Feel blessed because Allah has guided you towards the truth. If you have realized the truthfulness of Islam and converted into a new Muslim, you have made your initial step toward Allah and the heavenly path.
Embracing Islam is an important and compulsory step. A new phase of life starts as you accept Islam. It brings a lot of challenges for New Muslim Converts because it involves a person challenging his/her past beliefs. First, you have to define your beliefs in Islam, It’s called Usool-e-deen or Islamic Belief System after the establishment of Usool-e-deen you have to practice according to your beliefs, It’s called furu-e-deen or Islamic Laws/Jurisprudence.
The study has shown that converting to Islam is a life-changing journey with many challenging situations that must be dealt with in care. But surprisingly, none of the difficulties could turn the new Muslims away from the true religion of Islam. It is considered a great deed. New Muslims are greatly valued by the Muslim society and they give a warm welcome to every new Muslim. The most successful part in helping New Muslim Converts has been determined to be practical training by Certified Islamic Teachers. This training involves the complete practice of living by the teachings of Islam, providing necessary guidelines to potential reverts, and solving their queries related to Islam.
When every non-Muslim convert to Islam here come the question of which sect shall I join (Shia or Sunni) and what to do next? It can be difficult, confusing, and challenging at the same time. Here at Babulilm Islamic Academy, we have designed several courses to help new converts understand the basic differences. You can refer to our other course “Roots of Shi’a-Sunni Differences“.
In this course, you will have an overview of the Islamic belief systems(Usool-e-Deen) and Practices (Furu-e-Deen). If you decide to be Muslim, this means that you believe that there is only one, indivisible God, and you believe in all the prophets sent by Him, including Prophet Muhammad (saw). You must state this belief to God. This is called Shahada and is stated as follows:
Ash hadoo an laa ilaahaa ilallaah [I bear witness that there is no god but Allah (one god)] Ash hadoo anna Muhammadan Rasoollallah (I bear witness that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah). If you state those two things with belief and conviction, you are Muslim.
The following may be added if you wish to declare that you have consciously decided to accept the Ja’fari school of thought (Shia) with Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) as the divinely appointed guide and ruler after the Holy Prophet.
Ash hadoo anna Alioon Wallioollah Wasiyo Rasoolillaah, Wa Khalifatahoo Bilaa Fasl [I bear witness that Ali is the successor appointed by Allah, inheritor of the Prophet, and the rightful ruler or Caliph (immediately after the Prophet)]
It is tradition to state your belief in the presence of a few Muslim witnesses, often in a mosque, but this is not required for your conversion to be valid before God. So, what’s next? The information and instructions provided here are based on the Shia (Ja’fari) school of thought in Islam and may have slight variations from other schools. There are five roots of religion (Usool-e-deen) that are considered the major components of Shia Islamic belief. These are monotheism, justice of God, prophethood, imamat, and resurrection.
Monotheism – This is the belief in a single, indivisible God. Justice of God – This is the belief that God is by nature just and fair.
Prophethood – This is the belief in all the prophets sent by God and their uniform message of guidance.
Imamat – This is the belief in maintainers and protectors of religion appointed by God, particularly the twelve appointed after the death of Prophet Muhammad (saw), including the Imam of our time. (as)
Resurrection – This is the belief in a life after death, including a Judgment Day and punishment or reward in hell or heaven.
Similarly, there are ten branches of religion (Furoo e deen) that are considered the major components of Islamic practice. These are salaat (the daily prayer), sawm (fasting), hajj (pilgrimage), zakat (tax on wealth), khums (tax on money), Jihad (struggle), amr bil ma’ruf (enjoining good), nahi ‘anil munkar (forbidding evil), tawalla [loving the Prophet and his family (as)], and tabarra [disassociating with the enemies of the Prophet and his family (as)].
Prayer The first major obligation once you become Muslim is daily prayer. Most converts are very eager and stressed about knowing how to perform it correctly immediately.
If you are still unable to decide which course suits you the best you can contact our admin team on WhatsApp and request to arrange an assessment session with one of our course supervisors, who will take an assessment and design the course and appoint the right teacher for you.