Converting to Islam.

Jimmy Garlic

As most of the messages of Islam ring true with me I have been seriously considering being. The problem is I do not know any muslims and I live in an area where there are no Muslims whatsoever. I do not know where to start?.

dead one

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

As most of the messages of Islam ring true with me I have been seriously considering being. The problem is I do not know any muslims and I live in an area where there are no Muslims whatsoever. I do not know where to start?.

How to become a Muslim
To become a Muslim one must simply pronounce the Shahaadatayn (Declaration of Faith) with sincerity and conviction.
The Shahadah can be declared as follows:
"ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAH".
The English translation is:

"I bear witness that there is no deity worthy to be worshiped but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger."

The Shahadah is the dividing line between unbelief (kufr) and Islam. It is also called the kalimah (word). Whoever says it with truthfulness will enter the Gardens of Paradise

It is [a kalimah] that Allah Himself has testified to, as have the angels and those who possess knowledge from amongst His creation. Allah the Most High said:


"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]

Please use these site as help

[edit] Hobbes. Rule number 1 also applies to other religions. One week ban. [/edit]

AbuYusuf

Get in contact with the nearest mosque. I also was in the situation in which there where no Muslims in my area.

irishconvert

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

As most of the messages of Islam ring true with me I have been seriously considering being. The problem is I do not know any muslims and I live in an area where there are no Muslims whatsoever. I do not know where to start?.

Salaam Jimmy,

Take a trip some weekend to the nearest city which has a Mosque. Just go in and tell them you are interested in converting. You will be introduced to someone who can help you and give you advice. This is what I done when I was converting.

Let us know how you get on.

JimiTime

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

As most of the messages of Islam ring true with me I have been seriously considering being.

Would love to know what it is that rings true?

rambutman

I've done this. Think you'll find you need to be circumcised too. I was and then there's the ASHADU-ALLA..............recital.

Careful though............converting to Islam is one thing..............not good though if you decide its not for you and want to convert back!! Find out about this first.

irishconvert

rambutman wrote: »

I've done this. Think you'll find you need to be circumcised too.

Nonsense. This is not required for converts. I know so many converts and none are circumised (I didn't check, they told me!!)

rambutman wrote: »

Careful though............converting to Islam is one thing..............not good though if you decide its not for you and want to convert back!! Find out about this first.

I also know people who converted and then left. No problem with that either.

rambutman

irishconvert wrote: »

I allso know people who converted and then left. No problem with that either.

Have a read of this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam

I think having "no problem" will really depend where you go.

Regarding the circumcision

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/9412

some scholars say it's obligatory

hivizman

rambutman wrote: »

Regarding the circumcision

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/9412

some scholars say it's obligatory

The website that is linked to above promotes a rather conservative version of Islam. The broad consensus seems to be that, for male converts to Islam who were not already circumcised, it is praiseworthy to have oneself circumcised, but not obligatory. See for example http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?id=13339&hd=3&cate=0&t=rss.

I get a sense from my research that more flexible Muslim scholars think that, when male converts become more established and confident in observing Islam, they will willingly have themselves circumcised in order to follow the Sunnah of Muhammad, and the scholars are flexible for new converts because they don't want to erect barriers that might lead new converts to give up on Islam. If a man is uncircumcised, then this does not invalidate any obligatory acts such as daily prayer (unlike failing to perform the ritual ablutions - wudu - which does invalidate prayer).

frag420

ok a little of topic but i had this discussion at the weekend with friends after they saw the TV show about Irish Muslim converts.

What I would like to know is if the growing of a beard is mandatory as it seems all male Muslims have as far as I can see. What if like me one cant grow a beard? I would think that faith would be more important than the ability to grow facial hair but it is something that has intrigued me and thus I thought I would ask.

I should make it clear that I am non religious and I am not trolling or trying to be smart here in any way. This is more out of curiousity.

regards

frAg

irishconvert

frag420 wrote: »

ok a little of topic but i had this discussion at the weekend with friends after they saw the TV show about Irish Muslim converts.

What I would like to know is if the growing of a beard is mandatory as it seems all male Muslims have as far as I can see.

Hi Frag,

Growing a beard is sunah, which means it is the way of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) and is highly recommended.

frag420 wrote: »

What if like me one cant grow a beard?

Note that the requirement is to let the beard grow. If no beard grows there is nothing you can do about it, it is not a problem. Many asian Muslims (e.g. Indonesian, Malaysians) have little or no facial hair yet they are good practising Muslims.

frag420 wrote: »

I would think that faith would be more important than the ability to grow facial hair but it is something that has intrigued me and thus I thought I would ask.

I agree 100%. Many Muslims concentrate too much of their efforts on appearance aspects such as growing beard, wearing hijab, etc when there are much more important aspects of Islam to perfect, e.g. praying 5 times a day, fasting during Ramadan.

My advice is don't worry about the beard. Lots of Muslims who can grow a beard don't do so, yet they are excellent Muslims in other ways.

hivizman

I agree with irishconvert - the majority view is that growing a beard is part of the Sunnah of the Prophet, but is not obligatory (in the sense that not growing a beard would take a male Muslim outside Islam or invalidate his prayers). It appears to have been the general practice among the male Companions of the Prophet to grow a beard, but this could just have been a cultural rather than a religious practice.

There are other views, however, that quote various hadiths to suggest that Muhammad was opposed to males who shaved their beards. For example, one hadith tells of some ambassadors from a foreign ruler who visited Muhammad in Madinah - these ambassadors shaved their beards but had long moustaches. Muhammad is reported to have turned his head away from the ambassadors and to have refused to speak to them. On another occasion, he is reported to have encouraged Muslim men to differentiate themselves from non-Muslims by growing their beards and trimming their moustaches. The more conservative view is that it is mandatory for male Muslims to grow their beards, and that they should not trim their beards until the beards are at least the size of their fists.

Here's a picture of the South African cricketer Hashim Amla, who has a good example of a "sunnah beard":

frag420

I appreciate the replies guys,

Regards

frAg

masadjie

irishconvert wrote: »

I agree 100%. Many Muslims concentrate too much of their efforts on appearance aspects such as growing beard, wearing hijab, etc when there are much more important aspects of Islam to perfect, e.g. praying 5 times a day, fasting during Ramadan.

My advice is don't worry about the beard. Lots of Muslims who can grow a beard don't do so, yet they are excellent Muslims in other ways.

I agree with irishconvert. The most important is how as Muslims take Islam as their way of live, not only the appearance (growing beard). In my opinion Islam is not only a way to guide people for praying and fasting but also Islam should become way of live including a guidance how people behave in the community, to family, to friend, to government, to children, and even to other religion.

To OP: I don't know which city you are living at. If you are around Cork you can contact one of member of Mosque Committee which can be found in their website : http://www.corkmosque.org/ You can arrange to meet them in the mosque. I am sure they will help you regarding howto start yourlive with Islam. They are very helpful.

donaghs

AbuYusuf wrote: »

Get in contact with the nearest mosque. I also was in the situation in which there where no Muslims in my area.

How about the Shia mosque in Milltown, Dublin?

mcmoustache

Or the Ahmadiyya Mission House in Galway if you are around those parts.