京子 Kyoko Um-Ahmed -Madina

京子 Kyoko Um-Ahmed:
I am a Japanese-American convert who accepted Islam over 30 years ago in 1992. I spent my early childhood in Japan before moving to America.

When I became Muslim, I had a dream that I was feeding birds on the roof of a masjid. A sheikh interpreted this by saying that I will perform umrah or hajj. At the time I was a single mother with two young boys aged five and seven. I couldn’t imagine being able to afford such a journey nor did I have a mahram to accompany me.

Several months later, I got married and my husband was gifted a ticket to perform umrah. By Allah’s mercy, I was able to join him. During our visit, he encouraged me to apply for a job in Saudi, but despite trying, I wasn’t successful.

Despite this, my love for Madina only deepened. From that point on, my heart was set on returning and my du‘as were focused solely on being able to live in Madina. I prayed for 15 years. Eventually, I reached a point where I almost gave up hope.

I then decided to move to Egypt, where I found joy studying Qur’an and Arabic with my children. Life there was beautiful: my children were accepted into Al-Azhar, we lived in a lovely apartment and were surrounded by kind neighbours.

Then, unexpectedly, I was offered a position to teach at a school in Madina. I was hesitant. I had grown attached to our life in Egypt. But I asked myself: how could I be ungrateful for this opportunity?

So, I left everything behind in Egypt and moved to Madina. Now, I have no regrets. It has been the most beautiful, soul-enriching experience of my life.