Conversion of hardcore Punk group broughtChris to Islam

My name is Christopher Alan Booty , 22 years old from
Florida, USA and have reverted to Islam. I haven’t
changed my name as I am keeping out of respect for my
mother and love of the Prophet Jesus. I was raised non-
religious and was atheist before coming to Islam
I've been involved in too many things and I've been
looking for a sense of community for as long as I can
remember. This has caused me to wear different masks in
the past and pretend to be a lot of people that I'm not.
Finally, I've found something that works for me. I have
found Islam.
Interest in Islam
My interest in Islam started after becoming interested in a
hardcore punk band called Vegan Reich. The band and
the associated movement called “Hardline” was all about
being drug free, vegan, and caring for all life, whether
its an unborn child, an animal in a factory farm, or the
ecology of the planet that is being murdered by
ungrateful modern industrial civilization. Eventually the
lead singer for Vegan Reich along with a lot of other
Hardliners converted to Islam and I was really interested
in why so many people with my same views would turn
to this one religion.
I started reading about Islam and after reading about
Islam I started to consider converting/reverting to Islam,
but then I started to move away from it. At one point, I
even told a friend that I was glad I didn’t convert,
because it would have kept me from enjoying certain
aspects of this dunya (world). But then a customer at
work invited me to a night of prayer and dhikr
( remembrance of Allah)with his tariqa. In the next
couple of weeks, especially in dhikr, I had really strong
urges to just submit to Allah and I felt His healing love in
ways I had never before. I really decided that God does
exist and this is the way to live.
Reaction of your parents/friends/relatives
Everyone was pretty supportive, actually. My family is
nonreligious so they don’t really understand why I
would choose these restrictions in life, but they don’t
hold anything against me for it and, in sha Allah, I hope
someday they’ll see the truth as I have. Some of the most
supportive people have been Christians who are just
happy to see an atheist turn towards God.
Challenges after reverting to Islam
The biggest challenge has been and continues to be
keeping a barrier between myself and women around
me. The area I live in is very Hispanic and the culture
tends to be one where hugging and kissing between
sexes is just what people do when meeting or saying
good-bye. Stopping a hand shake, and especially a hug,
can come off as an insult or embarrassing for the other
person so I have trouble finding the right way to say it.
And for older women who are like aunties to me, but
are not blood relatives, it has been especially hard. Non-
Muslim women who know not to touch Muslim men
make it much easier.
I haven’t really interacted much with the Muslim
community. I’ve spent time with some Sufi converts and
recently started to enjoy the Shia community, but other
than that most of my interaction has been over
Facebook. It can be stressful having people try to impose
their views on Islam to someone that may be easy to
influence like a new convert. New reverts do need thoer
own space sometimes.
Future plans
Right now my future plans are unclear. I plan to move
with my sister and my niece to stay close to my family.
Where we’ll end up will depend on where she can get a
job. But right now, I am very interested in a kind of
gardening called permaculture that seeks to mimic
natural systems in their efficiency and real understanding
of how God’s creation works to be beneficent to all life.
I’m pretty convinced that this is something the ummah
needs to reduce hunger, thirst, clean abused
environments and make them a place for our children to
play and remember Allah after we are gone.