Converting to Islam
In the name of
Allah the most Beneficent, the most
Merciful
All praises be to
Allah, the Lord of the Universe. May
the peace and blessings of Allah be
upon Muhammad (peace be upon him),
His last Messenger.
Becoming a Muslim
Any human being can embrace Islam.
You do not need anyone’s permission
to become Muslim. You can be any
color, race, age, speak any language
and still become a Muslim.
Step 1. Shahadah ‘Declaration’
To become a Muslim one must simply
pronounce the Shahadah (Declaration
of Faith) through his/her heart and
tongue with sincerity and
conviction.
“ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA
ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN ABDUHU WA
RASOOLUHU”.
The English translation is:
"I bear witness that there is no
deity worthy to be worshipped but
Allah, and I bear witness that
Muhammad is His servant and
Messenger".
The Shahadah is the dividing line
between unbelief (kufr) and Islam.
Quran says: "Allah bears witness
that none has the right to be
worshiped except Him; as do the
angels and those who possess
knowledge. He maintains His creation
upon justice. None has the right to
be worshiped except Him, the
All-Mighty, All-Wise." [Soorah
Aal-’Imraan 3:18]
It is preferable for one to declare
his/her acceptance of Islam in a
Mosque where other Muslims are
present, (but not a must)
Step 2. What
to do after becoming a Muslim?
Once a person
has said Shahadah he/she needs to do
the following:
1. A female should trim her nails
short, shave the hair under her
armpits and pubic hair.
2. A male should trim his nails
short, shave the hair under his
armpits, pubic hair and shave the
hair on his head and later
preferably get circumcised.
3. Make Ghusl. Clean your self (all
parts of your body) with water
including your mouth and your nose.
4. You should try to perform a 2
Rakkah voluntary prayer.
5. Live As a Muslim.
You do not need to do a course or
obtain a certificate to become a
Muslim.
You
should not delay in becoming a
Muslim
If someone
advices you to delay your conversion
to Islam, that is incorrect. If you
believe Islam is the truth then you
should not delay your conversion to
Islam. You should convert
immediately because we are given a
certain lifespan. Since we do not
know when we are going to die. Not
even a minute should be lost as your
time to leave this life may be up
the next minute.
If you
have tattoos you can still become a
Muslim
Some one may
say to you that you must remove all
tattoos to be a Muslim. This is also
incorrect. Tattoos are not allowed
in Islam but they DO NOT
prevent a person becoming Muslim.
You should become Muslims and latter
you can have the tattoos removed if
you can afford it. If you can not
afford it then do not worry there is
no sin on you for what you did
before becoming Muslim You are still
a Muslim.
If you
have a wild past of have committed a
many sins, you can still become a
Muslim
No matter
what sins you have committed or how
wild your past was. You can still
become a Muslim.. Islam erases all
sins committed prior to becoming a
Muslim. Prophet (may the peace
and blessings and mercy of Allah be
upon him) said, “Islam annuls what
came before it.” (narrated by Muslim
in his Sahih, no. 121).As soon as
you become a Muslim all your
previous sins are forgiven and you
start a blank state (or a complete
clean record).
Muslim (121) narrated that ‘Amr ibn
al-‘Aas (may Allah be pleased with
him) said: When Allah put Islam in
my heart, I came to the Prophet [an
error occurred while processing this
directive] (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) and said: “Give
me your right hand so that I may
swear allegiance to you.” He held
out his hand and I withdrew my hand.
He said, “What is the matter, O ‘Amr?”
I said, “I want to stipulate a
condition.” He said, “What do you
want to stipulate?” I said, “That I
will be forgiven.” He said, “Do you
not know that Islam destroys that
which came before it?”
If you
are a Small child you can still
become a Muslim without your
parents’ permission
If you are a
child you do not need your parent's
permission to become a Muslim. If
you fear they may harm, you can
become Muslim in secret and tell
them when you are ready.
What if
their are no Muslims (or no Mosque
or Islamic center) in your town
Another common concern is that there
are no Muslims in the city. This too
is not an obstacle in you becoming a
Muslim. You do not have to go to a
Masjid (Mosque) or Islamic center or
know any Muslims in order to be a
Muslim. You can say the declaration
of faith (called the Shahadah) to
yourself and from then onwards you
are a Muslim. This is explained in
the article below in greater detail
Losing
Your Culture?
It's not
true that you'll lose your culture.
Lots of people misunderstand this.
In the West, it is thought that when
somebody becomes a Muslim, he
becomes an Arab too.
This confusion is only brought up by
narrow minded people who don't
understand. Allah has made us to
many races, many cultures and many
languages too. It is one of the
beauties of the many creations of
Allah that we have our own culture
and we should appreciate it.
Similarly, we shouldn't be selfish
of our own culture. We should share
it between our Muslim brothers and
sisters.
Circumcision for men
This is
something which people shouldn't get
scared about. This is only an
optional choice which you can decide
later on. Circumcision does not make
somebody a Muslim, neither does it
make somebody a non Muslim. It is
only a procedure of cleanliness to
keep yourself clean. Prophet
Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) recommended
this.
It is stated in the Hadith, Sahih
Muslim, it is a Fitrah, meaning
practice of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.).
There is no compulsion to
circumcision. Majority of the
Muslims are circumcised. However, it
has come to my attention that there
are some Muslims who are not
circumcised too.
Pressure from parents, friends and
society
Pressure is
very normal but what we really want
is the truth. There are lots of
challenges in our lives. Lots of
people want us to follow their ways,
may it be good or bad. But the main
thing we must realize that we are
living for our own lives. If we do
anything wrong, it is us that will
suffer, not anybody else. So, it is
most important that you make your
own decision. If you make the
correct decision, in the end, it
will be you who benefit from it.
Take it slowly, one at a time. You
don't have to tell everybody that
you are a Muslim if the situation is
bad.