Some questions ...

[curious seeker]

Hello :)

I'm brand new. I'm a former Christian... I say "former" because it's only been recently that I've dropped the label. I suppose right now I am "Agnostic"... or a "Seeker" is a better word.

I love God with all my heart. That's why I was a Christian.. but I don't believe in the teachings of Jesus being Divine or the Son of God. I've stayed in Christianity a long, long time because it was a comfortable place to worship God... but I don't fit, because of my beliefs.

Now I am seeking the truth... trying to figure it all out. I know I don't fit into Judaism, because I don't believe in rejecting Jesus completely either (I think he was a great teacher, a prophet sent to us by God) nor do I really believe in God having a "chosen people"...

So therefor I've started to study Islam. And here I am.

My study and research has raised a lot of questions.. I wanted to bring up a couple of them to you, if you wouldn't mind.



------------------------------

1) Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?

2) If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?


3) The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?


4) Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.


Thank you for the help!

[Insaanah]

Hello :)

I'm brand new. I'm a former Christian... I say "former" because it's only been recently that I've dropped the label. I suppose right now I am "Agnostic"... or a "Seeker" is a better word.

I love God with all my heart. That's why I was a Christian.. but I don't believe in the teachings of Jesus being Divine or the Son of God. I've stayed in Christianity a long, long time because it was a comfortable place to worship God... but I don't fit, because of my beliefs.

Now I am seeking the truth... trying to figure it all out. I know I don't fit into Judaism, because I don't believe in rejecting Jesus completely either (I think he was a great teacher, a prophet sent to us by God) nor do I really believe in God having a "chosen people"...

So therefor I've started to study Islam. And here I am.

My study and research has raised a lot of questions.. I wanted to bring up a couple of them to you, if you wouldn't mind.



------------------------------

1) Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?

2) If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?


3) The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?


4) Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.


Thank you for the help!

Peace curious seeker,

Can I tackle your last question first. There is no room for racism in Islam. AT ALL. Islam is a faith and not a race. You'll find many former Christians on this forum, and I am ashamed and pleased at the same time to say that many are better Muslims than me. When Islam first came, the Arabs thought they were far superior to anyone else, and Allah told them that no Arab is better than a non-Arab, but its our deeds and what's in our hearts thats looked at. When you become a Muslim, you will immediately be a sister in faith :)

[Insaanah]

Peace,

I was hoping some more people would have replied and would be able to explain better than me. It could be that their replies are awaiting moderation..but in the meantime I'll answer briefly..but this is from my own limited knowledge, not from a scholar's viewpoint. Allah knows best.

Allah does listen to the prayers of His creation..after all He is the All-Hearing who created everyone! From what I know, if you are sincerely seeking the truth, and want to open your heart to the truth, then make effort to find the truth and pray to Allah to help you find the truth. Then if Allah so wills, He will help you find the truth as long as you open your heart to it, however that's not without effort on your part lol. :)

2. As a non-Muslim, you're not obliged to do any of those things, and although you could to see what it feels like, there would be no reward for it without faith, and might not have much meaning. Your sincere quest for the truth, as well as your prayers would hopefully invoke Allah's help. I don't mean to discourage you at all by the way, if you do want to try :)

As to question 3, I was hoping that some of our revert members might have told how they did it. I think with faith learning Arabic seems easier. You'd need someone to help you I think, and maybe you could start off with Arabic written in English and learning by heart from that while you slowly learn the language. As far as I know, you can't do the 5 daily prayers in English.

I hope others will correct me if I've been wrong in what I've said, and that Allah will forgive me any mistakes.

Hope this helped a bit, and sorry to take so long to reply.

Please do let us know if you have any other questions :)

Peace.

[Hamza Asadullah]

Hello :)

I'm brand new. I'm a former Christian... I say "former" because it's only been recently that I've dropped the label. I suppose right now I am "Agnostic"... or a "Seeker" is a better word.

I love God with all my heart. That's why I was a Christian.. but I don't believe in the teachings of Jesus being Divine or the Son of God. I've stayed in Christianity a long, long time because it was a comfortable place to worship God... but I don't fit, because of my beliefs.

