Helping New Muslims in Ramadan

Sometimes I get the impression that especially in this blessed month of Ramadan, my brothers and sisters would like to help any new converts to Islam that they know.

And it makes Ramadan a great time to be a new Muslim!

Alhamdulillah, this is my third Ramadan and by far it has been my most isolated one, mostly because I've needed so much time to myself to do the homework I have been assigned this semester. But I wanted to share (for new Muslims and "veteran" Muslims) some ways that my new family (of brothers and sisters in Islam!) has made Ramadan really special for me in the past.

One thing I love about the community here in Raleigh is that the masjid makes an effort to feed singles and travelers every night in Ramadan, ensuring that they have someone to break fast with, and some food to eat. It was nice to know that even if I had nowhere else to go for iftar, I could always go to the masjid. A few years ago it was only a few days out of the week and subhanallah now they do it every day. And because it's at the masjid, this provides a nice opportunity for Muslims to come to the masjid to break fast, pray maghrib, eat a meal, and then pray isha and taraweeh as well--although the best benefit is getting to be around other Muslims at iftar time. My first Ramadan, that brotherhood/sisterhood environment at iftaar time was what made the biggest impression on me, so I hope that we Muslims don't take it for granted. (And if you attend the IAR I think you should definitely consider donating to this cause!)

Aside from iftaars at the masjid, I also benefited from the iftaars held by the MSAs (Muslim Student Associations) at my university (NCSU) and other local universities (UNC-CH.) They are once a week, and again there's a big turn-out of Muslim students to break fast, and usually a short talk or program as well. As a new Muslim (and college student) this was a great opportunity for me to simply meet other Muslims on campus.

Now in addition to these iftaars which were held regularly, I was also invited to people's homes for iftaar--even people who I didn't know that well. So at these I had the benefit of breaking fast with lots of Muslims I didn't even know before, or didn't know well. I would encourage anyone who is planning to host an iftaar at their house to invite any new Muslims you might know. A lot of times a new Muslim doesn't have a large social network to break fast with and this is a great way to make them feel like they are a part of the community.

So, after taking care of the food, how else to help a new Muslim? I am so indebted to my former roommate for helping me establish three really good Ramadan habits--taraweeh, qiyyam, and suhoor. Suhoor is on to the food again so I won't spend much time on that--except to say that it's hard to start a new schedule of getting up really early to eat so encouragement on that point was really helpful to me.

About the taraweeh--I have to admit, the first times I went to pray taraweeh I was bored, and it was very difficult for me to stay. And I mean, to stay for 8 rakaat. I was uncomfortable and exhausted and understood none of what was being recited. I spent most of the time thinking about how hot it was, how much my legs or feet hurt, and wondering when it would be over. When we would make it in to ruku' I could feel my back cracking, and when we went into sajdah I was thankful for the relief it gave my legs. So it was very difficult to go, every night. But even my first Ramadan I went to Taraweeh about a third to a half of the nights in the month, and the people around me continually encouraged me to go. By the end of the month it did start feeling better (spiritually... my legs still hurt) just to go and pray, but I don't think I would have kept it up unless people had kept telling me to go.

The next year I went and it was easier--I couldn't really understand the recitation but since I had taken a class in Arabic grammar at least and I knew some vocabulary, I would distinguish some words and so listening was different. And this year I have tried to go most nights, and I actually end up standing much longer than I ever had before (standing on carpet now makes it so much easier!) and understanding entire phrases that are recited, and sometimes even whole ayaat since I've been following a word-by-word translation outside of taraweeh. So really it is getting easier--but I don't think I'd be able to say that if I hadn't kept going even when I didn't understand.

And the other big habit was praying qiyyam ul-layl at the masjid in the last 10 nights--they pray this in the last third of the night, in addition to the taraweeh. And that made a huge difference for me every time I did it--especially making lots of du'a in the long prostrations. Without my roommate I don't think I would have prayed all that much in previous Ramadans, or even in this Ramadan since now it's getting easier.

So I think 2 main ways to help a new Muslims this Ramadan would be, inviting them for iftaar or making sure they have somewhere to go, and encouraging them to perform extra acts of worship.

A new Muslim might not understand all that happens in his first Ramadan--the i'tikaf, the qiyyam, the taraweeh, the suhoor even, and might not be able to take advantage of all this extra worship for that reason. So to be encouraged, and invited to these activities is really helpful.

And this way the convert can start to feel like they are benefiting more from Ramadan, and also that they are a real part of the community, and partake in the wonderful blessing of brotherhood and sisterhood among Muslims. :-)

The Women of My Mosque

A few weeks ago, another blogger mentioned some problems of having a women-friendly mosque. Women want to come to the mosque, of course... but they want peace and quiet, and feel like the burden of disciplining unruly children during the prayers has fallen on them when mothers (and fathers) neglect their part.

