Need advice... Clashing feelings about faiths!

[Me Myself]

ah well

 

[FearGod]

Well after all of this, I converted... To Islam.

I went to Canada for 2 weeks, while I was there I thought I'd meet a friend of mine (who converted) but couldn't finally. I met with one of her friend instead. She was born Muslim but brought with her her brother and a man they know who's a convert.

He told us his story, we asked questions and we talked (about Islam mainly but a few other things). I felt comfortable with what I was hearing and seeing them pray made me feel warm in my heart. I keep going back to Islam and I understood that deeply, that's what my heart wanted.

So I converted, there, in front of them as my witnesses. I feel lighter now that I finally chose my path. I've got LOADS to learn now and no mosque and no teaching close by. It'll be a challenge but that's perhaps the jihad Allah gave for me.

So assalamu alaykum my new brothers and sisters! Hopefully I can read and learn in the Islam DIR and see you around!

Congratulation my sister that you have been guided by god the almighty to the straight path,
You have fetched for him in sincerity and he answered you,Good luck and wish you the best.

 

[illykitty]

Thank you brother!

 

[Breathe]

Congratulations on finding your path.

 

[Gharib]

Well after all of this, I converted... To Islam.

I went to Canada for 2 weeks, while I was there I thought I'd meet a friend of mine (who converted) but couldn't finally. I met with one of her friend instead. She was born Muslim but brought with her her brother and a man they know who's a convert.

He told us his story, we asked questions and we talked (about Islam mainly but a few other things). I felt comfortable with what I was hearing and seeing them pray made me feel warm in my heart. I keep going back to Islam and I understood that deeply, that's what my heart wanted.

So I converted, there, in front of them as my witnesses. I feel lighter now that I finally chose my path. I've got LOADS to learn now and no mosque and no teaching close by. It'll be a challenge but that's perhaps the jihad Allah gave for me.

So assalamu alaykum my new brothers and sisters! Hopefully I can read and learn in the Islam DIR and see you around!

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) and Alhamdulilah (Praise be to Allah), I am very happy for you illykitty.

The DIR is yours just as much as it is to any other Muslim.

Looking forward to seeing you around and posting as a Muslim.

 

[Peace]

Congratulations dear sister and welcome back to Islam, the religion of al fitrah(instinct).
You are welcome to post any questions you may have in the DIR.
May Allah be your companion in this life and keep you firm on the right path, ameen!

 

[illykitty]

I'm really having trouble with this. No mosques nearby, no support and I just feel like giving up. Not going well! :'(

 

[Gharib]

You can always ask us Muslims here for any help that you need. Since there is not mosque close by, then at least you can communicate with us. We're the next best thing to a real live person.

If you have no support from Muslims, it is quite difficult, I've been there too. But I would highly encourage you to utilize the this forum and the Muslims who participate here.

We have the Private forum if you aren't comfortable with sharing/talking about certain things in public. And you also have the sisters who you could PM for any more personal issues that you'd rather not discuss in the open forum.

If you don't mind me asking, what are some of difficulties that you are facing at the moment? Is it praying, keeping away from certain things such as alcohol (if you used to drink it before), etc.

 

[illykitty]

Praying and just learning in general. I don't really know what I'm doing and if I'm doing it right. Also not having any support just makes it all harder, since I have no shoulder to lean on, when I'm feeling like giving up.

 

[Gharib]

Praying and just learning in general. I don't really know what I'm doing and if I'm doing it right. Also not having any support just makes it all harder, since I have no shoulder to lean on, when I'm feeling like giving up.

To learn some of the short chapters with which you can start praying, go to the first link. To see how the prayer is performed in detailed animation and recitation go to the second link:

Mount Hira, Learn Quran, Ayatul Kursi, Surah Yasin

Falja e namazit për fillestarë

To pray the obligatory prayers, as a start you need to memorize only three short chapters, one of which is the first chapter of the Qur'an, Al Fatiha.

