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 Dame Stjernelys
Posted byAdministrator on Tuesday, December 07 @ 23:05:01 AST
Contributed by Administrator
Most of the non Muslims whom we have presented their stories and shared their journey of “finding the truth” were Christians, may be we have came across Hindus too however this time our interview is with a woman who have started as a catholic and then went through different strange religions that some of you may not even know that such religions are existing! Certainly Al hamdollah For Islam!
We interviewed Dame Stjernelys a 25 years old wife and mother of one child, living in Denmark, but originally from Poland who went through six religions trying to find and enjoy a peaceful soul:
IslamWay Sisters: Dame, are your parents the one who raised you? And what is the religion you were raised upon, and the environment you were brought up in?
Dame: My mother and father was both Catholic. They divorced when I was 3. My mother raised me in Catholicism until she married a Protestant man when I was 12. Then, they forced me to go to conservative Christian churches until till I left home when I was 19. I never believed in Catholicism; in fact, I routinely got kicked out of Catechism for asking the 'wrong' questions! This followed me through most of my young life. When I was in the conservative Christian churches, the same thing happened. And the sad thing was that I was already a Pagan. Yet all of these Christians (some of whom claimed to have the gift of divine sight and prophecy) couldn't figure it out! I realized that to be a Christian, all one had to do was say the right words and be able to quote the Bible every now and again; true belief wasn't necessary.
My home life up until the age of 12 was really great. I was close with all of my family (except my father, who was and is still an alcoholic.) The man my mother married when I was 12 physically, mentally, and verbally abused her for the entirety of their relationship. He physically abused me once (but I retaliated and that stopped.) He verbally and mentally abused me until I left home. He sexually abused me once when I was 14 when he was high on drugs. As for my father, I lost contact with him from the time I was 12 until the time I was 18. This was by my own choosing, since I didn't want to be spending time with someone who loved alcohol more than his own daughter. I then tried to forge a relationship with him between the ages of 18 and 22. This didn't work because he had lied to me about stopping drinking and he viewed me as a drinking buddy. There were many times where I would go to visit him and he would feed me alcohol as though it were water.
IslamWay Sisters: May Allah reward you a peaceful and happy life from now on.
Dame, what are the different religions you went through before you believed in Islam?
Dame: I started off Catholic, but didn't believe in any of it. I spent the ages of 12-14 as a Wiccan(1). I didn't feel at home with that, so I tried eclectic paganism(2) from the ages of 14-17. Yes, I practiced magic. I will not say whether it was white or black, since at the time I believed that magic itself was neutral and that it was the intention of the user which gave it a positive or negative effect. I didn't like
that, so I got into Thelma(3) for a few months. I didn't like that, so I tried non-theistic Satanism(4) for a year. I didn't like that and I became a Hellenic Reconstructionist(5) and I stayed that until I became a Muslim at 24.
IslamWay Sisters: You have joined Islamway sisters forum on July 19 2003, I will be honest with you, the administration team and some members got shocked when on Nov 13 you posted in the hejab forum the following:
"I'm non-Muslim, non-orthodox, non Jew, and non-Christian, yet I wear hejab. Do I get weird stares sometimes? Yes. Do I let it bother me? No"
Our shock was because as you said you are, non orthodox, non Jew, non Christian and yet you wear hejab! If you were Christian and you were wearing hejab we would have accepted it since nuns do cover their hair. Why you took such a decision?
Dame: I had originally decided to try hejab because I was curious to know what it would be like. Given that I am of Polish descent, I am used to wearing scarves on my head in the babushka style (since most women in my family do). However, I knew that hejab was different because it was more than a scarf; it was an entire dress code. So, I thought to myself that I would try it. But before I tried it, I spoke with Muslimahs on Belief net and in person to make sure that it would not offend anyone. I went to an Islamic shop and bought an abaya and a hijab and went out in public. I felt so utterly liberated in the hijab! I liked that I didn't have to worry about my hair or clothes. I liked that my body was for the first time in my life my OWN business; that no one could look at parts of my body and judge me for them. I liked how comfortable I felt and I also liked that while wearing hijab, my mind was free from worrying about the physical body and that I could focus on what lay inside. I also liked that for the first time in my life, I felt special. I felt as though my body were something special, only for me and my husband to know and to see; that I was a treasure. From that point on, I never once left my door without the hijab. and because Sisters told me that it would be best for me to try and behave Islamiclly while wearing it (so that others who might mistake me for being Muslim wouldn't look at my kafir behavior and think that was how Muslimahs act!), it sparked an interest in learning about Islam and what was acceptable behavior. I found that I agreed very much with the teachings of Islam and what Islam deemed as acceptable.
