 As-salamu alaykum, brother Baraka. It's very nice to meet you. Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah. Thank you for having me. Thank you for joining us. So today we are going to get to learn a little bit about you, and I'll start with my initial question, which is, we'd love to learn more about how you came to Islam. Mashallah. Every convert has many versions of this story, and the shortest version is I was spiritually seeking and I was investigating some of the Eastern traditions, Buddhism and, you know, engaging in mindfulness practice and yoga and searching, but I was also grew up and I was making music and reciting poetry, so I started reading a lot of the poetry and the music from around the world. And I came across some of the mystical poetry of Islam, particularly the Persian poets like Rumi and Hafiz, which as everybody knows, they have many popular translations in English, and so I was really moved by the poetry and not just the words, but the meanings and what they were getting at, and it seemed that there was an experience of the Divine that was behind the words, and that's what really intrigued me. And so that had a huge impact on me, that kind of mystical poetry. And the more that I read about Islam and came across some of these great scholars and philosophers and mystics, I realized that, you know, this is what I already believe. I really was drawn to the fact that in Islam we affirm all of the prophets and all of the saints and sages of previous time, not only the ones mentioned in the Quran, but Allah says 144,000. Every nation was sent a guide. And so I really loved that because I had read in all these religions and I had seen that there was truth and beauty and goodness in all of them. And so I loved that there was this, you know, Islam had this universal message. So, you know, it's very interesting that my whole life is now like Islamic poetry and what drew me into Islam was Islamic poetry. So Pamela, so tell us a little bit about your first Ramadan. My first Ramadan, actually, I think this is pretty rare for a camera. My first Ramadan was in a Muslim country. It was in Morocco. And I had only been Muslim three or four months, but I remember I was really like, I wanted to go study Islam and I was right when I became Muslim. And one of my friends, I embraced Islam in Seattle where I grew up. And one of my friends in the Masjid who was kind of like teaching me a little bit about Islam and was being a good friend to me, he was from Morocco and he'd come to the U.S. to study and then he was living there. But he was like, you can go stay with my family in Morocco. And then you can, you know, break your fast there and you can go to the mosque for Tadawiyah. So I was with this Moroccan family and drinking Moroccan soup to break my fast. And I remember one funny thing is that I went with the father of the household who was, you know, in the 60s or something and I was 20. But every night I went with him to the mosque and he didn't speak any English and I didn't speak any Arabic. But all I knew is they prayed for like two hours in the mosque. But I didn't know what Tadawiyah was. So I just thought every night of the year, every single day, they just were that devoted praying two hours a night. And so I was like, wow, this is beautiful. And I prayed with them every night and, you know, not understanding a word of Arabic, not even understanding what Tadawiyah was. But it was a beautiful memory that I have. That is beautiful. Very special. Alhamdulillah. Do you prepare for Ramadan? I do try to prepare for Ramadan as much as I can. And we know that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam used to pray, bless us in the Rajab in Shaaban and allow us to attain Ramadan. So it's like these two months to prepare. So I try to do it. One of the things that's very practical, tip for anyone who's like me and drinks a lot of coffee, you have to do some fasts in the months leading up to it just so you don't get the headache. You get the headache withdraws out of the way before Ramadan because you don't want that in Ramadan. So I try to cut down on my caffeine intake and do some fasts to prepare. I've always find that really helpful. Other than that, I try to make more time for the Quran because Ramadan is not just a time of fasting and celebration but it's really the month of the Quran and I really always strive to, you know, read a Juz a day in Ramadan to listen to the Quran, to go to Tariwi to really just infuse myself, you know, because I'm someone who likes to read a lot and I listen to things, I listen to podcasts, whatever, outside of Ramadan. And Ramadan I try to fast from reading anything with the Quran, fast from listening anything to the Quran as well. So I really just try to make it all about the Quran and just like, you know, Quran intensive. But so building up to Ramadan, I try to read the Quran more just to get myself in the habit of doing that. That is wonderful. What do you cherish most about Ramadan? Subhanallah. That's a beautiful question. Ramadan is mysterious because, you know, I'm a convert so I'm the only Muslim in my family and it's funny sometimes, you know, they will look at me like, oh, I'm sorry, Ramadan is coming up. They feel sorry for me. And it's like, no, I'm sorry I don't get to experience this because there's just the taste of Ramadan is miraculous in that sense. So, you know, Alhamdulillah, you know, yeah, that's a blessing. Beautiful. Do you celebrate Eid and if so, how? Yeah, I like to celebrate Eid and you know, I enjoy the fact that Muslims get together in usually like open fields outside and pray and everybody's dressed up. You know, I don't do anything special. I drink coffee during the day and then I eat a little bit and feel like, oh, wow, I'm eating in the day. This feels wrong. But I try to visit loved ones, friends, and things like that. It truly is such a beautiful time. Alhamdulillah. Well, I thank you so much for taking time to answer questions and allow us to know a little more about you. Alhamdulillah. It's a blessing. And I would just say for those that are from Muslim families to appreciate the great blessing of breaking fast together and experiencing Ramadan together, that's something that I would love to experience with my family and make dua that inshallah I can one day with my parents and things like that. But also to include converts, you know, especially new converts who may not have friends and family because the first Ramadan's can be somewhat isolating, you know, because it is a very, it's a communal time. But, you know, if converts don't have family and everybody goes with their family, they may be breaking fast alone and things of that nature. So it's a great opportunity to reach out or, you know, some organizations do beautiful things where they have like people open up their house for converts in the community and have, you know, once during Ramadan, if a few families do that, you can have a gathering every week, you know, for the converts to come and experience, you know, Ramadan, the Muslim household, which is really meaningful. Insha'Allah. That's a wonderful idea and I'm hopeful that we see more of that happening. Insha'Allah. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. Wa alaykum as-salam.