A Summary of My Faith’s Journey -Acceptance of Islām

Claire Clement

Assalāmo Alaikum,

I will begin with a short recant of my early childhood. I was born in a small village in the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada, the fourth child in a family of five. My father was a civil engineer employed by the Canadian government and my mother was a stay at home wife and mother.

My memory of my mother is very slight, if at all, as God decided to call her to himself when I was around three years old. I was raised by a series of nannies under orders of a strict father. When I was eight years old, my father re-married to a woman who would become a wonderful step-mother.

We children were taught obedience, good manners, politeness, cleanliness, kindness and love for one another.

At some point I was taught a childhood prayer and when I was six or seven years of age, I began to attend Sunday school with my sisters and brothers. My maternal grandmother read Bible stories to us and introduced Almighty God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit into my life.

My father was not big on religion, but insisted that we be taught all the best morals for everyday life – obedience, good manners, consideration, cleanliness, etc. I sometimes think he was angry with God for taking our mother away. My maternal grandmother continued to read Bible stories to us and we attended church and Sunday school regularly. When I was twelve years old, I chose to be baptized in the Baptist faith.

I completed the education offered in our village and was sent to Halifax City to further my studies.

This was near the beginning of World War Two. Halifax being Canada’s major seaport soon became inundated with service personnel from around the free world. Through mutual friends, I met a young sailor. We dated whenever his ship was in port and in time decided to marry. However, he and his family were French Canadian, and of the Roman Catholic faith, and were not permitted to marry a person of another faith. At this time, both still in our late teens, religion was not our major concern, but family ties were very strong. Knowing that my father would not object, I joined the Catholic faith.

The war finally ended and we moved to my husband’s home town, Hamilton, Ontario. My husband enrolled in an Honours’ Languages program at McMaster University. McMaster University desired to support the families of the young returning servicemen, so they initiated a diploma course for the wives of the students. I enrolled, of course, and we both graduated in 1950.

During this time, I gave birth to my first child. My husband went on to teacher’s college and I became very involved in studying the Catholic faith. As time elapsed, we had two more children and I found myself more and more involved in church work. I joined the Catholic Women’s League, and starting at the bottom position, I was eventually elected president. However, my main interest was the youth and I spent much time training the altar servers.

Being in the teaching profession, we moved about the province of Ontario (Cornwall, Leamington, Stoney Creek, Burlington), and I was active in community affairs in each new location. We ended, when my husband retired back in Hamilton where we had started.

We joined St. Eugene’s Roman Catholic church and we attended Mass almost daily. Following the service, we and a group of parishioners would go to a restaurant across the street, called The Bedrock for coffee and snacks.

In 2007, my husband became very ill and in February, 2008, God, in his mercy, took him Home. This I understand, but during my husband’s hospitalization, my eldest son contracted a hospital bug, and died two days after my husband’s death. Two weeks later, my son-in-law’s only son was killed in a car accident. He and my daughter flew to Nova Scotia to help the young family, and on their return to Toronto, my son-in-law died at Pearson Airport of a sudden heart attack.

My family was crushed. I was so angry with God. I told our priest that I would probably never recover from it. I tried counseling, but the empty place in my heart would not mend.

It was a short time later that the young man who managed the restaurant converted to Islām. This was a fresh new way of life for him and he was filled with enthusiasm. When the opportunity allowed, he would stand near our table and endow us with the wisdom of his new found faith. I am sure it was about then that Allāh decided to use Adam to introduce me to Islām. He told me that even though he worked right across the street from the Catholic Church, he had never been inside. I said that there was no better time than now to come inside, since I was about to go back to serve a funeral. And so he came with me.

After that, he began to come to the morning service whenever he was free. After a few times he then said to me, “Alright, I have been to your service, will you come to the Mosque with me?” I went with him for the following Friday Prayers and we criss-crossed for a while. He bought me a Qur’ān and encouraged me to read it, as well as several other publications on the Islāmic faith and short stories about the Holy Prophet^sa and the Promised Messiah^as. I sat with him in the Men’s Hall and was made to feel welcome. He became engaged to a beautiful young Muslim girl, and I was introduced to her and her family. I could feel the love of the Islāmic faith as they interacted with each other in the whole Ahmadīyya community. Adam said to me, “I think that either you will become Muslim or I shall become Christian,” with a look in his eyes that said he knew what would happen.

Adam became my mentor and we shared long walks and conversations. We would often share dinner together at the restaurant, and all the while he would continue to teach me about Islām and its truths.

I felt the warmth and joy of knowing Allāh through the Holy Prophet^sa. I experienced an overwhelming lift from all my past sorrows and decided to sign my Bai`at on September 19, 2009.

I am still on my journey that will take me to my destined end in the Home of Allāh.

Mashā’Allāh, Alhamdulillāh.

This article was published in Nov-Dec 2011 issue of Ahmadiyya Gazette Canada