Little is known about Assilmi's life before her acceptance of Islam on May 21, 1977 in Colorado except that she was born in Oklahoma, raised a Southern Baptist and was also part of the American feminist movement. She also held degrees in education, broadcasting and communications and did a brief stint as a model in advertisements for some family cars in the late 1960s or early 70s.
Assilmi first encountered Muslims in 1975 while attending a theater class in college, where a number of Muslim students were enrolled as well. She initially did not want to continue attending the course with what she called ?heathens?, but upon her husband?s encouragement, decided to return. Her aim was to convert the Muslim students to Christianity.
Despite numerous attempts, including one in which she approached the students wearing 'hot pants and holding a glass of wine', according to one of her lectures, she was politely rebuffed. In frustration, she asked the students for a copy of their holy book, which they provided. After reading the Quran as well as other books about Islam, she decided to accept the faith.