MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Mid-state resident Alana Raybon grew up in a Christian home, but converted to Islam as a young woman.
As you can imagine, the conversion put a strain on her relationship with family, her mother in particular. Raybon says she argued with her mother frequently.
Eventually, the two stopped talking about faith altogether and the silence continued for nearly a decade. Even so, Raybon says her new faith was always the “elephant in the room” when visiting with family.
Raybon’s mother, Patricia, says that initially she spent a lot of time trying to learn more about the Muslim faith so that she could use those details to win arguments with her daughter. But she finally came to believe God was asking her to take a very different approach.
“I felt that what the Lord was saying to me was ‘You’re getting lost in the weeds. You’re getting lost in the details. What I’m asking you to do is love your daughter.’ And I think that instruction applies to all of us in the body of Christ who are wrestling with how to deal with living with other faiths around us.”
Both Raybon’s say a turning point came when mother Patricia suggested they begin a written dialogue about their differences. The two women began a yearlong exchange of letters on the faiths that separated them.
Daughter Alana, who now lives in Nashville and works as a teacher, says the time required to read her mother’s comments forced her to really listen to her mother’s thoughts before forming a response.
“Not only just listening, but listening with empathy and really trying to understand the other person. Then also for me, caring; showing that I care about her hurt and her struggle. That was a huge breakthrough moment for me when I realized that, ‘You know, my mother is really hurting and I need to show her that I care and that I hear her.’”
Alana Raybon now has children of her own. While she’s raising them in the Muslim faith, she says freedom of choice is important, and she know they may eventually choose another path.
The Raybon’s have written a book about their faith journey. You can find a link to the title on the news page at WMOT.org. You will also find a link allowing you to listen to the full interview with the Raybons.
The two women will also discuss their experience during a joint appearance at Nashville’s Scarritt Bennett Center in late July. That event is free and open to the public but an RSVP is requested.