## Sister Daisy's Conversion Story: How an American Catholic Found Islam in Saudi Arabia
### Who Is Sister Daisy?
Daisy is an **American convert to Islam** from Southern California, raised in a devout Irish-American Catholic family. She embraced Islam over 20 years ago and has since dedicated her life to sharing her journey of faith. Her story is one of the most compelling **Catholic to Muslim conversion narratives**, filled with spiritual seeking, intellectual honesty, and unwavering courage.
Today, Daisy serves as an inspiration for thousands of **reverts to Islam** worldwide, proving that the search for truth transcends cultural and religious boundaries.
## Early Life – Growing Up Catholic in California
Daisy was born and raised in a **practicing Catholic family** in Southern California. Her childhood revolved entirely around the Church:
- Her sister was a nun in the Carmelite Third Order
- Several uncles were priests
- Her family helped build churches
- She attended catechism and confirmation classes
- She taught youth groups and participated in every church activity
**Her relationship with Jesus** was deeply personal. She considered him her "best friend," prayed to him constantly, and believed completely in the Trinity – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Her life was, in her own words, "completely centered around the Church."
##The First Doubts – Questions No One Could Answer
Even as a child, Daisy struggled with theological contradictions in Christian doctrine:
*"If Jesus was God, why did he die? God doesn't die. Why would God do this to his son? Why would he torture him? Why didn't he save him?"*
These questions haunted her. When she asked priests and nuns for answers, the response was always the same: *"Just have blind faith. Don't ask questions. It's a mystery."*
This **intellectual honesty** – her inability to accept answers that defied logic – would later become the bridge that led her to Islam.
## The Turning Point – Working in Saudi Arabia
In the 1980s, before the internet and cell phones, Daisy received an opportunity to work at the **American Embassy in Saudi Arabia**, preparing a nursery school for embassy children.
Her church leaders were ecstatic:
*"This is a great opportunity to preach Christianity! We can't enter there. It's very difficult for Christians. We'll translate the Bible into Arabic. You can teach them about Jesus and Mary. They're a pagan society – they have no idea."*
**Daisy arrived in Saudi Arabia as a missionary.** She left as someone whose entire belief system was being gently dismantled – and rebuilt.
## The Adhan – "Something Is Here in This Land"
One day, while standing on a mountain in Taif, Daisy heard the **Islamic call to prayer (Adhan)** echoing from every direction.
*"Wow! This is powerful! I was struck by it on top of the mountain and couldn't explain it. I ran to find a hotel to call my family and tell them: 'There's something here in this land. I think the prophets came from here. There's something we don't have in America.'"*
Her father replied: *"It's God."*
She didn't understand what she was experiencing. But her heart recognized something her mind couldn't yet name
## The Muslims Who Knew More About Jesus Than She Did
Daisy began talking with Muslims in Saudi Arabia, expecting to **teach them about Christianity**. Instead, she found herself being taught:
- They knew more about Jesus than she did
- They spoke reverently about **Mary (Maryam)** and her miracles
- They told her about Jesus speaking in the cradle – a miracle she had never heard of
- They described Sourat Maryam and the palm tree that provided dates for Mary during childbirth
*"I thought: 'Wow! None of this is in the Bible. This is who we believe is God? This is our savior? Jesus Christ?' It woke me up."*
She called her church in America, desperate for answers. Their response shocked her
*"There's no such miracle. Jesus didn't do that."*
They denied what was clearly documented in Islamic scripture. This was her first glimpse into how much religious narratives can be shaped by what we choose to include – or exclude.
## The Box They Circle Around – Discovering the Kaaba
Daisy called her family and priest again:
*"There's a box in the middle of a place. They're circling around it. They want me to come see it."*
Her priest responded: *"No, no – they have the wrong place. That's not Abraham's house. Don't go. This is ridiculous."*
But the invitations kept coming. She was invited to dinners, to homes, to gatherings. Every time, she witnessed Muslims stopping everything to pray. She saw their prayer beads – identical to the rosary she carried.
