not a sprint this is a marathon we're going to take it slowly and we are here for you we're running this with you and we're there to make it beautiful for you as you are for us to give you water to give you gatorade to give you whatever you need to run this marathon with you so that's what it's all about and so thank you for the thing and we'll start the whole say we'll say that you know your slate is clean it's like the day you came out of your mother's womb you got to keep your good deeds and because of your wonderful presence I can tell you have a lot of that I'm the luck and thank you for sharing your story yet by the way very touching it just reminded me of the old saying that God reserves his hardest test for his strongest soldiers and amazing and please pray for us because you know we are all weighed down for what by baggage by things that we have to answer for and the sins that we do but your prayers are very direct very go direct to God right now and that's why we have to selfishly ask for ourselves right now which is yeah thank you so much thank you both for those reminders you know we do so many I don't know where that's coming from that was like you know like a drum roll like someone did I don't know where it's coming from I don't know where it's coming from I have no idea where that's coming from do you know where it's coming from from in here I'm checking all my tabs I have a million tabs open right now Sada Jose I think it's yours because when we were on mute it was still coming oh my gosh really yeah I'm so sorry it's fine it's very beautiful yeah I wish we what is this part of the yeah Allah you know I have a YouTube video up for the Qalam Institute I'm so sorry I had no idea it was on but the timing was so perfect yes upon all oh my goodness alhamdulillah there's no better words of course than the words of Allah but Sastra Aisha as my dear Sastra Aisha and brother Minir when you've come into Islam we believe that you are as they said like a newborn baby you're sinless all of your past good deeds accrue they join you and also you're any sins or any mistakes any misdeeds you've made also get converted into hassanat or good deeds for you so you basically have you know abundance and a surplus of good deeds and that's why we seek your draws because you are not only in that beautiful pure state but you're also your draws are considered what we say mustajab which is there's a lot of power right now because you've come into this faith you've made the ultimate sacrifice and to come into Islam and as an adult of course I was reminded earlier listening to our teacher Hamza Yusuf who's also a convert he was saying that sometimes people forget that the all of the first generation were converts the Sahaba the wives of the Prophet they're all converts have an immense role in our faith and they have such a weightiness because they make the ultimate sacrifice and so you join the ranks of all of those amazing incredible people of course and here even with us the Shaysha who's also a convert and who leads the convert care and so many of our members of our community are converts our teachers the teacher that I just mentioned I don't know if you're familiar with his work Shah Hamza Yusuf but I think he would really appreciate he has a book on Islam and Buddhism he wrote a section on you know comparing the two faiths and also I don't know if you're familiar with Dr. Thomas Cleary who was he wrote many books on Buddhism he's actually one of the great translators of the Buddhist tradition he passed away actually I believe in August or July of this past year unfortunately but he was also a Muslim people don't know that about him so there are so many people that you're going to meet who've had very similar paths and Buddhism Subhanallah is one of those traditions similar to Christianity where people it's like a doorway it's a stepping stone that they will just with a little bit more study find their way to Islam so I really was thinking of that as you were speaking like Subhanallah I'm not surprised especially because you said you were a seeker and seekers you know Allah like Subhanallah pulls you because you're seeking the truth and until you get to that truth you're not satisfied and that's why your journey is so beautiful because it shows the sincerity of your heart you went through loss and you started you know that inquiry and that inquiry took you to these beautiful other traditions which there are beauties beautiful truths and universal truths and all of these beautiful faiths but Alhamdulillah you're here you're here in Islam and that of course is a gift Islam really is a gift and I would love to again speak to you further inshallah when you're you know ready to come and join us in person I have Halafas that I do or like gatherings for women the last Friday of every Thursday you are always welcome and if you ever come to MCC I'm five minutes away I would be honored to meet you to give you a tour to just spend some time with you and maybe inshallah when we are able to do that we can provide some resources for you I'm sure actually sister Aisha already has that process ready because mashallah they're so good at helping you know with the Convert Care program to make sure you have the resources you need but I will happily share my information with you if you want to be in touch with me any questions you have or any just to feel like you know I'm now part of something much bigger and it is it's a family and I I'm sorry I'm going on so long but I love this community so much I came from Southern California and I made a specific duad that Allah grant me the ability to move close to MCC because I love these people so much and you will feel the love on this and I've been a part of many communities but what you get from the MCC community is really really special so that's why I'm so happy you took your shahada with us and that we will be honored with seeing you and having you a part of our community so thank you, forgive me for going on so long but any a thing to share any final remarks from you I genuinely feel so incredibly blessed as I realize that with the guidance of Allah he is drawing me near to some extraordinarily wonderful people three of you have definitely a very special place in my heart not only because you have gone out of your way to be so accommodating to a very on the spot request but I will tell you that I have really been praying to Allah for an opportunity to experience more of the Muslim community and I feel like he has brought me closer to some wonderful people so I'm just so grateful thank you each of you that's so sweet I can tell you that the feeling is very very very mutual I'm so touched thank you for again requesting this last minute shahada I felt like it was like the lottery really to have this subhanallah on this blessed night so thank you in this blessed sacred month of Rajab there's just so many wonderful gifts that you've given all of us and to reaffirm our own testimony of faith as always as I said such a blessing so thank you I look forward to being in touch with you and I thank brother Munir for making that contact he knows he's got that VIP he can text me anytime he wants especially with these requests so I jumped on the opportunity but I'm so grateful to you thank you thank you so much and may Allah make it easy for you know as brother Munir said this is a marathon and there's going to be a lot it's such a beautiful time and I don't want to you know say any more than that just just cherish it relish it enjoy it take your time and just really grow in your love of your creator who's basically pulling you towards him inch by inch inch by inch every day and inshallah may Allah surround you with beautiful people who hold you who give you space who you know really support you during this time and we just we're excited to have you so thank you thank you so much giving you lots of hugs virtual hugs I'm a hundred so I hope you're okay with that because I will hug you at some point definitely virtual hugs lots of virtual hugs from our side too my side thank you I can do a quick closing before we head out Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Bismillah Ya Allah we ask that you bless our dear sister Aisha increase her draw her closer to you provide for her from every which direction ya Allah surround her and develop her in your mercy and in your care and bring her guidance every single day so that she can again benefit our community and we can benefit her Alhamdulillah thank you for bringing us together please bless MCC community brother Munir sister Aisha their families all of their loved ones everyone's loved ones ya Allah please protect and preserve them all thank you for this wonderful gift Alhamdulillah sister Aisha joining our faith Alhamdulillah thank you thank you thank you Aisha have a wonderful eating both of you Aisha have a wonderful eating brother Munir as well InshaAllah we will see you soon Asalaikum Asalaikum