The Stories of Converts – Jeanine Hamam

 

My name is Janine ham and I live in London-Ontario. I am married and have five Children Alhamdulillah.

I have been Muslim now for about 22 years.

When I was engaged with my husband he was still teaching me about Islam, so he would go to the hussainya around where he lived and then he would come to my house after and tell me everything because all the lectures were in Arabic so he would come and explain to me about Islam, and I realized what a beautiful religion it was, like it was so pure and it wasn’t complicated.

So of course when he explained to me about Islam, he explained about the Ahlul Bayt, taught me about Imam Hussein (a.s).

He would go to the Muharram program and then he would come and tell me all about it in his own way and then I was very touched about the stories that he told me.

The main story that stuck out in my mind even though it wasn’t directly connected with Karbala I kept thinking about Sayyeda Fatima and she was such a role model for me. So whenever the ladies would start crying I would just start crying and thinking about sayyeda Fatima and what happened to her and how she was oppressed.

So that made you know that made me emotional and start to cry like the other Ladies.

As principal of our madrasa here in London I think the first year I said we have to do a play, the main purpose of it was that so all the madrasa children could actually see what happened in Karbala, rather than just going to the hussainya listening to the lecture, seeing everyone wearing black, I wanted them to really know what happened, so that the children are performing and they’re feeling like what it would be like to be Hazrat Qasim right now, what it would be what would it feel like to be to be the Hazrat Leila, the mother of Hazrat Ali Akbar and the mother of Ali Asqar.

When it was over I actually had parents in tears. So when they when they came up to me I said Alhamdulillah, they said sister we felt that we were there, we really felt that we were there with Imam Hussein and alhamdulillah like I had no idea that people would actually really would really like to play that much.

Subhan Allah he made the calendar like perfect for us, because I think we get so busy with this world, we get so busy with our school and our work and our shopping and all of these things, so then we have Ramadan and we’re fasting and we’re getting spiritual, we’re going to the hussainya, we’re doing all the Amaal and everything and then when it’s over we feel refreshed, we feel like a new person and then as the month, two months, three months, they go by you start to get back into that world and that routine and everything.

Alhamdulillah this is our life but then it’s time for Muharram and I think it’s a time that is so special because this is the time for my family like we know that it’s Muharram, every night we’re going to the hussainya together. So it’s a very spiritual time.

I think I’ve heard Ramadan being called a spiritual banquet for the soul and so is Ashura definitely because we learn so much about ourselves and we learn so much from the characters like from the people in the story of Karbala that we try to implement in our own lives.

I would say just I mean if we can celebrate our birthday every year and if we can celebrate our country’s birthday every year and all different holidays every year why wouldn’t we celebrate the most important one of the most important days that ever happened in the history of the world, a day where someone stood up to oppression, a day where he gave up everything, his family, his life for the name of Islam, for us for us to be better Muslims.

I would say once a year is not enough I would say every day, every day is Ashura and every land is Karbal, every land is Karbala.