Here are the direct links to 3 short chapters:

Learn Surah Al-Fatihah, Al Fatiha

Learn Surah Al-Falaq, Surah Al Falak

Learn Surah An-nas, an nas ayah 3

The first one is a must know since you can't pray without it, and then the other 2 may be any of your choosing, if you dislike the 2 that I have posted.

Let me know how you go with that.

As for learning in general, you can't know everything right away. The Qur'an was revealed over a period of 23 years because it is impossible to fully implement everything it forbids and allows in your life in one day or one year. You start implementing and practicing things as you learn them. If you want to learn as much as possible right away then you will bore and overburden yourself and will discard everything.

 

[illykitty]

What do you guys feel this sounds like?

Equality for all
Social responsibilities
Standing up for each other
Respect (for elders and God especially)
Loyalty
Charity
Freedom (of religion, not looking down on others)
Materialism and attachment discouraged
Love for all, brothers, sisters, nature, universe, God.
Community centric
Spiritual like meditation, chants and deep connections
No nonesense (rituals that have no explanation or reason)
Bettering ourselves (makes us work harder, less lazy, more giving, etc.)
Way of life
One god, all in one but the one is beyond all. Whether has incarnations or not doesn't matter. I could go either way.
No middleman. Pray only to God.
Tolerance of other religions. They are different paths.
Many teachers appeared throughout the ages.
Science and belief mixes.
Some karma and reincarnation.
No eternal literal hell. Perhaps a period of punishment? I don't know.

That's all I think. XD

 

[Valjean]

Liberal, commie, hippie propaganda!

 

[Gharib]

What do you guys feel this sounds like?

Equality for all
Social responsibilities
Standing up for each other
Respect (for elders and God especially)
Loyalty
Charity
Freedom (of religion, not looking down on others)
Materialism and attachment discouraged
Love for all, brothers, sisters, nature, universe, God.
Community centric
Spiritual like meditation, chants and deep connections
No nonesense (rituals that have no explanation or reason)
Bettering ourselves (makes us work harder, less lazy, more giving, etc.)
Way of life
One god, all in one but the one is beyond all. Whether has incarnations or not doesn't matter. I could go either way.
No middleman. Pray only to God.
Tolerance of other religions. They are different paths.
Many teachers appeared throughout the ages.
Science and belief mixes.
Some karma and reincarnation.
No eternal literal hell. Perhaps a period of punishment? I don't know.

That's all I think. XD

All sound Islamic to me other than the last one. Hell is eternal in Islamic belief.

I can get verses from the Qur'an and hadith in relation to each and every point other than the last one if you are interested.

 

[Breathe]

What do you guys feel this sounds like?

Equality for all
Social responsibilities
Standing up for each other
Respect (for elders and God especially)
Loyalty
Charity
Freedom (of religion, not looking down on others)
Materialism and attachment discouraged
Love for all, brothers, sisters, nature, universe, God.
Community centric
Spiritual like meditation, chants and deep connections
No nonesense (rituals that have no explanation or reason)
Bettering ourselves (makes us work harder, less lazy, more giving, etc.)
Way of life
One god, all in one but the one is beyond all. Whether has incarnations or not doesn't matter. I could go either way.
No middleman. Pray only to God.
Tolerance of other religions. They are different paths.
Many teachers appeared throughout the ages.
Science and belief mixes.
Some karma and reincarnation.
No eternal literal hell. Perhaps a period of punishment? I don't know.

That's all I think. XD

Sikhism. I could write a lot about it.

I suppose you could consider Ārya Samāj, some Hindu reform movements, and possibly Islam, although there's the problem with Hell, and I don't hear of reincarnation often, so if so, probably some sect of Sufism? You could consider some liberal forms of Christianity.

But I still think Sikhism may be worth considering, and here's a brief outline as to why:

Equality between all: check. Sikhs are equal regardless of race, "caste" (they don't believe in caste), creed and gender. Sadly, some Sikhs aren't great at this. It's a householder religion, so you won't have to give up everything. You have to interact with the world, give to charity, etc.