Now I am seeking the truth... trying to figure it all out. I know I don't fit into Judaism, because I don't believe in rejecting Jesus completely either (I think he was a great teacher, a prophet sent to us by God) nor do I really believe in God having a "chosen people"...

So therefor I've started to study Islam. And here I am.

My study and research has raised a lot of questions.. I wanted to bring up a couple of them to you, if you wouldn't mind.



------------------------------

1) Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?



2) If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?


3) The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?


4) Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.


Thank you for the help!

Hello my friend and welcome to the forum. You are very welcome here with your questions and please don't ever hesitate to ask anything you want and we will try out utmost to answer your questions and help you in anyway that we can.

In regards to your first question, yes Allah does listen to prayers of non Muslims if they ask for guidance and he shows MANY signs to non believers in their lifetime in order to see if they will reject or accept and follow the signs which will lead one to eternal success however if one rejects those signs then the person will have to answer on the day of judgement as to why they rejected the signs that God gave him and that person will then have no excuse.

If a disbeliever does good in this world then Allah will reward them ONLY in this world for they shal have no share in the hereafter. There is a difference between a non Muslim and a disbeliever because a disbeliever is one who after knowing Islam rejects it but a non Muslim may be someone who has'nt come across it.

No one can say that a non Muslim can go to hell because everyone will be judged according to their own life but what we do know is that eternal success ONLY lies in Islam.

Islam means TOTAL submission to the will of Allah and that one ONLY believes that he is ONE without a partner mother father daughter son etc.


Allah guides who he wants and he says this in the Qur'an but he does not guide all because that would go against the whole purpose of creation and even those who are born Muslims it does'nt mean that they will necessarily die as Muslims.

Allah looks not at a persons face or colour but he looks into a persons heart. It is said that Allah cannot live anywhere but in the heart of a true and pious Muslim.

Also know that Allah has created everyone equal and NO race is superiour to another but the superiour one is the one who's more pious in good deeds and righteousness.

Know that Allah guides the person but it is upto the person to open their heart and accept that Allah is wanting to guide them and hold onto the hand of Allah (metaphorical) and let themselves be guided by the one who guides. Know that NO human can guide anyone but we can only inform and Allah decides who is given guidance.

A persons soul feels the truth and one will inevitabley feel very emotional when ones soul feels that it is coming towards the truth. The soul will awaken and i have seen countless converts to Islam crying emotional once they have accepted the proclamation of faith because it is an amazing time for ones soul to finally feel the truth and one will feel an overwhelming feeling of emotion and extreme happiness and one thing that I always here from converts is the sense of a huge burden coming off their shoulders when they accept Islam and do you know what that burden is? It is a WHOLE lifetime of sin being washed off a person so a person who accepts Islam then they are like a new born baby in that they will be left sinless like the day they were born.

Allah is the one who guides a person and i can tell from what you have written that you heart is inclined and being drawn towards Islam and this is TOTALLY from Allah and it is amazing that he has chosen you out of countless others because he sees something in your heart that he likes so he is wanting to guide you.

Once you have taken the shahada (proclamation of faith) then everything else will be easy for you. More people are reverting to Islam here in the west that any other faith or belief and they are converting in staggering numbers and ill tell you one thing most of them will be worse at learning languages than us but Allah has made the language of the Qur'an as such that it is SO easy to learn and memorize. You will only reaise once you start learning how easy it really is and it is because Allah will make it easy for you i promise so do not worry about learning prayers and verses from the Qur'an.

One of my friends is a white convert brother and he is learning himself right now and he has learnt so well already and can even recite arabic with the proper accent. It just takes a little effort and Allah helps one with the rest.

As soon as one accepts Islam then one should immediatley start to learn at least a few basic words in Arabic aswell as gradually learning the prayer in Arabic in oes own speed.

Eventually one will learn it VERY easily trust me it won't take years, with hard work and effort it should take a matter of months or even less inshallah (God willing).

I can tell you from my personal experience that the white convert brother I was telling you about has NEVER experienced any of that which your worrying about nore has any other convert.