In fact, at my masjid many women have not come to taraweeh prayers for a long time because for many years (and years ago) they were so bothered by the annoying screams of dozens of children during the prayer. So I wanted to take this opportunity to really commend the women at my masjid for the efforts that they currently undertake to ensure that taraweeh prayers are peaceful for all the sisters who attend. If someone else at another mosque has a problem with sisters and children causing disruptions maybe they can use this as a model inshaaAllah.

The masjid building now has two floors where people pray, one for brothers (downstairs) and one is basically for sisters (upstairs.) There is a musallah upstairs for the sisters, with an excellent sound system to hear the imam from downstairs, as well as a large screen high-definition TV screen showing the imam (useful for khutbahs as well, if not so much for salaat.) This room is only used by sisters who do not have any children. No children are allowed in the room--so the carpet stays clean, the room is quiet to hear the imam without any mother needing to tend to a child, or any kids running between the rows.

Beside this prayer room is a smaller "play room" which has been adapted to include praying carpets and also has a sound system to broadcast the recitation of the imam, so that mothers of children up to 2 years old will be allowed to attend taraweeh prayers upstairs, praying with sisters. In the past children this age were sent to childcare because there were not separate rooms but now this is the alternative we have, a separate room for mothers of small children who really might have a hard time in babysitting anyway.

But all the other children, ages 2 and up, are sent to babysitting. The masjid actually HIRES babysitters to be there every night, and then some sisters volunteer for the busier nights to watch the kids and to also register them in as they arrive to keep track. Past the age of babysitting, girls must be upstairs, boys must be downstairs. The babysitting actually takes place in another building on the premises, where there is also set up speakers to hear the prayer, and some room for sisters to pray there as well, if they wish.

There are also 1-2 sisters volunteering each night in Ramadan as security to make sure that no children end up in the main prayer halls to disturb the salaat, and to make sure that there are't any older children running around in the building at all. They can also direct sisters to the appropriate room, or to babysitting, if they don't know where everything is. This way inshaaAllah everybody has a pleasant experience.

I know this is probably a problem for many communities, but alhamdulillah, it's something that is addressed very well here. The entire effort is coordinated and implemented by the Women's Committee, and frankly it's pretty impressive. :-) Last year we did not have the upstairs floor so all children (even babies) had to go to babysitting. But alhamdulillah there was no crying and wailing--EVER--the whole month. :-) It can happen!

And so far this Ramadan there hasn't been any problems (at least, not that I'm aware of.) And taraweeh is a very blessed and wonderful experience. May Allah reward all those sisters who sacrifice their time to ensure things run smoothly for everyone else.

Flesh and Bones

Sometimes I have heard people criticize Islam for being maybe "too ritual" or focused on the ritual aspect of worship in preference to the spiritual. I really don't think that is the case at all, but that actually Islam has a nice balance between the both.

As a Christian, something I longed for (before I even heard of Islam) was a form for the prayer. It troubled me from an early age that I didn't know how to approach God for help. This might seem like something that one needn't worry about--just call on God, right? But for me, it did not some appropriate to simply make demands of God or to fill my prayers with a wish list, i.e., "please give me this, and this, and that, and the other thing..." The focus just seemed all wrong. And I don't mean to belittle anyone, or the importance of making du'a and supplicating to God, but prayers like that for me felt devoid of all spiritual content.

So when I hear a Christian, for example, say that he can pray anytime he wants, as if a Muslim is somehow restricted in his prayers by the motion of the sun, I understand that he cannot grasp the true beauty of the salaat. Because for someone not familiar with it, the salaat might look like an "empty ritual." Recite this, stand like this, bow and say this, prostrate and say that--and so on. Because it is scripted, and because it is a ritual, it might seem devoid of spiritual connection. But what is so beautiful about the salaat is not it's ritual aspect, but its spiritual content. I do think that bowing and prostrating before our Creator is humbling and has a powerful effect on the heart, but when a person focuses on the meaning and content of the prayer it means so much more than just a ritual.

And recently I heard someone give the analogy that the prayer itself is like a skeleton. And she did not flesh out (pardon the pun) this analogy but as I reflected on it, it seemed even more profound. And it applies to all the pillars of Islam actually, but here I'll focus on the prayer. The ritual of the prayer is like a skeleton--and a skeleton is not alive. But without bones, the other tissues of the body have no structure, and no support. Even if there are muscles and skin, organs and so forth, without the skeletal structure the body would just lie limp in a pile, unable to do anything.

I broke my arm when I was a kid and had to wear a cast on it for several weeks--but even if I ignore the pain of the event, I remember that my entire arm was almost useless. I couldn't do anything with it (especially for the first few weeks) and just because the bone was broken.

While bones alone don't make up the entire body, they are essential to its function. If there are only bones, then there is just a skeleton--essentially dead! If a person maintains the prayer in form alone, the analogy is like a dry skeleton: dead. Spiritually the prayer is dead.

But what if there is muscle and skin, without bones? This is how I kind of see prayer in some other religions, namely Christianity. There is spiritual content for sure--love for God and awe at His creation--but there is no form. So the prayer might be alive, but it's almost useless. It can't do anything, go anywhere.

