ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ

Assalaamu Alaikum,

I’m UL. I’m 37 and was born in the Caribbean. I’m not married. I’ve lived in New Jersey, USA almost my whole life. I’m currently living in Indonesia and I’m happy with my decision although I sometimes miss home (but not the cold!).

I’m a revert to Islam. When people ask me how long I’ve been Muslim I don’t know what to say. I embraced Islam around age 19 and began learning to pray, fasting during Ramadan, going to Jummah, but I never did an official Shahada for about 10 years! Why? As time went on I felt I already was Muslim and the longer time passed I felt a ceremonial Shahada was unnecessary. A brother visiting the Islamic Society of Central Jersey would convince me that I still needed to do a proper Shahada in front of witnesses, so on December 9, 2017 I took a ceremonial Shahada in front of Witnesses. Did the years before that count? You be the judge. If they did I can say I’ve been Muslim for about 16 years. If they didn’t well at least my sins were wiped clean!

While here in Indonesia I’ve been blessed to have a job teaching English to people in a different country over the phone.  I can survive here in Indonesia for probably around $300-$400 a month if I had to. One of these days I should do a weekly budget.

That’s it for now. I may come back and edit and/or add to this.

✌🏾

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatu