Survey: PLEASE CONTRIBUTE your input

[acedoc]

:salam2:

Asalamu Aalikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh


Dear Brothers and respected Sisters;


Islam means submission to Allah- we all know that and it is the truth.

But, submission to what?
Of course to the Will and Law of Allah as it pertains to worshiping Him and in relations with respect to our treatment towards fellow human.
Correct again. Alhumdulillah, we are doing very well so far.

Then, how do we learn how Allah wants us to live our lives? That is where acquiring the knowledge of the deen (pertaining to Islam) is so crucial. How much of the Quran we really know? I don't mean what we have memorized. I mean how much we apply in our day to day activities. Same with the hadith. Do we simply quote hadith without verfying from authentic sources. Thus KNOWLEDGE is a very concrete concept in Islam. We can NOT simply know what Allah expects of us since none of us except the true prophets (peace be upon all of them) recives revelation from Allah. Ignorance of a Law is never an excuse for violating it. If you are stopped by a police officer will the ignorance of recognizing a "Yeild" sign be an excuse to escape the traffic ticket? How can we claim not knowing Allah's Law and claim to submit to Him?

Islam is nothing BUT practicle REVEALED information from our Creator through the prophets unto us (the creation). Knowledge concerning how to worship Him correctly and live our life in accordance with His Law.

I am interested in learning how muslims from various countries, cultures and backgrounds gain knowledge about their religion.

If bros/sis can answer and inform us about the following we may actually all gain from it.

Question 1: Are you a born or a new (revert/convert) muslim? What is your country of origin/domicile/ethnicity. Did you have any formal education in Islam?

Question 2(NEW muslims ONLY): What resources did you utilize prior to accepting islam that helped you in making you final decision to accept Islam?

Question 3: How do you BEST learn on issues of Islam i.e. Books, internet, listening ot local imam's lectures, discussion with family/friends/internet? What level of confidence do you have that your commonly used sources are free of flaws?

Question 4: How do you verify that a piece of information about Islam, that you have just heard/learned, is actually authentic or simply someone's personal opinon? How do you know what is Halal and what is Haram (boundaries of Islam)?

Question 5: Did you ever consider purchasing a collection of authentic Tafsir (such as Tafsir Ibn Katheer or others) or books of authentic hadiths to solidify your knowledge in islam

Thank you for your input. May Alalh reward you.

Jazakum Allah Khairan



was salamu alikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

 

[AishaR]

:salam2:

1. I am a revert

2. I had been interested in Islam for many years. After meeting my husband, I decided that it was about time I followed my heart.

3. I read alot & ask far too many questions, lol I know a sister who studyed in Saudi for many years, so she is a great source of information & not forgetting my family & this site.

4. I have never been able to just be given an answer, I used to drive my teachers made at school & college. I need to know why & have proof, an answer to me is useless without evidence. I use the net to search online quran as it is quicker.

5. We have a family copy at my in laws.

 

[Ayep]

Walaykum salam brother!

I will gladly respond to your questions.

Question 1: Are you a born or a new (revert/convert) muslim?
Yes, I was born Muslim in Singapore.

Question 3: How do you BEST learn on issues on Islam i.e. Books, internet, listening ot local imam's lectures, discussion with family/friends?
If you ask me the best way to learn is from a teacher or Islamic scholar directly from the mosque or madrasah, followed by books/internet then discussion with family and friends. When we say we obey the messenger and his sunna it literally means does the chain of learning links back to the Prophet Muhammad?. The big question is who is our teacher and is he qualified?

Question 4: How do you verify that a piece of information about Islam, that you have just heard/learnt, is actually authentic or simply someone's personal opinon?
The best way to learn as I mentioned above is from different Islamic scholars (they will make references to the sources that they learned from) and then research about the topic on my own. If it is the truth, many other sources will confirm the authenticity of what I just learned and solidify that. It is also a good way to help remember by learning from different sources.

Question 5: Did you ever consider purchasing a collection of authentic Tafsir (such as Tafsir Ibn Katheer or others) or hadiths to solidify your knowledge in islam
Well I had a few Arabic Quran and three different tafsirs at home right now(you can find Tafsir Ibn Katheer on the internet) and regularly buy books on Islam to increase my knowledge. I hope to increase further my library on Islamic books. I suggest new Muslims to start with books on Tauhid(Islamic Monotheism) , Aqeedah and Fiqh(Islamic code of laws) first so that it is easier to see the practicality of the Quran and Hadith. After that you can proceed to which topics interests you most.

I hope this helps you on your research brother.:arabi1:


Allah knows best

 

[BintMuhammad]

May this response help you on your survey

Question 1: Are you a born or a new (revert/convert) muslim? What is your country of origin/domicile/ethnicity. Did you have any formal education in Islam?

Born Muslim, Origin of the Southern part of the Philippines,currently living in Metro Manila, belong to the tribe of Tausug (people from Jolo,Sulu).

