Press-centre / ARRAID news

Kyiv, October 10, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Four Ukrainian women have reverted to Islam with the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in the eastern European country.

After much soul-searching, Mariam Kersanchik, 19, embraced the Muslim faith at the Islamic Cultural Center in Kiev, the Federation of Social Organizations (ARRAID), the Muslim umbrella body in the country, said in a statement e-mailed to IslamOnline.net Monday, October 9.

Kersanchik started her odyssey at the young age of 13, but was told then she could not revert to any religion as she was born Christian.

Later she discovered her Jewish origin and started reading about Judaism, but never found her destination in that religion and detested a rabbinical rule that she had to wait for 10 years to embrace the Jewish faith.

Kersanchik then was attracted to Islam and delved deep into this religion, which came under the spotlight after the 9/11 attacks.

She was delighted when a Muslim friend told her she can embrace Islam at anytime with no preconditions.

Spiritual Islam

Yula Shablinko was completely mesmerized by the spirituality of Islam especially during Ramadan.

She decided to revert after a lecture on fasting at the Islamic Cultural Center in Kiev and started observing the dawn-to-dusk fast and perform Tarawih prayers.

As for Natalia Altokheva, it all started with Arabic, when she enrolled at the same center to study the language of the Noble Qur'an.

She borrowed books about Islam translated to Russian by the ARRAID and sought answers to many of her questions about Islam from imams at the Islamic center.

Lisa Yanshovskia fell in love with a Muslim colleague in her university and decided to tie the knot. She was curious to know about her husband’s religion.

He brought her videos and books about the life history of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Noble Qur'an.

Convinced Yanshovskia embraced Islam on the first day of Ramadan, which started in Ukraine on Wednesday, October 5.

Ukraine is home to some two million Muslims making up 4% of the overall 48-million population.

There are up to 200 mosques and 20 Islamic centers nationwide, which experience no restrictions by the Ukrainian authorities.

Founded in 1997, the ARRAID, which means "pioneer" in Arabic, integrates public Muslim organizations from ten regional centers of Ukraine.

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