As part of an initiative to amplify Canadian stories, a new film by CBC is telling the story of how an Emdontonian converted to Islam.
For Aaron Wannamaker, his first encounter with Islam came in 2007 when his girlfriend, who had a Muslim boss, brought home from work a small introductory book on Islam.
Curious to learn, Wannamaker read the text, taking the decision to convert to Islam within only three months.
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“I kind of dove off the deep end,” he said on CBC Edmon ton’s Radio Active.
“I hadn’t even finished reading the Qur’an at this point, I hadn’t stepped foot inside a mosque.”
Wannamaker recalled his journey to Islam in a new movie produced by Amal Mohamud for CBC’s Creator Network.
While Wannamaker said he did not have an overly religious upbringing, he believed in one God and Jesus, which is central to the Islam faith.
“I was very surprised to learn that a lot of what Muslims believe, I already believed in,” he said.
A Muslim in Edmonton
As well as telling his journey to the faith, the short film Aaron’s Faith in Islam describes how Wannamaker tackles common misconceptions about being a Muslim in Edmonton.
Though his family was shocked at his sudden conversion, Wannamaker said his parents were very supportive.
“As I learned more about Islam, the more I learned how global it is,” he said.
“Islam is meant to be practical and practiced no matter where you live and what time you live.
“It helped me understand that everyone has a unique story.”
A new survey of religiosity in Canada by StatsCan has found that the Muslim population has more than tripled since 1996, becoming the fastest growing religion in the country.
There are about 1,053,945 Muslims in Canada. This has been shown to increase every census (10 years).
A majority of the Muslims in Canada follow Sunni Islam, and a minority of them follow Shiite Islam.
Canadian religious groups in 2036 would number 12.9 million Catholics, 5.4 million Protestants, 2.8 million Muslims, 1.2 million Hindus and 1.1 million Sikhs, said the report.
The post New CBC Movie Tells Story of Edmontonian’s Journey to Islam appeared first on About Islam.
source https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/n-america/new-cbc-movie-tells-story-of-edmontonians-journey-to-islam/
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