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On Being a New Muslim (Q & A Session)

Kaighla Um Dayo
28 June, 2017

Asalamu Alaikum brothers and sisters, 

More and more people are entering Islam and facing a mountain of unanswered questions. Or new Muslims are finding answers to questions that do not take the experience of the convert into account. For this reason, we are pleased to offer a live session just for new Muslims.

This session will be dedicated to answering all the questions new Muslims have about learning and living Islam.

You don’t even have to be “new” to participate. Those who are newly practicing are welcome to join the session.

The session host will be writer and once new Muslim, Kaighla um Dayo. So please jot down your questions and join us Thursday, 29th, from  4-6 PM GMT  (7–9 PM Makkah) (11-1 PM Chicago)

If you won’t be available during this time, but you have questions that need answers, don’t worry! You can email your questions in advance to [email protected], and our counselor will include them in the Live Session. 

Thursday, Jun. 29, 2017 | 19:00 - 21:00 GMT

Session is over.

Asalaamu alaykum. I converted to Islam last year in Ramadan, alhamdulillah, but I missed a few days of the fast because I had my period. Is it true I have to make up those days before this Ramadan? I wasn’t able to and I feel worried my fasts this year weren’t accepted!



Wa alaykum Asalaam Sister,

First, welcome to Islam! I myself also converted to Islam during Ramadan, and I remember that sweetness and the fierceness of those days. Everything is so new, so hard, but so beautiful! I can also relate because I missed several years worth of Ramadans because of persistent pregnancy and nursing for 6+ years.

Regarding making up fasts you’ve missed because of having your period, there is a consensus among the scholars that yes, we must make up these missed fasts before the following Ramadan.

This comes from an authentic hadith wherein ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

I used to have fasts that I still owed from Ramadan, and I could not make them up until Sha`ban (the moth after Ramadan), and that was because of the position of Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) [as a husband]. (Al-Bukhari)

Ibn Hajar said:

It may be understood from her keenness to fast them in Sha`ban that it is not permissible to delay making up fasts until the next Ramadan begins.

So, yes, technically, women should make up those fasts before the next Ramadan arrives. However, Allah does not hold us accountable for things we do not know. Since you are a new Muslim, you can only do what you are aware of. And Allah knows what is in your heart.

So, do your best this year with this new knowledge you have, to make up those fasts missed from the past two Ramadans before the next Ramadan, insha Allah.

I hope this helps. Please keep in touch. 

Salam.

I am a new convert and I am confused by the conflicting examples people give me of how to properly make wudu. How can I sort through them all?



Asalaamu Alaykum Sister,

Oh, I have been where you are. In fact, all these years later, I am still not 100% sure I am making wudu right, but I try my best, and inshaAllah Allah accepts my worship for Him alone. The important thing is to understand why we make wudu, correct our intentions, and ask Allah to help us do better.

The reason there is such a disparity in this topic is because Islam allows various interpretations of things Prophet Muhammad did. Maybe one hadith will say he always washed his ears and neck, while another doesn’t even mention this.

Either we assume he sometimes did and sometimes didn’t, or we assume the people recording his actions just left things out, which is unlikely. In that case, it’s safe to assume that he intentionally left these parts off so that we would not be too burdened believing they were fardh (obligatory).

There are some common mistakes people make in wudu, either from a lack of correct knowledge or lack of adequate ability.  These include wasting water, accidentally leaving on nail polish so the water doesn’t touch the nails, not moving jewelry so that water can move under it, and washing too many times. Yes, there is a such thing as too much wudu!

The trick really is to do your best to study what the four recognized madhahab say regarding wudu, how to make it, and what breaks it, and do your level best to fulfill the path that makes the most sense to you. You have a thinking mind for a reason, and Allah promises that His mercy always outweighs His wrath.

I hope this helps. Please keep in touch. 

Salam.

So many people in my small-town community are paranoid about “Sharia creep” as they call it. How can I convince them that Sharia is not something scary, and that it doesn’t even apply to them?!



Asalaamu Alaykum Brother,

Ah, good ole’ “creeping shariah”. One imagines a tiger lying in wait to pounce when someone isn’t looking.

Years ago in Dearborn, MI, we were constantly facing attacks from various news sources complaining that Dearborn was going to enforce sharia law, just because there is a huge Muslim population, and because the mayor was very sympathetic and warm with Muslims there.

First, I’d say you need to explain to them that the power of a word comes in what we tell ourselves about it.

If I spread a rumor that BANANA was a terrifying word with awful connotations, and if I had millions of people listening to me (*cough*PRESIDENT TRUMP*cough*), eventually everyone in America would be making up a word for that fruit to avoid using that word.

Sharia is just an Arabic word that means “law”, and it’s a key point. Unless you are a black or brown person in America, you don’t really need to be afraid of the word “law”, because the law would almost always be on your side.

More importantly, you must emphasize that Shariah laws, BY DEFINITION, only apply to Muslims. There is no compulsion in religion; there is no such thing as a “forced conversion” in Islam.

People choose the right or wrong path, and God deals with them. No human or humans can enforce Islamic law on a person who refuses to even accept Islam.

Next, what if some judge found actually allowed Shariah law to be enforced in a civil suit between two Muslims? Why is that terrifying? How does that affect non-Muslims?

What if by some crazy, crazy magic, Islam became the majority religion in North America (bear with me here), what would that mean for non-Muslims? NOTHING. Also, nothing. And then, more nothing.  

It is important to clarify that shariah is very different than hudud, meaning “punishment”. Again, even if an Islamically-sanctioned court of law were to come into power in America, non-Muslims need not fear hudud, either because, again, it does not apply to non-Muslims!

I hope this answers your question and provides you with some resources, and may Allah make it easier for you!

I recently converted to Islam, and I don’t deal with as much hardship as female converts do. But my anger starts to get the best of me when people call me a terrorist or accuse me of oppressing my wife. How do I ignore the bigoted and hateful remarks when I am called a terrorist or other hateful remarks?



Asalaamu Alaykum Brother,

While many of the converts in America are women, there is also a growing trend of men coming to Islam. Men and women face different struggles in coming to Islam, for sure, but one of the hardest for Muslim men is dealing the daily attacks on their ego from bigots and ignorant zealots of American nationalism. It takes a lot for a man to be bigger and stronger than his nafs, or ego, and I applaud you for trying.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUB) said that a truly strong man controls his anger. What we need to focus on in these times is the bigger picture. Rather than being reactive and going with whatever knee-jerk reaction we have stored in our inner mind, we must actively choose to be responsive.

Ask yourself what is more important: stooping to the level of the bigot or standing proud as a Muslim man in front of your loved ones, and ultimately in front of Allah. Ask yourself what the cost of responding in anger to that taunting would be: what is the most valuable thing you would have to give up as a price for reacting in ager? And what would be better and more appropriate to send a message that Islam is not what they think: that you are not the one dimensional trope they assume you are?

I hope this advice is helpful to you, and there are excellent videos and articles all over AboutIslam.net on the topic of dealing with islamophobia, bullies who are bigoted, and the extreme racism many immigrant and black/brown Muslims face from all sides.

Please keep in touch. Salam.