Salaam,
I could become a Muslim right now if I wanted, but that would mean for a while I would still be doing bad things from my previous life. Isn't it best to wait until you are definately ready to then become Muslim and not do the things you did in your previous life? And I understand that death could come at any time and inshaAllah I will become Muslim before mine.
Help me out brothers what would be best:
A) Wait until I am ready to submit myself to God and give up all bad things in my life and be able to make prayer and fasting etc, therefore being the best I could be?
OR
B) Become Muslim soon and try to change my ways while being Muslim, and learn to pray etc even though for a little while being Muslim I wouldn't be praying the proper way or living the right Islamic way?
Any feedback is much appreciated!
Peace.
Hie
I am a revert as well. Born and raised in a Catholic family till almost 4 years ago now. I have not finished reading Quran and it took me a while to learn how to pray. I learnt what I needed to learn for praying and even then it was difficult. I had been Catholic till the age of 22 not in the actual sense of the word because I had already started questioning a few things and before reverting I had not been to a Catholic Church for about 2 years but I had been to a Methodist Church a couple of times before which I did not like at all. My search for the truth stopped when I came across the teachings of Islam and with time. I learnt a great deal and took me some time to get rid of my music collection but it was not difficult when I actually got to do it as it was for Allahs' sake and HE made it easy for me, and guess what I actually do not miss it like I thought I would. Actually I do not miss alot of the things I used to do. I feel privileged that Allah showed me his mercy and gave me a second chance in this life to inshallah be saved from the torment in the hereafter.
I think the previous posts speak for me as well, that there is no need to stop and think twice about it once the truth has become apparent from falsehood. Things are as difficult as we make them. My husband used to drink a lot before we both accepted Islam and was about to become a D-J but when he said his shahada he just said to himself I am not going to drink again and he NEVER did till now and it was no problem getting rid of his thousands of pounds worth of Music for Allahs' sake and I believe because he made the first step Allah helped it become easy.
It is up to you now to make the decision.. There is a difference between one who sins without knowing and the one who actually continues to live in sin despite the fact that he knows it is wrong. Remember Allah knows and sees everything so there is no point in telling yourself. I know the truth but I will just do wrong anyway and hopefully when I say my shahada I will be forgiven. We do not know when we will die, babies die, children die so definitely we can die anytime and how do you know you will live till you say Shahada.
I suggest you say your shahada because Allah can forgive everything except shirk and as your faith grows you will be able to stop everything else. Reading the whole Quran is not a condition for becoming muslim.
I suggest you read the Virtues of saying the Shahada
THE VIRTUES OF
THE DECLARATION OF FAITH
I
t has great virtues and has a great place with Allah. Whoever says it with truthfulness will enter the Gardens of Paradise and whoever did not utter it truthfully, his property and blood will be safeguarded in this world, but his reckoning will be with Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. It is a concise declaration that contains few letters, light upon the tongue, yet heavy in the scales. Our Noble Prophet (saw) educates us saying that:
Reported by Ibn Hibbaan in his saheeh and Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak
“Moses said: O my Lord! Teach me something by which I can remember you and supplicate to you. Allah said, O Moses! Say ‘Laa ilaaha ilallah’ (there is no Gods but Allah). Moses said: O my Lord! All your slaves say this. Allah said: O Moses! If the seven heavens and all that they contain, other than me, and the seven earths were placed in one scale, and ‘Laa ilaaha ilallah’ were put in the other, then ‘Laa ilaaha ilallah’ would outweight them all”.
This hadith proves that ‘Laa ilaaha ilallah’ is the best form of rememberance, as also occurs in the following two hadith narrated by Abdullah Ibn Umar:
Shaheeh by Imam Muslim: At-Tirmidhee (No. 2640)
“The best supplication is the supplication on the day of ‘Arafat, and the best that I, or any other Prophet sent before me, have said is: None, has the right to be worship except Allah, alone, having no partner. To him belongs the sovereignty, and to Him belongs all praise, and He has power over everything”.
Shaheeh by Imam Muslim: At-Tirmidhee (No. 2641)
“A person from my Ummah will be summoned in front of everyone on the day of Resurrection. Ninety-Nine scrolls will be unfurled for him, each scroll extending as far as the eye can see. Then it will be said: Do you deny any of this [i.e. your bad deeds]? So the man will reply: No, O Lord. Then it will be said: Do you have any excuse or any good deeds? The man in a state of terror, will answer; No. It will then be said: Rather, you do have some good deeds and no injustice will befall you this Day. So a parchment will be taken out for him, upon which there will be the testification ‘Laa ilaaha ilallah’ and the testification that Muhammad is the slave and Messenger of Allah. The Man will say: O Lord, what is this parchment in comparison to those scrolls! It will be said to him: No injustice shall befall you. The scrolls will then be placed in one of the scales and the parchment in the other; the scrolls will be light in weight, whereas the parchment will be heavy.”
The are also
7 conditions of Shahada which have been deduced from the Quran and Sunnah, and which explains its rights and restrictions that it is not merely a word that a person utters.
1. Knowledge (Al-ilm): of its meaning, what it negates and affirms. If a person says it without knowing its meaning, or what its requirements are, then he will not benefit by it, because he has not believed in what it requires. Rather, he is like someone who speaks a language he does not understand.
2. Certainty (Al-Yaqeen): that is to have complete surety of it and which it leads to repelling any doubt or suspicions about it.
3. Exclusively worshipping Allah (Al-ikhlaas): This is contrary to shirk (blasphemy). It’s what ‘Laa ilaaha ilallah’ points towards.
4. Truthfulness (As-Sidq): This prevents hypocrisy (nifaaq). The hypocrites utter it with their tongues, but do not inwardly believe in what it signified.
5. Love (Al-Mahabbah): Having Love and loyalty to Allah and His Messenger, seeking refuge to Allah from Allah, and seeking the pleasures of Allah.
6. Submissive compliance (Al-Inqiyaad): by fulfilling its rights – which are the obligatory actions – with sincerity to Allah and seeking His good pleasures.
7. Acceptance (Al-Qabool): This prevents rejection. This is achieved by acting upon what Allah has commanded and abandoning whatever He has prohibited.
Hope this helps
Salam Patrick..