*"Do you know the prayer beads?" she asked.*
*"Same thing," they replied.*
**Same prayer beads. Same devotion. Same God.**
## Shattering Stereotypes – What She Really Saw in Saudi Arabia
Daisy had been raised with Western media's portrayal of Muslim women:
*"In the Western world, we're told: 'Muslim women are oppressed and suppressed. They want to escape. They have no choice.'"*
What she witnessed was the complete opposite:
- Women who loved their lives
- Women who were happy, dignified, and free
- Women who were **more content than American women**
- A society that honored Mary in ways Catholicism never did
*"Everything I was taught here was the complete opposite of what I experienced there."*
This realization shattered her preconceptions and opened her heart further.
## H2: The Seed That Wouldn't Die
Daisy returned to America. She remained a Christian – but **nothing was the same**.
*"I was haunted. A seed was planted there, and it never went away, no matter how hard I tried."*
A friend brought her a film: **"The Message,"** about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). She watched half of it, captivated:
*"Muhammad? I've never heard of this person!"*
She ran home to tell her family, excited. They stopped the film. She wasn't allowed to finish it.
But the question remained, burning in her heart: **Who is this man called Muhammad?**
## Seven Years of Struggle – Family, Priests, and Isolation
Daisy's family grew afraid. Her nun sister took her to priests, then to the bishop, then to the cardinal.
Finally, they found a **priest from India** who had studied alongside Muslims. Her sister said: *"He'll help you realize this isn't good."*
For seven years, Daisy visited this priest weekly, back and forth:
*"I would tell them about Muhammad, and they would say: 'Why do you want to follow a madman?'"*
But every night, she would go to sleep and wake up with a voice inside her:
*"This is the truth. God is telling you something else, and you need to follow it."*
She would return to the priest, sharing what she learned. She brought him an English translation of the Quran, thinking he might want it for his large library.
His reaction:
*He threw the Quran across the room at her. "You're not going to stop this, are you? What's wrong with you? You need to get this out of your head."*
## Death Surrounds Her – Losing Everyone
During those seven years of spiritual turmoil, Daisy experienced wave after wave of loss:
- Her father passed away
- Her mother passed away
- The Indian priest fell terminally ill
- Her deacon died
- Her confessor died
**Death after death. Loss after loss.**
## The Dying Priest's Apology
Before his death from devastating cancer, the Indian priest called Daisy:
*"I'm so sorry for what I did to you. People are good – whether they're Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. There is good and evil. I'm sorry I did that to you."*
Those were his final words to her. He died soon after.
Daisy had lost her parents, her priest, her confessor, her deacon. But something else was dying too – her fear of following the truth.
## The Priest Who Risked Everything
Daisy's sister, determined, took her to yet another priest: **Father Tom.**
Her sister waited outside. Father Tom closed the door.
*"What's happening? Why did your family bring you here?"*
Daisy told him everything – Saudi Arabia, the Adhan, the Quran, Maryam, Muhammad, her seven years of searching.
Father Tom sat quietly for a moment. Then he said words that would change her life forever:
*"I might lose my position in the Church for this. I might get in big trouble. But you need to follow your heart. You need to follow what God is telling you. Not me. Not your sister. Not the priests. Not the cardinal. Not the deacon. Not even the Pope himself. If God is telling you something else, you need to follow that."*
Daisy couldn't believe her ears:
*"Oh my God! Thank you! Are you really telling me this?"*
Father Tom replied: *"Now I must tell you – because I am responsible before God."*
**This was her permission. This was her sign. This was the door finally opening.**
## The Shahada – A Palestinian Woman's Firm Hands
Daisy went to a Palestinian mosque with her young children:
*"I don't know how to do this. We don't know how to pray. We want to be Muslims, but we have no idea how."*
The Imam said: *"I have the perfect woman."*
He brought a strong Palestinian woman. Daisy looked at her and thought: *"Oh no!"*
The woman took Daisy and her children to the prayer rug. She literally took their heads and **gently pushed them to the ground** in prostration:
*"This is how you pray. Understand?"*
That moment – her **first Sajdah (prostration)** – Daisy began to cry. She couldn't get up.
*"If that strong Palestinian woman hadn't taken my head and put it on the ground, I don't think I would be here today."*
### What Did You Feel in Your First Sajdah?
*"Humility. Humility. Humility. A feeling of submission. I thought: 'Wow! I never did this in church.' Putting your head on the ground – it's complete humility before your Lord."*
## How Did You Hold Onto Faith for Seven Years?
*"When you're struck – when your heart is called – when God strikes you, you have no choice. You can resist the whole world and still be what you must be. The family was hard. But the Church was harder. It's the truth. You cannot resist the truth."*
## Did Anyone in Your Family Convert?
**Yes – her daughter.**
Daisy raised her first two children Catholic. When she converted, she assumed her Catholic-raised daughter would never leave the Church.
