In the past week, I have become interested in Islam and went to a local mosque to ask for a copy of the Qur'an. I have been reading an English translation everyday (I would love to read it in Arabic, but first things first, right?).
I have been to observe salat at the mosque several times and spoken to the imam and other brothers, who have all been very helpful in answering my questions.
I am currently reading Sura 28, although I have already decided that Islam is the right religion for me and I would like to say Shahadah. I know it seems like a short amount of time to become convinced, but the true sign that I was on the right path came to me last night as I was debating having a night of drinking. I occasionally drink alcohol to have a good time, like most of the people I know in my area, and last night I had the opportunity and even went so far as to get out the alcohol and pour a glass. However, before taking the first sip, I remembered that alcohol is not looked upon favorably in Islam and I stopped myself. I had a good internal debate about whether or not to start drinking for several hours. I actually sat there looking back and forth between the Qur'an and the glass of alcohol I had already poured for myself. I felt ridiculous. Finally, I poured the alcohol down the drain and went and read the Qur'an in bed.
To me this was more than enough to convince me that Islam is right for me, as I wanted to drink so badly that it really took strong willpower to resist it.
I want to say Shahadah and become a Muslim, however, I am a poor college student at the moment with an often unreliable car that has problems. And the only mosque in my area is across town. I know it's preferable to perform salat in a mosque, but I simply don't have the gas money or a great enough car to travel across town five times a day. And public transportation is pretty much out of the question as it takes about an hour round trip to get to the mosque and back to my home, and that's not including the time that would be needed to perform salat. So as you see, I am not in a position to be a very frequent member at the mosque.
This means that I will have to do my five daily salats at home, and I don't have any other Muslims that live with me so I am going to have to learn all of this on my own. I was able to pick up a prayer schedule when I was at the mosque and it has the daily salat times listed all the way through December. At the top, it also says this, and I quote:
"Subhana-Allah (33 times)
Alhamdulillah (33 times)
Allahu Akbar (33 times)
La ilaha illa Allahu wahdahu la shareeka lahu, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu, wa huwa 'ala kulee shay'in qadeer (1 time)
Recite Aya Al-Korsi (2:255), and the last 3 sourahs: Al-lhklaas Al-Falaq, and An-Naas
What to say after the prayer (Khetam Assalaah)
Astagh ferrullah (3 times)
Allah humma antas salamu wa minkas salamu tabarakta ya thaijalalee wal ikram (1 time)
Allahumma aenna ala thekrek wa shoukrek wa husn ibadatek (3 times)"
Is this the way you pray at home? And does it matter if I can't pronounce it perfectly at first? I have already figured out the direction to face, so that is not an issue. And how do you learn the movements between each set of words? Is there anyone that can tell me, or some video I can look at? I was told by a brother not to stress about this stuff at first and just try to do my best and learn as I go along, but if I say Shahadah tonight and perform Isha, I don't want to be doing it all wrong. I have heard prayer beads help to remember the number of recitations, so maybe I should make some of those.
Well, any advice and help on this would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.
I have been to observe salat at the mosque several times and spoken to the imam and other brothers, who have all been very helpful in answering my questions.
I am currently reading Sura 28, although I have already decided that Islam is the right religion for me and I would like to say Shahadah. I know it seems like a short amount of time to become convinced, but the true sign that I was on the right path came to me last night as I was debating having a night of drinking. I occasionally drink alcohol to have a good time, like most of the people I know in my area, and last night I had the opportunity and even went so far as to get out the alcohol and pour a glass. However, before taking the first sip, I remembered that alcohol is not looked upon favorably in Islam and I stopped myself. I had a good internal debate about whether or not to start drinking for several hours. I actually sat there looking back and forth between the Qur'an and the glass of alcohol I had already poured for myself. I felt ridiculous. Finally, I poured the alcohol down the drain and went and read the Qur'an in bed.
To me this was more than enough to convince me that Islam is right for me, as I wanted to drink so badly that it really took strong willpower to resist it.
I want to say Shahadah and become a Muslim, however, I am a poor college student at the moment with an often unreliable car that has problems. And the only mosque in my area is across town. I know it's preferable to perform salat in a mosque, but I simply don't have the gas money or a great enough car to travel across town five times a day. And public transportation is pretty much out of the question as it takes about an hour round trip to get to the mosque and back to my home, and that's not including the time that would be needed to perform salat. So as you see, I am not in a position to be a very frequent member at the mosque.
This means that I will have to do my five daily salats at home, and I don't have any other Muslims that live with me so I am going to have to learn all of this on my own. I was able to pick up a prayer schedule when I was at the mosque and it has the daily salat times listed all the way through December. At the top, it also says this, and I quote:
"Subhana-Allah (33 times)
Alhamdulillah (33 times)
Allahu Akbar (33 times)
La ilaha illa Allahu wahdahu la shareeka lahu, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu, wa huwa 'ala kulee shay'in qadeer (1 time)
Recite Aya Al-Korsi (2:255), and the last 3 sourahs: Al-lhklaas Al-Falaq, and An-Naas
What to say after the prayer (Khetam Assalaah)
Astagh ferrullah (3 times)
Allah humma antas salamu wa minkas salamu tabarakta ya thaijalalee wal ikram (1 time)
Allahumma aenna ala thekrek wa shoukrek wa husn ibadatek (3 times)"
Is this the way you pray at home? And does it matter if I can't pronounce it perfectly at first? I have already figured out the direction to face, so that is not an issue. And how do you learn the movements between each set of words? Is there anyone that can tell me, or some video I can look at? I was told by a brother not to stress about this stuff at first and just try to do my best and learn as I go along, but if I say Shahadah tonight and perform Isha, I don't want to be doing it all wrong. I have heard prayer beads help to remember the number of recitations, so maybe I should make some of those.
Well, any advice and help on this would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.
