“Who wants to join us today?” the teacher asked, standing expectantly in front of a whiteboard, addressing a room full of abaya-clad women clustered around in loudly-chattering groups. We were at the basement of Ghanem Bin Hamoodah mosque, in the heart of Abu Dhabi city, attending a class for women newly converted to Islam. When the teacher repeated her question, a group of women moved forward and sat down in front of the whiteboard — most others remained seated in their smaller groups, reading their Qurans and chatting with each other. The ceiling fan rotated slowly, failing to keep the room cool and the women awake.

The teacher began by asking if anyone had any questions. A sea of multi-colored hijabs turned toward a woman in the front row, who raised her hand to ask if her husband would be breaking his fast if he got an injection during Ramadan. The teacher responded with an immediate no and proceeded to explain the science behind it.

“As long as it is for medicinal purposes, it is okay,” she assured us. “As long as the food is not taken into the stomach, your fast is not broken. With injections, it is released into your bloodstream. Understand, sisters?”

Buoyed by the first woman, others started to chime in with their questions. Most of the questions dealt with the upcoming month of Ramadan, a month where Muslims worldwide fast in honor of the revelation of the Quran to Mohammed.

“A friend is traveling during Ramadan, and they wanted me to ask if they can break their fast before the morning of travel,” a student said, prompting an explanation of the exact combination of distance traveled and time passed that would make it acceptable to break the fast. A litany of questions followed, and the class had begun to get louder when the adhan rang from the mosque above. The class quickly broke away as local women from the area rushed into the hall. What resembled small compartment rooms separated by thin room dividers in the basement was now one large hall, as women gathered in the front area facing Mecca to pray.

Photograph by Karma Gurung

As women in the basement learned about their new religion, 29 year-old Christina Madana from the Philippines sat in an office in the New Muslim Center, two minutes away from Ghanem Bin Hamoodah mosque, about to begin her journey with Islam. Dressed in a yellow polo shirt, motionless in her seat and clutching her side bag, Madana listened to Dr. Hanadi talk about the basic tenets of Islam. Dr. Hanadi is an impassioned young teacher at the New Muslim Centre who conducts weekly classes for new converts. On this particular day, she was hosting a one-on-one session with a potential new Muslim — Madana.

Dr. Hanadi believes that a good Muslim needs to pray and educate themselves continuously with the intention that they are doing it for the sake of Allah. The answers of life, she believes, can be found in the verses of the Quran — if one wants to know how to pray, or even how to run a nation, they will find it in the Quran.

“Whatever you need as a human being, you will find it there and it will be beneficial for you,” she said.

After almost an hour of talking about the origins of life and Islam, Dr. Hanadi came to the realization that the conversation had become a one-sided lecture and broke the lull by asking us we had any questions.

Everyone shook their heads no. The room fell silent again, except for a few awkward stifles and the low hum of the air-conditioning. Dr. Hanadi continued her lecture, stressing that Islam is the only religion that truly has only one god; she had researched many religions before coming to this conclusion.

Photograph by Karma Gurung

The time had come for the big question. “Are you ready to become a Muslim?” Dr. Hanadi asked. Madana nodded almost immediately.

“Are you convinced that Jesus is a prophet?” she went on. “See, even if you have one percent doubt, you can take your time,” she said.

Madana, still saying nothing, seeming nervously determined, nodded her head to indicate that she was sure.

“You had some questions in the beginning. Have I answered them?” Dr. Hanadi asked Madana, referring to the first question they had discussed during the session about the origins of God and his sons. Having grown up in the Philippines as a Catholic and tired of a life where nobody would answer her questions about religion, Madana did not hesitate.

“I believe that Jesus is the prophet and there is only one God, Allah,” she cut in. “Yes, I am ready to become a Muslim.”

Dr. Hanadi, visibly pleased, went on to explain the changes that Madana would have to make in her life: “You will eat as a Muslim, you will dress as a Muslim, you will pray as a Muslim.”

