The Imam’s Wife

Posted under american muslim, radio by rahma

From NPR, a piece on an american convert married to an Imam.

But it would take another five years before Jerusha made the leap of faith. It was March of 2000. She was living in Ghana as a Fulbright scholar, studying Islam, and she began to have dreams.

“I had one dream where I was standing outside of a mosque and crying,” she recalls. “And then I had another dream where I was inside the mosque, and the feeling, I can’t even describe it, everything was white, and bright, and this very peaceful feeling. And that solidified it for me.”

I found much in her story familiar - except for the being married to an imam part, lol.  I was especially intregued by her sister’s contribution to the piece.  I went to the same university as my sister for 2 years, and would often walked around campus with her while wearing an abaya and hijab.  She’s never commented directly on my hijab, only to occasionally say that she doesn’t understand, that I used to be such a femenist.  I wonder how she views me now - as the same girl she grew up with, just more God concious, or as someone alien and strange?

Jerusha Lamptey has been defying perceptions ever since she converted to Islam, says her sister, Molly Naughton. Jerusha is a traditional Muslim who prays and covers and lives for the glory of God and an American woman who earns a doctorate in philosophy and keeps up with pop culture.

“My sister is a brilliant, amazing person, and you look at her and you think, ‘She’s covering her hair, and she’s doing all these things.’ But then, she’ll call me up and say, ‘Did you see what Justin Timberlake did?’”

And in this, Jerusha Lamptey may be a glimpse into the future for American converts adapting to Islam and Muslim women adapting to America.