So in Islam we have the form--the skeleton. But if we don't flesh it out, it's just dead, empty bones. So we need to focus on caring for the spiritual components of the prayer, analogous to flesh. This means in the prayer we should be concentrating on our love for Allah, His Greatness and His Mercy.

So I guess in this month of Ramadan, here is something to think about--don't let your salaat be dead bones, just the skeleton, but bring it to life.

Faith first, but then what?

Last night was the weekly Da'wah Class--the final class, though we haven't finished the book. During Ramadan there will be no class of course, and I doubt that it will resume thereafter. But alhamdulillah, and it turned out to be an interesting night.

There was a sister who came for maghrib that I'd never seen before, and she came to the Imam's class after the salaat. After the class though, and before isha, she started telling me about one of her relative's wives who had converted to Islam. The new sister lived in a town distant from Muslims and was having a difficult time beginning to practice. She was already covering, but didn't know how to pray. The sister in front of me was asking what she should tell the new sister--to cover or uncover or what to do next, how to learn, etc.

It's interesting that she asked after the class--because the imam discussed the importance of hikmah in da'wah, and putting everything in its right place. He talked about prioritizing when teaching people Islam, and gave the example as he often does of Mu'adh who went to the Christians in Yemen to give them da'wah. And the Prophet (saaws) instructed him to first call them to laa ilaha illAllaah, Muhammad ar-rasoolullaah. And then if they accept that, to call them to the prayers, and so on.

This idea has come up a lot, that faith, iman, aqeedah--this should all be the first focus when calling people to Islam, or teaching the Muslims. If a person has the faith, then what comes next is the salaat. Just like that. In part three of my story about coming to Islam, I briefly mentioned the importance that the salaat had for me, and how my Islam really started to turn around once I first started seeking to learn to pray, and even more once I finally started praying. It is absolutely crucial. Now of course, if it becomes just a ritual it might be next to useless and hard to maintain, but to someone who believes the words he says it is the very beginning of learning the relationship between our Lord and His slave. There is a reason that salaat is called the 'emad of the deen, the central pillar of Islam.

So I suggested to the sister that she help her relative learn to pray. There are so many resources online available now that make this task even simpler. I explained what I needed, personally--someone to literally show me the actions. I had to see and practice them once and then I was able to continue them on my own. I needed a resource with information on the order of the movements (in case I forgot), timings of the prayer, and what things to say in the prayer. It is possible to learn the prayer without learning to read Qur'an first... and I'd actually recommend it, as learning Qur'an can take weeks or months while the salaat can be learned quicker. So for me a book with that information in it was helpful, along with transliterations (and translations) of the Arabic. This is best when used in addition to an audio(and/or video) recording of the basic Arabic used in salaat (including Surat al-Fatihah and another short surah like Surat al-Ikhlaas).

I provided the sister with such a book (I had one in my purse) and some internet resources I had found beneficial. I also gave her some tips for learning the salat which helped me--and these I will share. The book became cumbersome for me to hold during prayer so I opted for creating a sheet of paper, with all the recitation portions written in English on one side and transliterated Arabic on the other side. When learning smaller sections, I would memorize the English first and write the Arabic on notecards which I would hold during the prayer, or leave beside me for reference, in case I needed them.

The best way to learn is by doing. Surat al-Fatihah is read 17 times a day by a Muslim who prays, and throughout the day. Just repeating the prayer will teach the person how to pray, and everytime it can get easier with greater concentration.

May Allah increase us all in khushoo' in our salaat and make us among the musalleen.

My Opinions on Da'wah

I seek refuge in Allah from my own misunderstandings of Islam, and from the misunderstandings of those around me.

This post, I think, will be pretty much useless. But after watching a video which claimed to be about da'wah (in a humorous way), and having a conversation with someone who has very different views than I have, I just feel an urge within me to actually express my viewpoint. It might be wrong. And if I am wrong, please correct me.

It has bothered me for a little while that some people consider da'wah to just mean talking to people about Islam. That is, da'wah to Islam--just talking to someone about Islam? For example, Person A says, "I'm giving da'wah to PersonB." Asking about how PersonA is giving da'wah, he shares some of his statements to PersonB, like this one, "Your KKK grandfather must be rolling in his grave knowing you're working with a Muslim!" It escapes me--how is that da'wah?

Here's another one, PersonC is maashaaAllah strongly opposed to dealing with usury (riba), and while conducting a financial transaction (among non-Muslims) makes a point to explain that he cannot do this for religious reasons. Now first this caused a tremendous amount of heartache to everyone involved until, and alhamdulillah, Allah resolved the issue in such a way that PersonC would not have to deal with riba in the transaction. The non-Muslims noted how simple and sensible the response was, and PersonC reports this as da'wah. Please--how so?

And another example, where PersonD explains that he won't be having lunch with non-Muslim PersonE because he is fasting, and then later describes the conversation as giving PersonE da'wah. I don't see it--do you?

I have this idea--and really, I might be wrong!--that da'wah is not telling someone about Islam. Or more precisely, telling someone about Islam is not necessarily da'wah. Because one non-Muslim could tell another non-Muslim something about Islam. For example, "Yeah, Ramadan starts in September so the Muslims are going to be fasting. This means they can't eat or drink until sunset." Is that da'wah? I wouldn't say so--it's just a conversation between one non-Muslim and another. Nobody is inviting anyone to Islam. What if the person repeating the line was a Muslim? Would it be da'wah then? I actually don't think it would. So at least in my opinion, someone talking about Islam doesn't make his speech da'wah.

And I have another opinion--that everybody is entitled to receive da'wah. Whether they ask for it or not. Whether they are our bosom buddies or not. I've heard someone say that Muslims shouldn't give da'wah (and they might even consider some of the above to be da'wah... ouch) unless they have been solicited for it. Like, don't tell them about Islam unless you're good friends. Don't tell them that Allah created them unless you've known each other a while. Don't mention what you believe unless they are comfortable with you, and they are asking you. Why, why, why?

And no, I'm not advocating in the slightest that a Muslim should hammer strangers with the shahadah and if they reject it to cut their necks. And I think I have to even say this because some people might actually think I'm suggesting this extreme, when I'm not.

I just don't see the point in putting up barriers (which I consider to be excuses) that prevent us from giving da'wah. I can't tell him about Allah because it might hurt our friendship??? I mean, doesn't that show some distorted priorities? Some people might not understand this the way I do--and I repeat, that maybe I'm just wrong--but I understand that we give da'wah because that is what our Creator has told us to do. And because that is the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saaws.)

And I'll say it again... this is my opinion, and it might be wrong. If you know better than I do, by all means I beg you to correct me.

How I came to Islam (part 3)

The long awaited conclusion... Continued from part 2...

By the time I found myself prostrating on the floor facing some Easterly direction, tears of frustration and humility dripping town my cheeks, I realized something was wrong.

Between me and my Lord I knew that I believed, and I knew that I needed to worship Him. I didn't want to pray just because Muslims have to. I wasn't joining a club or organization, I simply sat on my bedroom floor wanting to talk to my Lord.

Up to this point I had maintained fairly regular conversations with the man to whom I said shahadah--and he was immensely patient with all my struggles. Even as my frustration was often released on him, he persisted in talking to me with gentle manners, still trying to guide me. For a while I spent less time on that forum, not feeling like I really fit in--and when I did post, I would get in furious arguments with other posters about minute issues which covered my mind like stormy waves on the sea. And all I could see were those troubled waves, too fearful to jump in totally, afraid I might drown. In life terms, I was afraid of failure, and afraid of living a new lifestyle which largely rejected much of my upbringing. I was afraid that I was taking too much of a burden on myself.

But while I was so afraid of diving into water too deep, something came from my side and gently ushered me to calmer water. Out of the metaphor, I mean that I finally began to see Muslims as human beings with human struggles. In what was still a largely anonymous environment, I got the opportunity to talk easily and socially with other Muslims (brothers and sisters) without getting hung up on the troubling matters of the deen. Something so simple as conversation paved the way for me to progress in Islam--and here's how.

Once I met (online) a brother and sister who lived in my area, in Raleigh, I began to talk to someone who at least sort of understood the community here, and how things worked, which made me far less intimidated by the mosque, its website, local Muslims, even the MSA--all of which caused me some level of anxiety.

What I did do was actually sincerely contact the mosque--by emailing the imam. I wanted to learn how to pray, and that simple request is what I conveyed to him. Unfortunately, I didn't get a response for several weeks--which was actually quite disheartening.

But Allah SWT pushed me as well, and with an odd twist of fate (and I do believe this to be the Qadr of Allah even though I'm using an English idiom) an opportunity presented itself for me to communicate with the Muslim Students Association at my university. At the time I was the Membership Educator for my sorority, and at the end of the semester we held some events which conclude the candidacy period for new sisters. Because of my position, I was responsible for setting the time and place, including reserving the room, for some of these events. At the time, reserving a room was mostly a formality which some organizations ignored, but which we (i.e., my sorority) made a point of doing to make sure that we had rights to a particular room on campus for our events. And one night while casually browsing the MSA website for upcoming events (just in case I could muster the courage to attend) I noticed that they had planned a meeting the same night as one of the activities I had planned. So of course I couldn't attend--but what stuck out was that they were advertising the same soom which I had already reserved for my sorority!! And this was only days ahead of the event.

So here, I had a legitimate reason to talk to the MSA! On behalf of another organization and in a largely official capacity, I was able to do so without the fear and anxiety I felt presenting myself alone. So I emailed the MSA Shura right away--and took the opportunity to introduce myself first as a new Muslim, and secondly as a part of my sorority and that we had some kind of conflict about the room--they were advertising an event in the same room we had reserved.