Madana continued nodding her head — she had rehearsed this conversation and life as a Muslim a hundred times in her head. Her curiosity about Islam began when she moved to the UAE with her children three years ago. Since then, she’d observed her Muslim friends practice Islam and fast during Ramadan— she envied the faith they possessed and yearned for something similar. YouTube videos were her main source of knowledge about Islam, and with the recommendation of her boss, she visited the center, already sure of converting.

Dr. Hanadi then led Madana outside to the prayer room to recite the Shahada and proclaim her conversion. Outside, in the waiting room, the receptionist and an old man were in conversation – the two were ready to bear witness to Madana’s conversion.

“You have to make people bear witness so that you will be responsible for every word you say and people will know that you are now a Muslim woman,” said Dr. Hanadi.

Photograph by Karma Gurung

The New Muslim Centre in Madinat Zayed is located in the heart of Abu Dhabi city, next to NMC Specialty Hospital, Sama Tower and a street full of small cafeterias: a locale quite familiar to NYU Abu Dhabi students. It is a nondescript building, half of it belonging to an NMC pharmacy and the other half to the New Muslim Center. Shoe shelves are stacked outside the door. There is a poster taped to the door that reads ‘No shoes allowed inside’, with illustrations of different types of footwear. When we went in, the receptionist, an old Filipina Muslim woman, welcomed us and offered us some dates.

“People come in and go out,” she said, “so there are never a lot of people in the center at one time.” Inside, Islamic magazines, dates and coffee fill the center table. The magazines are all in English and bear titles like “The Myth of Cousin Marriage” and “The Islamic Dawah in Canada”.

Dr. Hanadi is an important member of the New Muslim Center team. A big part of her absolute faith in Islam comes because of and despite her thorough exploration of other major religions in the world. Even as a child, she had had a deep curiosity for other religions. She was brought up to believe in Islam, but she wanted to know if it was truly the best religion for her.

“In our environment,” she told us in her office, “we were not encouraged to read about other religions.”

She recounted her experiences trying to get into a church in Egypt, laughing as she recalls an old priest come up to her and say, please, daughter, do not create more problems in light of already existing tensions. But she never gave up trying to learn about other religions, initially particularly Christianity.

“It’s like if you want to know that white is the brightest color then you should be able to compare it with other colors,” she said.

When she got her hands on a copy of the Bible, she rejoiced. But when she finally read it, she was severely let down.

“[It was] totally not like what I thought I would find,’ she said, “totally different. It’s exactly as the Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him, was saying about Jesus. … He was a prophet, a simple man, he was praying … Nothing showed that this man had the kind of majesty in the heaven … So I thought that this is exactly what I was looking for. .. Now I had heard the Christian side.”

From Christianity, Dr. Hanadi went on to study many other major religions. The more she studied, the stronger her belief in Islam grew.

“This is a very strong, very firm, very good religion, Islam,” she said, “I find — after all this searching — that Islam is the law of life. And I mean it, a law of life.”

When she realized that Islam was the religion for her, she decided that she had to educate other people about Islam — ignorance being one of her biggest grievances. When asked about some challenges facing Islam today, her answer, instantly, was ignorance. Ignorance of Islam by outsiders, yes, but also ignorance by Muslims of their own religion.

“The ignorance of the Muslims is number one,” Dr. Hanadi said, “We have so many Muslims who are only Muslims by name, they don’t know anything about Islam. I know so many Muslims, they say why should we do this, why should we do that? Okay, read! But no, [they] don’t want to read. You know, the first commandment of Islam is to read…. If you don’t want to read, then don’t judge. The ignorance of Muslims is really fatal.”

To this end, Dr. Hanadi does everything she can to keep her newly converted Muslims as well-informed as possible.

“Whatever you are doing, do it for the sake of Allah,” Dr. Hanadi told her newest convert, Madana, as she handed her a bag with a Quran, a few Islamic magazines and guidelines on prayer positions and times.

“I feel very happy,” said Madana, after repeating her vows as a new Muslim. “It’s like I feel pure in the inside. I’ve found answers to the questions I used to have. I know I have Allah with me now.”

Madana now adorned a white hijab and a full sleeved shirt. She walked out of the New Muslim Center into the crowded city, off to begin a new chapter in her life.