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All praises be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad, His last Messenger. Some common questions that are asked by those interested in becoming Muslim are: 1. How do I start in the Islam 2 Will I be welcomed or ignored as I was previously a Christian, Jew, Hindu etc. 3 Should I wait and learn more before becoming a Muslim 4 Do I need to go to the Mosque to become a Muslim 5 Do I need need do a course to become a Muslim or obtain a certificate. Dear reader on behalf of all the members of muslimconverts.com I welcome you to Islam. It always brings Muslims great joy when they hear of anyone converting to Islam. They want to rush to tell their friends and family about this wonderful news. Muslims always love to hear how others converted to Islam. So for sure you will be greatly welcomed to Islam. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him welcomed even those people who had previously fought him and killed his loved ones. These people later on were to become the heroes of Islam. So no matter what your background and no matter what you may have done or said to Muslims or others, you should rest assured that you will be welcomed with open arms. Islam is for the whole of humanity. Islam unites together people of different colours, languages, races. and nationalities into one brotherhood. Allah says: "Indeed the Believers are but brothers." [Quran 4 9:10] So you will be our brother or sisters in Islam when you convert to Islam
So now dear brother/Sister to be let me describe to you the starting point for one who wants to enter Islam. The starting point is to pronounce the Shahaadatayn (Declaration of Faith).
“ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAH”.
The shahadah is the dividing line between unbelief (kufr) and
Islaam. It is also called the kalimah
(word).
Whoever It is [a kalimah] that Allaah Himself has testified to, as have
the angels and those who possess knowledge from amongst His creation. Allaah the Most High said:
Allah has stated in the Holy Qur'an: "... whoever disbelieves in false deities and believes in Allah, hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold, that will never break..." (2:256)
And Allaah the Most High said: "He it is that has strengthened you with His help and with the Believers. And moreover, He has united their hearts with love and affection. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts with love and affection. However, Allaah has united them. Indeed Allaah is the All-Mighty, All-Wise." [Soorah al-Anfaal 8:62- 63]. And Allaah the Most High said: "And remember the favor of Allaah upon you, for you were once enemies to one another but He joined your hearts together in love, so that by His Grace you became brothers." [Soorah Aal-’Imraan 3:103]
Abdullah bin Amr reported that the Messenger of Allah said:" A man will be brought along to the balances on the Day of Resurrection, and there will be brought out for him ninety nine scrolls, every scroll of them stretching (when unrolled) as far as an eye can reach, in which are written his sins and his guilty acts, and they will be put in one pan of the Balances. Then a small card will be brought out on which is written the Testimony of Faith: There is no true god except Allah, and Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, which will be put in the other pan, and it will outweigh all his wrongdoing." This means that if a person professes the testimony of faith fulfilling its conditions, Allah forgives his sins regardless of how many sins he may have committed. It is a concise declaration that contains few letters; light upon the tongue, yet heavy in the scales. Allaah’s Messenger Peace be upon him said: "Moses said: 0 my Lord! Teach me something by which I can remember You and supplicate to You. Allaah said: 0 Moses! say laa ilaaha ilallaah. Moses said: 0 my Lord! All Your slaves say this. Allaah said: 0 Moses! If the seven heavens and all that they contain, other than Me, and the seven earths were placed in one scale, and laa ilaaha ilallaah were put in the other, then laa ilaaha illallaah would outweigh them all." (Reported by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh (no.2324) and al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak (1/528).
the first part of the Shahadah has two pillars: The first pillar is the pillar of negation
(nafee), whilst the second is the pillar of affirmation (ithbaat).
What is meant by negation is to negate divinity and worship (ilaahiyyah) for anything except Allaah, the Most High. What is
meant by affirmation is to affirm divinity and worship only for Allaah the Most Perfect; for it is He alone that is the true Deity.
So whatever else is taken by the unbelievers as deities to be worshiped are in fact all false and futile:
That is because Allaah is the true Deity to be worshiped, and whatever else they invoke besides Him is
vain falsehood.