Now, this email was pretty late at night, more like 1 or 2 in the morning, so I was astonished to get an immediate reply by phone from the MSA president! He politely explained what was going on--that they had not actually reserved the room, but it was the typical room where they held their meetings. This gave me an opportunity to actually be magnanimous--since they had already advertised their event to a large group, while I expected my own event to be somewhat smaller, I could easily reserve another room and inform my sorority of the change. So that's precisely what I did. (And no, not everyone was happy--in fact one person was very irritated at me for not making the MSA find a new room, and another made a comment about "ragheads" for which she later apologized profusely.) But overall, I actually felt very good about it--since it made it easier for me to talk to someone on the MSA. First giving me an excuse to contact them at all (instead of showing up, knowing nobody), and then it gave me something to mention when I stopped by the da'wah table later on to actually introduce myself. So because of this one simple event, I got to talk to and meet some members of the MSA who were very polite and strongly encouraged me to attend some of their events. Alhamdulillah.

A while after that I finally got a reply to my email to the imam. He had forwarded it on to another sister who then contacted me. I explained my predicament, and what I really wanted to learn was how to pray--it's actually quite embarassing to admit something like this, so please, if anyone asks you this question, be gentle and helpful, as somehow it's expected that people are programmed to pray instantly after saying shahadah. So she invited me to come with her to Jumu'ah prayer on Friday, which I did. She brought me inside (I knew ahead of time, this time, to wear a scarf) and gave me a chair to sit in, instead of on the floor. Before the end of the khutbah (of which I understood practically nothing) she pulled me out and instructed me in the very basics of the prayer. Namely, the opening takbir (Allah is Greater), the standing, bowing (and it's du'a), the prostrating (and it's du'a), the sitting, and the salaam.

That's basically six things, but that was exactly what I needed. You see, I had a book on "How to Pray." But it was written by Muslims for Muslims who probably already understood the terminology. Something as simple as "Repeat At-Tahiyyat..." causes frantic page-turning in someone who doesn't know what that means. But now that I had actually prayed, realized the order, realized how du'a was made in certain positions (you can't imagine all the questions that flooded my mind when just reading this book), it became very simple, and not the complicated ordeal which I had feared.

So when I got home, I could hold the book in my prayer, read the appropriate portions, and proceed with the prayer. I could then understand the differences in a 2-, 3-, and 4-rakah prayer. And in fact, from that point onwards, I did not miss a salaah. Alhamdulillah. (I didn't always make them on time, but I did not skip them.) In fact it was pretty exciting to pray at night before going to bed--a fact I shared with some non-Muslim friends who quite frankly probably labelled me as wacko right then... I haven't heard from them since.

But for the first time, I was truly able to consider myself a Muslim. Not just somebody who "believed" in Islam, in my heart, but somebody who was actually acting on that belief and doing to me what seemed the most important part of my new religion, talking to my Lord. And at that point in my life, I had never heard these things about the importance of establishing salaat first. Nobody told me that. But it was, for me, something I had felt the need to do for a long time.

I don't know if Muslims can imagine what it's like to not know how to call on Allah SWT, to fumble around with short and simple supplications, to not have this beautiful connection every single day. The real importance of this simple act really can't be overemphasized in my opinion--and I know for me it began to help me make radical changes--and to cope with their consequences.

Having to cover my hair for salaat made it practical for me to later decide to start wearing a headscarf full time (about two months later). One of the hardest things I had to do though was actually preside over a sorority meeting (for by then, I was the president) in my scarf for the first time. I took the opportunity to explain to everyone why I was wearing it, and mostly they were very supportive. And even though I concealed it from my family it soon became obvious what I was doing--resulting in some strained relations and my being forced to move out. I did begin to make friends with some Muslims, but only on a very shallow level, and when I moved out I found myself very close to the masjid, and made a point to offer my prayers there whenever I could.

It was really a journey for me, coming to Islam--this whole process took almost a year, from the time I started learning about Islam until I started practicing openly. I had some good and some very bad encounters with Muslims but ultimately I know that guidance came only from Allah SWT. And whenever I asked for it, it came.

Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Aalameen.

part 1 / part 2 / part 3

To What Does a Da'ee Call?

So far I've written two posts from my class on da'wah, namely 12 Characteristics of an Effective Da'ee, and The Recipients of Da'wah. This is the third, and the conclusion of the section on the pillars of da'wah. If you remember the first pillar of da'wah is the da'ee or the person who is doing the inviting, while the second pillar is the person receiving da'wah or being invited. Now the third pillar is what the da'ee is calling to, the actual da'wah which is of course Islam, the natural answer to the question asked in the title of this post.

Allow me to refresh the old analogy as well, wherein the da'ee is compared to a salesperson, and the person receiving da'wah (mad'oo) is compared to a customer. The da'wah to Islam is therefore the product being sold and bought in the transaction analogy. And there are many ways to describe Islam to somebody, but if we as callers to Islam want to know how to effectively present it to someone else, then it's useful to understand it in the ways I'm presenting it here.

First let's look at the meaning of Islam--it is total submission or surrender to God, to Allah, and it existed before the Prophet Muhammad (saaws). This is a general definition, describing Islam as being followed by Noah (and his followers) and Abraham (and his followers), and Moses (and his followers) and Jesus (and his followers.) All these groups could be considered to be Muslims under this broad definition. But more specifically when we talk about Islam we are referring to the deen of Muhammad. By deen I mean "religion" or "way of life." Muhammad (saaws) surrendered and called his people to Islam, and to Islam is what we are calling the people as well.