You will find Muslims to be very welcoming and helpful people who will be willing to support and advise you whatever you will go through. It is natural that one will feel vulnerablity at first. When i was at high school i felt worried about going to college because i thought will i make friends and how will i cope etc but when i got there i was thinking why did i ever worry? Sameway when i was at college and before going to university i was worried how i would cope going into a university environment and what will it be like etc When i got there i thought why did i ever worry? This applies to anything in life but when you get there inshallah (God willing) you will think why did i ever worry. You will make good and pious friends inshallah and they will help and support you all the way along inshallah. But you will go through trials as do all of us in life but if one has FULL faith, hope,trust and reliance in Allah then one will have NOTHING at all to worry about because whatever situation were in Allah is watching us and is there for us and all we need to do is call upon him and he will answer our prayer in one way or another.

Please feel free to ask me anything you want and i have pasted this link for you to look at short clips of converts to Islam from around the world as you may be able to relate to them as they share their experiences of coming to Islam and how they felt before and after conversion. You will really enjoy some of these clips.

See why they converted to Islam:

http://forum.mpacuk.org/showthread.php?t=44218

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[peaceandlove]

:sl:

First of all i want to congratulate you as you believes what islam says , like you believe in One GOD , you believe that Prophet Eisa (Jesus) peace be upon him was the prophet of Allah.

Well, i donot have much knowledge but i will try to give answers to your question as per my understanding.

Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?

Why not?even they are prayer for wants, Allah loves us more than a mother loves her child , so if any body wants to go to the true path , Allah will Inshahallah surely guide him to the right path.

If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?

i did not understand what do you mean by go through motions but any way , Allah is the creator of all of us so you must have to pray him alone ,and if you want you can do hijab and any other thing describe in Islam , this will bring you more close to Islam, even if you think that you are non-muslim , pray to Allah , pray him for true guidence and inshahallah you will find the ture path.

The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?

a) Simply No , prayer/salat must be only in Arabic , just learn it it wont be difficult for you.

b) I am not sure but i think atleast to start with it might be ok until you are able to do with out these, but my suggestion is to contact some scholar who can give you much better solution and can give much better insturction to do that.

c) I donot think it will take you months or year to learn salat (in arabic) , it might take a few weaks to learn salat , what i can say is first just learn by heart how to pray and word in arabic with english transalation , so you also know what you are praying.

By the way i am not agree with this statement "they have no one close to teach them." , now its not necessary that there must be someone physically present there to teach you , you have a web , you can chat with webcam to be learn easily and there might be tens of institutes online who can teach you arabic or many volutiers who can chat and teaches you prayers.

Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.

I think you already get answer by "isane insane" , by reverting to muslim (we believe that every child born was muslim later on there parent/society converts them to other one) , you have the same status as other have , in Islam there is no such thing , and if you ask me for this i will consider you far far more superiour then me because when a person accept Islam , all his previous sins/bad thing wer forgiven and he was just like a new born child.

If you have some other question , please donot hesitate to ask us , we will try our best to our knowlege to answer you.

May Allah guide you and all of us to the true path.

[Seeker1066]

Hello :)

I'm brand new. I'm a former Christian... I say "former" because it's only been recently that I've dropped the label. I suppose right now I am "Agnostic"... or a "Seeker" is a better word.

I love God with all my heart. That's why I was a Christian.. but I don't believe in the teachings of Jesus being Divine or the Son of God. I've stayed in Christianity a long, long time because it was a comfortable place to worship God... but I don't fit, because of my beliefs.

Now I am seeking the truth... trying to figure it all out. I know I don't fit into Judaism, because I don't believe in rejecting Jesus completely either (I think he was a great teacher, a prophet sent to us by God) nor do I really believe in God having a "chosen people"...

So therefor I've started to study Islam. And here I am.

My study and research has raised a lot of questions.. I wanted to bring up a couple of them to you, if you wouldn't mind.



------------------------------

1) Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?

2) If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?


3) The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?


4) Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.


Thank you for the help!

I share most of your questions. I will eagerly follow the responses. Welcome to Club Seeker;D

[Rafeeq]

Dear Sis. Peace.

