Obama’s Uncle Led Me to Islam

Salaamu Alaykum.

In the late 1990s, I settled in a town called Kisumu, the capital city of Nyanza Province in western Kenya. I joined a local dawah group that invited people to Islam. However, I soon realized that I lacked the cultural background and understanding of diversity needed to carry out this important work effectively. Being Somali is unique" — and sometimes, in a way, limiting. On the positive side, Somalia can be described as a nation with one language, one ethnic identity, and one religion. It is perhaps one of the few countries in the world with such strong cultural unity.

However, this same uniqueness can sometimes restrict a person’s worldview. It may prevent one from fully appreciating the beauty of diversity and accepting people with different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs.

Outside Somalia, everything became new and unfamiliar to me. Although I joined the dawah group with good intentions, I lacked many of the skills and cultural awareness needed to communicate professionally with people from different backgrounds.

Throughout my life in Somalia, I had never encountered what we commonly called “gaal” (non-Muslims), let alone people of different races, cultures, or Muslims from different schools of thought within Islam.

I still remember how challenging it felt to give Shahadah to a new Muslim. It was not something we commonly experienced back in Somalia. Our dawah was mainly focused on reminding fellow Somalis who had moved away from Islamic teachings back to the correct path.

Within the dawah group, much of my focus was on debating other Muslims. At that time, I looked at non-Muslims with misunderstanding and wondered how they could believe in anything other than Allah. When some of their beliefs were translated into Somali, they seemed completely strange and illogical to me.

Among the many Muslims I debated with was a young man who introduced himself as Muhammad,  a Kenyan of Indian origin. We spent a lot of time arguing about issues that I would not waste my energy on today. However, through those discussions, we gradually developed a friendship and eventually became close.

Many Indians in Kenya strongly follow particular school of thought. My own approach at the time was to reject all schools of thought, believing that only following the footsteps of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions was the correct path. I considered the opinions of scholars to be less important — an attitude that, looking back, was influenced by my limited understanding and upbringing in Somalia.

As a result, I simply labelled Muhammad as one of those strict Indian Muslims in the town. To my surprise, I later discovered that I had judged him based only on his appearance, his regular attendance at the mosque, and his religious discussions. Even his name turned out not to be what I first thought, which made me curious to learn more about him.

Everything about Muhammad’s life seemed normal to me — his family, his siblings, his wife, and his in-laws. However, one thing caught my attention. Sometimes, when his newly married wife, Wahida, was in a good mood, she would call him “Dipu” instead of Muhammad. I became curious and asked him: “Muhammad, does your wife call you Dipu? Is that a love nickname?”

He laughed and replied: “No, that is my real name.”

I was surprised. “But you told me your name is Muhammad. Is that your second name?” “Yes,” he said. “That is my Muslim name.”

“What? Were you once a gaal (non-Muslim)? Muhammad, what is your story?”

He looked at me and said:

“Adam, I never told you this before, but my real name is Dipu Dixit Kumar. I am the son of a Hindu father and an Ismaili mother. Both my parents passed away when I was very young. My aunt raised me and my two younger siblings. Growing up, I was influenced by both my father’s and mother’s different religious backgrounds. To be honest, I had no clear faith at that time. During my senior high school years, Allah opened a door for me. I was fortunate to attend a school where the principal was a cousin of Barack Obama’s uncle. He never directly invited me to Islam, but he introduced Islamic books to the school library. It was the first time such books had been available there, even though the school was a private secular institution. I became fascinated by those books and spent much of my time in the library reading about Islam. The more I learned, the more everything made sense to me. In addition, some of my mother’s cousins were Muslims and often visited our home. Their character, their commitment to the five daily prayers, and their practice of Islam deeply impressed me.

I especially remember how their parents would wake them up for Fajr prayer and take them to the mosque while I remained in bed. I began questioning my own inherited beliefs and gradually developed a strong interest in Islam. Finally, without any formal preparation, debate, or lengthy question-and-answer session, I simply joined my cousins in prayer the following day and accepted Islam. My two younger siblings, Hussein and Abdirahman, followed me as well. Since that day, I have been a Muslim and have never abandoned Salah.

My aunt, by the grace of Allah, she never prevented us from practicing our new faith. The blessing became complete years later when my aunt herself accepted Islam and, as we speak today, she wears hijab. Alhamdulillah.”

By the time Muhammad finished his story, everything I knew about him changed. I saw a completely different Muhammad standing before me.

I was happy that he had embraced Islam despite all the challenges surrounding his journey, but I also blamed myself. I realized how ignorant I had been arguing with someone whose background I did not know — someone who had struggled to reach this beautiful faith without anyone guiding him.

In Kenya, among both the Hindu and Ismaili communities, it was rare for members to leave their inherited faith and embrace another religion. Such decisions often came with strong family and social pressures.

Dear brothers and sisters, the moral of this story is: Before debating or challenging someone, take time to understand their background. Not everyone receives this beautiful faith through an easy journey. Some people struggle, sacrifice, and overcome many obstacles before Allah guides them to Islam.

All praise belongs to Allah, who guides whom He wills and helps those who sincerely seek the truth. May Allah guide us all and make us a means of guidance for others.

Aameen.

By TM Adam Abdi