So now we look at Islam as having three main parts, namely 'aqeedah, shari'ah, and akhlaaq. We cannot present Islam as existing as only one of these parts, but must understand all three.

'Aqeedah of course means (roughly) beliefs. The pillars of imaan (belief in Allah, angels, prophets/messengers, scriptures, day of judgment, and the qadr of Allah) and other parts of iman fall under the category of 'aqeedah. This is also the theological aspects of Islam.

Shari'ah means the laws of Islam, and the differentiation between what is halal (lawful, permissible) and haraam (not permissible, unlawful).

Akhlaaq refers to good manners and morals.

So when we present Islam we should note that there are these three parts or dimensions to Islam, and by excluding any of the above the Islam is incomplete. After realizing that there are these three parts to Islam as a product, we move on to the characteristics of Islam which make it distinctive and why Islam is better than other religions. Specifically, these are the reasons why a person (mad'oo) would want to "buy" Islam from the da'ee, and why someone would choose to be a Muslim instead of following another religion or way of life. The da'ee should be familiar with these characteristics just like a salesperson should understand the features of the product he is trying to sell, in order to explain its advantages to the customer.

So these are the characteristics of Islam which should be conveyed when giving da'wah.

(1) From Allah - The first characteristic of Islam is that it came from Allah, and not from humans. This means that the beliefs have been prescribed by Allah ('aqeedah), as have the laws (shari'ah), and the moral behavior (akhlaaq) is also the result of Divine Guidance--from Allah.

(2) Complete - The second characteristic of Islam is that it is a complete way of life, meaning it is not devoid of any aspect, nor does it need mankind to finish, improvise, or add anything to it.

(3) Clear - The third characteristic of Islam is that it is clear so that people can understand it. Islam has answers for all of a person's questions, and in a way that mankind can understand and implement.

(4) Comprehensive - In addition to being a complete way of life (#2), Islam is also comprehensive, meaning that it covers all aspects of human existence. It provides guidelines and instructions for both children and parents, for rulers and those who are ruled, for example. It applies to individuals, to families, and to entire societies.

(5) Balanced - The fifth characteristic of Islam is that it is balanced between physical and spiritual aspects, and it is also moderate (not extreme.) This means that everything is to be given its right, and physical needs are balanced with spiritual needs without a person going to an extreme in either approach.

(6) Practical - Islam is also a practical religion (way of life), so that even if it becomes difficult, it is made easier. For example, if it becomes difficult for a person to stand for 5 daily prayers, he may sit. In this way Islam does not become a burden on its adherents.

So these six characteristics are that Islam came from Allah, is a complete way of life that is clear and comprehensive, while also being balanced and practical. There are an additional 5 characteristics (for lack of a better word) of Islam. These are things a da'ee should be aware of when helping someone to accept Islam.

(1) Allah (SWT) made the deen easy and removed the hardship from it. Human nature is weak, but since Islam has been made easy it is not a problem to adhere to it.

(2) Islam was implemented gradually during the lifetime of Muhammad (saaws) so that the hearts of the people could change. This should be applied towards dealing with other Muslims who might be attached (addicted) to certain bad behaviors in this life.

(3) In any act of worship (of Allah), mankind cannot initiate anything without proof. And the proof must come from Allah. So in Islam we have a way of worshiping our Lord that He Himself has taught us.

(4) Islam combines between firmness and flexibility as appropriate. For example, in transactions there is flexibility, that things are assumed to be permissible unless they have been forbidden, with proof.

The last point I have is the 3 kinds of rights in Islam--the rights that a Muslim needs to make sure are fulfilled.

1. Rights of Allah - The first right is the Right of Allah, that we worship Him alone and do not associate anything with Him in worship.
2. Rights of Self - The body has both spiritual needs and physical needs like food, education, and security, and has the right that these needs are fulfilled.
3. Rights of Others - The last kind of rights in Islam are those of other humans, and non-humans. A person's relatives have a right on him, and his neighbors have a right on him, as do all the Muslims, and in fact all of mankind. For non-human rights, these are the rights of the environment and animals, for example.

So when a da'ee is calling someone to Islam, these are the things to keep in mind. Especially important is the answer to the following questions: Why should someone accept Islam? Why should that person be a Muslim, instead of being a Jew, a Christian, an atheist, or something else? What is special about Islam?

Without addressing the points mentioned in the post, it's likely that a person might get a distorted view of Islam from the da'wah, and see Islam as either only laws (shari'ah) or only belief ('aqeedah) or only good manners (akhlaaq). And unfortunately many people get this impression about Islam, that they just need to be a "good person" or that if they follow all the rules they are following Islam. This I think especially applies to da'wah towards Muslims. When giving da'wah to non-Muslims, it's important to point out that Islam is as mentioned, from Allah, our Creator, and that it is complete, clear, comprehensive, balanced and practical.

