Allah is the Best of Planners

Six months after my reversion to Islam I received a flyer from a Christian church I had once attended. They were having a big event. Missionaries were coming from around the country to discuss how to convert Muslims in Malaysia and third world countries. They were having big displays and missionaries present to help recruit new missionaries. Now I can’t say why I decided to go to this event. I remember feeling a strong urge to attend… as if I had no choice. I had been quite ill and was told I was to rest and not get excited about anything so I had to slip away unnoticed from the house to go to this event. Hours later I returned and set about to write up everything that had happened and much more and then posted this information and warnings on the Internet to Muslims about the “Church Planting” plans of these missionaries. The result is that I met (via the Internet) many new sister–friends in Malaysia and Singapore and from many places around the world. But there were also a series of unexpected events in the future that would be directly linked to this day in my life. I would learn about them over the next few years.

A short time after my “Missionary Recon”, I began a small Internet egroup for revert sisters like myself. We became good friends and have remained so for over four years. One of the sisters in the group is Sister Judy. She and her daughter have characters in my book series fictionalized about them. I began writing my book series within weeks of this occurrence and after I finished writing three of the four manuscripts, I began the search for an Islamic publisher. I had difficulty finding a publisher who would pay me for my work. I had Islamic publishers offer to publish, but no one had any money to offer. I needed profits from sales of my books if my plan to buy books for Islamic school libraries would be possible. I was despairing about this when I turned to Allah in prayer in the wee hours each morning. I told my sister-friends in my group about my problems. I asked for their du’a also. After a month or so I wrote to my group that it seemed that Allah didn’t want me to publish my manuscripts as I did not receive any answer that I could discern from my prayer. No publisher with money had suddenly appeared!

Less than a week later I received a letter in the mail. It was from a sister I did not know named Debbie. She told me that she had read my article on the Internet about the missionaries and it had inspired her to go back to university so she could then go on to law school. She said my actions inspired her to prepare herself to do something useful for the Muslim Ummah! It was then that I learned that Sis Debbie and Sis Judy grew up together, both being reverts and both having married Egyptians. When Sis Debbie read my article about the missionaries she just had to tell Sis Judy and boy was she surprised to learn that Sis Judy and I were good friends! Well I was surprised when I emptied the envelope. Sis Debbie had mailed me a money order for a large sum of money with a note attached that said I should use the money to publish my books! I did just that.

Two weeks ago I received a letter in the mail. It was from the AMWA – Association of Muslim Women in America. The letter announced that I am the 2005 Excellence in Media, Literary Art Award recipient for my Islamic Rose Books series. The letter also stated that I must be at the award ceremony to receive the award. Sigh. My chronic illnesses and damaged heart make it impossible for me to even travel out of my own town let alone travel all the way across the United States from Arizona to the State of Virginia where the ceremony was to be held. The letter did say that if I could not attend I could send a representative.

Once again I prayed to Allah, but this time I asked for help in overcoming my disappointment. This is after all the first time any Muslim organization recognized the book series I wrote in service to Allah about four years ago. Once again I told my sister friends in my group about this situation. Why I was surprised at what happened next I cannot say!

Sister Debbie lives in the State of Virginia and only an hour or so drive from the location of this awards ceremony. She offered to be my representative! What is even more wonderful is that she has begun law school this very week… the week she is accepting this award on my behalf! Without Allah placing these two Muslimah in my life and causing our paths to cross and without Sis Debbie’s blind trust in my work and her generosity, it is entirely possible that I would not have published my work. All praise and honor belong to Allah.