Keesya Ang: Thirteen Years from Hearing the Adhan to Choosing Islam
Keesya Ang, born Ang Wan Ki, was fifteen when she first heard the adhan clearly. She was skating with friends near a restaurant during Ramadan, asked about the sound that caught her attention and learned that it was the call to prayer. Curiosity did not become an immediate decision, but it marked the beginning of a long path.
She described her earlier outlook as that of a free thinker without a settled religious guide. She learned about Islam gradually through daily life and friends, then in 2018 enrolled in an official beginner course at Darul Arqam, Singapore’s Muslim Converts’ Association.
Her conviction that she wanted Islam grew, but when she was young her family worried that she had been influenced by others or was passing through a phase. Her parents’ blessing mattered greatly to her, so she waited. During the pandemic lockdown she asked her mother about converting, but the family preferred delay; she continued learning instead of turning disagreement into a final rupture.
In 2022 she officially entered Islam. The interview does not publish the day of the shahada or the details of the gathering, and that space should not be filled with an imagined scene. What is established is a decision reached after years of curiosity, learning and waiting rather than one isolated event.
She chose the name Keesya, a variation of Aisha, while keeping the sound “Ki” from her Chinese name. She explained that this helped her remain authentic to who she was. Entering Islam did not mean erasing her Chinese origin or her bond with her family.
After the decision, she struggled with demanding perfection from herself. Before conversion she had assumed she would begin hijab immediately, but later realised she needed time for outward practice to grow with learning and conduct. In the interview, she credited Islam with teaching her how to live, face difficulty and examine her responses, not merely change her appearance.
Her journey shows that a long road does not weaken an honest question. Knowledge may begin with a sound heard in adolescence and require years of learning and family dialogue before settling into conviction. A new Muslim should know that gradual growth is not the same as waiting for perfection, and that permissible identity and dutiful family care can remain alongside faith.