Thread: Islam Conversion for the wedding

Originally Posted by jeroler

If someone can tell me exactly what is the difference between a humanbeing if it's Catholic or Muslim, I'll be realy intersesting to heard you answer

Jérôme

The difference lies in perception, in the way that we see the world. Perception is shaped by a variety of factors - family, community, culture, religion, political allegiances etc. Where a couple come from divergent cultural, social, and religious backgrounds as in the case of a Westerner marrying an Indonesian, or a Catholic and a Muslim, there are likely to be major differences in the way each of them views the world. To convert to anothers religion or even just to marry someone from another culture without fully comprehending those differences can be the cause of friction, frustrations, and even separation.

Michele

Whats the difference?

Its a bit like :person A likes apples , person B thinks oranges are better. Instead of just agreeing that people are allowed to be have different ideas[about fruit], person A [or sometimes person B] tries to force the other to like their fruit and when enough people start doing this it is called War.

War [especially about fruit] never solves anything. Indeed after most Wars there are ,all of a sudden ,loads of people on both sides [A and B] who hate the other sides' fruit so much that even though they have never actually tasted an Orange [or an Apple] they just know in their hearts that it must be bad and is a threat and that something must be done.[again].

What if the different peoples of the world [ A's and B's] just respected others rights to their own fruits and didnt find them threatening or evil and even if they felt in their hearts that yes , Oranges really are the best fruit of all , they didnt feel the need to denigrate Apple lovers in any way and then Apple lovers and Orange lovers could maybe even live side by side in perfect fruity harmony.

Dandan I like your analogy, but I think Michele explained the differences very well - to put your analogy into how I experience my marriage to a man from a totally different culture and religion..

We both see an orange. To me it is an orange, to my husband it's an orange. But actually he is tasting papaya and I'm tasting banana. I don't understand what he is talking about when he describes the flavour and texture because my experience of eating the orange is totally different.

Karen

Well, here goes, throw my 2cents,,, My wife passed away, I raised 2 children on my own, met a lovely lady, time passed, liked lovely lady-- lovely lady grew on me -also with her 2 lovely children-- lovely lady moved in with me- church said no no no, we made commitment to each other& God, church said (pastor) said wrong , wrong, wrong,,,,I told pastor she is my wife, and I treat her and present her as such.. more so than most husbands... ...my commitment was to her&children, not the tradition of standing before someone of any particular faith- I'm sure any just God, will not minimalize my love and care for my wife and children ,my beliefs state that a marriage is a covenant of a man&woman before God,, at the same time I would not lie,(agree to something I do not believe) just to get married.... explain your feelings and do what you have to do and I'm sure the family would appreciate true &noble boldness than an outright lie... best of wishes Frog

Originally Posted by ilu

in bali most women convert to the religion of her husband (even if she is muslim and he is hindu), but i know that in most parts of indonesia when you get married to a muslim you convert to islam, because of the sharia laws.
But i agree with roy who says that people dont think through what it says to convert.
I have a friend who dont want to conver to islam when she married her muslim, bali boyfriend. That is a huge problem, to long storie to tell here.

hello to everybody..
Im new in this forum,but its been 3 years that i look on it.sorry for my english....just come from france.is there anyone of you who convert from hindou to muslim?n how u deal with the community n family?is it possible that the community n family accept it?would like to know,if u dont mind what is the story with the girl who dont want to convert to islam to marry her balinese muslim boyfriend;how they did finally.
Thanks .

This post has been going on for a long time. I would like to share my experience on the topic. I converted to Islam before we were married 6 years ago. I was already circumcised (required). For me it was just a matter of going to the local islam office (Lombok) and reciting the Arabic acceptance of Islam. For most Westerners I have known that's pretty much where it stops. Not for me. I really came to accept Islam and have slowly learned how to practice the religion. It has added a degree of dicipline in my life I didn't have before. I know there are alot of people who don't agree with many of the principles of Islam (I am American). I don't wish to enter into that debate. I am strictly speaking from a personal level. We live in the U.S. I do not practice my religion perfectly. But I do pray, go to the mosque, perform fasting, charity. This post started so long ago. I am curious what became of the person who originally posted it. Did you convert and marry? Do you actively practice Islam. One more thing. I find it much easier to practice in Lombok than the U.S. because it is so ingrained in the culture there. I always know when it is time to pray. I have lotsa company when fasting. If someone wants to see if it's just a novelty, try fasting during the month of Ramadan. That will seperate the men from the boys.

Different strokes for different folks. What works for you won't necessarily work for someone else and likewise.