Islamic Blog for New Muslims: Support for New Muslim Converts

"Then when the Horn is blown with one blast, And the Earth and the mountains are lifted and leveled with one blow, Then on that Day, the Resurrection will occur." (Quran 69:13-15)

 The fifth pillar of faith is the belief that there will be a last day on this Earth, you will be resurrected and judged in front of God the Almighty, the ultimate Judge, based on your intentions and deeds. You would either go to Paradise or Hellfire. 

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What You Need to Practice

Islam is based on five primary foundations or Pillars. Just as a building would lack stability without solid pillars, your relationship with God will lack focus and a secure connection without the observance of and adherence to these five fundamental Pillars. These Five Pillars or religious duties are mandatory; you must follow and enact them with utmost devotion. Failure to comply and enact any of these dictates can lead to the commission of grave sins, some resulting in the expulsion of a believer from the fold and faith of Islam.

Like the Ten Commandments, these Pillars provide a spiritual foundation and framework to facilitate your life. Fulfilling these Five Pillars provides blessings and rewards for you in this life and the next. These Pillars help you establish a closer relationship with your Creator and build a spiritual connection with Him. You must prioritize these Pillars over all worldly matters, principles, or regulations in your life, as they form the foundation and starting point for all other good deeds and acts of worship to your Creator. These Five Pillars are mentioned individually throughout the Holy Quran, and through narrations of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, known as Hadith. The Five Pillars of Islam are: 

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The last pillar of the Islamic faith that you must believe in is the concept of Divine Decree. When you believe in this tenet, you affirm that everything - good or bad - that happens in your life emanates from God, the Almighty, and is something He wills to happen. The Arabic word for Divine Decree is Al-Qadr, which translates to measure, determine, assess, decide, and judge. In the context of religion, the term means "Divine determined measurements and sustenance for everyone and everything, by His Wisdom and Power." God states in his Book: 

"Indeed, all things We created with predestination." (Quran 54:49)

God the Almighty, being All-Knowing and All-Wise, knows what we have done in the past, what we are doing now, and what we will do in the future— even before birth. After all, can God be God if He doesn't know everything, including the future? Whereas humanity has the free will to make their own choices, everything happens only and directly through God's Will and Power.

If you question why you are held responsible for the choices and actions you make if God decreed all of them before your birth, you must realize that whatever has been written about you was written only because you will make those choices on your own. You would not be making choices in life because they were written beforehand. They were written beforehand because God can foretell the future, and He decided to write everything that will happen until the day of Judgment on a tablet. 

But because God wrote all that will occur in your life on a tablet doesn't mean that God determined or dictated the choices and actions you will take and that these decisions were preordained against your will. God wrote all your actions because you will commit them; you did not commit them because God wrote them. Everyone has the free will to make whatever choice they want. 

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The first article of faith in Islam is the belief in the Oneness of God. Faith begins with believing in Allah, the Glorious, from which all other facets of Faith spring. You must adhere to and acknowledge that no deity is worthy of your worship, love, subservience, hope, and fear other than Allah. Nothing in existence is worthy of your ultimate loyalty and sacrifice nor worth lowering your head in prostration or humility, except for Allah, the Creator of All.  

Islam is monotheistic, believing that there is only One God and He is the only One worthy of worship. The idea of multiple gods is rejected in Islam, as is highlighted many times throughout the Qur'an. 

"They have certainly disbelieved who say, 'Allah is the third of three,' And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment." (Quran 5:73) 

The most severe sin in Islam is known as shirk, which translates to the concept of ascribing a partner to Allah. The term also encompasses attributing divine qualities to any other besides Allah. Shirk is the only sin that God does not forgive if a person dies before repenting.

The Christian belief that Jesus is the son of God, or God himself, is an example of shirk. The belief in the concept of the Trinity— the father, son, and holy spirit—is a grave sin in Islam. Allah states in the Holy Quran that on the Day of Judgment, Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, will deny ever asking people to worship him instead of God or along with God:

"And remember when Allah will say on the Day of Resurrection: 'O 'Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say unto men: 'Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?' 'He will say: 'Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right to say. Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden and unseen." (Quran 5:116) 

God is the One to whom worship is due. He is the Creator, Provider, and Sustainer of everything. He is the Supreme, the Eternal. God has no father nor mother, no son or daughter, no partner nor equal. He is All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Hearing, All-Powerful, and Most-Merciful. It is He who gives life and causes death. It is He who is Unique in His Names and Attributes.

 Everything in this world and everything it contains, the whole universe, including you and me, belong to the One God. We use the phrases "my hand," "my house," and "my money," but it all belongs to God.

