Elena Pouliasi: my journey to Islam

The experiences of Greek student after her decision to accept Islam

Source:  Kathimerini.gr 

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“Shall I write your name?” “Yes write it.” “And your parents?” “Eventually they will get to know the truth. I did not fall into drugs!”

Twenty-three year old today, Elena Pouliasi is young and beautiful girl – you can see that even under her hijab. It has been less than a year since her decision to accept Islam, decision that cost her enough friends and posed the risk of rupture with her family.” This is my truth though,” says to “K”.

For the past three years, Elena is in England for studies. In her neighbourhood and university, Muslim population outclass in number. “Like most Greeks, I had too grown with the mentality that the Muslims are strict and oppressed people. I saw women with headscarves and I thought that they do not have a life. But the people I met there were quite different.” Her two best friends in London were from Saudi Arabia – she describes them as “incredibly intelligent and talented.” They naturally wore the headscarf. Elena could not understand and neither wanted to challenge their religion. Herself from a little girl believed in God. “I began to read about Islam in order to convince them, to prove that in the subject of their religion they are misguided.”

She began to read the Quran in his Greek translation. “I began to realize that I had learned it… differently. I saw, as an example, love and respect for the women and mothers. Almost unconsciously I stopped drinking and eating pork. I did not know what the truth was and until I find it, I decided to remain open at all. This process lasted roughly eight months. “I lived as a Muslim. I was careful where I go out, I was more careful with the clothes I wore; I stopped swearing, and became more generous and polite.”

On May 15^th she officially became a Muslim. The subject of hijab worried her. In the beginning, she wore it outside, but used to remove the scarf when she entered her office (alongside her studies in International Business and Management, she also runs a translation office). “I did not want the behaviour of my colleagues to change towards me. But now I wear hijab all the time. Why? Because it makes me feel better. I feel secure”.

Personal cost

Her decision did not come without personal cost. “It was something that affected my family too. Even though I have not announced it, my mother understands that I have changed. I lost also many friends. The only consolation is that they were not real friends, or if they were they would like to be with Elena as she really is, not only with Elena that used to go out on Friday night and get drunk.”

It is not that she does not understand them. “Most people have a tendency to believe that to become a Muslim you must have been brainwashed.

However, nobody put the Quran in my hands, it was my choice.

They say to me, “but you were born Greek!” I say to them, “but I am Greek.” Becoming Muslim does not mean that my life is over and that I should devote myself in reading Quran, bear children and become fanatical. On the contrary, I get angry with the Muslims who are extremists.” Before we close,” she points out, “They will ask you for sure, if I became Muslim because I fell in love.  Answer them that I did not. Most women become Muslims before they meet their prince.”

Many are baptized Christian Orthodox

In www.greeksrethink.com, the global online community of Greek Muslims, you find enough testimonies of Greek Orthodox that at some point made the conscious decision of embracing Islam. Most are Greeks of abroad and, in their narrations, describe rather with gloomy colours the way that they were faced by their families. “This is an experiential, hard road to change your religion and which in any case should be treated with respect,” says in the “K” professor of Comparative Philosophy in University of Athens Mr. Marios Begzos. In Greece, however, we are open only in words; instead there is great difficulty in the assimilation of the ‘other’. Especially Muslims, who in our conscience are acknowledged as Turks therefore there are negative records in our subconscious.

The natural routes between the two religions have two directions. Many Muslims every year are baptized Christian Orthodox in a church of our country, although as emphasized in the “K” Chairman of the Board Movement Citizens’ Coexistence and Communication in the Aegean Mr. Stratis Potha, in most cases the reason is marriage.”For Muslims especially, that is something not easy to reveal to their family.

My Big Fat Greek Project

I was intereviewed by the Queen of Sheba program so I thought I would share my dreams with you too.

I had this insane dream to revolutionize Islam in Greece. I sat down one day and just wrote out a 10 year vision plan. I kept writing and writing and I couldn’t stop. Then I just stared at it and I remember thinking, this is insane! But it was just an exhilarating feeling to even allow myself to take my imagination that far. At that point, I was determined more than ever to go through with it.

I was scared because I was only one person and I barely knew any other Greek Muslims let alone in Greece but I did know that Greece was the only European Union country where there is still no mosque allowed in its capital city. This is the place where every Muslim is called a Turk who “enslaved them for 400 years”. So, you can imagine the mountain of a task in front of me.

On the other hand, practically speaking, it is proven that in order for women to feel stress-free while they are succeeding, they need to feel that they have support (which is not [necessarily] the case for men). I have been blessed to find a team that works with me on the same vision and this is my backbone.

Iman: I want to see religious freedom for Muslims in Greek society as well as mutual respect between people of different faiths. I hope that through our efforts, we will establish a thriving communal system that will become an integral part of Greek society.

 

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Greece shaken up over UN and newly announced ECHR Visit

Source: http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/3453/46/

Published Date: September 16, 2008

The UN Minorities Expert Gay McDougall is in Greece. According to the Macedonians in Greece, the Government in Athens will try in every way to show the visit as non important, although, they say, Greek Media has been following the story with great interest.

Namely, for the past two days, the UN representative is in Thrace speaking to the Turkish minority which is been referred by Athens

The Greek Government does accept a ’muslim’ minority, without specifying their ethnicity. The Turks and Pomaks are seeking autonomy for their region. McDougall also visited the Roma population.

Instead, Mina finds, the Greek Government had planned for McDougall to avoid the regions where Macedonians lived, and instead take her to the municipality of Kutlesh, to show the Vlach minority.

According to Greek daily Eleftheros Typos, in its article “Minority Games”, Greece is one of the three countries that McDougall will visit this year. The other two where minority abuse is recorded are Ethiopia and Hungary.

Typos says official Athens is not commenting much on the visit, though Diplomats have confirmed this visit is a problem for Greece.

Hatred for Turks breeds in other countries too

With the recent discussion on Greek-Turkish relations, I think you will find this video interesting. 

Here’s a brother from our city who converted after having ingrained in him the societal acceptance to hate Muslims or Turks.  Although he is from Romania, his upbringing towards the idea of hatred for Turks is very similar to that of Greeks.

Romanian and loving Islam