To give da'wah is to be on the sabeel or way of the Prophet Muhammad (saaws), as Allah SWT says in the Qur'an

Say, "This is my way; I invite to Allah with insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is Allah ; and I am not of those who associate others with Him." (12:108)

So May Allah make us among those who follow this Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (saaws) and increase in those attributes where we are weak.

This post is based on my notes from a class with the imam on da'wah, but the commentary is pretty much my own words--so please forgive me for any mistakes as they are my own, while anything good is from Allah SWT and all praise is for Him.


part 1 / part 2 / part 3

The end of summer

My summer officially ended today, as I returned to school for what I truly hope is my second-to-last semester. I've resolved to strive harder in school this semester than I have in the past--something that I think I can do since a number of burdens have been lifted from my shoulders.

But as I look back over the last couple of months, I realize that it has been a wild ride. It has snagged me in a few places, and I stopped to lick my wounds--wounds that are now turning in to scars, some larger than others. So I just wanted to share my thoughts and reflections as I look back.

I decided in the spring that I would not be taking any classes over the summer. I knew that meant that I would have to forego any chance of graduating in the fall. If I had taken summer school, it would have been possible, but I was burnt out on many levels. My attitude towards school had become largely apathetic, and my participation in class about as low as you can imagine. But aside from school I was still working and organizing things for the masjid, and delivering presentations for school groups at the masjid and elsewhere. Another reason I opted out of summer school was simply that I couldn't afford it. But I really needed a break--and I didn't even realize how much I needed it.

But once school finished I started working full time, 40 hours a week. And that was light! My work never came home with me, I never had deadlines for projects hanging over my head, no tests to study for, no homework assignments, or anything like that. And with that, when I came home from work I could easily tend to things that during school often got little attention--like dirty dishes, piles of laundry, and a dusty bookcase.

Since the masjid was offering a variety of classes on weeknights after maghrib, I made a point to start attending them. Going every night turned out to be too much for me, and eventually I was only going to one class in the week. But alhamdulillah, I haven't missed a single session of that class (except for when it was cancelled), and by sticking through it I've been able to get some really valuable notes that I've posted on my blog!

I also volunteered to help the Youth program, which had a schedule organized for middle and high school with different activities on Friday nights. I took over the "education" portion and prepared some videos to show them. That ended up falling through in about a month, since truly the communication was just sub par, with the girls not knowing where/when their activities were held and ultimately not showing up at all.

And there has been the tajweed course, which was really just amazing alhamdulillah. Br. Wisam Sharieff from the Bayyinah Institute came to Raleigh in June to teach a tajweed course, and alhamdulillah I've been able to continue taking the followups ever since. In the course he basically taught all the rules of tajweed, and in the followups we practice, learning a new surah from the 30th Juz each week, and reviewing the rules in that surah and reciting to an instructor. I really feel that taking this class has helped improve my relationship with the Qur'an--and it should, since now I'm reading Qur'an much much much more often, and much more easily.

There have also been some unhappy times this summer. When my roommate got married and I became temporarily homeless, and then my own engagement was broken off. These two overlapping circumstances made my life incredibly difficult for a little while, but alhamdulillah--with difficulty comes ease. I moved and now am relatively comfortably settled in my new place, and Allah SWT has brought someone else into my life to help heal my wounds.

I have since embarked on a fitness plan that so far has helped me lose an astonishing 14 pounds, and I purchased a bicycle that, though exhausting, makes me truly happy to ride. So alhamdulillah for everything. The summer is over and life moves on. And now I'm back in school trying to reacquaint myself with the concept of homework!

Back Home

I'm sorry... the beach just got to be too much fun for me to keep updating my blog. I can't yet figure out what I was doing exactly that was so much fun... what did I do?

I figured out that I need to spend some time alone in order to keep from stressing out. So the next day when everyone went down to the beach to swim, I stayed back to just relax in the condo. I got to practice some tajweed and read some of the books I brought with me. My relaxing was cut short however when one of my friends lost her glasses in the choppy waves (in her defense, the water was very choppy and she hadn't even gone in really far but got knocked over.) But since I hadn't planned to do water that day, I was free to drive her around town to get some replacements--quite an adventure. We also did some shopping and it wasn't so bad really.

The next day I decided to rent a bicycle, something I'd meant to do early on. We went to the aquarium, and as we observed all the different kinds of fish I couldn't help but hope they would all make du'a for me when I go out to seek knowledge about Islam. That afternoon I also spent some time alone, and that evening took the bike and went for a little ride. Came back feeling much better actually--and from there, things kept improving.

The next two days I did go down to the water and swam for a little while. I went to the pool a few times, once teaching one of my friends how to swim (or really just how to float.) I took some walks on the beach, alone and with company. One night did putt-putt golf and go-carts with one friend, and one day I went up to Fort Macon (which wasn't far from where we were staying) on my bike, by myself. And explored it. I had gone once before with my family but it was neat to do it by myself.

