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issues with being a new Muslim

I made shahada in the local Turkish mosque over 2 years ago. There were warm welcomes and congratulations everywhere within the mosque community (not realizing back then that I was within a very strong SALAFI community, and which was to my detriment and regrets later). It didn't take long to dawn on me that I was not to....
-think for myself, and the mullahs had a full say in how I lead and live my life
-learn from anywhere, but from the mosque and the imam himself
-do, say, or think anything that was even A TINY BIT different to everybody else..not only with religion but also life itself
...in fact, it just became ridiculous in the end. I no longer go to the mosque. I've lost count of how many times I've left Islam...only to come back again...but each time I came back, the distance (in day-to-day affairs) between myself and born-Muslims just got wider and further each time, and this experience is apparently not unique to me as a convert to Islam. Many other converts have gone through similar, as indicated by the link below...

http://muslimobserver.com/the-problem-with-becoming-a-muslim/
 

Sakeenah

Well-Known Member
I made shahada in the local Turkish mosque over 2 years ago. There were warm welcomes and congratulations everywhere within the mosque community (not realizing back then that I was within a very strong SALAFI community, and which was to my detriment and regrets later). It didn't take long to dawn on me that I was not to....
-think for myself, and the mullahs had a full say in how I lead and live my life
-learn from anywhere, but from the mosque and the imam himself
-do, say, or think anything that was even A TINY BIT different to everybody else..not only with religion but also life itself
...in fact, it just became ridiculous in the end. I no longer go to the mosque. I've lost count of how many times I've left Islam...only to come back again...but each time I came back, the distance (in day-to-day affairs) between myself and born-Muslims just got wider and further each time, and this experience is apparently not unique to me as a convert to Islam. Many other converts have gone through similar, as indicated by the link below...

http://muslimobserver.com/the-problem-with-becoming-a-muslim/


Assallaamu alaikum

Im sorry you had such a bad experience in your local Muslim community. There are mosques which are more cultural then Islamic and often the imams at those mosques are brought in from abroad and purely chosen because they memorizef the Quran. Imam simply means the one who leads the congregation in prayer. It doesn't necessarily mean he has knowledge.

I'm from a predominantly salafi community..yes we can be considered conservative but blind following isn't promoted, Islam and salafiyah promotes seeking knowledge and research.

new Muslims are accepted and seen as any other muslim. There are at least 4 revert teachers and imams in my community.

Maybe you can try a different and more accepting mosque
 

Mohammad Nur Syamsu

Well-Known Member
I made shahada in the local Turkish mosque over 2 years ago. There were warm welcomes and congratulations everywhere within the mosque community (not realizing back then that I was within a very strong SALAFI community, and which was to my detriment and regrets later). It didn't take long to dawn on me that I was not to....
-think for myself, and the mullahs had a full say in how I lead and live my life
-learn from anywhere, but from the mosque and the imam himself
-do, say, or think anything that was even A TINY BIT different to everybody else..not only with religion but also life itself
...in fact, it just became ridiculous in the end. I no longer go to the mosque. I've lost count of how many times I've left Islam...only to come back again...but each time I came back, the distance (in day-to-day affairs) between myself and born-Muslims just got wider and further each time, and this experience is apparently not unique to me as a convert to Islam. Many other converts have gone through similar, as indicated by the link below...

http://muslimobserver.com/the-problem-with-becoming-a-muslim/

It is very clear from the popularity of muslim terrorism that corruption is widespread in Islam.

These kinds of things like insisting that everybody acts exactly the same way, presupposes a factual certitude about what is good. It is saying your spirit which chooses the behaviour is not important, the behaviour is important. The behaviour must match exactly what is know for a fact to be good. It is a nonsense, goodness and evil of a man can only be attributed to the soul choosing, goodness and evil are not measurable like behaviour is. The soul is judged by God after death. God preserves the soul, God does not preserve the behaviours.

How this works psychologically is that they define choosing in terms of sorting out the best result, using the facts about what is good and evil as sorting criteria. Then anytime they make a "decision" then the definition of choosing that they use says they did the best. Think about it, if choosing is defined as sorting out the best result, then any choice made must by definition be doing the best. Also this definition says, that if one did not do the best, then it was not chosen, so it must have been an accident or something, not their fault. So you can see, you get the ego boost, the absolute self confidence and you get no guilt for anything whatsoever, a very powerful psychological mechanism. That is the well known original sin of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
 

paarsurrey

Veteran Member
I made shahada in the local Turkish mosque over 2 years ago. There were warm welcomes and congratulations everywhere within the mosque community (not realizing back then that I was within a very strong SALAFI community, and which was to my detriment and regrets later). It didn't take long to dawn on me that I was not to....
-think for myself, and the mullahs had a full say in how I lead and live my life
-learn from anywhere, but from the mosque and the imam himself
-do, say, or think anything that was even A TINY BIT different to everybody else..not only with religion but also life itself
...in fact, it just became ridiculous in the end. I no longer go to the mosque. I've lost count of how many times I've left Islam...only to come back again...but each time I came back, the distance (in day-to-day affairs) between myself and born-Muslims just got wider and further each time, and this experience is apparently not unique to me as a convert to Islam. Many other converts have gone through similar, as indicated by the link below...
http://muslimobserver.com/the-problem-with-becoming-a-muslim/
I sympathise with you.
The Imam/s leading the prayers in a mosque are just symbolic persons, they need not be followed, the real Imam is Muhammad and Quran.
Regards
 

TashaN

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Sorry you had to go through that. Although i have never lived in a non-Muslim country before, and i don't know the magnitude of authority exercised by local mosques and their respective imams, but i have read about it numerous times in the internet and also in some literature which deals with similar issues.

In Muslim countries anyone is free to do what he wants because there are alot of scholars and imams but your choices are very limited in the West which means if you ended up in the wrong mosque, that might give you a wrong impression of Islam.

I hope you will try to reach out to a different mosque if you can and read a lot about Muslim scholars and thinkers to gain a deeper understanding of Islam beyond what is being practiced by some imams with limited knowledge.

In Islam, usually the imam is in charge of leading the prayer and teaching people the Quran, and only few selected imam in the city/country who have demonstrated deep knowledge of Islam should have the ability to exercise issuing fatwas and teaching people about Islam.

But it seems that since knowledgeable scholars are usually scarce in countries with non-Muslims as a majority so unqualified imam sometimes feel obliged to do more than their usual duties. Sometimes they are narrow-minded and extreme, but sometimes they just don't have sufficient knowledge and the mistakes they might do come unintentional.

Always keep in mind that being in a non-Muslim country is different than being in a Muslim country and try your best to do what your hearts tell you and make a lot of du'a to Allah in order to guide you to the right path.

Also, i hope our little warm house here in the forums will give you a more refreshing and diverse perspective which you might lack in your area, and if you need any help or have any questions, feel free to ask for we are all one family here. :)
 
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