Question 3: How do you BEST learn on issues of Islam i.e. Books, internet, listening ot local imam's lectures, discussion with family/friends/internet? What level of confidence do you have that your commonly used sources are free of flaws?

Books and Islamic websites (authored by reliable sources) and Family members who are scholars from Al-Eiman University (yemen) and Universities in Riyadh and Madinah.

Question 4: How do you verify that a piece of information about Islam, that you have just heard/learned, is actually authentic or simply someone's personal opinon? How do you know what is Halal and what is Haram (boundaries of Islam)?

By asking for more daleels and double checking if the given daleel is saheeh.

Question 5: Did you ever consider purchasing a collection of authentic Tafsir (such as Tafsir Ibn Katheer or others) or books of authentic hadiths to solidify your knowledge in islam

Yes.

 

[marildu]

Question 1: Are you a born or a new (revert/convert) muslim? What is your country of origin/domicile/ethnicity. Did you have any formal education in Islam?
I'm a white revert from the United States.

Question 2(NEW muslims ONLY): What resources did you utilize prior to accepting islam that helped you in making you final decision to accept Islam?
Mostly the internet and a friend.

Question 3: How do you BEST learn on issues of Islam i.e. Books, internet, listening ot local imam's lectures, discussion with family/friends/internet? What level of confidence do you have that your commonly used sources are free of flaws? Internet, discussion with friends, and lectures. I'm pretty confident.

Question 4: How do you verify that a piece of information about Islam, that you have just heard/learned, is actually authentic or simply someone's personal opinon? How do you know what is Halal and what is Haram (boundaries of Islam)?
I try to look up a large amount of research when I'm curious about something and try to filter out what seems to be opinion and what dominates as fact. Mostly the same thing for halal and haram.

Question 5: Did you ever consider purchasing a collection of authentic Tafsir (such as Tafsir Ibn Katheer or others) or books of authentic hadiths to solidify your knowledge in islam
I don't have enough money to purchase things like that or I would. lol

 

[e.muhsin]

Asslammualaikum

I am so glad that i could help you answering ur survey

Question 1: Are you a born or a new (revert/convert) muslim? What is your country of origin/domicile/ethnicity. Did you have any formal education in Islam?

-I am born muslim in Indonesia which most of Indonesians are born muslim. In public schools we have religion class which every religion has a different class. It is taught from elementary school till senior high school ,thus Indonesian gets religion classes for 12 years, generally

Question 3: How do you BEST learn on issues of Islam i.e. Books, internet, listening ot local imam's lectures, discussion with family/friends/internet? What level of confidence do you have that your commonly used sources are free of flaws?
-Discussion with friends is the best for me. I could ask my friends freely without feeling ashamed. Then second best is internet, just like joining TTI forums. Pretty confident. Before discussing with friend(s), I should have known him/they first. I couldn't rely on people who have bad attitude but give da'wah.. seems nonsense for me

Question 4: How do you verify that a piece of information about Islam, that you have just heard/learned, is actually authentic or simply someone's personal opinon? How do you know what is Halal and what is Haram (boundaries of Islam)?
In the past days, I only rely on them without doing any verification. But now, i try to do verification first before take it into my account.

Question 5: Did you ever consider purchasing a collection of authentic Tafsir (such as Tafsir Ibn Katheer or others) or books of authentic hadiths to solidify your knowledge in islam
-Yes

hope this simple answers help you a lot.

Wassalammualaikum

 

[q8penpals]

Question 1: Are you a born or a new (revert/convert) muslim? What is your country of origin/domicile/ethnicity. Did you have any formal education in Islam?

I am a convert. I am a Scandanavian American living in Kuwait. No formal education.


Question 2(NEW muslims ONLY): What resources did you utilize prior to accepting islam that helped you in making you final decision to accept Islam?

I read a lot of books, asked a lot of questions, navigated lots of Internet sites, and used a lot of logic and common sense.

Question 3: How do you BEST learn on issues of Islam i.e. Books, internet, listening ot local imam's lectures, discussion with family/friends/internet? What level of confidence do you have that your commonly used sources are free of flaws?

I feel that for the most important parts of the beliefs of Islam, I feel about 85% confident that my sources are generally free of flaws, Insha'Allah.



Question 4: How do you verify that a piece of information about Islam, that you have just heard/learned, is actually authentic or simply someone's personal opinon? How do you know what is Halal and what is Haram (boundaries of Islam)?

I first will ask my husband, as he has been Muslim since birth and in Kuwait all students study Islam every year in school. If he cannot answer my question, I will usually ask one of the Islamic teachers at the school where I work.

Question 5: Did you ever consider purchasing a collection of authentic Tafsir (such as Tafsir Ibn Katheer or others) or books of authentic hadiths to solidify your knowledge in islam

Until recently, I was not aware of these books, so it is not that I haven't thought of purchasing them, I just hadn't really ever thought about a book of hadith at all, relying on personal questions, the Internet, and books that I already own.

Lana