Fort Macon is a military fort on the North Carolina coast (obviously) that was built prior to the Civil War and was used in the Civil War and the Spanish-American War before being turned into a State Park, considered to be defunct. And then it was used again in World War II when U-boats were disrupting shipping off the NC Shores.

What was pretty interesting at the Fort though was the "Civil War" history. While upon occasion you would find the words "Civil War" on displays, it was much more common to see, as shown in this photo, the war called "The War Between the States." This particular room (the sign is on a door) contained information about the Fort's importance during that war. Pretty early on it was actually captured by Union forces (in case you didn't know that North Carolina was part of the Confederacy) and turned into a prison during the Reconstruction. I found this to be kind of amusing, the determination used in re-naming the war. I was always taught to call it the "Civil War" although I know some of my fellow Southerners used this term, as well as the "War for Southern Independence" and the "War of Northern Aggression" as we get progressively more biased.

And this I found in the bookstore--I actually thought about getting it for my mom, who considers her culture to be "Dixie" and the Confederacy (or "The South") the land of her birth. According to the cover, this book lays out the argument the the South (Confederate States) were legitimate in their secession from the United States, and that the North actually invaded. It's interesting though, that Southerners while they justify the actions of the South are not justifying slavery. I don't think so anyway. I think ultimately for them it's about States' rights. While in school we're mostly taught the other perspective that it was more an issue of slavery. Anyway. The North won... and I think that's probably better!

So I came back on Saturday and promptly went to a friend of mine's wedding--it was quite lovely--and then spent some time with my brother's lovely fiancee. And now Monday means back to work, and I go back to school next Wednesday--for those of you stalker types who like to know what I'm up to, there ya go!

Anyway... now that my life is boring again perhaps the blogging can resume, inshaaAllah!

Day 3 at the Beach

I don't think I'll be able to update my blog quite as promptly (lol, as if I do anyway) this week, since I'm at the beach. I do have internet here in the room though, I just tend to be doing other things than wanting to sit and write while I'm here. Then again, that may change later on inshaaAllah.

I have some nice posts coming up--the third part of the da'wah series, explaining the message of the da'wah, which is Islam, and what the da'ee should know or understand in order to give da'wah. And then of course I'll be continuing my story of embracing Islam inshaaAllah, which I've been breaking up into smaller more manageable, more detailed portions.

This is the place where I'm staying. We have a condo on the 5th floor--by the way, the building continues on much further to the left which can't be seen in the photo. There's more people thatn I would be comfortable with, but everyone is very friendly and nice--I say that because back home in Raleigh, people aren't quite so... friendly. It's nice being at the beach.

We drove down here Saturday, ate dinner once we got into town and then crashed Saturday night. We waited until Sunday morning before doing any grocery shopping, delaying a much anticipated breakfast. Sunday ended up being a lot of different shopping--grocery shopping first and then shopping for swimming gear later on. I really don't like shopping so that wasn't a super way to start the week off, but alhamdulillah it's over and I can chill for the rest of the week.

This picture shows the view from the front of the condo--that is, the other side than the above photo, which I actually took from on the beach. The condo faces the Atlantic Ocean on the other side, but this picture shows the Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW), which can be seen when we walk out the front door of the condo.

Today we (some friends and I) went jet-skiing in the ICW. It cost about $45 for half an hour (we actually got a $10 discount) and I think that's kind of expensive, but it was fun to do that. The first time I'd ever gone on a jet-ski by myself.

Now that everyone's here (we had some late arrivals) we have 7 people in a condo that sleeps a max of 8 people. And it is getting crowded. I'm not sure how we'll be able to deal with everyone's nerves. Everyone has their own idea about what is a relaxing vacation. For me, relaxing is being alone... alone in the condo, alone on the beach, alone somewhere. For someone else, relaxing is riding a boogie board in some waves. For someone else, it is sitting on the beach eating a meal. For someone else, it's staying in the condo watching TV. Some people want to be alone (well, I do) and some want to be around other people. Some want to eat dinner strictly at a specific time and others are flexible. Some try to set a schedule while others fly by their pants. And some tell everyone their schedule and then don't stick to it.

So, at this point the whole vacation has been a little bit more stressful than I anticipated. I'm planning to spend a little more time alone, now that I have thought about it and find myself getting a short fuse at times (astaghfirullah.) My dad called me this evening while I was walking on the beach, and we both came to the conclusion that always when my family would come to the beach, I would go off by myself to do something--whether just to sit and think, to walk, to read, or anything, I liked being by myself to a certain degree. And I decided then that I should make more of a point to spend time alone.

So as I was going for a walk late tonight, I came across this little creature. He ran off in to the grass and I followed him, then he was kind enough to post and let me take a picture (with a flash, even!) In fact this was the third picture I took of him, because the first two were blurry. So if you were thinking this one was blurry? Well, that's too bad, it's the clearest of the three and I'm afraid now that I blinded him. After I settled for the third one and moved back, he ran off again.


I'll try to get my thoughts together for the two aforementioned posts I have planned inshaaAllah. Or I might just write more about the beach. Stay tuned!