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Imam Reza\u2019s holy shrine located in the Iranian city of Mashhad has always been a venue for newly converted Muslims to express their faith in Islam. Astan News has taken a look at the life of a Christian lady from Peru who has recently converted to the religion of Islam.<\/p>\n
To Sheila Margass from Peru, conversion to Islam has not been an accident, but a choice. Now, a new experience has made her even more resolute in her quest for Islam.<\/p>\n
After her conversion to Islam, Sheila has paid a visit to Iran\u2019s city of Mashhad, which is home to the shrine of one of the most revered figures in Islam, especially among Iranians, Imam Reza, who is the eighth Imam in Shia Islam.<\/p>\n
The newly converted Muslim says her journey to Mashhad has increased her faith in her new religion.<\/p>\n
“At this sacred place, wishes are closer to fulfilment, and I can feel the presence of God here,” said Sheila, while addressing a meeting themed with challenges facing Muslim converts in the West.<\/p>\n
Attended by students from Australia, the meeting was hosted by Astan Quds Razavi’s Department of Non-Iranian Pilgrims located at Imam Reza’s holy shrine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI prayed for all my family members, relatives and friends during my visit to the holy Shrine of Imam Reza. I felt a deep and unexplainable sense of spirituality,\u201d stated Sheila.<\/p>\n
She said people in Mashhad are so welcoming toward Muslim converts. \u201cWhen the staff of Imam Reza’s Shrine found out that I had converted to Islam, they welcomed me with open arms,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is very interesting for me to see waves of pilgrims flock to Imam Reza’s shrine and whisper their wishes to the eighth Shia Imam.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheila also highlighted the sufferings she and her fellow Muslim converts in the West go through. \u201cIslam has changed my lifestyle. After I became Muslim, I showed up in public places wearing hijab based on Islamic dress code. Since hijab clearly defines my religion, I receive mixed reactions from people around me, and sometimes, people\u2019s comments put me under pressure. But thank God, I managed to overcome the problems,\u201d said the Peruvian Muslim.<\/p>\n
Sheila said that halal meat is hardly available in the West, and that has led her to resort to a vegetarian diet. \u201cShops sell meats that are not allowed in Islam such as pork meat,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n
However, there was even a bigger challenge Sheila had to face. \u201cIt was my family’s opposition to my conversion to Islam, especially my mother who is a radical Catholic,\u201d explained Sheila.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom refused to come with me when I asked her to see inside a mosque,\u201d Sheila recalled. Sheila\u2019s mother has got along with her daughter\u2019s case, but still, she hopes that Sheila will once return to Christianity. \u201cThis will never happen,\u201d asserted Sheila.<\/p>\n
Christian woman converts to Islam at Imam Reza (AS) Holy Shrine Imam Reza\u2019s holy shrine located in the Iranian city of Mashhad has always been a venue for newly converted Muslims to express their faith in Islam. Astan News has taken a look at the life of a Christian lady from Peru who has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[34,711,39,713,712],"class_list":["post-4658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-magazine","tag-converted-to-shia","tag-ex-christian-woman","tag-mostabserin","tag-peru","tag-sheila-margass","has-post-title","no-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4658"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9325,"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4658\/revisions\/9325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-mostabserin.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}