Non-Muslim Here

Hello, I'm a non-Muslim and I live in America. Even though I live in the south (very republican/Trump supporting part of America), I had the unique opportunity of growing up with Muslim friends in school/my neighborhood, so I know more about Islam than your average white American southerner. However, I am still super confused about many things, and have posted on other Islamic forums such as on Reddit, ect, only to be ignored.. I can't just "visit my local masjid" because I feel utterly terrified/drawn back from doing so for several personal reasons. I have experimented with a number of different religions (just experimented), and Islam seems to stick out to me, personally. There's so much more I could say about my experiences with Islam, if you'd like to here them, just send me a message.


1. Does Allah accept the prayers of non-Muslims like myself? I ask this with great curiosity, because I've read different answers. I actually prayed to Allah a while back, and asked for very specific things which quickly happened, much to my surprise. I also felt faith stronger than I have ever felt before in God, it was so strange. BTW, I'm almost 100% sure I did not pray to Allah in the correct way, lol..


3. Why is music a sin in Islam?


4.What are the different types of prayers in Islam? Can someone please list them all here?



2. Can someone on here please private message me to talk about Islam? I'd prefer a white convert, because we'd connect better.

blobcatmap said:

Hello, I'm a non-Muslim and I live in America. Even though I live in the south (very republican/Trump supporting part of America), I had the unique opportunity of growing up with Muslim friends in school/my neighborhood, so I know more about Islam than your average white American southerner. However, I am still super confused about many things, and have posted on other Islamic forums such as on Reddit, ect, only to be ignored.. I can't just "visit my local masjid" because I feel utterly terrified/drawn back from doing so for several personal reasons. I have experimented with a number of different religions (just experimented), and Islam seems to stick out to me, personally. There's so much more I could say about my experiences with Islam, if you'd like to here them, just send me a message.


1. Does Allah accept the prayers of non-Muslims like myself? I ask this with great curiosity, because I've read different answers. I actually prayed to Allah a while back, and asked for very specific things which quickly happened, much to my surprise. I also felt faith stronger than I have ever felt before in God, it was so strange. BTW, I'm almost 100% sure I did not pray to Allah in the correct way, lol..


3. Why is music a sin in Islam?


4.What are the different types of prayers in Islam? Can someone please list them all here?



2. Can someone on here please private message me to talk about Islam? I'd prefer a white convert, because we'd connect better.

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Welcome bro

I converted to Islam in 2009 feel free to message me for your questions or if you want someone to bounce ideas off.

As for your questions

1. I don't know the answer to this question but InshaAllah someone else here will help
2. Primarily music is forbidden because the Prophet sallaho alayhi wa sallam forbade it. We can see certain benefits behind this prohibition such as how music makes one heedless of Allah and the last day or how it incites one to other forms of sin
3 basically their is two types of prayer in Islam. Salah which is the bowing and prostrations etc which we perform 5 times a day and du'a which is basically supplication. An example of this would be asking Allah for a new job

To list all the duas specified by the Prophet sallaho alayhi wa sallam would be very difficult as there are many. Google fortress of the Muslim for a pdf giving examples of different duas Muslims can make in their lives

blobcatmap said:

Hello, I'm a non-Muslim and I live in America. Even though I live in the south (very republican/Trump supporting part of America), I had the unique opportunity of growing up with Muslim friends in school/my neighborhood, so I know more about Islam than your average white American southerner. However, I am still super confused about many things, and have posted on other Islamic forums such as on Reddit, ect, only to be ignored.. I can't just "visit my local masjid" because I feel utterly terrified/drawn back from doing so for several personal reasons. I have experimented with a number of different religions (just experimented), and Islam seems to stick out to me, personally. There's so much more I could say about my experiences with Islam, if you'd like to here them, just send me a message.


1. Does Allah accept the prayers of non-Muslims like myself? I ask this with great curiosity, because I've read different answers. I actually prayed to Allah a while back, and asked for very specific things which quickly happened, much to my surprise. I also felt faith stronger than I have ever felt before in God, it was so strange. BTW, I'm almost 100% sure I did not pray to Allah in the correct way, lol..


3. Why is music a sin in Islam?


4.What are the different types of prayers in Islam? Can someone please list them all here?



2. Can someone on here please private message me to talk about Islam? I'd prefer a white convert, because we'd connect better.

Click to expand...

Welcome to this forum...ask what you want to know...and we will try to answer your questions as good as possible.

1 Allah accepts the prayers of whom He wishes. Muslims, non-Muslims...there is no specific rule in that. He can accept or not accept prayers of both Muslims and non-Muslims. Why He accepts or not accepts, only Allah knows...but you can assume that it is a part of the test. He may have accepted your prayers for example to make you gain your trust in Him easier. We do not know.
So no one can give you a straight answer on this question unfortunately...

