Introduction

My name is Musa Takai, I am a Cook Islander, I am 25.

I am currently living in Otara NewZealand.

Life before Islam.

I come from a Christian background.

I was born in the Cook Islands.

My dad met my step mother and we moved to live in Sydney Australia.

As a teen my life spiraled out of control, I lived a life with out purpose and I didn't care.

I was mixing with the wrong crowd, making wrong decisions and I got in trouble with the law, many times.

I was intoxicated the majority of the the time. I was sent in and out of prison.

I was 18 when Australia asked me to leave, and sent me back to NewZealand.

In 2015 in NewZealand I went back in prison for 3 years and was released in 2019.

My first encounter with a Muslim.

When I was living in Sydney, the encounters I had with Muslims didn't leave a positive impression. I met many Muslims in jail also, so I wasn't a fan. I thought Islam was a cultural thing that Arabs follow.

My brother had converted to Islam and he came to New Zealand with the intention to teach me about Islam.

My Conversion.

My brothers came from Australia to New Zealand with the intention to teach me about Islam. His approach at first was to debunk Christianity to me, which I had already given up on, as I studied the Bible in jail, and I swayed to being an athest.

His next approach was to tell me about jahanam hell, and the punishment of the grave, which got my attention, and scared me, so I started to look more into Islam and found the logic in it compared to Christianity.

Two weeks of my brother giving dawa to me I accepted it, it made sence and I took my shahada.

What do I love about Islam?

I love the justice, that there is accountability for everybody's sin.

I love that we accept all the prophets, like Abraham Moses and Jesus.

I love the practicality and the methods of striving to obtain Taqwa and Jannah.

How has Islam improved me as person?

I'm clean I don't drink, smoke cigarettes or weed. I have purpose now. I'm not in trouble with the law. I have become a better citizen and man.

My family likes my changes.

My family were skeptical at first of me being Muslim, now they can see I'm a better person, and I'm not in self destruct mode, and I am keeping out of trouble.

As an Polynesian Muslim what challenges have I faced?

I have faced alot of rejection from the Polynesian community. They can be very critical and harsh to anything that challenges there belief systems.