"To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the Earth. Whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it. Then He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills, and Allah is over all things competent." (Quran 2:284)

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Now that you have completed your testimony of faith, you are officially Muslim. As a new convert, you do not need to be burdened by past sins committed before your acceptance, as all your past sins would be wiped clean, and you start with a clean slate—as free of sin as a newborn child. Not only that but all your past sins would be converted to good deeds. You should attempt to the best of your ability to keep your slate clean as much as possible and do as many good deeds as you can. As a new convert, you will make a lot of supplications to God, asking him to continue to guide you on the straight path and lead you to Paradise and everything else you desire—in this world and the Hereafter.

You gradually continue to learn more about Islam and practice it by performing your five mandatory ritualized prayers that all Muslims perform daily. You should not try to learn all aspects of the faith at once, as that might overwhelm you. Instead, continue to learn and grow your new faith over an extended period. This is a life journey, so don't try to do everything at once; but at the same time, don't take it lightly. It's highly recommended to find a local mosque or Islamic community, attend their gatherings, seek support, and make new friends. You should also give charity and fast during Ramadan, which is mandatory for every Muslim.

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If you are still unsure whether to convert to Islam, you can pray to God without explicitly naming him, praying out and saying, Oh you who created me, please guide me to the truth. Then continue to research and look further into the overwhelming evidence and proof that Islam and the Holy Quran offer to affirm its existence and validity. Do not procrastinate, and do not take this matter of faith lightly, as you are not guaranteed a tomorrow! Your life test can end at any moment. Realize, my dear brother or sister, that you did not come to this randomly or by chance. Your Creator has guided you here.

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Lastly, before we speak about converting to Islam and what you need to know and do after converting, let’s quickly go over how our Creator communicates to His servants—to you and me. How would you know your role in life, your true-life purpose, unless you receive clear and practical instructions about God's wants and expectations of you? To glean this knowledge, we have a need for Prophethood and Revelation. God has sent thousands of Messengers and Prophets to humanity to convey His message and communicate with us. Every nation on Earth received a Prophet for this purpose. They all preached the same general message that only one deity is worthy of worship. He is the One and Only God, without a partner, son, daughter, or equal. 

God sent Messengers and Prophets to guide humanity, to deter them from worshipping created beings in lieu of worshiping their Creator, the Creator of all things. The Prophets taught their people the identity of their Creator, how to build a relationship with Him, and how to love Him. The Prophets taught their people that life is only a test; those who pass will enter Paradise eternally, while those who fail will be subjected to the ultimate punishment in the afterlife.  

As an extension of His mercy and love, God continued to send Messengers with Books to guide humanity, starting with Prophet Adam and including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, Jesus, and Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them all. Many of the Prophets are mentioned in Jewish and Christian traditions. All previous Messengers and Books, other than the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, were sent only to those specific groups of people intended to receive the message and were meant to be followed only for a particular period. 

For example, Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, was one of God's mightiest Messengers, who was sent down with the same general message as the previous Prophets, but he was sent to speak to only the Children of Israel—the nation where he resided, that existed before us—as their final Prophet because they were disobeying the commandments of God and veering away from the laws sent down by the previous Messenger, Moses, peace be upon him. 

Whenever God sent Messengers with Revelations, people would distort and change the Revelations after they were passed. What originated as pure Revelation from God would be polluted with the words of men, myths, superstitions, irrational philosophical ideologies, and idol worship. Just like how Prophet Jesus PBUH was sent to revise the previous message sent before him by the Messenger Moses PBUH, Prophet Muhammad PBUH came to reform Prophet Jesus' Message, as it had been distorted by his people and did not survive in its original form.

When humanity existed in the depth of the Dark Ages, God the Almighty sent his last and final Messenger to humankind—Prophet Muhamad, peace be upon him—and his final Revelation, the Holy Quran, to redeem humanity. The Holy Quran and the final Messenger affirmed everything revealed to the previous Messengers. 

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You are obligated to believe in all inspired Books that God has sent to humanity, as delivered through His Prophets. Every Prophet received Inspiration from God. The Arabic word for Inspiration or Revelation is "Wahi" which has several meanings. Wahi means an idea or something revealed or written, commandment, suggestion, to point out something, or to send a message. Inspiration or Revelation comes to God's Human Prophets directly or through an intermediary of the Angel, Gabriel, who brings Revelation to them.

God's Books contain His Speech, His Message to you and to humanity, which include His commandments, prohibitions, exhortations, stories, parables, reminders, descriptions of Himself and His Attributes, descriptions of the afterlife, Heaven and Hell, the purpose of life, the creation of the Universe, Worship, Piety, morals, manners, the importance of being kind to one's parents, and much more.

 These Books seek to guide you through every aspect of your life. God's Books act as a guide, an instructional manual on how to live your life. God, in a high manifestation of His Mercy, Compassion, and Love, sent Books to teach and guide humanity. 

"...Your Lord is the possessor of vast Mercy..."  (Qur'an 6:147)

Islam counts as an article of faith, the belief in all of God's Books in their original, pure form.

