To begin, I am the daughter of an American father and Filipina-born American mother. They were born Catholic, and went to Catholic school. They met when my father was a supposed Skin Head and my mother was a Goth. They married and my father joined the U.S. Army. I was born a few years later, and a few months later my father became a Muslim. From that day on, and after my sister was born a couple years later, we were raised partly Muslim and partly not. We went to a private Muslim school in the suburbs of Chicago, but also celebrated Christmas with my Catholic family; however, when I was about six, my mother also became Muslim. At the time, I was jumping for joy, for at that moment all of my family was the same.
(Many Christians are in disbelief when they hear my mother became Muslim. I overheard her telling friends and family that she never understood the Trinity, Jesus drying for our sins, and what the use of Confessions were, which applied to her since she was Catholic. I will later explain how I took these areas of confusion and made sense out of them. The Trinity and Jesus dying for our sins were the two principles that led me to leave Islam and believe whole-heartedly in them.)
As my sister and I grew older, my parents felt the need to move to a Muslim country so we could grow up within an Islamic atmosphere. We packed up everything we knew, sold our condo, and said goodbye to all of our family and friends. We were headed to Cairo, Egypt.