IslamWay Sisters: When we knew you were a Hellenic Recon, to tell u the truth the administration team had a discussion whether it is safe to make you continue your participations or not. However thanks to Allah who had guided us to leave you on the board and put more effort in keeping an eye on your posts. Our question is, did you feel that there is any kind of different treatments any member or any administration member was giving you while you were a non Muslim?
Dame: I didn't feel or see any different treatment. I noticed that if I posted something that went contrary to Islam (though unintentional), a Sister was very quick to correct me or an administrator was quick to edit my post. For that I am grateful, and I had mentioned that many times in the forum. I had never wanted to say or suggest or do anything in the forums that would be against Islam or that might create problems for the Sisters on the forums. I was brought up by my mum to respect people's beliefs, even if they differed from mine, and to do my best to never do anything that went against them whilst in the presence of those who followed that faith, to my best to accommodate those of different faiths, to learn from them, and to NEVER do anything to try and lead them astray. I never once felt that anyone judged me, treated me badly, or looked down on me.
IslamWay Sisters: We have noticed later that when you first joined the board there were no intentions from your writings to learn about Islam yet, we have felt that you want to be surrounded by Muslim sisters. Was this true? And why you have avoided any discussions about religions for the first few weeks or even months and focused on topics like food recipes?
Dame: Yes, I wanted to be with Muslim sisters because I have the utmost respect for them. I know that if I am on a forum with respectable Muslim women, there will be no discussion of things that might lead me as a married woman down a path I shouldn't go. Plus, I knew that by being amongst Muslim women, I wouldn't be judged or spoken badly to or have anyone try to sell me Islam. Also, even though I was so very different in many ways from the Sisters on the forum, I felt as though I were accepted in a way that I had never been before. And, I believed that the Sisters were the right people to learn about Islam from and could answer my questions. I wanted to be among people who didn't drink, didn't cruise the clubs, and weren’t obsessed with pouring talk about men down on me and whatnot. I found that on the Sisters forum. I also found that even though at the time our faiths were different, we still had a lot in common and I felt that helped to further the truth that Muslims and non-Muslims can and do get along. The reason I didn't discuss religion was because I didn't know much about Islam and I didn't want to talk about my religion. I was worried that if I were to speak about Hellenism on the forum, that I might intentionally sway someone who was new to Islam or that Sisters very strong in their deen (religion) might have believed that I was trying to sell Hellenism to them. I felt it best to keep religion out of it, except when discussing things where my knowledge of the ancient Hellenic religion (or other religions I belonged to) was relevant.
The reason I mainly posted recipes is because I love to cook food from all over the world and I had noticed that there were many Sisters who also shared my passion for cooking. I figured that if I couldn't contribute much to helping the Sisters on their path of Islam, I could at least contribute to fattening up the stores of their cookbooks!
IslamWay Sisters: On Oct 23, you have posted saying:
"I'm no longer a Hellenic Recon... I woke up the other day and went to do my morning supplications... and I just couldn't do it. I sat there thinking to myself what the point was to doing it because these deities probably weren't there anyway and I wasn’t Feeling any connection to them anymore."
I believe that there were other reasons that made you to feel this way, and it just did not happen over a night. What made you to feel this way, and what made you to think of Islam during this time?
Dame: I had for some time felt as though there was no connection between me and the Hellenic deities. I would do my supplications, leave my offerings, and yet I felt empty. I felt that I had no guidance, no answers, no love and no support. I felt like everything I gave up fell on deaf ears and that I was left alone. I thought at first that it was because I wasn't trying hard enough to be a good Hellene, and so I doubled my efforts at praying and giving offerings. Yet that didn't ease what I felt. Then I sat and I really reflected on things, and I came to the realization that it was because the belief in them just wasn't there in me anymore and that the only reason I ever felt anything was because I had believed in them; they weren't really there.
I thought of Islam because so much of Islam I already agreed with. It was my own stubborn nature and my old baggage about monotheism that was keeping me from accepting the reality that I really DID believe in Islam.
IslamWay Sisters: Subhan Allah you reminded me of Allah’s words
8:24 O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to Whom ye shall (all) be gathered. May Allah increase our faith and our iman.
What was the last thing that pushed you to revert to Islam?
Dame: When I was tending to my son and he looked up and said, quite audibly, Allah (swt). It moved me to tears and I knew right then and there that if my infant son, who had never heard the name of Allah (swt) from anyone could look up and say Allah's (swt) name, then Allah (swt) was really there, really cared, and that Allah (swt) was sending me a message that I needed to throw away that stubborn nature and accept right then and there that I believed in Him.