"Say, [O believers], 'We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him.'"              (Quran 2:136)

The Old and New Testaments present today are not the Revelations sent with Prophet Moses and Prophet Jesus, peace be upon them. The present-day Old and New Testaments have been altered by men and contain mixtures of human-made ideas and innovations that have corrupted their current state. Whereas these Books may still contain some remaining traces of truth, they do not stand in their original revealed form. God warns in his final Testament, the Holy Quran:

"So, woe to those who write the 'scripture' with their own hands, then say,' This is from Allah,' to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for  what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn." (Quran 2:79) 

When previous Holy Scriptures were altered and corrupted by human hands, God in his Mercy, enlisted his last Revelation, the Holy Quran. God has taken it upon Himself to safeguard and protect his final Book to humanity from human-made alterations or corruption.

 The Holy Quran is the only scripture in its original language and words today. Not one letter of the Holy Quran has been changed since its Revelation. The Holy Quran is meant to serve and teach all people until the end of time. Everything in the Holy Quran is truth, with no evidence of contradictions or falseness, and it will remain so for eternity.

Muslims believe that the Holy Quran abrogates all previous Scriptures before it, meaning it cancels the rulings of earlier scriptures and renders them inapplicable going forward since the preceding scriptures were meant for earlier nations and not for us. 

In his infinite wisdom, God did not feel fit to send down the Holy Quran for previous nations. As the Creator of the World and everything it contains, God knows who would understand and who would not. Although different revelations came down to various Prophets and nations, the general Message had always remained the same: To worship God Alone and to follow his Commandments.

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Now that you have converted to the fold, you must believe in the six Articles of Iman (Faith). These six articles of Faith form the foundation of the Islamic belief system. Linguistically, the Arabic term "Iman," which translates to "Faith," comes from a root word that means "to give safety and security." Iman makes one feel safe and secure. Without Faith, you would fall into a state of despair. The root word of Iman means to believe in the truth of something or someone, imbuing you with a genuine sense of peace. You must accept God's tenets and teachings, verbalize those concepts with your tongue, and manifest God's teachings in your actions. Believing in and relying upon God will lead you to find safety, security, and contentment even in times of hardship. You acknowledge that you are not alone. God is always with you and fully knows of your situation. 

You are asked to believe in what you have never seen with your own eyes, which is the essence of Faith itself. Belief in God is natural for humans. Humans, by nature, are believers in God, as belief in God is inherent in them. 

"Indeed, those who fear their Lord unseen will have forgiveness and a great reward." (Quran 67:12)

 The six articles of Faith: 

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Among the many miracles of the Holy Quran are hundreds of scientific facts listed in the book, later confirmed to be accurate years after the Book was revealed. Whereas the Holy Quran contains accounts of hundreds of scientific miracles, it is not a book of science nor a book of engineering or medicine. The Holy Quran is a Book of Guidance containing spiritual signs that prove its divinity, coming from a higher power. 

The Holy Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH in the 7th century, an illiterate man living in the desert at a time when there were no telescopes, microscopes, or anything resembling the symbols of advanced technology we have today. As the faith in Islam continued to grow century after century, humanity evolved into the age of modern science. In this era, many scientific discoveries confirm references listed in certain verses of the Holy Quran. Of the many scientific miracles in the Quran, here are a few:

The Holy Quran addresses the evolution of the human embryo in the mother's womb in chronological order. Allah, the Glorious, uses a specific Arabic word to describe the embryo in the Holy Quran: Alaqah, which translates to mean Blood Clot, suspended thing—that which hangs, a clinging substance, and a Leech. Allah calls the child in the womb "that which hangs" when even physicians did not know that a growing embryo hangs in the mother's womb. 

The word Alaqah that God chose can translate to mean blood clot because the embryo's appearance and accompanying sacs seen during the alaqah stage are like those of a blood clot. The phrase a suspended thing can be used here because the embryo hangs in the mother's womb. Moreover, the word "leech" can be used because many similarities exist between an embryo and a leech. They appear identical and function similarly, as both obtain nourishment from the mother's blood. The three meanings of the word alaqah that God chose to apply here correspond accurately to the descriptions of the embryo at the alaqah stage.

"And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging. Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump of flesh, and We made from the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators." (Quran 23:12-14)

The descriptions of embryology mentioned in the Holy Quran and Hadith agree with those revealed by the latest scientific discoveries in the field. These descriptions could not have been obtained based on the scientific knowledge available in the 7th century, proving that this knowledge could have come only from God. Moreover, God speaks of the embryo's three-stage growth process in the mother's womb. He reveals that He created the womb with three veils, cloaks, shields, or envelopes of darkness around the child. Now we know that three layers of darkness separate the embryo from the outside world. 

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