You have to defend the innocent, and respect is essential. You don't have to be a Sikh, and those who aren't are okay. God will accept them, and so should you.

Everything else, pretty much the same. I'm cutting it short because I don't need to keep selling it you, lol. The only other comments are:

Sikhs don't have incarnations of God. They don't have middlemen as such (although the Sikh teachers are "guides" to God, you don't pray to them for God, or anything). There's no eternal Hell, but there are temporary Hellish worlds for those who commit evils to be purified before being reborn. There's no practises like worshipping graves, magic, icons, and so on.


Hmmm.

 

[Gharib]

Sikhism. I could write a lot about it.

I suppose you could consider Ārya Samāj, some Hindu reform movements, and possibly Islam, although there's the problem with Hell, and I don't hear of reincarnation often, so if so, probably some sect of Sufism? You could consider some liberal forms of Christianity.

Forgot about that, Islam doesn't teach about reincarnation either along with a periodic hell, but it does teach about resurrection.

Thanks for pointing that out Odion.

 

[Breathe]

Thanks for pointing that out Odion.

Welcome.

 

[Tarheeler]

Heh, you could fit most of that into Judaism as well (certainly reform, anyway). There might be a couple sticking points for the other streams.

 

[Gharib]

Sikhism. I could write a lot about it.

I suppose you could consider Ārya Samāj, some Hindu reform movements, and possibly Islam, although there's the problem with Hell, and I don't hear of reincarnation often, so if so, probably some sect of Sufism? You could consider some liberal forms of Christianity.

But I still think Sikhism may be worth considering, and here's a brief outline as to why:

Equality between all: check. Sikhs are equal regardless of race, "caste" (they don't believe in caste), creed and gender. Sadly, some Sikhs aren't great at this. It's a householder religion, so you won't have to give up everything. You have to interact with the world, give to charity, etc.

You have to defend the innocent, and respect is essential. You don't have to be a Sikh, and those who aren't are okay. God will accept them, and so should you.

Everything else, pretty much the same. I'm cutting it short because I don't need to keep selling it you, lol. The only other comments are:

Sikhs don't have incarnations of God. They don't have middlemen as such (although the Sikh teachers are "guides" to God, you don't pray to them for God, or anything). There's no eternal Hell, but there are temporary Hellish worlds for those who commit evils to be purified before being reborn. There's no practises like worshipping graves, magic, icons, and so on.

Hmmm.

Sikhism sounds so much like Islam (apart from the obvious differences). I've never learned much about it. I think I should educate myself on Sikhism a bit better.

 

[Alceste]

What do you guys feel this sounds like?

Equality for all
Social responsibilities
Standing up for each other
Respect (for elders and God especially)
Loyalty
Charity
Freedom (of religion, not looking down on others)
Materialism and attachment discouraged
Love for all, brothers, sisters, nature, universe, God.
Community centric
Spiritual like meditation, chants and deep connections
No nonesense (rituals that have no explanation or reason)
Bettering ourselves (makes us work harder, less lazy, more giving, etc.)
Way of life
One god, all in one but the one is beyond all. Whether has incarnations or not doesn't matter. I could go either way.
No middleman. Pray only to God.
Tolerance of other religions. They are different paths.
Many teachers appeared throughout the ages.
Science and belief mixes.
Some karma and reincarnation.
No eternal literal hell. Perhaps a period of punishment? I don't know.

That's all I think. XD

Baha'i maybe?

The Bahá

 

[Breathe]

Heh, you could fit most of that into Judaism as well (certainly reform, anyway). There might be a couple sticking points for the other streams.

Oh yeah, I was going to write Reform Judaism but I forgot.

Sikhism sounds so much like Islam (apart from the obvious differences). I've never learned much about it. I think I should educate myself on Sikhism a bit better.

It's worth doing if you have time. It's a pretty awesome religion. Three Sikh "bhagat"s are Muslims: Kabir, Farid, and Beni. Some of their prose are contained within the Sikh holy text, even.