Life as a Chinese Muslim convert

How is life like for a Chinese Muslim family living in Johor? Do we feel marginalised as we belong to a minority community? Who are more willing to be our friends, the Malays or Chinese?

These are questions that people like to ask me when they first learn that I am a Chinese Muslim. They also assumed that my wife is a Malay.

Well, let me start my story by saying that Allah Almighty has given my family and I a fair share of friends who are Malays as well as Chinese. My parents and siblings did not treat me differently after I chose to convert.

And my wife is a Chinese, like myself.

During Chinese New Year, my wife, Kamilia Lee, 40, and our three children -- Nurhidayah, 17, Nur Idris, 15, and Nurdiana, 13, -- would go visit relatives and friends. Our family and friends know we are Muslims and will offer us only canned or packet drinks when we go to their houses.

In China, the number of Muslims far outnumber the Chinese Muslim community in Malaysia.

It is true that we are a minority, with only a handful of Chinese Muslim converts in Johor, especially when both partners are Chinese. It is more common when one converts due to his or her love for the spouse.

In our case, my wife and I converted because we fell in love with the religion. The beautiful thing about Islam is that it teaches tolerance of other religions and races. I don't believe in getting angry with anyone. Even if someone were to stand before me and shouted at me, I would choose to self-reflect instead of cursing him under my breath or yell back.

I also do not believe in sharing another person's sins. For example, if someone were to offer me a stolen item which will yield me a high profit if I were to buy it from him and re-sell the item, do you think I am going to buy it?

My philosophy in life is very simple. In Islam, we believe that when a person has committed a sin, he and only he has to answer for his sin at his grave. We just have to guard our own deeds and misdeeds.

And if I were to raise my hand to hit another person, even if the person had done me wrong, in the eyes of Allah Almighty, I have already sinned. We always have to guard our thoughts. These are just some of the many teachings that I love about Islam.

I was born in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, and attended a Chinese vernacular school. I left my hometown when I was a teenager, to follow my parents and siblings to Johor, our new home. That was more than 30 years ago. And this is where I want to raise my family.

I married my Penang-born wife in 1995. Like myself, she is a Chinese and Chinese-educated. We have three children -- two daughters and a son. When my youngest daughter was three, we decided to convert to Islam.

Although I only have primary school qualification, I also have an enquiring mind. When I feel like eating a durian, I don't just want to consume the durian. A lot of questions would go through my mind -- How long did it take for the fruit to ripen? How old is the tree? Who had planted it? What kind of soil? I can go on and on. Sometimes I wonder why I am like that, but that is how I am.

And that was how I approached my spiritual path as well. I am from a Buddhist family and I dwelled deep into Buddhist teachings in my younger days. But I could not find the answers to my questions. I also explored Christianity. That, too, did not provide the answers that I was seeking. I was searching for answers to the root source of life.

I got to know more about Islam through a friend. It was only after I got to know this friend did I find a spiritual path that I was truly comfortable with.

Last year, my son and I had the rezeki (good fortune) to go on a umrah pilgrimage. When we were in Medina, the most beautiful emotions overwhelmed me. There were no words to describe how I felt. I was so humbled by the presence of Allah Almighty that tears welled up in my eyes.

If I have the good fortune, I aspire to go for my haj this year.

Muhd Noor Woon Abdullah, 48, is the owner of Nur Ikhsan Trading, a one-stop bicycle shop in Taman Perling.

- New Straits Times