Who is Iman?
Firstly, my name isn’t really Iman. Iman is a penname, a pseudo name I adopted when I first began blogging. The name was suggested to me by a mentor who helped me through the toughest trials I faced immediately after converting. It was originally suggested to take the place of my given name as I was contemplating changing my name to a more Islamic name. While since then I’ve decided not to change my name, I thought it would make a good penname for a blog anyway.
I was born in a small South Dakotan town before moving to a slightly larger town in the same state. After a few years there, my mother returned to her birthplace, transferring the family to a teeny, tiny village in the middle of nowhere (otherwise known as Northern Minnesota). After graduating secondary school, I lived at home for about a year before flying to London. Three months later, I flew back to the US and back to South Dakota, where I lived for a year and a half. Now, I’m back home in the middle of nowhere for the time being.
I absolutely adore writing. There’s just something about taking words – almost useless by themselves – and putting them together to create an amazing piece of work. I’ve been writing almost as long as I’ve been able to write the alphabet – or so my mother tells me. She loves to relate stories about the short books I would both author and illustrate when I was younger. My passion is creative writing, and I concentrate mostly on novels and short stories. However, while novels and short stories are easiest for me to write, I do like to work with other types of composition including analysis, persuasion, and journaling. Most of my writing reflects my great fascination with South Asian culture and Islam.
A couple years ago, I made a decision that would change my life forever and for good: I converted to Islam. My conversion has led to a roller coaster including both amazing euphoria and seemingly endless depression. I learned what it feels like to be persecuted by both my family and society just because my views were different, because I chose to believe what I wanted to believe. Yet, even through the toughest times, I wouldn’t have it any other way. And now, Islam has become a part of my life in every way, affecting what I read, what I write, how I think, how I feel, what I study, and more. Insha’Allah I hope as time wears on I can focus my writing more on Islam than anything else.
What qualifications do you have? Are you a scholar?
I have no real qualifications, and while I‘d love to become one, I’m certainly no scholar. I’m just a Muslim. However, I have taken several courses instructed by reputable scholars, and while that doesn’t make me anywhere near qualified, I do have some knowledge. I keep this in mind whenever I write anything for the blog, and I try to never write about something I don’t know about.
How can I contact you?
If you’d like to contact me, I’m available by email: imantstyson@gmail.com
Or, connect in another way:
Facebook
Twitter
Formspring
Firstly, my name isn’t really Iman. Iman is a penname, a pseudo name I adopted when I first began blogging. The name was suggested to me by a mentor who helped me through the toughest trials I faced immediately after converting. It was originally suggested to take the place of my given name as I was contemplating changing my name to a more Islamic name. While since then I’ve decided not to change my name, I thought it would make a good penname for a blog anyway.
I was born in a small South Dakotan town before moving to a slightly larger town in the same state. After a few years there, my mother returned to her birthplace, transferring the family to a teeny, tiny village in the middle of nowhere (otherwise known as Northern Minnesota). After graduating secondary school, I lived at home for about a year before flying to London. Three months later, I flew back to the US and back to South Dakota, where I lived for a year and a half. Now, I’m back home in the middle of nowhere for the time being.
I absolutely adore writing. There’s just something about taking words – almost useless by themselves – and putting them together to create an amazing piece of work. I’ve been writing almost as long as I’ve been able to write the alphabet – or so my mother tells me. She loves to relate stories about the short books I would both author and illustrate when I was younger. My passion is creative writing, and I concentrate mostly on novels and short stories. However, while novels and short stories are easiest for me to write, I do like to work with other types of composition including analysis, persuasion, and journaling. Most of my writing reflects my great fascination with South Asian culture and Islam.
A couple years ago, I made a decision that would change my life forever and for good: I converted to Islam. My conversion has led to a roller coaster including both amazing euphoria and seemingly endless depression. I learned what it feels like to be persecuted by both my family and society just because my views were different, because I chose to believe what I wanted to believe. Yet, even through the toughest times, I wouldn’t have it any other way. And now, Islam has become a part of my life in every way, affecting what I read, what I write, how I think, how I feel, what I study, and more. Insha’Allah I hope as time wears on I can focus my writing more on Islam than anything else.
What qualifications do you have? Are you a scholar?
I have no real qualifications, and while I‘d love to become one, I’m certainly no scholar. I’m just a Muslim. However, I have taken several courses instructed by reputable scholars, and while that doesn’t make me anywhere near qualified, I do have some knowledge. I keep this in mind whenever I write anything for the blog, and I try to never write about something I don’t know about.
How can I contact you?
If you’d like to contact me, I’m available by email: imantstyson@gmail.com
Or, connect in another way:
Formspring