Why Donna & John Converted to Islam

Converting to Islam almost three decades ago, Hanan Sandercock says her decision was all about finding faith, community as well as answers to questions she had been asking, Wales Online reported.

Born to Christian but not especially religious families, Hanan and her husband John became Muslims as adults in Wales.

They celebrate Eid and not Christmas, pray five times a day, and don't eat pork or drink alcohol. Hanan, 51, has worn a scarf for 23 years since converting aged 28 and raised all her four children in the faith.

“I was in my 20s and I think I was searching. I wanted to know the meaning of life. I went to a Buddhist meeting but that didn’t do anything for me.”

With Cardiff beginning to shake off the grey days of the 1970s and '80s Donna, originally from a small village in Cornwall, was intrigued to be in a city with a historically multicultural population. She got to know and befriend young Muslims her age working and socialising.

“I was interested. Their religion was very important to them. They were solid and had a belief system I didn’t have.

“I’d eat at their houses and have the nicest food. They were really open and welcoming and happy I was interested.”

In the summer of 1994 visiting a kibbutz in Israel she also learned more about Palestinian and Muslim history and culture and had a religious experience which led her to convert to Islam when she returned to Cardiff.

“I was walking in a wadi, a deep ravine, in the heat of the day with a friend and we got lost," she said. "There were no mobile phones then and we had run out of water. I prayed in a way I’d never done before. I prayed that if we got our safely I’d become a Muslim. It wasn’t something I’d vocalised before but realised it had been inside me.”

Husband and wife Hanan Sandercock and John Smith at home in Pentwyn (Image: Richard Swingker)

The well-known late Imam Sheikh Said, whose own mother was a Welsh Muslim convert, listened as Donna changed her name to Hanan and recited the Shahada, the declation of belief in the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as his prophet.

Hanan's parents Terry and Janet Sandercock supported her conversion to Islam aged 28 (Image: Hanan Sanndercock)

“I immediately felt a great sense of relief,” she said. “Islam explains things to me. The answers are all there.

“I became part of a diverse community. I was not pressured to be or become a particular way.

“I wore an abayah. Being Muslim is an identity and I wanted to show that.”

Marrying an Algerian Muslim in Cardiff Hanan had four children, now aged 22, 21, 14 and 10, but later divorced.

And within a few years world events led her to stop wearing her robe robe because she was scared of being attacked. When 9/11 happened the whole landscape changed.

Although Hanan had been shouted at and had things thrown at her by men in cars in 1990s Cardiff, it was only when the Twin Towers were attacked in 2001 that she began to feel seriously at risk.

“I stopped wearing the abayah (robe) after 9/11. I knew some Muslim women had been attacked in the UK and America. I had little children and didn’t want us to be at risk. I carried on wearing the scarf but not the abayah.”

Artist and play worker Hanan Sandercock has decorated the family home in Pentwyn with copies of ancient Islamic tile designs. She is pictured with husband John Smith (Image: Richard Swingler)

Later on, she started to befriend young Muslims her age working and socializing.

“I was interested. Their religion was very important to them. They were solid and had a belief system I didn’t have,” she said.

“I’d eat at their houses and have the nicest food. They were really open and welcoming and happy I was interested.”

A 1994 journey to the occupied Palestinian territories helped her learn more about Islamic history and fastened her decision.

“I was walking in a wadi, a deep ravine, in the heat of the day with a friend and we got lost,” she said. “There were no mobile phones then and we had run out of water. I prayed in a way I’d never done before. I prayed that if we got out safely I’d become a Muslim. It wasn’t something I’d vocalized before but realized it had been inside me.”

Returning to Wales, she took the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith in front of the well-known late Imam Sheikh Said.

Inside the The South Wales Islamic Centre where Hanan converted to Islam (Image: Richard Williams)

“I immediately felt a great sense of relief,” she said. “Islam explains things to me. The answers are all there.

She now lives with her husband, John Smith, who also converted to Islam as an adult.

“I became part of a diverse community. I was not pressured to be or become a particular way.

“I wore an abayah. Being Muslim is an identity and I wanted to show that.”

The largest non-Christian faith in Wales is Islam, with about 46,000 adherents in 2011.

Most Muslims live in Cardiff (23,656 in 2011, 6.8% of the population), but there are also significant numbers in Newport (6,859 in 2011) and Swansea (5,415 in 2011).

There has been a Somali and Yemeni Islamic community in Cardiff since the mid-1800s, founded by seafarers to Cardiff Docks.