Eventually, I got married, had children, and got divorced, remarried, and divorced again. I'm sorry to say, this is too often a story among non-Muslims who don't understand Islamic values and the rights and obligations of husbands and wives.
After my second divorce, my friends and family encouraged me to audition for a music scholarship at the University of Tulsa, near where I lived at the time. I was accepted and enrolled in the university.
I like school. I met people from all over the world and I read many books in the vast library. Finally, I read something about the Prophet Muhammad SAW and how his religion is called "Muhammadism" by some, but it is not correct to call it that, that the original name of the religion was "Islam." That was all I knew about Islam at that time.
While at university, I started mentoring collegiate athletes and before long, other students wanted me to mentor them, especially in writing. It was there that I met Malaysian Muslim sisters, about 90 of them.
I was impressed by their good behavior, the way they treated me very politely, and the way they asked permission every day for a few minutes at certain times to pray. I think their religion must have something good in it, because it affects their way of life in a positive way.
Other than that, I like the beautiful look of Malaysian Muslims clad in hijab, but I think maybe it's just their culture and not their religion that affects the way they dress. I didn't realize that was God's way of protecting them.
Over the years, I've had a lot of trouble with migraine headaches. Oftentimes, these headaches become so severe that I have to go to the doctor and get strong medicine to ease the pain.
When I was in college and teaching Malaysian students, these headaches escalated to the point where I had headaches every day and I spent most of the day in bed, taking strong drugs. Eventually, I couldn't stop taking these drugs and the headaches were still so bad that I couldn't go to school.
It was at this time that these Malaysian Muslim brothers showed me the true Muslim heart.
I left my door unlocked and they came in whenever they wanted, to see if I was awake. If I fall asleep, they just wait or come back later for their tutoring session.