Leap of Faith through Palestine: A Conversation with Abbey Hafez

Leap of Faith through Palestine: A Conversation with Abbey Hafez

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24,394 views  Dec 11, 2023

On this week's episode, we speak to Abbey Hafez as she shares her life-altering experiences and the powerful instances of faith that inspired her conversion when she witnessed the unwavering strength of Palestinian Muslims amidst the adversities in Palestine. The ongoing plight of the Palestinian people sparked a curiosity that led her to explore the Quran, seeking answers and understanding. Abbey's candid discussion delves into her initial encounters with Islam, the spiritual awakening that guided her towards her reversion, and the personal transformations she has undergone since adopting her new faith. 

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that challenges perceptions and encourages a deeper understanding of one's beliefs through the powerful faith of the people in Palestine.

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Introduction

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

Abby halfz welcome to the native

informant podcast thank you so much

please introduce the audience who is

Abby and where does she come from and

her backstory so my name is Abby HZ and

I am actually from USA I lived there for

most of my life around 22 years in USA

so I have a bit of a background there I

come from a very very small town in

Michigan it was a bit sheltered there I

was a Christian for around 25 years so

living in this small town mostly

everyone there is Christian I didn't

meet any Muslims but when a moved to

Dubai I actually followed my husband

here um so our love story brought me to

Dubai and oh my gosh I was just like

amazed to see the difference in the

culture and also I met so many amazing

Muslims that it just opened my eyes to

Islam for the first time and I started

to really learn the truth about Islam

and how peaceful and loving it was and

it's just been incredible and for those

How Abbey came to revert to Islam

of you who don't know you are a new

revert to Islam and do you want to tell

the audience on how you came to revert

to the faith of Islam yeah sure I was I

was a little bit interested in Islam

through my husband since he is a born

Muslim but I never really found it for

me until started learning about

Palestine and I started seeing obviously

the destruction and all of the

Heartbreak there and I saw these Muslims

living in Palestine and they lost

everything they lost their homes their

family their future you know everything

they lost it and they were thanking God

amidst all that and I said how can

someone have that strong of a faith I

saw a video of a woman she's holding her

What inspired Abbey to read the Quran

child and her child had passed away she

was thanking God at that moment and

she's saying allahar and she's saying in

Arabic from you we came and to you we

will return and just thanking God so

much in that moment and I said I don't

think I could do that I don't think my

faith is strong enough that I could

thank God at that moment so I said how

is her faith so strong so that's what

really inspired me to read the Quran

because especially as a mother to be

holding my child in my arms and thanking

God cuz even though my child is gone I

don't know I don't think I could do that

at that moment incredible how much the

Palestinian people the Palestinian

Muslims have inspired the world so I

said I need to read this book they're

talking about the Quran I need to read

this and see what is it that they

believe in to be this steadfast in their

faith so I just opened it out of

curiosity as a Christian of 25 years and

literally the first sentence I was just

blown away like I felt like it was

speaking directly to me I felt like God

sent this book like God was speaking to

me through the words it was just

Abbey Hafez as a social media influencer

incredible and what's even more

incredible is that you have reverted to

Islam before our very eyes I mean that

is how I've come to to know you as the

social media influencer personality you

have garnered over 35 million views in

total on your journey to reverting to

Islam and that's just on your Tik Tok

profile I'm sure that all of these other

profiles on YouTube and Megan rice and a

few other people that have been publicly

converting to Islam amidst the

travesties that has been going on in

Palestine it's just fascinating to know

that throughout all of the chaos there

there seems to be something beautiful

that has arisen for your experience yeah

definitely it's been amazing to see so

many people opening their eyes to Islam

for the first time and finally seeing

the truth about Islam and the peace and

the love and it's just incredible to see

such a worldwide revolution of peace and

love it's just really incredible and you

What has changed for Abbey Hafez

had mentioned before we even started

this podcast that you are a fresh revert

so how long has it been since you've

actually said your shahada took your

Shah yeah just a little over a week

honestly it's been amazing it's been so

amazing and what do you think has

changed for you now that you view things

through the lens of a Muslim has any

perception changed or what has been the

main perception that has changed for you

yeah I feel like everything is different

in the best way I will say one thing is

like my body image I'm not obsessing

over how I look as much anymore because

ultimately I don't think that's the most

important thing about me anymore I used

to believe that how I look is the most

important thing but now after becoming

Muslim I know that no it's my soul it's

my heart it's how I carry myself it's

how I treat other people and it just

took a lot off my shoulders you know to

feel that and since that you've been

How has your perception of Muslims changed

living in a in a Muslim country how is

your perception of Muslims in General

changed oh my gosh it's been a game Cher

honestly living in Market Michigan it's

a very small town most people don't

leave this town like their whole life

they stay there raise their family there

so it's a very closed community getting

out of this area and moving to Dubai

