Have you ever met a white convert to Islam?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Me and phk were just discussing this. But I have not.

[Joe Republic]

Yes.  She had married one, thus...

[angus]

Me and phk were just discussing this. But I have not.

Yes.  Two, actually.  The first was Ron, from Ohio.  Yellow hair, blue eyes, pink complexion.  You'd never figure him for a Muslim if you met him on the street.  We were over my apartment one day, back in grad school, smoking a joint, and I asked him if he'd like some Wild turkey.  Since that's what I was drinking.  He says he doesn't drink.  I assumed he was a "recovering alcoholic" or something, so I didn't press it.  Later, I was talking with some mutual acquaintances and I mentioned it and the other guy says, "Oh, of course Ron doesn't drink.  He's a Muslim." 

The second one I met was a guy from Texas who fell in love with a Jordanian girl.  He was originally Catholic, but he converted to Islam.  Man, I think she must have been one really good lay.  A man doesn't change gods every day.  Anyway, I guess her family accepted him, because I heard that they later got married.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Yes.

[Countess Anya of the North Parish]

yes, my history teacher.

[memphis]

Converting for marriage is so cynical and lame. Makes me want to throw up.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Converting for marriage is so cynical and lame. Makes me want to throw up.

Agreed. Almost as bad is people who just stick in whatever religion/church they were raised in for no reason besides that even if they hardly believe any tenets of it. Meeting Catholics like that is pretty irritating.

[ilikeverin]

I know someone who really ought to be a convert to Islam, but for some reason he thinks the homophobia of some Muslims means he can't himself be a Muslim

[useful idiot]

Yeah several, and they were all fairly sad cases, not even speaking from the standpoint of one who adheres to a different religion.

I do have an Episcopalian second cousin who married a second generation Pakistani guy, but she didn't convert for him. His family is pretty secular and very Anglicized/wealthy, however, so I don't think they cared.

[specific_name]

Yeah several, and they were all fairly sad cases

How do you mean? Just curious...never met one myself.

[useful idiot]

Yeah several, and they were all fairly sad cases

How do you mean? Just curious...never met one myself.

Granted, all the ones I've met have been under 23 or 24, but they just all seemed like how you'd expect. They were really socially awkward and obviously looking for some kind of affirmation out of it. Loners, horribly shy, not able to fit in anywhere. I got to know two fairly well, at least enough to have in depth conversations, one guy lived in my dorm and another girl was in a class of mine. The girl was especially jarring because she was blonde/blue eyed and it was strange seeing her wearing a headscarf and gown. She was very overweight and could barely spit out a sentence until you really pushed her to talk. The only way I got to know her was because we got assigned to work on a project together. I eventually asked her what made her decide to become a Muslim, and she didn't even try to give me some kind of spiritualized answer. It was all about her never fitting in anywhere and how it was different from what she grew up around.

The guy in my dorm was a similar case, but he'd at least come up with religious answers most of the time whenever the topic arose. We'd occasionally talk about life and he seemed pretty depressed. I spent a lot more time around him, obviously, and I could see that his religious identification had a lot more to do with other issues in his life than simply coming to the conclusion that Islam was true or whatever.

This was before I became a Christian, so I didn't engage them in a debate or anything or try to push the issue, even though the guy tried to get into it a couple times.

[specific_name]

Yeah several, and they were all fairly sad cases

How do you mean? Just curious...never met one myself.

Granted, all the ones I've met have been under 23 or 24, but they just all seemed like how you'd expect. They were really socially awkward and obviously looking for some kind of affirmation out of it. Loners, horribly shy, not able to fit in anywhere. I got to know two fairly well, at least enough to have in depth conversations, one guy lived in my dorm and another girl was in a class of mine. The girl was especially jarring because she was blonde/blue eyed and it was strange seeing her wearing a headscarf and gown. She was very overweight and could barely spit out a sentence until you really pushed her to talk. The only way I got to know her was because we got assigned to work on a project together. I eventually asked her what made her decide to become a Muslim, and she didn't even try to give me some kind of spiritualized answer. It was all about her never fitting in anywhere and how it was different from what she grew up around.

The guy in my dorm was a similar case, but he'd at least come up with religious answers most of the time whenever the topic arose. We'd occasionally talk about life and he seemed pretty depressed. I spent a lot more time around him, obviously, and I could see that his religious identification had a lot more to do with other issues in his life than simply coming to the conclusion that Islam was true or whatever.

This was before I became a Christian, so I didn't engage them in a debate or anything or try to push the issue, even though the guy tried to get into it a couple times.

That fits with my perceptions from youtube and other "research" if you will. I consider myself a spiritual searcher and I've found no intuitive truth in the Quran, to be direct. Some Americans have taken to Islam for reasons clearly outside of the spiritual truths that may be in the Quran, but rather something social that is missing. Ultimately, there's nothing wrong with this...in the individual sense. I see the same sense of searching in many neo-Pagans I've known personally. I do believe strongly in one god, I considered Islam but ultimately didn't find solace or true meaning in it.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Not in person, no. I've met some new age types who dabble in Sufiism, but they're not really Muslims.

[Хahar 🤔]

There's an imam at the mosque in Saratoga who is a convert.

[Torie]

Generally folks I run across in OC don't discuss religion at all, so I don't have a clue.

[Tender Branson]

No, but I saw a few Turks or so going around the city once and one of their wives looked very Austrian and they were wearing a headscarf. But I didn't ask them if they have converted to Islam, so who knows or cares ?

[phk]

Yes of course.

My Sunday School Teacher was the first that I met when I was 5, had us call her "Sister Laurie". Though in Muslim dress/garb she looked Levantine. Other times were my half-white friends whose mom converted throughout my life.

Others include several converts to Salafism and a few to Shi'a Islam. The Shi'ites btw are mostly Hezbollahi types.

The sad cases that I have met were the ones who came in because of the Malcom X movie, though that would lead to a rant and it'd take too long.

Generally though 35% of Muslims are ghetto black types who may have once been ex-NOI and are probably now Salafi. Another 25% are working class immigrants, 35% are affluent immigrants and 5% are White converts.

Converts can be too into the fundamentalist end of things which is understandable.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Not to my knowledge. I once met a white Muslim, but she was from Bosnia & had been born into Islam.

[Badger]

Yes of course.

My Sunday School Teacher was the first that I met when I was 5, had us call her "Sister Laurie". Though in Muslim dress/garb she looked Levantine. Other times were my half-white friends whose mom converted throughout my life.

Your Sunday School teacher was Muslim?

EDIT: IIRC you're Muslim, Phk, right? Of course Muslims have religious education classes for children just as Christians do, but I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that's not what you meant by "Sunday School"?

[Hash]

Yeah, some Quebecois person married one so she converted. Pretty stupid.

[California8429]

No, but I have seen one.

And I do now a latino muslim family