From Beirut to Boston! Born and raised in Beirut Lebanon until the age of 15, I was raised in a very strict Catholic family and attended both Catholic elementary and high schools. As a result, I had a deep religious conviction based on my self-righteousness (pleasing God by my works). I was heavily involved in worshipping the saints and Mary and yes I served as an altar boy. During the civil war that raged Lebanon from the years 1975 to 1978, m…

The Road From Damascus Ziad was born and raised in Damascus, finishing his schooling in this historic capital of Syria. Most of his life, Ziad had been a practicing Muslim like everyone else in his devout family. He would often accompany his father, his three brothers, and some neighbors to the mosque for Friday noon prayers and frequently for prayer on other days. The rest of the five daily prayer times he would observe at home or at work. Not…

Emad's Testimony I was born in the Gaza Strip to a Christian family who was Greek Orthodox. In Gaza, with a population of approximately one million, there is only about 1% Christians mostly belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. My father, after graduating from high school, attended the Baptist School for Allied Health Sciences in Gaza, and upon graduating, he got a job as a medical technologist at the Baptist Hospital. My father used to go to th…

From Darkness To Light I was born and raised in a conservative Muslim family. Ever since I was ten years old I’ve been reading the Quran on a daily basis and performing my Islamic duties such as fasting and prayer. Then when I was twelve, I started going to the Friday prayer at the mosque next door every week. As years passed by, my knowledge in Islam increased. I was extremely religious but I had no true relationship with the God I was worshi…