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Idris Tawfiq
Profession British Writer and Speaker
Subject Help For New Muslims
http://www.islamonline.net/livedialo...Session=Recent
David - Thailand
Question
I live in Bangkok, Thailand, which is a place where polytheistic practices are held. It is very dangerous for me, and this is why I constantly feel the insinuating whispers of Shaytan. I am constantly performing my daily prayers. I am not abundantly worried as I can feel that Allah is with me all the time. BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, the insinuating whispers of Shaytan are from time to time occurring inside my mind. (I hope you know what insinuating whispers are?) Please answer me.
Is my faith decreasing and that's why I keep thinking of these bad thoughts? Or is it because of the Shaytan?
I used to worship idols as my parent are currently worshipping. Is it because of my past that Shaytan is after me? Please, please, please help me further to overcome or terminate this, I know you cannot terminate it permanently as the Shaytan is always there. I am severely suffering from it. The good thing is that I am not acting upon it and still performing my daily Islamic duties.
Is Allah testing me to see if I will associated a partner with him? OR is it good that this is happening because Allah will reward me if I do not am not act upon it?
Answer
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu, brother. Thank you for your question.
I think that you don't need to live in Thailand to be tempted by the whispering of the Shaytan, although being surrounded by the worship of idols and of many gods must be an added difficulty for you.
"Whispering" is indeed a very good description. Whispering of others behind our backs is very distressing, because we never fully know what they are saying.
People use "stage whispers" to let us know what they think. The Shaytan uses all of these, and more. He tries to persuade us not to get out of bed for prayer in the morning, or to miss other prayers because we are tired and need to sleep. He even makes us doubt our own good intentions.
The great consolation, the trump card, that we have is that Almighty Allah is in control of all things. The very call to prayer is enough to make the devils flee away.
In your prayers, beg Almighty Allah to help you. Ask Him to help you feel close to Him. Keep the Holy Qur'an in the rooms of your house, as an aid to remind you of Allah's power over all things.
Do you have a radio that can receive channels where the Qur'an is recited? Leave such a station playing in your house.
Without descending into superstitious practices, let the Shaytan know by all this that you want to cling firmly to Allah and not to anything else. This may well be a test. Ask Allah to lead you through it and to make you a better Muslim by it.
Khalid - Greece
Profession Student (medicine)
Question
As-salamu alaykum brother! I reverted to Islam two years ago and I would like to ask you to give me some advice on how to talk with my atheist friends about God and Islam. They are curious to learn about Islam, since they prefer it as a religion to Christianity, but since they don't believe there is a God, how can I approach them?
Answer
Wa alaykum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu, brother.
First of all, it is very important to say that you need to be sure that continuing to mix with these friends is not a danger to your own belief. It takes much inner strength to deal with people who have no religion and no belief at all. If you find that these people are unsettling you, you need to make an important choice about how much time you spend with them. As one relatively new to Islam you need to protect your deen. Try to make some Muslim friends who can support you in this.
If you are sure that you are not in danger and that, you don't find the questions and the attitudes of your old friends a threat, then try by simple ways to teach them about Islam.
I don't think that arguing will do much good. Let them see, though, how happy you are as a Muslim and what a difference it has made in your life. Maybe even invite them to accompany you to the mosque to see what Muslims do. If they are really your friends they should not find this too threatening and will want to support you for friendship's sake.
I wouldn't be the one to be always talking about religion, since this might just put them off. You can, however, keep dropping some Islamic words into your speech, such asd "inshallah" and "bismillah." They require no explanation from you. If your friends want to know what they mean, they will ask you. This might be a much more natural way of talking about God than by opening it up as a topic for debate.
At the end of the day, though, it is your duty to Almighty Allah which comes foremost. Serve Him with all your heart and then ask Him to enlighten your friends. He who made the earth and the sky can surely do this if he chooses to.
Name Dina - Egypt
Profession Journalist
Question
Salams.
I've got two questions to ask about prayers:
1- I can't focus on prayers 100%. I sometimes forget how many rak`ahs I prayed!
2- I sometimes stop praying for a long time, and then I repent and ask for Allah's forgiveness, but this doesn't stay long, since I stop praying.
I feel really horrible, I feel that I am one of the munafiqeen, but I don't want to be one of them. I hate the munafiqeen and I wish to be a good Muslim.
Answer
Assalaamu alaykum, sister. Your question is one that many Muslims ask at some stage in their lives. Prayer is at the very heart of Islam and it is natural for us to become downhearted when we are not being faithful to prayer.
In answer to the first question, we wouldn't go for a job interview or give a lecture to a class of students without being properly prepared, would we? Well, neither should we go to prayer without being in the right disposition. Take a few moments before prayer to calm down and to let the cares and the worries of the day to drop away from you before you think of approaching Almighty Allah in prayer. It is only natural that if our minds are still on other things, we will wander from thinking about Allah alone.
The very act of performing wudu' properly is a good preparation for prayer. Rather than just splashing some water over us, we should actually pray while we are performing wudu', making our intention clear. Washing the dust from our bodies is a good way of washing away all those things that cling to us and distract us from prayer.
It is never too late to return to prayer, even if we have not been praying for a long time, although we have a duty to try and make up for all the prayers we have missed. Try to pray with others. Go to the mosque, if one is near.
Put yourself in a prayerful state of mind by taking time to recite the Holy Qur'an and to read about our beloved Prophet. Being attentive in prayer will not just happen by magic. We have to allow it to happen by preparing well before we pray.
We are all pretty poor Muslims, aren't we. We beg Allah for something and then all too soon we forget the blessings which Almighty Allah showers upon us every day, once we get what we wanted.
Never give up on prayer. It is the heart of Islam. Without prayer our faith is nothing. Ask Almighty Allah every day to make you a better Muslim.