Muslim Women Converts Say "We Are Not Brainwashed" by: Theresa Corbin
Recently, news stories about the deceased Boston Bombing suspect's wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, abound. Reports speculate about her life and her choice to become Muslim.
The media, to its credit, have run some stories from the Muslim women's perspective, but by and large they are portraying Katherine, and women like her, as having been forced to convert to Islam.
Many news outlets are trying to portray Katherine as some sort of weak woman who fell into the hands of an overpowering force and was brainwashed straight out of Christianity and in the hijab, Islam, and the arms of a terrorist. They absolutely ignore the possibility that Katherine may have converted after much soul searching and reflection done of her own free will.
"She was a very sweet woman, but I think kind of brainwashed by him," said the Huffington Post, quoting Anne Kilzer, from Belmont, Mass., who claimed to have known Russell and her daughter.
When a woman in the West converts to Islam, it is always assumed that she has been coerced. Why else would she leave her life full of every imaginable freedom, right? She must have converted for a man, she must have been brainwashed, or she must have been at gun point.
The truth of the matter is that in the richest countries in the world, people, having all their physical needs and wants met, are still feeling something missing on a spiritual level.
To say that someone who has found spiritual fulfillment in one of the world's largest religion has been brainwashed is just insulting. It is a roundabout way of saying that women who convert to Islam are weak minded.
This is not the case by a long shot. Women who convert to Islam are typically outspoken, well-mannered, well-educated, well-informed, and conscious of their moral obligations to others.
When I converted to Islam, the sister who was giving me shahada (the statement of faith) asked me why I was converting. She asked me twice if I was doing it for any person or felt forced to do it in anyway. "Because," she said "if you say that you believe and someone made you say it, your faith would not be accepted from you. Allah knows what is in your heart."
So let's see what it really means to be brainwashed. According to merriam-webster.com, brainwashing is a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas.
How is it then that in Islam your faith will not be accepted from you unless you are sincere? Sincerity cannot be coerced. It is like saying you were forced to fall in love; it just doesn't work that way.
And where is the follow up to the brainwashing? In order to sustain a state of "brainwashing," you also must isolate the subject from the outside world. You don't see this with Muslim converts. They go on to study at universities; work as teachers, scientists, military personnel, journalists and so on; do charity work; they are politically active, and motivated to be productive members of society.
With headlines like "Islam is Fastest Growing Religion in the United States" from the U.S. Department of Defense -- and many more like it -- journalists are scrambling to find a reason for so many people entering Islam in the West.
Women convert to Islam for a million reasons, none of them having anything to do with coercion.
Muslim women who have converted all over the world are standing up and rejecting the media's portrayal of them as feeble minded or weak. "We can speak for ourselves. And we will." says a Muslim American convert who joined a "We are not brainwashed" campaign on Facebook in support of Russell Tsarnaev's choice to become Muslim.
One Muslim American convert from the Facebook group says, "I am a Muslim now for 10 years, alhamduliAllah (All thanks and praises are due to God). I was raised a Baptist Christian in a southern family from South Carolina. I reverted at the age of 15 all on my own free will."
Another Muslim convert from Oklahoma says, "I married a wonderful Muslim man who never forced anything on me! If I had questions he would answer them, but never more than that. He would secretly make dua'a (supplication) for me to become Muslim. Seven years later I did it on my own without him even knowing."
In a time when women have more choices than ever, some women are choosing Islam. And they are starting to demand respect for this choice.
Published by Theresa Corbin
Theresa Anne Corbin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of South Alabama. She is a freelance writer, a terrible photographer, an award winning poet, and a notorious smar... View profile at Yahoo.
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