This is the story of an Australian woman who migrated to Islam through an online game. She is Zahra Fielding, who never thought that she would find new friends through playing games, let alone then move to Islam to become a Muslim. That game is Game of Sultans, a royal simulation role-playing game. In its advertisement, the game makes players try to remain the ruler of the Ottoman empire. This game invites players to form alliances and fight opponents. The game also encouraged players to collect women, choose wives and concubines and raise heirs. However, Zahra said that the game was not as shown in the published advertisement. 

source : jurnalapps

When Zahra started playing the game, she joined a team of other gamers from Australia and Asia. "Maybe gamers came at an important time in my life. I was really lonely and feeling lost. Like unhappy in my career, unhappy in my personal life, I was single for a very long time. And I recently met a group of people who extraordinary people from various countries, where I have never had the opportunity to connect with them like here," said Zahra.

In that game, Zahra also met Kim Assikin, a gamer from Singapore. "There was a quick connection with him, when we started texting. I don't know why or how, but each of us would finish every sentence of conversation," he said.

Zahra and Kim's team began to seriously build a strategy in the game. They also created a chat group on Discord, a popular platform among gamers, which is also a place to share photos and profiles about themselves.

At that time, Kim hesitated, because she was the only gamer who wore a headscarf in her team. "I'm a little worried, how will my teammates see me, will I be judged because of my religion?" she said.

source : khazanah

I just lost my dad before I started the game. Since they (the in-game friends) gave me a bit of peace, and took my mind off losing my father for a while, so I thought I wouldn't lie to them. I'm sure they can accept me as I am," said Kim.

The closer Zahra gets to Kim, the more she dares to talk about religious topics. Even though she previously had no religion or was an atheist, Zahra felt that her views on Islam had been contaminated by her past experiences.

"My only relationship with Islam was a few years ago, when one of my good friends started dating an Afghan Muslim man," she said.

"At that time, the man was a devout Muslim, but now that I know a lot about the Islamic faith. Before that I thought he was either an oppressor or very controlling."

For Zahra, the experience of her friend, who at that time started wearing the hijab, as well as the negative portrayal of Islam in the media made her have bad prejudices about women who wear the hijab for the sake of religion.

"I thought the hijab was a symbol of oppression. But I never had the opportunity to ask anyone about this. So I asked Kim... and I was wrong," she said.

"When a woman wears the hijab, the goal is for people to know them because of their personality, not because of their appearance," said Zahra.

Conversations about the hijab lead to conversations about Islamic beliefs as a whole. However, Kim felt inferior because he felt that his experience could not represent all Muslims.

source : islampos

"When Zahra started asking me about Islam, I was actually really scared," Kim said with a laugh.

"I was scared because I was not a Muslim woman. I always thought I was a rebel."

As a child, Kim was forced to wear the hijab and be devout in worship by her mother. He grew up in a family that applied a lot of rules and often found fault.

"The question from [Zahra] made me reflect on myself, am I really religious enough," said Kim. Kim said she was happy when Zahra asked about the beliefs she had embraced since childhood. Secretly, he prayed to God, "If it is true that Zahra is destined to find you, make it easy for her."

"But of course I didn't say it out loud! I was afraid Zahra would turn around and 'run away scared'."

According to Zahra, Kim is far from being called a preacher.

"Kim is a very secretive person. In fact, if I want to know information about Islam from him, I have to actively ask because he realizes he doesn't want to impose his beliefs on me," said Zahra.

source : islampos

"If someone deliberately asked me to convert to Islam, I would never convert to Islam and would instead refuse."

'Is it polite if I start wearing the hijab?' After studying Islam for so long, Zahra feels closer to this belief.

"It's been a fun journey for me. I didn't suddenly say, 'Hello friends, I'm going to become a Muslim now,'" he said.

"This step started when one day I asked Kim, 'is it polite if I start wearing the hijab? I want to know how it feels to wear it'."

After several attempts, Zahra finally gained more confidence to cover her hair and head on weekends, and eventually wore a turban at work.

He is one of the thousands of Westerners who convert to the religion every year. Zahra believes that everyone is born a Muslim. According to him, he did not change religion, but returned to that religion.

"I told a Muslim friend who helped me say the shahada that I was interested in an arranged marriage because I was tired of being hurt and wanted to get married right away," she said, "Then he helped complete my profile on a Muslim marriage application."

Like when Zahra met her new friend online, this time, she has also found a fiancé through online technology.

“My fiancé is in charge of editing digital content in a (Muslim) organization in Kuala Lumpur. He said that he was very interested in my story and wanted to know my process of finding Islam," he said, "After several days of chatting, I finally thought 'ok, I want to try and keep this relationship halal. How are we going to do that if he lives in Malaysia and I in Australia?'”

The halal relationship that Zahra meant is a relationship according to Islamic law, where the families of the couple must meet each other to ensure that the relationship is not carried out in secret.

Wow, it turns out that the game has a lot of benefits. Let's share this article with your gamer friends. Who knows, your friends can also get a mate from playing games.