New Muslim
Are you a new Muslim? Are you going to embrace Islam? Are you searching for happiness?
Peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you (Assalm Alikoum wrahmtu Allah wbaraktu). This is our greeting in Islam; peace, mercy and blessings.
O respected readers, our topic for today is about new Muslims, why they choose Islam? What are the merits of Islam? How to convert to Islam? What should new Muslims learn? What are the difficulties that they may face? How could they solve it? And how could they call others to Islam and convey its message to the world?
Let’s start by answering our first question; what is Islam and why you must choose it?
Islam means to submit your free will to the only true God, to obey His orders and to avoid His prohibitions. Islam is the only true religion of Allah. Islam is the religion of Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and all the messengers and the prophets, peace and blessings of Allah be upon all of them.
Islam has many merits and characteristics that you can find them only in Islam. And that’s why many people accept it and become Muslim reverts. By the way, some of them preferred to call themselves Muslim revert, not Muslim convert, can you guess why?
Because by embracing Islam, you now revert to your sound nature. The sound nature of worshipping The one and the only true God and submit to Him. But anyway this is not our topic for today, the most important point that you are now Muslim, praise be to Allah.
Let’s discuss one of the most important points of Islam which is the Monotheism. If you ask some of new Muslims especially who convert from Christianity to Islam, why you choose it. They will answer, Because of the Monotheism. Because Islam has the answers to our questions because Islam clears our doubts because Islam has no contradictions.
Monotheism means to worship the only true God; Allah, with no partners and to believe that He is the only creator, sustainer of all the creatures and Allah is the only one who controls the universe and its affairs. To believe that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah and to believe in His beautiful names and attributes.
In addition, Islam is a completely perfect way and system for life. Islam controls and regulates all aspects of life.
When you become Muslim, you are going to find happiness, inner peace and you won’t be spiritually empty. You can ask new Muslims about that point and they will explain in details their emotions and experiences.
Besides, Islam answers our basic questions, who created us? what are we doing here in this life? What is our fate after death? How can we enter heaven and how to avoid hellfire. It answers them with clear proofs without doubts nor contradictions.
Moreover, the Quran didn’t change over the years. It was preserved and never changed.
How can one convert to Islam?
By testifying that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, and testifying that Mohammed is His slave and messenger.
Bearing witness of these testimonies by tongue and heart.
It is not necessary to announce your Islam in front of people or witnesses but it is highly recommended to do that.
So, if you hide your Islam, you are still Muslim, and this hiding doesn’t affect the validity of your faith.
However, it is highly recommended too because this will help you to practice your religion. But if you can’t declare this at this moment, you are still Muslim.
Now you are Muslim, praise be to Allah (Alhamdullilah), What should you learn?
You should learn about the pillars of faith and pillars of Islam.
Six pillars of Faith are related to the actions of the heart, they are; believing in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, The day of judgment and the divine decree. Firm and strong belief by your heart.
Five pillars of Islam are, bearing witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is His slave and messenger, establish five obligatory daily prayers, paying obligatory charity (Zakah), fasting in the month of Ramadan (ninth month of the Hijri year) and perform pilgrimage to the Macca (Hajj) once per lifetime if you have the ability to do so.
These are the most important thing that all Muslims learn and practice them in the proper way.
You should learn how to worship Allah, how to repent if you commit a sin.
You should learn how to please your Lord. Besides, you should learn Islamic manners and behaviour, how to deal with your parents, friends, how to deal with non- Muslims.
You should learn how to read the Quran in Arabic.
If you have children, you should learn their rights and how to bring them up according to Islamic teaching.
It is recommended also to learn Arabic to understand what you say while praying and understand the meanings of the Quran.
My sincere advice to you is to take it STEP BY STEP, learn gradually.
Don’t start by learning everything, because this is not right and you can’t afford that, rather take small steps but make them constant.
Let’s answer the next question in our topic for today, What are the difficulties that they may face after embracing Islam and how could they solve them?
