How to find courage?

[Fatime]

I dont know if this is the right place for this thread(hope the moderator move it then)...
I did turn to islam few month ago, and i still dont pray:shymuslima1:
I try to learn and read always when i have time, but its so difficult to learn arabic...( i live in scandinavia and enlish is the 3 language i speak).
My husbend is a pious man, now he told i can use a remainding paper for the suras i cant remember, but now im too ashamed to begin to pray, im thinking what changes it will do in my life. Same thing with starting to wear the scarh, im just too afraid about ppl looking me weird, and at work i cant use it anyway( not allowed here). Everywhere i see trouble about living like good muslim schould..., i know life should not be easy and turning to islam is the best thing in my life. I really want to be good and strong in my faith, and the best wife i can be, im just feeling so helples and worried, maybe confused too.
This did get little jumping..., sorry about that, maybe someone have been feeling the same sometime.., and could give some good advise what i need to do next.

 

[Al Qassimi]

Salamou Alalkeom,

CHANGE?
My adivce to you as a Muslim is not to change in an INSTANT. But, take slow steps. First, starting praying(It is the MOST important thing). Second, learn the Pillars of Islam. Third, Learn the Forbidden stuff in Islam. Lastly, Learn as much as you can about Islam.

For Hijab, when I see a Muslim sister wearing it, I am filled with respect to her since I'll never know what she's going through as a Muslim brother(Male). Anyway, start not wearing tight cloths, wear lil it of make up that doesn't attract men, and forth on.

Slow steps are much better then the Instant CHANGE because if you go through that with an instant, you will not stay at the Straight line.

PRAYER?
You'll never understand Prayer till you start it. It is the most beatufil thing. I can't state much here. But hopefully someone else will try and help you in this area.
All I can say to understand Prayer because when you pray, you are with direct communication with Allah(swwt)

Remeber Allah(swwt) is with you, never forget him and he shall not forget you.

Please if you have anymore questions, please post. I and other Muslims here will try our BEST to answer you back

 

[AZAM_SIDDIQUI]

DEAR SISTER,first thing first .are you hurrying to be a muslim for your husbands expecttations,your own expectations --or for your Creator
on the same note are you afraid of being a muslim because of the customs or what ppl will say--or because you still do not really believe in islam.

and yes it happens with everybody born muslims or reverts -we all have to struggle for paradise- i had to attend an interview for admission in a top MBA college and my career depended on it but before that satan just drove me nuts with the same type of confusions as u r facing-
man ,u r gonna b a marketing guy with this beard ,phew
hey u ,when r u gonna get time to pray5 times a day
and hey man what will people think when you cause them inconvenience for prayers
and anywauys look its the smart people u know the ones who act smart ,i mean who lie a bit -threy get the admissions
and will they take u ,i doubt they hate muslims

i said {after my share of getting frustrated}enough
look the best man on earth had a beard,its for Allahs pleasure-and its Allahs world His universe i will follow His commands INSHALLaH He shall make my path easy.
and i did pray 5 times a day there was always time-and place too i prayed on the rooftop of the building where the interview was to take place,i prayed in the train i prayed everywhere when it was time,i wanted to and Allah made sure i did
ppl did not feel any inconvenience{after all the prayers are not only for the muslims,Allah is everybody Creator ,Sustainer and Judge.)and then there was this strange respect they had for me and sorry to tell you satan they took me in .so ALHAMDULLILLAH ALL PRAISE IS TO ALLAH,WHO MAKES THE PATH EASY FOR ONE WHO IS DETERMINED TO WALK.may Allah make the path easy for all of us.

 

[Fatime]

Thank u, brother azam.
The hurry i feel its coming from the ppl around me( mostly my husbend), i did not convert because of him, he just make it happen earlyer. I had been reading about islam for the last 3years...
Im realy a shy women, i did have so much trouble to repeat the first sura i learned, im so afraid i will do mistake in pronounsing or when praying i will do mistake, i know i can learn best when i start to pray, but how to overcome the fear of making mistakes?
About beliving in islam, i did belive even before i said shahada.

 

[jabba]

:salam2:
Can you pray with your husband?

 

[tarannumsamir]

as salaamualaikum wa rehmatullah wa barkaatuhu,
alhamdilillah sister first of all congratulations on ur revert to the deen of islaam.
allah is great.if u have accepted islam with true heart then please keep full faith in the creator.and start praying to allah for making things easier for u.
inshallah in no time u will realize the power of making dua.
allahafiz.

 

[warda A]

Thank u, brother azam.
The hurry i feel its coming from the ppl around me( mostly my husbend), i did not convert because of him, he just make it happen earlyer. I had been reading about islam for the last 3years...
Im realy a shy women, i did have so much trouble to repeat the first sura i learned, im so afraid i will do mistake in pronounsing or when praying i will do mistake, i know i can learn best when i start to pray, but how to overcome the fear of making mistakes?
About beliving in islam, i did belive even before i said shahada.

:salam2:

:ma:

for all your efforts, and believe me when you struggle like that you get rewarded double, as sister jabba says , can you pray with your husband? he might take you step by step through prayer, and slowly you will be not ashamed or scared and tell those around you to be patient.
unless arabic is your first language then you will definitely pronounce the words correctly immediately, but because it isnt, you need time to learn them, so take it easy.
Most scholars ask the people who revert to take it step at a time.

May Allah grant you patience ameen

 

[q8penpals]

Salam

For about the first 2 years of my being Muslim, I did my prayers with the following book in hand http://www.dar-us-salam.com/store/main.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Dus&Product_Code=C20&Category_Code=

It provides the English translation, English Transliteration (how to say the arabic in english), and the Arabic writings. It also has pictures and descriptions of what to do at each step. It is designed for children, but I figured I was a child of Islam, even though I was a human adult when I converted.

I still keep the book handy, because I still have a hard time with understanding the Arabic, so I look back at it again to see what the verses mean.

That is my problem - when I am praying I have to be thinking in English the whole time about what each verse means - I have no comprehension of the individual words in Arabic.

Lana

 

[Fatime]

Yes i can do that, i just dont want him to see me making mistakes.
I think i just need to overcome my fears and not be afraid about that. Its so much easyer to say than do...

 

[zainsmommy]

Assalamu Aleikom Sister,

I think that everyone's advice is excellent! They have some really good points.

I would like to also say that, I was embarrased to pray with my husband. I didn't want him to see me make mistakes either. I have to admit, to this day I do not pray with him often at all. We take turns, he goes first or I go. Until I feel comfortable enough..it will remain this way.

Plus, he prays differently than I do...also, he prays FASTER than I do. I can NEVER concentrate when I am following him because I am so worried about keeping pace with him. I find that the prayer, FOR ME, is not productive AT ALL. So I would suggest praying alone, in a private area for the beginning.

I know lots of converts who pray even to this day in English. You are supposed to learn it in Arabic, but I also know that it takes time. So I say pray in English(or your language) first then practice Arabic prayers at other times. There are planty sites that you can listen to and practice from.

I find also that in the beginning, I didn't understand exactly what I was praying because I learned in Arabic from the start but, after I stopped...started to pray in English for a while... then went back to Arabic...that way I had more of a connection with Allah. I didn't understand what I was saying in Arabic and it was like I was only reciting something that had no meaning..once I said it in English it meant more to me because I understood.

Anyway, I hope that you take the advice of your Brothers and Sisters here...they have really given you some good ones.

Allah Hafiz