The second part of the "Shahada" i.e. "Wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh" means that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the servant and chosen messenger of Allah. No one should be in any doubt about this matter. In fact, the Muslim has to obey the commands of the Prophet (PBUH), to believe in what he has said, to follow his Teachings, to avoid what he has forbidden, and to worship A11ah alone according to the message revealed to him. What is the meaning of worship? It simply means rendering sincere service; showing reverence for Allah. In a deeper shade of meaning, it implies total submission and complete obedience to Allah's Commandments both in utterances and actions, whether explicit or implicit and in private or public. Worship falls into two categories: 1. Visible (manifest or outward) 2. Invisible (concealed or inward) Visible worship includes acts such as uttering the two parts of the "shahada", performing prayers, giving Zakat (obligatory charity), observing the fast in the month of Ramadan, performing Hajj, recitation of the Holy Qur'an, supplication, adoring Allah by praising Him, purifying our bodies before prayers, etc. This type of worship is associated with the movement of the parts of human body, [actions]. Invisible worship is to believe in Allah, in the Day of Judgment, in the Hereafter, in the Angels, in the Books of Allah, in the Divine Decree of destiny (that good and bad are determined by Allah alone) This type of worship does not involve movements of parts of the body but it surely has a bearing on one's heart which, subsequently, affects one's way of life (beliefs). It should be borne in mind that worship not dedicated to Allah alone, will be rejected as one form of polytheism or "shirk", which amounts to apostasy, from the Islamic point of view
You can declare the Shahadah to your self or in the presence of other Muslims or even go to the Mosque and declare it there. It is not a must for some one to declare the Shahadah in front of Muslim witness or even in the Mosque. A person does not need to do a course or obtain a certificate to become a Muslim. However, it would not be sufficient for anyone to only utter this testimony orally either in private or in public; but rather, he should believe in it with a firm conviction and unshakeable faith. If one is truly sincere and complies with the teachings of Islam in all his life, he will find himself a new born person
Knowledge (al-’ilm) of its meaning, what it negates and
affirms. If a person says it without knowing its meaning, nor what its requirements are, then he will not benefit by it,
because he has not believed in what it requires. Rather, he is like someone who speaks in a language that he does not
understand.
Allah the Exalted says:" Verily, the believers are only those who truly believe in Allah and His Messenger, and then doubt
not. (Qur'an 49:15). The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I am the Messenger of Allah. No slave meets Allah with this testimony, having no doubt in it but shall enter Jannah."( Muslim) :
Exclusively worshipping Allaah, which is contrary to shirk. This is what laa ilaaha illallaah points towards.
Truthfulness (as-sidq), which prevents hypocrisy
(nifaaq). Indeed, the hypocrites
uttered it with their tongues, but
did not inwardly believe in what it signified.
Love (al-mahabbah) for this kalimah and having
love and pleasure for
whatever it necessitates. This is contrary to the
[state of the] hypocrites.
Allah says to His Messenger(SAW) Say (O Muhammad SAW to mankind): "If you (really) love Allah then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Quran and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (3:31) Allah says: "Allah shall bring forth a people whom He loves and they love
Him." (Qur'an 5:54)
Submissive compliance (al-inqiyaad), by fulfilling its rights - which are the obligatory actions - with sincerity to Allaah and seeking His good pleasure. This is its requirement.
Acceptance (al-qabool), which prevents rejection.
This is achieved by acting upon what Allaah has
commanded and abandoning
whatever He has prohibited.
Allah says "Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad peace be upon him) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much."(33:21) And Allah also says in Surah Al-Hashr ....And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it) , and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Severe in punishment. (59:7) Again Allah says: O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him), and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority. (And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger ( peace be upon him), if you believe in Allah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination.(4:59) And Allah says: But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad ) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission. In the next verse Allah again tells his Messenger Say (O Muhammad peace be upon him): "Obey Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him)." But if they turn away, then Allah does not like the disbeliever's (3:32)
1 . To associate others with Allah in worship.
Summery It is easy to become a Muslim. All a person has to do is declare Shahadah can be declared as follows: “ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAH”.
We have to consider that when we declare from our hearts, "there is no god worthy to be worshipped but Allah." It implies on our part of love, devotion, faith and obedience to the rules of Islamic legislation which are legally binding on all Muslims. It is a requirement of "there is no god worthy to be worshipped but Allah," to love for the sake of Allah and to reject for the sake of Allah. This is the finest anchor of belief which make material the meaning of "AL-WALA" and "AL-BARA". It means that a Muslim should love and be loyal to his Muslim brothers. He should, as a practice, dissociate himself completely from the practices of unbelievers and refuse to be influenced by them, both in worldly and religious matters. When one truly believes that Islam is the true religion of God and that "there is no god worthy to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is His servant and Messenger." Then he or she should declare the shahadah right away. He or she should not hesitate. We are given a certain lifespan. We do not know when that life span will end. It may end this very minute even. Therefore a person should say the shahadah and then work on becoming the best Muslim he or she can be. Some of you will find some aspects of Islam difficult at first. For instance some new Muslim sisters find it difficult to wear Hijab at first. However with time they have eventually grown in their faith and are now wearing the full Islamic dress and encouraging even sisters born into Muslim families to wear full Islamic dress. Some were vegetarian before they became Muslim. Eating meat seemed impossible to them. Now after a few years they have started to even eat meat. Please do not worry about any barriers you may have. become Muslims and you will see those barriers crashing down as you grow in your religion. At www.muslimconverts.com we will Allah willing help you as much as possible. So if you have any questions please do not hesitate to email us at info@muslimconverts.com
What to do after you have said the shahadah Please click the below link What to do after you have said the shahadah Copyright@muslimconverts.com All Rights Reserved |
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