All praise be to
Allah (God), the Lord of
the universe. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon
Muhammad (saw),
His last messenger.
"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 sheikhs
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.
Simply to become Muslim, you have
to pronounce the Testimony of Faith 'Shahada', with sincere faith.
The implication of the Shahada is that
you believe that there is only one God (
Allah ), Who alone deserves to be
worshipped. It also implies that you believe in
Muhammad (saw),
peace be upon him, as the Messenger of God, and you believe in his
message. It also means that you believe in all of
God's Prophets, including Jesus, peace be upon him, who is a Messenger
of God and NOT divine or son of God.
If you accept this, the only thing that
remains for you to become Muslim, is to say (out loud) the Shahada,
while believing in it with your heart word for word. The Shahada is
said in Arabic, however you may say it first in English to appreciate
its meaning:
"I bear witness that there is no God
except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah"
then repeat the same testimony out loud
in Arabic as follows:
"Ash hadu anlla ilaha ilallah, wa ash
hadu anna Muhammadan rasul ullah"
You can listen and say the same pronunciation and become a Muslim
Anyway don't worry about perfect
pronunciation
Of course faith is not only words but is
complemented with action, so upon reciting the Shahada one should begin
to learn and uphold his/her duties as a Muslim. The main pillars of
Islam as you know are:
The Five Daily Prayers
Charity to the poor and needy
Fasting the month of Ramadan
Pilgrimage to Mecca (once in a life
time for those who are able)
The next step now after the Shahada is
to take a complete shower (bath) with the intention of purifying
yourself to be ready for prayers.
{The Religion in the sight of
Allah is Islam (Submission to Allah)} (Qur'an 3:19)
{If anyone desires a religion other than
Islam (Submission to Allah), Never will it be accepted of him; and in
the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (their
selves in the hell fire)} (Qur'an 3:85)