Your Q4 is answered by Sis Insane Insan.
Here your rest three questions answered as I understand best of my knowledge.
Q1.
Allah do listen the prayers of non-muslims also. He is God for everyone, not only for muslims. If man want to look for truth, He helps him find the way.

Q2.
Allah always reward your struggle. Sure, when you will start practicing islamic values, you will be able to judge your self that you are doing some thing which brings peace to you. As I told earlier, struggle for truth will be granted, Inshallah. Quran claims that man gets the thing which he struggle for. (Quran is the book sent by Allah as He send bible and Torah earlier)

Q3.
a) Prayers are in Arabic only for which most appropriate is what you asked in section b) to read arabic writen in english. No problem if you can not deliver words properly. I will try to explain you in another way. When a kid starts speaking, he speaks words randomly or such a way, it is hard to understand. But parents enjoy and claps happily. At the same time, mother understands what he wants. Allah loves His man 70 times more than a mother does her child. Hence He understand our prayers and do answer.
c) Once you accepted Islam, prayers (sala) are must to offer even if you do not know what to say, but you must bow before Allah.

I pray Allah to lead you to truth. God bless you.

[UmmSqueakster]

Hello :)

I'm brand new. I'm a former Christian... I say "former" because it's only been recently that I've dropped the label. I suppose right now I am "Agnostic"... or a "Seeker" is a better word.

I love God with all my heart. That's why I was a Christian.. but I don't believe in the teachings of Jesus being Divine or the Son of God. I've stayed in Christianity a long, long time because it was a comfortable place to worship God... but I don't fit, because of my beliefs.

Now I am seeking the truth... trying to figure it all out. I know I don't fit into Judaism, because I don't believe in rejecting Jesus completely either (I think he was a great teacher, a prophet sent to us by God) nor do I really believe in God having a "chosen people"...

Welcome to the forum! I was also a former Christian before finding Islam. I have always thought that when I left christianity, I lost Jesus (as), and when I become muslim, I found him again :)

I maintain a list of helpful resources for converts and potential muslism at my blog - http://umms.wordpress.com/converts/ - you can also contact me through the email link there as well if you want to talk :)

1) Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?

Yes! That’s actually something I recommend for seekers to do most often – ask Allah (swt) for guidance, to be shown the straight path. In fact, Allah (swt) is the only one would could bring a person into this religion, so who better to ask than Him?

Surely you cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He pleases, and He knows best the followers of the right way. (28:56)

2) If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?

I think reading the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet (saws) are the two biggies. After all, as muslims we believe the Qur’an is Allah (swt)’s words on earth, so what better way to know the religion than to hear it straight from Allah (swt) Himself?

But, Allah (swt) didn’t just chuck a book at us and expect us to figure it out for ourselves. No, He sent us a teacher, the best example of what it means to be a muslim – the Prophet Muhammad (saws). If you read the life of the Prophet (saws) and the Qur’an with an open heart, and see that they are truly God’s message to mankind, and God’s chosen teacher, then that’s the shahada – la ilaha il Allah, Muhammadur rasul Allah – there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.

3) The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?

I am beyond horrible at languages! I’ve tried Spanish, French, Russian and Arabic and failed miserably at all. I still plod along with Arabic, since it’s the language of the Qur’an and I’d love to learn it.

When I converted, a sister sent me a set of cards to learn how to pray. I’ve recreated those cards here - http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Ac...c2dqcGc1&hl=en

I would stand with the cards in my hand, read the line of Arabic out loud, and then the English silently. After a few weeks (months maybe? I can’t remember back that far, lol), not only did I have the prayers memorized, I also knew what I was saying. For pronunciation, there are quite a few salat programs online that pronounce the words, so you can check your pronunciation against that.

Do everything in your power to learn to pray in Arabic – it’s vital. It’s what enables us to be one brotherhood, one ummah. I can go to a masjid anywhere in the world and know that I will be able to pray with people I can’t communicate with in any other way.

4) Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.
Thank you for the help!