3. Eesa has answered this question already a bit. All rules in Islaam have a certain wisdom behind it which is logical...sometimes this wisdom is very obvious...but sometimes you have to dig a little deeper or do a little research to find this. But we never doubt about these rules. A lot of Muslims just do not bother to try to understand every rule so they just trust in them and do what is told...others search for answers out of curiousity or profession.
This rule that music is forbidden is a tough one. Music has benefits and harms. some of the harms is that it can get withhold you from remembering Allah and your prayer...it can be spiritual...It can bring you in a certain moods which can lead to irrational acts.

4. There are basically two different prayers in Islam...one of them is Salaat...required to do 5 times a day at fixed times which differ in length...there are also Salaats which can be done voluntarily.
Salaat must be done in a prescribed way and can only be done in Arabic. So you have to memorize verses of the Quraan and recite them during Salaat, even though you do not know what it means.

a second type of prayer is dua...very similar like how christians pray....completely voluntarily...can be done anytime, anywhere and in any language. you can ask for whatever you want.
there are certain duaas which are fixed because it is a general prayer and you can use that to do your own duaa...

2. I think there are enough brothers here who would like to talk to you about Islam. You can also private message me if you wish but I am not a convert.
But If you choose to ask your questions in public...you have the advantage that more people can think about your questions and you will get better answers.
Besides, we all can benefit from it since it is very educational.

Of course whatever you prefer....and again...welcome to Islamicboard...hope you have a good time here.

I've noticed music is really time-consuming. I probably spend around 8 hours a week listening to it.

blobcatmap said:

I've noticed music is really time-consuming. I probably spend around 8 hours a week listening to it.

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yes it can...you could do a lot of other much useful things in those 8 hours.

And how many times did we sing along with music without actually thinking of what the lyrics are about? you must have experienced that several times...music you have heard lots of times that you can sing along with...you know the lyrics very well...but much much later when you accidentally think about it, you realize a very crooked message/situation behind it.

So, that is also music.

I wish I could message you, but I can't because I'm not a "full member" - whatever that means..

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Just realized I can send messages - thanks!

blobcatmap said:

1. Does Allah accept the prayers of non-Muslims like myself? I ask this with great curiosity, because I've read different answers. I actually prayed to Allah a while back, and asked for very specific things which quickly happened, much to my surprise. I also felt faith stronger than I have ever felt before in God, it was so strange. BTW, I'm almost 100% sure I did not pray to Allah in the correct way, lol..


3. Why is music a sin in Islam?


4.What are the different types of prayers in Islam? Can someone please list them all here?



2. Can someone on here please private message me to talk about Islam? I'd prefer a white convert, because we'd connect better.

Click to expand...

Greetings

1. Yes, he does, so long as you pray to him alone and not to someone else (e.g an idol).

https://islamqa.info/en/177561

3. Because God said so. That's the reason why we do everything in this religion. That's not to say there are not actual earthly benefits in these rulings, one can clearly see that they do benefit us, e.g music these days is completely disgusting, revolving around some of the nastiest aspects of society and as a result it promotes sin while making people lose their remembrance of God. Also, you have to remember, only instruments are haram, singing itself is considered fine so long as the words being sung are not haram and you are not listening to the voice of a woman who is not your mahram (a mahram is someone you're Islamically not allowed to marry). The last ruling only applies to guys, and can be extended to include maharim (plural of mahram) if it still creates 'excitement'.

4. There's salah which are the 5 daily prayers we must perform (they're all pretty quick so it's not a burden), and there is du'a which is just regular supplication you can do whenever you want.

Here's some material about why Islam is the truth, please feel free to ask any necessary questions and read into certain topics further:

http://islamandmuslims123.blogspot.com/

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blobcatmap said:

I've noticed music is really time-consuming. I probably spend around 8 hours a week listening to it.

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I'd recommend listening to anasheed instead (but please don't listen to the ones in English because most of them sound terrible, the ones in Arabic, Turkish and Urdu are much better), or if your favourite songs don't have any haram lyrics, find acapella's.

Feel free to message me if you wan to cat - thanks

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chat i mean

blobcatmap said:

2. Can someone on here please private message me to talk about Islam? I'd prefer a white convert, because we'd connect better.

Click to expand...

I'm a white convert, I should be fit for purpose. I'm not sure how actively I'll have time though, I'm in a rather bad place at the moment in life.

Fire away brother speak your mind

Some English speaking Islamic speakers. You can search these on youtube, usually they start with a verse in Arabic then the talks are in Arabic.

1. Yasmin Mogahed

2. Omar Suleiman

3. Abdul Nasir Jangda

4. Yusha Evans (Convert who is from South Carolina)

5. Nouman Ali Khan