The most common problem that some of new Muslims have is feeling lonely and rejected especially if they are the only Muslims in their families. To solve this problem and get over these hard feelings, remember Why you choose Islam? Remember that Allah, the Most merciful, is with you.
Also, try to find a righteous companion, you can go to nearby Islamic centre or Mosque (Masjid), attend the congregational prayers, talk with the Imam (person who is responsible for a mosque and in most cases he leads people in congregational prayers) and attend some lectures.
Keep dealing with your family and friends in a good way without disobeying Allah.
And for those who live with Muslim family and community, you are in a blessing and praise be to Allah you are not going to have these feelings.
Another problem that may face new Muslims is that they may deal with bad or not righteous Muslims, then they will have something like a shock! Actually, you can simply avoid this feeling by differentiating between what Islam says and commands us to do, and what some of Muslims, who are not committed or who did some mistakes, do.
Islam ordered us to worship Allah alone without partners, but some people may seek help from the dead and may worship them. So they commit a major sin, but we can NOT say that Islam accepts this. That’s why you should avoid mixing between the two things; what Islam says and what some people do.
Another important point that you should keep in your mind concerning this issue, that we are humans and we will definitely commit sins and mistakes. Allah, the Most merciful, give us the chance to repent and to seek forgiveness from Him.
One of the problems that may face new Muslims, that they are very eager to learn then they find themselves can’t learn everything in the way they want, then they get disappointed and leave everything. Simply, you can solve this problem with two things; first: to know that this is normal, even who born Muslims face this issue. Second thing is to take it to step by step; even small steps but make them constant.
Besides, some new converts may face arguments from their family and community, they keep asking them why you choose Islam, what does Islam says in this issue, what can Muslim do in such and such cases…, etc.
Simply answer them that you are still learning, you are not a scholar, you are Muslim who seek the truth and learn beneficial knowledge but you are still learning as millions of people who born Muslims, they are not scholars but they still learning. What to do is just to refer them to a trustworthy person who can answer their questions or a trustworthy web site that they can learn from.
Now we are going to discuss the last question in our topic, How can you, either new Muslim or born Muslim, convey Islam to others?
The best way, in my opinion, is to let them read the Noble Quran. Give them a copy of the Quran with the translation of the meaning if they don’t understand the Arabic language, and give them a small summarized book talks about pillars of faith in Islam. Another important point is to treat people kindly, deal with them in the best way. Finally, keep praying for them that Allah guides them to the straight path and you as well keep making dua’a (prayer) for yourself that Allah helps you and keep you steadfast on Islam.
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To learn the Arabic language, study and memorize the Holy Quran and learn Tajweed you can contact us on al- Azhar Quran Teaching. This Islamic educational website provides a number of excellent online courses specified to help non Arab Muslims learn Arabic, read the holy Quran with Tajweed, learn Islamic studies and the etiquette of Islam.
When you visit the Al-Azhar Quran Teaching website and browse its different pages, you will realize the effort exerted to cover all Islamic educational needs for non-Arab Muslims and reverts. The online courses include courses for both adults and kids, Muslims and non-Muslim who want to learn and speak Arabic for different purposes.
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The online Islamic courses on al-Azhar Quran Teaching include courses of both Quran and Islamic Studies. The Quran courses concentrate on teaching how to read and memorize the holy Quran with Tajweed. Whereas the Islamic Studies courses include courses that cover all the basics of Islam such as Pillars of Islam, Tafseer (explanation of Quran), Zikr (Remembrance of Allah) and revert to Islam courses.
Al -Azhar Quran Teaching presents a variety of Islamic and Arabic learning books to be read by specialized teachers at online classes. The books include a series of reading Arabic Workbooks containing drills and activities for students to practice reading Arabic. The series covers different levels of learners.
There is also a series of Islamic Studies books of different levels devoted to teaching the basics of Islam applying simple and interesting methods.
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