Redneck Woman Embraces Islam

As Salam Alaikum, dear readers. In a past life, my name was Rhea Thorne. That's not who I am now. I am here because I have a message to share with you. And also because I have a confession to make. I am a former racist and an ex-feminist. I am both Canadian and a proud Muslim. There, I frigging said it. I was born and raised in the City of Calgary, Alberta. To say that my family and I are rednecks would be an understatement. We fit every stereotype of the flag-waving, gun-loving, Bible-thumping, minority-hating backwoods redneck you can think of. I'm not proud of it but this is where I come from. I used to hate minorities, especially people of African descent. And then I met Suleiman Sadiq at the University of Calgary and my life changed forever.

The tall, handsome young Black man destined to change my life forever is originally from the City of Dakar, Senegal. Born to a Senegalese father and a mother who was half Somali and half Moroccan, this yummy Black stud had exotic written all over him. He caught my eye at the campus library and even though I told myself that as a redneck woman I could never be with someone like him, I was drawn to him. What is it about Black men that simply sets many a white woman's heart afire? I don't know. All I know is that I had to have him. I told myself that like many uppity white women who railed against minorities, I'd taste the forbidden fruit and then go back to my lily-white life, with no one the wiser. I mean, I'm a five-foot-ten, blonde-haired and green-eyed, twenty-something white woman. What Black man wouldn't want to fuck me?

That's what I told myself as I set out to seduce Suleiman Sadiq. For the first time ever, my advances were rebuffed. The tall, majestic young Black man with the Kufi hat told me that he only dealt with women from his faith. I am Muslim and proud, Suleiman told me, looking me straight in the eyes. With that, he walked away from me. I stood there, stunned. As you can imagine, I wasn't used to being rejected by men. Few women are. When you look like I do, tall, fit and blonde, the embodiment of Western society's standard of beauty, you expect people to throw themselves at you. And I just threw myself at Suleiman, with zero results. I was, um, flabbergasted, that's the word I'm looking for.

After this incident, I became obsessed with Suleiman Sadiq and his religion, Islam. I watched videos on YouTube featuring women from feminist backgrounds who converted to Islam. Lots of these women were white, attractive and educated, like me. I grew fascinated by what I was discovering. My family didn't like that one bit. My father, Paul Thorne told me that Islam was evil and the growing number of minorities in metropolitan Calgary had him worried, especially the Arabs and the Somalis. The Muslims shouldn't be allowed to come to Canada, my father shouted at me. I'm just doing research for school, I said defensively. Scoffing, he walked out of the room, ignoring me.

One day, I surprised myself by going to the Islamic Cultural Center at school, and guess who I ran into over there? Suleiman Sadiq, the tall, dark and handsome stud from Senegal. Welcome to our humble abode, he said cordially, looking me in the eyes. Hello again, I said. We talked a bit about religion and culture, and the more he told me, the more I liked what I heard. At the end of this meeting, Suleiman and I added each other on Facebook and exchanged numbers. I hope we can be friends, I told Suleiman as I got ready to leave the center. Allah works in mysterious ways, the handsome, dark-skinned young man told me with a wink and a smile.

The next day, Suleiman and I met for coffee at this quaint little restaurant located near the University of Calgary campus. For three hours we talked about anything and everything, from religion to sex and relationships, from politics to science. It soon dawned on me that Suleiman was an educated and well-traveled young man. He was only twenty four and had a bachelor's degree in criminal psychology from the University of London. As in London in the frigging United Kingdom! One of the best schools on the planet. He was in the Law School at the University of Calgary, how awesome was that?

The more I learned about Suleiman Sadiq, the more I became fascinated by him. A lot of smart people come off as stuffy or condescending when talking to the common folk. Suleiman wasn't like that at all. In all likelihood he was smarter than me, but he was also friendly and easy to talk to. Oh, and he was surprisingly humble. I wasn't expecting to find all these qualities in one so young. After the restaurant, we went for a walk around town. I am thrilled to be walking around with someone like him, to tell you the truth. Naturally, we got stared at everywhere we went. Calgary is a racist town and I know this all too well. The locals simply weren't used to seeing Black men with white women. Once I would have been one of those white people cutting their eyes at the white chick with the Black guy. Now look at me. How times have changed.

You surprise me, Suleiman said to me as we made our way back to the University of Calgary campus. How? I asked, staring at him. You're a lot nicer than I thought you would be, Suleiman said, licking his lips and flashing me that fearless smile. I am full of surprises, I replied with a coy smile. Suleiman and I looked at each other for a long moment, and neither of us said anything. I hope we see each other again, Suleiman said at last. If Allah wills it and if I'm not too busy, I said, grinning. Suleiman smiled and wished me a good day, then walked away. I watched him for a long moment. Damn, the dude's got a nice ass!

Thus Suleiman and I began seeing each other. What an odd pair we made. The daughter of gun-loving, Bible-thumping, minority-hating rednecks and the son of a Senegalese Sheikh dating in the biggest City of the Canadian Midwest. Suleiman and I were an odd couple for sure, but I honestly fell in love with him. To the point of embracing the religion of Islam, and walking away from my racist, Islamophobic and intolerant family when they objected to our union. The path of Allah is only for the strong, Suleiman told me, as he held my hand while we walked out of the house in which I've lived the past twenty seven years. I'd invited Suleiman to spend Thanksgiving with me and my family, hoping we could mend our differences. I now realize that it was a mistake. My family is bigoted, and they'll never come around.

I miss them dearly, but I now embrace my new path. My new name is Rabab, and it means White Cloud in the Arabic language. I am now a proud Muslim. Suleiman and I have gotten married, and we are the proud parents of two sons, the twins Omar and Yousef. I walked away from feminism and its evils. I read the noble Koran daily and I'm learning to speak Arabic. It's a truly beautiful language. The Koran states that man and woman were created by Allah, and that the Creator places man above woman. Therefore I follow the leadership of my husband Suleiman Sadiq. Feminism would have us believe that woman is better than man, and that's simply not true. Allah knows best, and the number of feminist women converting to Islam and embracing male leadership and feminine submission as a way of life attests to that. Life is better this way. God's way is superior to that of man or woman. Trust in Him and all will be well.