It depends. White female converts are often held up as pure perfect examples of muslims. We’re soooo much better than born muslims, or so they’re always telling us. But then, there’s always an underpinning of “did she convert for a man, blah blah blah” that shrouds us, even if we converted before we met our future husbands.

In the end, I think the muslim community here in the west is very good at embracing diversity. The masjids I attend are waaay more mixed in terms of race and national origin then any church I’ve ever attended. While you may stick out as a white face (and be used as a mascot), in general I’ve found muslims to be a pretty friendly bunch and will go out of their way to help a convert (maybe not in the way you want or need, but it's the thought that counts ;D )

[still learning]

First i would like to say Salam Walkum Rahmatil rubaktu

and i have my answers/opinions in bold

Hello :)



1) Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?

Im not sure Exactly how to answer this one. but I would like to ask your self this. why did you converting? / how did you find truth?

no doubt Allah (SWT) will guide any of his slaves, but it is up to us to seek Allah. i dont know if this answers your question, but ask yourself that questions and see if anything happens for you.


2) If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?

Allah (SWT) will help anyone who ask sincerely and Allah (SWT) will forgive anyones since, because Allah (SWT) is the Most Merciful. Beg Allah (SWT) for guidance and it will be granted.

yes i do believe that it would be a good idea to start preforming some actions, or omitting some actions.

DO:

remember Allah (SWT) as much as you can during the days
learn to pray
learn to read
(good deads)

Dont:
eat pork
swear
drink alcohol
etc (sins)

there is a surah (prayer) for seeking guidance i will prove you with a link you can read it in Arabic (translated in English) so you can memorize the words without actually reading Arabic. for example it will be like this

"Saa-Laam" you can simply read it in English but its actually an arbic word. and then it will have the translation for you "hello"

http://transliteration.org/quran/Web...suf/Fram2E.htm

IT also has audio!

3) The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?

when i was a kid i did a mix of B and C i knew some surahs but not all the rest i read off paper and after a while it was memorized. but many people including myself learn the verse and have no idea what were saying. i also dont speak arabic but i know surahs based off memory but you defiantly want to learn the meanings, that link has the english translation (meanings)


memorize the arabic verse then right after learn the definition. use the site i linked before

4) Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.


i was actualy reading hadiths today (hadiths are books complied from the people who lived with Muhammad pbuh) and since he was the ultimate slave of Allah SWt. we follow his foot steps as he is the last messenger. and in the hadiths it said that many people would come to Muhammad pbuh for advice on many different topics. he would give answers and he would keep there problems secret. so this im telling you that your borthers and sisters will keep your secrets because if they keep yours Allah SWT will keep theirs.

now to answer the questions. it also mentioned later in the book, that Muhammad pbuh would rank people based off their fatih and love for Allah swt not by wealth, race ,skin color etc. not only is Islam welcoming. most culutes assocated with Islam are aslo very welcoming. (arabs. pakis, afgahns etc.)

Thank you for the help!

[still learning]

First i would like to say Salam Walkum Rahmatil rubaktu

and i have my answers/opinions in bold

Hello :)



1) Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?

Im not sure Exactly how to answer this one. but I would like to ask your self this. why did you converting? / how did you find truth?

no doubt Allah (SWT) will guide any of his slaves, but it is up to us to seek Allah. i dont know if this answers your question, but ask yourself that questions and see if anything happens for you.


2) If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?

Allah (SWT) will help anyone who ask sincerely and Allah (SWT) will forgive anyones since, because Allah (SWT) is the Most Merciful. Beg Allah (SWT) for guidance and it will be granted.

yes i do believe that it would be a good idea to start preforming some actions, or omitting some actions.

DO:

remember Allah (SWT) as much as you can during the days
learn to pray
learn to read
(good deads)

Dont:
eat pork
swear
drink alcohol
etc (sins)

there is a surah (prayer) for seeking guidance i will prove you with a link you can read it in Arabic (translated in English) so you can memorize the words without actually reading Arabic. for example it will be like this

"Saa-Laam" you can simply read it in English but its actually an arbic word. and then it will have the translation for you "hello"

http://transliteration.org/quran/Web...suf/Fram2E.htm

IT also has audio!