But years later, at her brother's university graduation, Daisy's daughter said:
*"I want to take my Shahada."*
She had watched her younger siblings grow up as Muslims. She saw the **difference in how they were raised** – the peace, the discipline, the devotion. She wanted what they had.
*"She saw a huge difference. A very big difference."*
## How to Tell Your Family You've Embraced Islam?
Daisy's advice for new Muslims terrified of family rejection:
*"Don't fear your family – fear God. It's simple. I don't think preaching too much is a good idea. Your example – how you live your life, how you treat your family – that's what matters. Treat them even better as a Muslim. Let them see the change. Words can just be words. They need to see it to believe it."*
## H2: Did You Have a Spiritual Experience You Can't Explain?
*"In Taif, Saudi Arabia. I was alone with a shepherd, climbing a mountain. A feeling of awe struck me on the peak that I couldn't explain. I ran to find a hotel, called my family: 'There's something here in this land. The prophets came from here. Something we don't have in America.' My father said: 'It's God.'*
*"I heard the Adhan and didn't fully understand what it was. It came from everywhere. Different Adhans, many of them. I was on the mountain peak with the shepherd and his sheep. I thought: 'Wow! This is powerful! Everyone should have this. America needs to know this. They don't know this.'"*
## Who Is Jesus to You Now?
*"After Islam, Jesus is not God. God is God. There was no logic in the Trinity – two in authority, one must be in control. Islam was so logical. I see Jesus as a prophet – a highly revered prophet, peace be upon him. I still have the same great love for Jesus. But I don't pray to him. I pray to the One he prayed to."*
## And Mary?
*"I respect her with the highest respect. When I read and hear Sourat Maryam in the Quran, I just start crying. It's the most beautiful chapter in the Quran. You can't surpass that – even in Christianity. Muslims know her. You lose nothing by learning about her. You only gain more beautiful miracles."*
## If a Christian Asks: "Why Did You Leave Jesus and Mary?"
*"I didn't leave them. I got to know them more as a Muslim. I loved them more as a Muslim. I went to Saudi Arabia thinking I would teach them about Christianity – imagine! But it didn't happen. They taught me more about my savior Jesus Christ than I ever knew. How can Christians not believe these miracles in the Quran? How can they not believe?"*
## What Would You Tell Your 18-Year-Old Self?
*"Islam, Islam, Islam. Start early. Start as soon as you know. Don't wait. Don't wait."
## Message to Those Afraid of Family Reaction
*"Don't listen to what you hear in the media at all. Research it yourself. Get it from the source – from Muslims themselves. Don't be afraid. There's nothing to fear. Even if you take your Shahada and make mistakes – like I did, I went back to church – it's okay. There's nothing to fear. Taking your Shahada will only bring you blessing after blessing after blessing.*
*"We are all here for you. We are one Ummah. We are your family. You think you'll lose your family, but you'll gain a better family. You'll gain a family of Muslims that surpasses even the family Allah blessed you with."*
## Who Would You Want to Meet in Paradise?
*"Jesus, really."*
### What Would You Say to Him?
*"I'm sorry for your people because they didn't understand. He delivered the correct message, but people misunderstood it. I feel sad for him too. Jesus never told us to pray to him or worship him. But I'm so happy he's Muslim. I'm so happy he's with Muhammad (peace be upon him) and that things were corrected. With Christianity, I feel things weren't corrected. With Islam, Jesus' message was corrected. He delivered a message that was completely distorted over time. That must be hard."*
## – The Truth Cannot Be Resisted
Daisy's journey from Catholicism to Islam is not a story of **rejection** – it is a story of **completion**.
She didn't abandon Jesus – she understood him.
She didn't abandon Mary – she honored her more deeply.
She didn't abandon God – she finally found Him.
*"When your heart is called, you have no choice. You can resist the whole world. But you cannot resist the truth."*
*"I went to Saudi Arabia to teach them about Christianity. They taught me about my Savior." – Sister Daisy*
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