American Muslimah, what does that mean to me? At 44 years of age and having just converted I find that I am deep into my American culture. I know that in Islam women reach paradise easier with a husband but I am not married. Islam also says Muslim women must marry a Muslim man. I am not in love with a Muslim man. At 44 I will not be having any more children and I have discovered I do not need a man for anything. I am self-sufficeint and fiercely independant and that will not change. If I was in love with a Christian man before I decided to convert that would not change either. I was once Christian and married to a Muslim man so I know it can work out. (we did not split due to religious differences)

These things pass through my mind often. As I want to be a good Muslim woman but my independance and my own personal belief systems. As a woman that is a survivor of domestic violence.