Changing ones religion is not a simple thing, it just cannot happen in one day. It takes a very long consideration on the part of both guide and the one who is converting. Guides have to answer hundreds of questions before they actually convince other person about the truth of Islam. This book by Na`ima B. Robert is a tell-all book about those who are about to convert to religion of Islam.
Robert, a former teacher, is the award-winning children's book writer of The Swirling Hijab and Journey Through Islamic Art. Her latest effort, From My Sister's Lips: A Unique Celebration of Muslim Womanhood, is promoted as a "rare glimpse into the lives of a community of women... an invitation to a world usually seen only by those admitted to its inner circle."
In fact, this book systematically describes the process of reversion from first impression through conversion, hijab, and the manner of marriage in Islam. It opens the doors to the private thought processes and struggles that confront new Muslims and makes the difficult understandable and even funny.
"But surely I am an aberration. After all, aren't most women who 'turn to Islam' easily influenced, brainwashed, no-hopers who need something to believe in to make up for their own deprived existence? Or else they do it for a man, to keep him and, hopefully, bear his children. Surely the world is not full of beautiful, intelligent women, successful in their chosen careers, with active social lives, who willingly leave all that and embrace Islam?"
From My Sister's Lips is broken into two parts, Finding Islam and Living Islam. Part one focuses on the path that Robert and other sisters have taken to acknowledge that the lives they were born into were not fulfilling their needs.
Unlike other reversion anthologies, Robert does not devote an entire chapter to the experiences of each of her fellow sisters. She instead describes her path in one chapter and uses the other stories to fill in a diagram of the process that is familiar to all of them. In this way, her book avoids repetition and flows with clarity and substance. After reaching the decision to become Muslim, the sisters describe with great wisdom and awe their joys and triumphs as well as their problems and challenges in their new lives.
"When I came to the deen [Islamic way of life], it wasn't a conscious decision that I wanted to practice. It was as though I woke up one day and my heart had changed. I wasn't looking for anything, but Allah just chose to guide me... I had no one, I had nothing, and all that was keeping me going was Allah, nothing else."
The second part of the book discusses how the newly proclaimed Muslims adapted to hijab, marriage, motherhood, and sisterhood. Robert makes a conscious effort to help Muslims and non-Muslims follow this process by defining and explaining Islamic and Arabic terms in detail. She aids the reader in understanding the terminology and to actually get a feel for the progressions occurring in the book. Each step and religious adjustment is documented with authentic hadiths and with quotes from the Qur'an, thus justifying the actions and providing examples to the lay reader as to why these changes occur and are necessary in Islam.
"The taqwa - the fear and reverence of Allah - is why you are doing it mainly. Allah has told us to do this and it is a must for us. It's like having to eat and sleep."
Throughout her work, Robert engages the reader with her straightforward, colloquial speech. Inviting all to join her "behind the veil" to see through Muslim eyes and feel with a Muslim heart, she makes you laugh out loud and stifle a tear or two. Her examples are modern and realistic, even comparing the traditional Muslim housewife model to that of the Stepford Wife. "a Stepford Husband? Show me the woman who would say no!"
This book is a must-read for all new Muslims, their close friends, husbands, and especially their non-Muslim families. It answers all those unanswered or even unasked questions that most are too shy to acknowledge. Finally, becoming a Muslim has never been easier.