from a very small town to a big city

it's already going to be much more

culture and diversity every every time I

would hear the atan I'm like what is

this sound like it was so interesting to

see how immersed most people were in the

Muslim faith here I would see so many

people wearing the the hijab the Abaya

people going to pray the mosques would

be full of people it's just it's like so

amazing to see so many people DED

dedicated to God how has your family

How has your family felt

felt about your reversion to Islam maybe

you have siblings or your parents how

have they felt yeah actually I called my

mom after I reverted because I didn't

want anyone's like opinion to sway my

faith deep in my heart I knew what was

true for me so I called my mom and I

told her and she said oh wow I'm so

proud of you I'm so happy for you that

you found your own path and I told my

sister also and she was like wow really

and then she said that must be cool that

you and your husband share the same

Faith now so it was really just so

supportive you mentioned in one of your

videos which I found fascinating is you

felt that you potentially took your

shahada before you actually became

Muslim can you elaborate on that yeah

sure um yeah I I didn't cry when I

actually took my shahada and people were

asking me why I realized that I might

have taken my shahada maybe like a few

days before that I was kind of pulled

through this process by God I really

feel that I was pulled from my soul to

read the Quran then I was pulled to try

the way that Muslims pray so I said okay

let me just try it like there's no harm

and trying it so I I did the woodoo and

I followed the app on how to pray as

Muslims pray and um I was just amazed by

how I felt after praying I finished the

prayer I called it a practice prayer I

finished the prayer and I just like fell

down and like I was balling I couldn't

hold the tears back just like an

incredible flood of emotions I wouldn't

say it was negative no it was like I was

letting go of 25 years of anything on my

shoulders I just felt so free I felt so

free and I said at that moment I need to

be Muslim I I really need to take my

shahada and I told my husband right then

please take me to the mosque right now I

need to be Muslim

was there a specific verse that you read

in the Quran that really made you feel

like this is speaking to me this is the

one honestly I I feel like it was kind

of every sentence was just consistently

answering my questions by like the the

second Surah of the Quran I said yeah

this is really resonating with me so I

think it was just every sentence

answering a question answering a

question for those who are potentially

What would you say to someone who doesnt know Islam

listening who do not know about Islam as

a religion and also do not know how one

could result in reading the Quran and

then going into through a reversion

story what would you say to them and

since you were there literally a week

ago yeah how how would you describe that

to them I would say just be curious just

always be curious for me I'm never

afraid to learn people were telling me

to stop reading the Quran and you need

to just focus on your faith as a

Christian and to me I don't I don't want

to walk by Blind Faith for me I think

that that Faith should be tested and we

should be able to look at other

religions and not just put our blinders

on and pretend like there's no other

religions in the world right it should

stand the test of time right so we

should be able to compare it with other

religions and still have it be your

truth so I will say just be curious

don't be afraid of what other people are

going to think or say because in the end

all that matters is what you feel in

your heart to be true the fact that you

What were the things that you didnt align yourself completely with Christianity

went in from Christianity and

transitioned into Islam what were the

things that you perhaps didn't align

yourself completely with Christianity

that helped navigate your journey to

towards Islam actually as a Christian

the deeper I got into my faith the more

questions I had and and I started to be

a bit more confused as I was going along

I was going to Bible studies and going

to church every Sunday and I'm not

saying that's what makes you religious

but as I went along I started to have a

lot of questions that were unanswered

actually the Quran started answering

those questions for me like questions

about who is Jesus and is Jesus really

God and these kind of questions I always

had them on my mind and also another

question I had was um are Christians the

only people that will get into heaven

and the Quran started answering those

questions for me and one thing that

always confused me as a Christian was

like how how how can Jesus peace be upon

him be God if he doesn't know what's

going to happen to him on the

crucifixion day I was reading the Bible

and it said that he was sweating blood

because he was so nervous about what's

going to happen so I'm thinking to

myself if Jesus was God then how is he

nervous about what's going to happen and

from the other side how can God die and

from the other side I'm thinking like if

we put God into a human time frame which

has a beginning and an end then God

would have a beginning and an end but

God is infinite so to me it feels that

we're somehow limiting God did you have

any reservations at all yeah I was

Is it hard to change your faith

really scared you know it is not an easy

thing to change your faith after 25

years of being raised deeply in it you

know you're you're raised from a very

young child in the church it's just

ingrained in you it becomes like a

second skin to you your your Faith your

religion so to start questioning that is

really scary because then you're

starting to think to yourself if I start

questioning things and I lose my faith

that I had what am I going to have after

that like what if I don't resonate with

this other faith that I'm starting to

learn about um what if I'm left with

nothing in the end you know there is

always that question like of being in

between two areas like I was in that

area for for a little bit there of

questioning like like is this really the

