How To Be A Muslim

All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon Mohammad, His last messenger.

The purpose of this hand-out is to correct a false idea spread among those willing to adopt Islam as their faith. Some people have a wrong notion that entering into the Islamic fold requires an announcement from the concerned person in the presence of high ranking scholars or reporting this act to courts of justice or other authorities. It is also thought that the act of accepting Islam, should, as a condition, have a certificate issued by the authorities, as evidence to that effect.

We wish to clarify that the whole matter is very easy and that none of these conditions or obligations are required. For Allah, Almighty, is above all comprehension and knows well the secrets of all hearts. Nevertheless, those who are going to adopt Islam as their religion are advised to register themselves as Muslims with the concerned governmental agency, as this procedure may facilitate for them many matters including the possibility of performing Hadj (Pilgrimage to the Holy City of Makkah) andUmrah.

If anyone has a real desire to be a Muslim and has full conviction and strong belief that Islam is the true religion ordained by Allah for all human-beings, then, one should pronounce the “Shahada”, the testimony of faith, without further delay. The Holy Qur’an is explicit on this regard as Allah states:

In another verse of the Holy Qur’an, Allah states:

In addition, Islam is the only religion prevailing over all other religions. Allah states in the Holy Qur’an:

Mohammad, the Prophet of Allah (Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him), said:

The superstructure of Islam is raised on five (pillars):

1. Testifying that there is no God (none truly to be worshiped) but Allah, and that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah,

2. Performing the prayer (meaning the formal obligatory daily prayer of a Muslim, other non-formal prayers are not obligatory and may be performed when the person wishes),

3. paying the Zakah (poor-due, an annual 2.5% {amount varies depending upon what is the nature of the wealth, e.g. gold, money, livestock etc} portion of your wealth which is to be distributed amongst the poor),

4. fasting the month of Ramadan (fasting from dawn to sunset),

5. Performing Hadj (a pilgrimage to the Kabah (sacred house built by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham) in Makkah, at least once in a lifetime for the person who is able to).

The Shahada can be declared as follows: 

“ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILL-ALLAAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAAH”.

The English translation is:

“I bear witness that there is no deity (none truly to be worshipped) but, Allah, and I bear witness that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah”,

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 by heart 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.

This will move him to strive more and more to improve his character and draw nearer to perfection. The light of the living faith will fill his heart until he becomes the embodiment of that faith.

What would be next after declaring oneself a Muslim? One should then know the real concept underlying this testimony which means the Oneness of Allah and meet its requirements. One must behave accordingly, applying this true faith to every thing one speaks or does.

What do the words of the “Shahada” signify? The significant point which every Muslim must know very well is the truth that there is no God (deity) to be worshipped other than Allah. He – glory be to Him – is the only true God, Who alone deserves to be worshipped, since He is the Giver of life and Sustainer and Nourisher of mankind and all creation with His unlimited bounties. Man must worship Allah, Who alone is worthy of worship.

The second part of the Shahada (i.e., Wa ash-hadu anna Mohammadan rasul-Allah) means that Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is the servant and chosen messenger of Allah. No one must have two opinions about this matter. In fact the Muslim has to obey the commands of the Prophet (PBUH), to believe him in what he has said, to practice his teachings, to avoid what he has forbidden, and to worship Allah alone according to the message revealed to him, for all the teachings of the Prophet were in fact revelations and inspirations conveyed to him by Allah.

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 of man whether explicit or implicit.

Worship fall 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 Zakah (the poor-due), 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 movement of the parts of the human body.

Invisible worship is to believe in Allah, in the Day of Judgement (in the Hereafter), in the Angels, in the Books of Allah, in the Prophets of Allah, in the Divine Decree of destiny (that good and bad are determined by Allah alone).

This type of worship does not involve movement of parts of the body but it surely has bearing on one’s heart which subsequently affects one’s way of life.

It should be borne in mind that any worship not dedicated to Allah alone will be rejected as one form of polytheism and this causes apostasy from the Islamic fold (for the one who believes that worshipping someone besides Allaah is good and correct, the one who may have done this by mistake should immediately repent and seek Allaah’s forgiveness).

