Laura El Alam Author bio: Raised in a Midwestern Catholic family, Laura El Alam became a Muslim in 2000. She is a prolific writer whose work has been published in various magazines. Laura is the founder of Sea Glass Writing & Editing and runs the Facebook page The [...]
Laura El Alam When we are new to Islam, there is a great deal for us to learn about our faith. It can seem overwhelming, at first, to grasp everything Islam requires of us. The five daily prayers -- including the specific movements we must make and the [...]
If someone close to you has recently embraced Islam, you might wish to support them in their new lifestyle, but have no idea where to begin. While your loved one will retain most of their fundamental traits like their quirky sense of humor, or their thoughtful, quiet nature, or [...]
Laura El Alam Is there a new convert to Islam in your life? If the conversion of friend or family member came as a surprise, you might find yourself feeling confused, concerned, or upset. Maybe you’ve never heard or read anything positive about Islam and find it hard [...]
Laura El Alam When I became a Muslim 20 years ago, it was one of the greatest transformations of my life. There was so much new information that it seemed completely overwhelming at first. Just learning how to pray, including making ablution (wu’du), familiarizing myself with the choreographed [...]
Dr. Laurence Brown There is a certain fascination with conversion stories, and for good reason. Frequently they involve dramatic life-altering events, sufficient to shock the convert out of the materialistic world and into the spiritual. Most who pass through such moments of trial and panic experience an overwhelming feeling [...]
Robert Salaam: When I joined the Marine Corps in 1998 it was a different world per se. Most of my peers joined the military as an alternative to staying home or not going to college. Many like me joined the Marine Corps simply to be part of the best miliatary [...]
Before Ibrahim Abdel-Wahed Mohamed left Sea Cliff for a tour of duty with the Marines in Iraq, he was Anthony Grant Vance, the son of American and Panamanian parents who had raised him as a Catholic. Despite his Christian upbringing, though, he had been curious about Islam since his childhood [...]
I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the high life of show business. I was born in a Christian home, but we know that every child is born in his original nature – it is only his parents that turn him to this or [...]
After twenty-five years as a writer in America, I wanted something to soften my cynicism. I was searching for new terms by which to see. The way one is raised establishes certain needs in this department. From a pluralist background, I naturally placed great stress on the matters of racism [...]
