In the bustling chaos of New York City, where skyscrapers soar and cultures intersect, professional opera singer Noura Saada was traveling a path completely different from the trajectory she knew, eventually finding herself uttering the Shahada in a small café on Broadway.
The Beginning: A Promising Artistic Career
Noura Saada grew up in a small town in the American West in a Christian family that didn't attend church frequently. Noura says: "Perhaps that was a blessing, because I didn't have to deal with the Trinity and those matters." Noura found her early passion in classical music, considering it a divine means of expression.
She followed the usual path for professional singers, performing wherever possible for whatever pay, until she could hone her talent. She later joined a professional paid choir in the Philharmonic Orchestra in New York, becoming one of the top 100 singers in the city. She performed with great conductors and soloists, singing in churches and synagogues, on a promising career path with a brilliant future.
A Coincidence That Changed the Course
One day, a new café opened in her neighborhood in New York, run by an Egyptian. Noura says: "I was always curious about people different from me." She asked him about Egypt, Pharaoh, and the pyramids, then he said to her by the way: "I'm Muslim." Her response was honest: "I'm embarrassed to tell you, I don't know anything about your religion, tell me."
Noura knew nothing about Islam, and the man began explaining to her the monotheism of Islam and the prophets she knew from her Christian upbringing. Noura was astonished: "What? There's only Judaism and Christianity, no other. How did I not know there was another monotheistic religion? I was in my thirties, I had traveled and sung extensively and read extensively, how did I miss that?"
When she asked if there were many Muslims, he replied: "One and a half billion." The surprise was even greater.
The Logic She Had Been Searching For
Her Egyptian friend explained that "the essence of Islam is that it came confirming what came before it to the People of the Book (Judaism and Christianity), and came to correct what people had distorted with their desires, and came to seal the message with Prophet Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets." Noura adds: "It was as if the lights went out and the puzzle pieces came together. It was logical, it made religion logical and made history logical."
Noura explains the difference she found: "Other religions say 'we are created in God's image,' while Islam says we resemble God in nothing at all. This reassures you as a human being that there is a purpose to life, and that there is one beautiful path to follow God that includes all these other prophets."
She would return to drink more coffee and receive more information. The more she learned, the more convinced she became. And when she asked the Egyptian questions, he would answer her with verses from the Quran, unlike her previous experience with Christians who would tell her: "Either believe or don't."
The Decisive Moment
Noura was singing in a Unitarian church that accepted all beliefs. As Christmas approached, the officials said: "The congregations are complaining that we talk about God too much, we'll change the word 'God' to 'Love' in the songs." Noura says sarcastically: "Love did this and that? What? What nonsense is this?"
After Thursday rehearsals, she decided: "I can't continue. I think I'm Muslim." She went to the café and told her friend: "I'm ready, tell me what I need to do to become Muslim." He smiled and said: "She's just acting." Noura insisted: "No no, I'm serious." And she uttered the Shahada there in the café, between her and God.
She describes her feeling: "I was in a state of euphoria throughout this process. I was learning something amazing and telling everyone about it, and they were looking at me as if I had two heads."
Reactions: From Ridicule to Rejection
The reactions weren't encouraging. A woman told her: "Oh! You're becoming Muslim? You're ashamed of your body and want to cover it?" Noura replied: "No, but I don't know how to make you understand, I'm very new to this." And men said: "Oh! He'll take you and put you in the slave market in Egypt." Her response was: "We're in the eighties, folks, hello! This is nonsense!"
As for her desire after embracing Islam, she says: "I wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building and shout to people: Get a Quran and read it, you don't know. You'll know everything about the world if you read this book seriously."
Her singer friends said: "Oh, she's crazy." So she closed the door and stayed home reading the Quran in English. She says: "I knew I was doing the right thing, but I didn't have the vocabulary or background to explain it to them."
Family: Another Story
Family was a different story. Her religious mother didn't care much about the religious change, but she was upset about her daughter's change in dress: "What will people say? She's become Muslim, she's covered!" Her brother would complain bitterly, and family friends would criticize her.
Noura considers this a test from God: "I think it's a test God puts before us to see if we're serious about this path. Life won't be easy from now on."
Gradually Leaving the Stage
Noura left her musical career gradually, going to her leaders and saying: "I'll have to leave you." She left work at the church and synagogue. She says: "I wanted to change my name, I wanted to dress as a Muslim and speak as a Muslim, I wanted to share with everyone that I'm Muslim."
Regarding her relationship with Christians now, she affirms: "We haven't left Jesus at all. We have a better understanding of who Jesus was. He was a servant of God, as were Abraham and Moses. The Bible shows Jesus submitting and attributing miracles to his father, so he never said 'I am God, worship me'."
A Message to the World
Noura addresses a message to non-Muslims: "Get a Quran and read it. It won't bite you, it won't make you deviate. There are many wonderful stories of people who felt the Quran was calling them. Some religions teach you 'don't go to a mosque,' but it's harmless. Even if you don't become Muslim, there's wonderful guidance in the Quran."
Noura concludes her talk: "We don't come to dominate, that's not our intention. But there's so much benefit in knowing Islam, so much benefit."
Noura Saada is now a committed Muslim living in the United States, sharing her inspiring story with others, affirming that the journey of searching for truth might lead one to unexpected places, and that logic and reflection are the keys to true faith.
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