The next step for a new revert^[1] to Islam is to purify himself by takinga complete bath. He should then resolve to comply with the principles and rules of Islam in their entirety. He should disown all forms of polytheism and false beliefs. He should reject evil and be righteous. Such rejection of evil and being righteous is one of the equisites of the motto of Islam – that is, Laa Ilaha Illallah. (none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah)

Allah states in the Holy Qur’an:

We have to consider that when we declare from our heart that “there is no god (deity) worthy to be worshipped but Allah”, it implies on our part love, devotion, faith and obedience to the rules of Islamic legislations 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 firmest anchor of belief which materialise the meaning of “AL WALA” and “AL BARA”. It means that a Muslim should love and be loyal to his Muslim brothers and sisters. He should, as a practice, dissociate himself completely from the unbelievers (those who stubbornly reject the faith of Islaam) and refuse to be influenced by them, both in worldly and religious matters. 

Doubts of one who is interested in Islam…!!!

I am a non-Muslim who is very much interested in Islam. I have been trying to do research on my own.
However, I came upon some information that I found rather disturbing.
It is regarding the Kaaba and the origin of Islam. I was told that Abraham and Ishmael removed all the idols from the Kaaba, but there was one in particular who’s name meant “diety”. I read that this is where the name “Allah” came from and that this diety was the pagan Moon god.
His symbol is the crescent moon and Ramadhan is scheduled around lunar activity. I would like an answer to whether or not such a religion existed and is Islam really connected to this pagan practice?

Turning to your question about the Ka’bah, and Ibraaheem and Ismaa’eel (upon whom be peace), it is very strange to say that they removed all the idols from the Ka’bah except one. This contradicts the historical facts, and does not make sense, because it is known that Ibraaheem and Ismaa’eel were the ones who built the Ka’bah, on the command of Allaah – how could they then have taken idols out of it? How could there have been any idols in it when they were supervising its construction and maintenance by remembering Allaah and calling people to perform Tawaaf around it and come on pilgrimage to it only for the sake of Allaah? The idols came many years afterwards, when some of the Arabs travelled to the kaafir lands outside the Arabian Peninsula and brought back idols, some of which were placed around the Ka’bah. Then the mushrikeen added more idols until there were 360 of them around the Ka’bah. This remained the case until Allaah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). This was the dawning of the light of Tawheed which drove out the darkness of idolatry. Through him, Allaah defeated the mushrikeen; he broke the idols and purified the Sacred House, thus restoring the Ka’bah to the pure worship of the One God, as it had been at the time of his forefather Ibraaheem, the Friend (Khaleel) of Allaah.

Young Girl wants to embrace Islam

I go to a 95% muslim school and I have been talking to them, some girls, about Islam and I really understand the islam religion and the ways of life. I want to know all i can find out about islam but there is one problem . My mom .
I want to convert but I’m not sure if I know all I need to know now to convert. What should I learn more about???

English translation:

Praise be to Allaah.

This is a great effort that you have undertaken, and you are to be congratulated for the results of your research and your questioning of the Muslim girls.

What you need to know are the basic matters which are easy to learn, such as the meaning of the Shahaadatayn (the two statements of faith) – which are the key to Islam – and the six pillars of faith (eemaan) and the five pillars of Islam. You should also learn how to pray so that you can begin to pray after you pronounce the Shahaadatayn. You can find a lot of information on these matters on this website, in the section on ‘aqeedah (correct belief), under the headings “Issues relevant to accepting and embracing Islam” and “Basic tenets of Islam for non-Muslims.”

As regards your mother, we hope that she will not try to stop you becoming a Muslim. Treat her with kindness and tell her about Islam in beautiful words – maybe she will embrace Islam too. If you are afraid that she may turn against you if she knows about your Islam, then you do not have to tell her about it. Embrace Islam in secret, and do as much as you can of your duties towards Allaah. Allaah will never forsake you; in fact, He will help you and support you, if you turn to Him. We ask Allaah to help you follow the truth and adhere to it. We are prepared to offer any help that we can. Peace be upon those who follow true guidance.

And Allaah knows best.

We conclude with a humble prayer to Allah that may He cleanse the hearts and souls of those who are genuine seekers of truth and may He bless the community of believers. Aameen.