IslamWay Sisters: Dame, Among the topics that we prepared to discuss in our interview was that fact that your husband is not a Muslim yet and the Islamic point of view regarding such relation, yet I was surprised that the day I was to send u the interview questions, I have read your post on the board announcing that your husband said the shahada! Allah Akbar! How did this happen!?
Dame: I had him browsing Islamic sites and I told him what I knew of Islam. Also have an English translation of the Qu'ran and he read it. The more he read and the more the studied, the more it seemed to jive with him. I also prayed so very hard to Allah
(Swt), that if it was His will that I stay with this man who had treated me with the utmost of love and respect, that He guides him to Islam. I never told him what the Islamic point of view was. And then, my husband said to me that he wanted to say shahada because he truly was convinced that Allah (swt) was real and that Islam was the right way to go.
IslamWay Sisters: What are your short and long run plans for the coming few years?
Dame: To learn more about Islam and to grow in my deen (religion).
IslamWay Sisters: What do you think you and your husband can do for Islam?
Dame: I think that what we can do for Islam is quite limited until we both grow a bit more in our knowledge of the faith and grow stronger in our deen. Once we reach that point, it is up to Allah (swt) to guide us.
IslamWay Sisters: We believe that you already started doing a lot for Islam. Sharing your story, helping your husband to revert, wearing hijab and being such a respectful woman in your behavior and your way of thinking! You actually served Islam.
You have a lot of experience and you are still young we pray that you learn more and more and use your knowledge and experience in serving this religion.
Certainly what count is not the number of Muslims we have in the world but what counts are how many strong effective practicing Muslims that serves Islam do we have?
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1. Wicca : A polytheistic Neo-Pagan nature religion inspired by various pre-Christian western European beliefs, whose central deity is a mother goddess and which includes the use of herbal magic and benign witchcraft.
2. Paganism: One who has no religion
3. Thelma: philosophical/religious system, that believes knowing and doing one's True Will is the ultimate purpose and duty of every being.
4. Satanism: The worship of Satan characterized by a travesty of the Christian rites
5. Hellenic Religion: The worship of Twelve Gods, in their Hellenic form, (Greek belief)
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Average Score: 4.76
Votes: 38
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Re: Dame Stjernelys (Score: 1)
by KhadijaB on Friday, December 23 @ 18:31:29 AST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatuh Allahi Wa Barakatuh; Allahu Akbar and Alhamdulillah.. I am a new member on this website, and i have just read your article sister, about how you found Islam. SubhanAllah.. From Your Sister Khadija From DK |
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Re: Dame Stjernelys (Score: 1)
by rayofhope04 on Wednesday, December 08 @ 00:13:43 AST
(User Info | Send a Message) | Assalamualaikum,
Subhanallah!!!! Your story is touching and May Allah (swt) keep us all on the straight path. Ameen.
Wassalam
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Re: Dame Stjernelys (Score: 1)
by MuslimahSarah on Wednesday, December 08 @ 04:31:20 AST
(User Info | Send a Message) | Bismillah Masha'Allah! I cried when I read this! May Allah(swt) help you and your family to increase your knowledge in Islam. I am a new muslim as well, from a background of many different religions (my father is Jewish and my mother Christian, my brother is Wiccan, but I was raised with a religion so strange I can't even spell it Sawa Kurpal Rahany Mission) and, Alhamdulillah, I also have an infant child. So I feel like I understand your story well. I was Catholic for a time and then alhamdulillah, I found Islam when I was 18 and since, have been working hard to try and learn as much as I can about Allah's religion. May I recommend for you, the author Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips. He's writt
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Re: Dame Stjernelys (Score: 1)
by jumanalulu on Saturday, December 11 @ 04:59:38 AST
(User Info | Send a Message) | Salaam,
Thankyou so much for sharing your life with us. May Allah keep guiding you to the right path Inshallah.
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Re: Dame Stjernelys (Score: 1)
by leena.noor on Tuesday, January 04 @ 20:27:46 AST
(User Info | Send a Message) | I read this, and I had to write. This is my first or second time on this site, and i signed up just so I could comment. I too grew up Catholic and went to conservative churches and was searching. I went to more than 15 denomiations of Christianity in my last year of high school alone. I was searching and until i left the midwest and went to college, I didn't find Islam. When i questioned about Islam, I was told not to ask questions, that i did not know what I was talking about, and that they did. Although i stopped actively asking question at that time, when i met a Muslima at school, my questions poured out. Eight months later I took shahadah. It has been a journy for me. Islam saved
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