3) The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?

when i was a kid i did a mix of B and C i knew some surahs but not all the rest i read off paper and after a while it was memorized. but many people including myself learn the verse and have no idea what were saying. i also dont speak arabic but i know surahs based off memory but you defiantly want to learn the meanings, that link has the english translation (meanings)


memorize the arabic verse then right after learn the definition. use the site i linked before

4) Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.


i was actualy reading hadiths today (hadiths are books complied from the people who lived with Muhammad pbuh) and since he was the ultimate slave of Allah SWt. we follow his foot steps as he is the last messenger. and in the hadiths it said that many people would come to Muhammad pbuh for advice on many different topics. he would give answers and he would keep there problems secret. so this im telling you that your borthers and sisters will keep your secrets because if they keep yours Allah SWT will keep theirs.

now to answer the questions. it also mentioned later in the book, that Muhammad pbuh would rank people based off their fatih and love for Allah swt not by wealth, race ,skin color etc. not only is Islam welcoming. most culutes assocated with Islam are aslo very welcoming. (arabs. pakis, afgahns etc.)

Thank you for the help!

[islamlover_girl]

I love God with all my heart. That's why I was a Christian.. but I don't believe in the teachings of Jesus being Divine or the Son of God. I've stayed in Christianity a long, long time because it was a comfortable place to worship God... but I don't fit, because of my beliefs.

Now I am seeking the truth... trying to figure it all out. I know I don't fit into Judaism, because I don't believe in rejecting Jesus completely either (I think he was a great teacher, a prophet sent to us by God) nor do I really believe in God having a "chosen people"...

So therefor I've started to study Islam. And here I am.

in Islam we belive that jesus is a prophet God sent him,also we belive in all prophets who was sent befor mohammed peace be upon him,but we don`t belive that Jesus peace be upon him or any other human is the son of God,also we don`t belive that God has chosen people,if you want to know more about what Islam said about jesus peace be upon him,I collected the Quranic verses talk about him here
http://www.islamicboard.com/comparat...ml#post1180126

1) Do you believe Allah listens to the prayers of non-Muslims? I don't mean prayers for wants... I mean, if people pray to Allah for the truth, will Allah convict their hearts of the truth, so that they can convert?

Keep praying to him to guide you to the truth,only God who can guide you ,also keep looking to the truth sencerly,read about miracles in quran,what Bible say about Mohamed,what Quran say about Bible,.....etc.
this link is about miracles in Quran
http://www.miraclesof*************/index.php
and this one about what Bible say about Mohammed
http://islamworld.net/docs/Muhammad.in.Bible.html
.

2) If people are not quite sure of Islam yet, but are considering it.. should they go through the motions? Prayers to Allah... Hijab for women... etc? Even if they are non-Muslim still? Will this perhaps help them find the truth, if God sees they are trying, maybe He will help them?

Imparcing the right religon is more important than any other deeds.

3) The 5 daily prayers ... are to be done in Arabic. I understand why, but it raises a question: If a convert is English-speaking... ZERO Arabic, absolutely nothing. In fact they speak no languages other than English, and they suck at learning languages (welcome to my world)... and they have no one close to teach them.

Do they:

a) Do the prayers in English.

b) Read the prayers in Arabic off of a piece of paper (probably slowly and badly, lol)

c) Don't do the prayers at all until you can memorize the Arabic (which could, for English westerners like me, take months, or even years, because we really do suck with Eastern languages)

Which is better?


!

Many muslims are zero Arabic ,you don`t need to learn Arabic ,you just have to memorize few sentences of praying.

4) Are Western and/or White converts (reverts) to Islam looked down on in any way by other Muslims? I've never had to fear racism in my life being Caucasian, I consider myself lucky obviously, but when I think about Islam, I worry about things like being outcast and not being able to find support in learning and growing in faith.

In Islam No diffrent between white and black,Arabic and non Arabic,racism is completly forbiden in Islam ,so you will be welcomed,there is many reverts here in this forum you can ask them about their experience in Islam.