choice for me and you're kind of like

between two worlds you know it's it's

really a it's kind of like a leap of

faith at that point did it surprise you

How quick did you transition from Christian to Muslim

of how quick you transition from being

Christian to Muslim yeah

definitely I was planning to at least

finish the Quran okay I was planning to

finish the Quran you know get into some

hadiths you know learn about all the ins

and outs um get to the point of being

able to wear hijab before becoming

Muslim and yeah none of that happened

none of that happened but alhamdulillah

I'm Muslim so and do you feel like

Have you gained a new community

you've gained a new community of people

that you align with spiritually 100% I

feel like I have a family across the

entire world it's really incredible what

Stereotypes

were the main things or the main I guess

stereotypes or Prejudice that you might

have had towards a certain group of

people that has shifted since moving and

obviously becoming Muslim growing up in

the US specifically in my small town the

the main idea was I I never thought of

the Middle East as the beautiful place

that it is I saw it through a war zone

and I hate saying that now it it just

tells how important it is to be

open-minded and to to really see for

yourself because all the stereotypes

that I was fed to believe are wrong the

Middle East is beautiful the people

living here are amazing Middle Eastern

people are so generous so kind so loving

honestly I feel safer here in UAE than I

have ever felt in the United States what

Favorite thing about being Muslim

is your favorite thing that you have

learned about being Muslim I'll just say

that I love the

Salah I love the Salah so much like I I

never had like a way to connect to God

on such a personal level I talked to go

to God but I never worshiped God so

there is is a difference like you really

feel so connected and also like your day

has more purpose to it because every day

the creator of the universe is calling

you to meet with him five times a day

like how incredible for somebody like me

Being born into Islam

who was born into Islam it is a

privilege to meet somebody like you

because you are a kind reminder that the

Privileges that we grew up with or that

we were born into we have to not take

for granted and we have to ensure that

there is a level of humility

and humbleness that comes with being

born into Islam you amongst many people

that have been converting online how do

you feel like your platform is going to

perhaps change or do you know which

direction it's going in because I'm sure

this was kind of all happening overnight

yeah I would say it's it's been kind of

an overnight success you can call it

honestly I feel like it has nothing to

do with me it's all Allah before having

this success I was an Instagram

influencer after making my account

private I hadn't been doing that for

like 2 years but as an influencer before

I was into fitness modeling and very

like body image stuff for me it felt

surface level I had maybe 5,000

followers at that point and I thought

that was the only way that I could get

followers you know but after throwing

all that away now it's just amazing

Subhan Allah I have over 50,000

followers on Instagram without showing

my body at all so it's just like Subhan

Allah Subhan Allah Allah has a plan so

going forwards I'm planning just to let

Allah guide me in my content and stay

curious and keep trying to follow the

path that Allah has for me I just

remember this verse from the Quran that

says fear Allah don't fear men that's

that's basically my viewpoint going

forward now I I'm not scared of people

what they say to me or how how others

will perceive me because I only fear

Allah that's a really beautiful thing to

Being body focused

to say and I'm sure the people who are

listening will resonate with that in

their own way yeah you had mentioned

also that your journey through social

media and influencing uh dim the

feelings that you have towards it being

very body

focused yeah I would say yeah when I was

an Instagram influencer before I was

just following Trends I I was trying to

get f

I was following money Fame you know at

first I thought I was being body

confident and I was empowering women by

showing my body you know but the more I

posted I noticed that when I posted

pictures of my body with less clothing

then I would get more views so over time

I started to go into this area where I

didn't feel authentic to myself anymore

and I didn't feel the way that people

were looking at me like a piece of meat

after a while of that I said no it's not

worth it even if I'm going to lose all

of the the sponsorships the followers

and and the income I don't care because

this is not me and and that's not who I

want to show the world so I totally just

threw that behind me two years ago and

didn't think about it again it's so

funny because I just literally posted a

video to my 100 followers on Tik Tok I

just said this is so interesting to me I

need to share this with someone you know

and it blew up and that is not because

of me that is because of Allah and I

will keep saying that I think the final

Words of wisdom

remarks I want to focus on is let's just

say that there's somebody in the

audience that is struggling with their

Identity or struggling with the way that

they feel towards the faith that they

were born into perhaps whether it be

Islam or other what would you say to

that person in terms of providing words

of wisdom I would say just don't walk by

Blind Faith what whatever you will

believe in make sure that you believe in

it with your whole heart and your whole

mind don't be afraid to be curious

reading another religion's book it's

it's not going to destroy you like be

curious look around you realize that

there is a bigger world around you and

and it's okay to test your faith and

you're not going to end up empty-handed

maybe you're going to have more than

when you started the journey thank you

so much Abby H it has been a pleasure to

interview you for those of you who are

listening please like subscribe and hit

the notification Bell and thank you so

much for being here thank you so much

and Ma

[Music]

maam