Bismallah & Greetings

[Tariq Baker]

In Allah's (swt) Name, hello.

My name is (or will be, once it's legally changed) Tariq. And I am a Muslim! I reverted about 2 years ago, more or less. Why? Because it is the right thing to do...the only thing to do. I was born, raised and educated (kindergarten to college) Lutheran. I was active and faithful in that church...because its how I was raised...because its all I knew. But I knew something wasn't right. I'm sure my problems with Christianity mirror most of you other reverts...how can God have a son, if He did how could He die and die and still be God, all the othere conflicts. Still, I believed like a good little sheep.

Blessed be, Allah called me from that church by using that church. Part of my churchwork was leading an adult Bible class that I helped design (searching for answers I became something of a Lutheran scholar, if I do say so myself). One topic we discussed was World Religions (this was the summer prior to 9/11, BTW). To prepare myself, I read The Qu'ran. Peace and clarity came to me moreso than the thousands of times I had read the Bible. After several months (almost a year) of praying, studying, reading, learning everything I could, I bolstered my courage and contacted my local Islamic center, attended and soon took the Shahada.

That was then. Being that the center was about 30 miles away, and I was the only caucasian and only revert there, and the half-dozen or so brothers only met for Friday prayers, my contact was not what it should have been. Making things worse, in my small town I was surrounded by Lutherans in every segment of my life. Eventually the "brainwashing" (for lack of a better word) kicked in and I went back to my old ways, "renewed in the faith."

As much as my mind wanted to, after all, this was what I knew and where I belonged, I could not forsake Islam. There I was, too Muslim to be Christian too Christain to be Muslim. And I am ashamed to say, I kept going back and forth.

I want to be Muslim. I do believe that there is no God but Allah ("He begets not, nor is Her begotten") and Mohammad (pbuh) is His prophet. I love the unity, the culture, the purity of 'doctrine', the strength of belief. I am proud to say I am a Muslim. But the truth is, I am having so much trouble cutting the mental and emotional ties, I sometimes wonder if I truly am.

Sorry this has come out long. I didn't mean it to be. But I guess I am seeking prayers and guidance that I way always walk in the right path. Thanks and I look forward (Isha'Allah) to chatting with you all.

Blessings

[Ghazi]

:sl:

Welcome to the fourm and Islam bro :)

[Pk_#2]

AsalamuAlaykum,

Welcome to the forum and welcome to Islam, Alhamdhulillah!

I hope you find this forum beneficial :)

WalaykumSalam.

[afriend2]

salaam,

Alhamdulillah brother Tariq!

welcome to LI, inshAllah have a beneficial stay here!

wassalam :peace:

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[waji]

:sl:

Welcome to the forum

:w:

[learningislam]

Assalamualaikum.......
and welcome to the forum brother...

May Allah Almighty help you.....and keep you firm on islam.Ameen

Assalamualaikum

[afriend]

:sl:

:welcome:

Woah MashAllah, nice introduction, may Allah keep you guided on the right path :)

I hope you have an enjoyable stay as well as a beneficial one :)

Happy posting :thumbs_up

:w:

[scentsofjannah]

brother Tariq welcome to this forum i pray Allah strengthens you

hope this advice helps(taken from a website ) : Every saint has a past….Every sinner has a future.

First of all, you must understand that at least you have this feeling that you are slipping and getting weak in faith. This is a good sign because sadly to say, there are Muslims who don’t care about prayers and Islam in general. If a sick person doesn’t realize that he/she is sick, the doctor will never be able to cure him/her. So realizing that there is a spiritual sickness is a sign that your faith is strong. I have the following words of advice for you:

Al-Haakim reported in al-Mustadrak, and al-Tabaraani reported in al-Mu’jam, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Faith wears out in the heart of any one of you just as clothes wear out, so ask Allaah to renew the faith in your hearts.” (Reported by al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak, 1/4;. Al-Haythami said in Majma’ al-Zawaa’id, 1/52, “It was reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer and its isnaad is saheeh.”) This Hadith tells us that our faith will become weak but we will have to strengthen it with various actions and different good deeds. If we try to implement the following, Insha Allah it will help us all.

On a weekly basis, try to attend some Halaqah(Islamic study circles) or an Islamic gathering. That is a great way of keeping the battery of Iman and actions charged.

A good suggestion would be that you join some weekend or evening Islamic course or something of that sort. You will find good company there which will be a means of strengthening your faith and Iman. And when you feel like you are all “burnt out”, there will be others there who will guide you and help you out and get you back up on your feet again.

Try to read some portion of the Quran everyday and make Zikr of Allah. It will not be a bad idea to start off the day by reciting Surah Yaseen.

Try to have a daily Halaqah of reading from a Hadith book at home. The most widely used Hadith book in English is probably Riyadh us Salihin. Set aside a time at home.. It does not have to be long. Even five minutes or ten minutes will suffice. A daily dose of the words of Allah and his beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam goes a long way in keeping us attached to our faith.

After prayers or whenever, try to recite as many times as possible the words which are mentioned in the following Hadith: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not forget to say in every prayer, ‘Rabbi a’inni ‘ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni ‘ibaadatika (O Allah, help me to remember You, thank You and worship You properly.).’” (al-Nasaa’i, 1303)

Sometimes we commit sins which eventually make us weak in our faith. Islam will prevent us from sins....or sins will prevent us from Islam. Repenting over past sins will not be a bad idea at all. The way we have a habit of sinning, the same way, as soon as a sin is committed, we should make a habit of seeking forgiveness for our sins. We should never procrastinate because death could over take us anytime.

You also must understand that we all go through these weaknesses. We all have those moments when we don’t feel like doing anything Islamic. Faith increases and decreases. This is natural and it will happen many times in our lives.

It is important to know that if a decrease in faith leads to one neglecting one’s duties or doing Haram deeds, this slackening is very serious and one must repent to Allah and start to do something about it at once. If it does not lead to neglect of duties and doing Haram deeds, but just makes a person fall short in doing Mustahabb (recommended) deeds, for example, then a person still needs to know how to sort herself out and correct herself until he/she returns to the proper level of energy and strength in worship. This is what we learn from the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Every deed has energy and strength, and then this energy and strength is followed by a slackening, so who’s slackening is in accordance to my Sunnah he will be fine, and who’s slackening is to other than that [i.e., doing unlawful or forbidden deeds] he will be doomed.” (Reported by Ahmad, 2/210; Saheeh al-Targheeb, no. 55).
Read up on the benefits of performing Salat and harms of not performing them. Read those Ahadith again and again. Read up on the bounties of Paradise and Punishments of the Hell fire.
Remember the breaker of worldly pleasures i.e. death. Daqaq (R.A.) says, “Who ever remembers death frequently, will benefit in three ways: he will hasten to repent, he will become content, and he will be active in worship. Whoever forgets death will be punished in three ways: he will delay repentance, he will no longer be content with what is sufficient, and he will be lazy in worship.” O Death! Where is thy long awaited sting? ...sigh…

Dua from the Qur'an Rabbana la tuzigh quloobana ba'dha idh hadaythana - Our Lord don't shake our faith/heart after you have guided us Ameen!

takecare brother

[------]

:sl:

:welcome: to the forums!

Congratulations on reverting to Islam! ReSpEcT!!!

Do u have any questions u need to ask! Plz do!

:w:

[Samira_01]

Welcome and enjoy ur stay