Silvia Is Now Aisha: “I Was Struck by the Solidarity of the Community”
Before becoming a Muslim, she would sometimes say that if there was a God, evil wouldn’t exist, but “most of the time, I was indifferent.” She followed her desires, dreams, and pleasures. Her only criterion for right and wrong was what made her feel good, “I can see now it was just an illusion.”
In May, Romano returned from Somalia to Italy after having spent 18 months in the hands of Al-Shabaab militant group. During her captivity, Romano became a Muslim.
After her liberation, Perugia Cardinal Bassetti, the President of the Italian Bishops, said that Romano survived her ordeal because she was driven by “strong religious motivations.”
She grew up with prejudices against Islam believing that veiled women were “oppressed.”
During her time in prison, Romano thought that God was perhaps punishing her for her sins, “because I did not believe in Him.”
In January 2019 she heard a drone air strike, expected to die, and started praying, “That was the first time I turned to Him.”
Romano read the Qu’ran, found “no contradictions,” and “understood” that “it guides you towards a greater good.”
“Every day, I felt a stronger need to read it, until I embraced Islam.” She also read verses from the Bible and learned the common points between Christianity and Islam.
Romano feared the reaction to her conversion in Italy but asked Allah to prepare her for this. The life of Muhammad and his companions told her that “Muslims have always been persecuted.”
For her, the veil is a symbol of freedom that elevates her dignity and honor, “Freedom to me means not being made sexual object.”
In Italy, she expected to spent Ramadan alone, “Instead, I received gifts, uncountable letters, and the video La Luce (below) which contains congratulations from Muslims from all over Italy.”
Romano was also surprised to meet “so many” Italian Muslims, “I was struck by the solidarity of the community, not only in Milan, everywhere. It feels like a second family to me.”
Had she been a Muslim who became a Catholic, she would have encountered in Milan a dead and indifferent “Church of the Council” (Paul VI.) that is suspicious toward converts.
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