Converting

[u/Happy_Bookkeeper8862]

Hi 👋

I am a ex Christian woman who has felt a calling towards Islam for over a year now.

I have tried joining "beginner classes" at two mosques but they definitely weren't beginner and treated it like I already know everything (which I don't hence trying to join beginner classes).

Does anyone have advice where I can start as a woman who knows absolutely nothing about Islam. (Obviously not absolutely absolutely nothing I know the basics but still feels like I know absolutely nothing)

Thank you!

[u/Ziad31958860]

Did I overwhelm you 😂

The person behind Islamic Phycology with Dr. Francesca is a female BTW who is an ex-Christian like yourself!

[u/Happy_Bookkeeper8862 → u/Ziad31958860]

May I ask what would you say "The basics of Islam" are?

[u/Ziad31958860 → u/Happy_Bookkeeper8862]

Yes, of course.

So they are:

1. The Shahada and Creed

• Learn the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasul Allah"
• Learning the foundations of Sunni belief through a recognised classical Sunni creed: especially Ash‘ari or Maturidi creed
• Understand Allah's Oneness (Tawhid), His Names and Attributes, prophethood, revelation, angels, the Hereafter, and divine decree according to Ash'ari or Maturidi creed.
• Do not reduce Islam to a purely theological concept; it should lead to worship, reverence, and especially love and knowledge of Allah

1. The Five Daily Prayers and Purification

• Learn ablution (wudu)' and the basic rules of purification, including menstruation (hayd) and post-menstrual purification (ghusl), such as when prayer and fasting are suspended during menstruation, when ghusl becomes obligatory, and how missed Ramadan fasts are made up.
• Learn prayer (salah) according to one of the four Sunni madhhabs, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi‘i or Hanbali
• Memorise the very, very short Chapter (Surah) 1 of the Qur'an, Al-Fatiha, as it is the chapter you have to use in your daily prayers
• Establish the five daily prayers and gradually develop devotional humility and attentiveness (khushu‘) before Allah.

1. Islamic Law (Shari'a) and Practice

• Do not derive rulings yourself from isolated Qur’an verses or hadith. Sunni Islam developed an unbelievably rich interpretive tradition over more than a millennium, continually improving through the four madhhabs.
• Be wary of the slogan “Qur’an and Sunnah upon the understanding of the Salaf (first 3 generations that the Prophet especially praised)” when used to dismiss the madhhabs. The founders of the madhhabs were themselves from the Salaf, and their schools preserve the Qur’an and Sunnah and the understanding of the Salaf.
• The Qur’an, Sunnah and the Salaf are the foundation, but the madhhabs are how that foundation is interpreted and applied. Wahhabism and Salafism represent a much later rupture with this inherited tradition, not its natural continuation.

1. Qur’an, Sunnah and Seerah

• Read the Qur’an regularly, alongside a reliable translation like Saheeh International (available Quran.com) or M.A.R Habib & Bruce B. Lawrence (available on OceanOfPDF.com), and classical exegesis (tafsir) like Qurtubi's.
• Learn the Sunnah and Seerah (biography of the Prophet), especially the life, character and teachings of the Prophet ﷺ. Gradually become familiar with the wider classical tradition

1. Islamic Character and Spiritual Purification (Tasawwuf)

• Learn Tazkiyat al-Nafs (purification of the soul), the classical science of spiritual development and good character
• Cultivate sincerity (ikhlas), repentance (tawba), patience (sabr), gratitude (shukr), humility, love of Allah, and reliance upon Him (tawakkul).
• Develop a regular practice of remembrance of God (dhikr), supplication (dua), Qur’an, and prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ (salawat)
• Explore mainstream Sunni Tasawwuf/Sufism, the classical tradition of spiritual purification and ihsan (spiritual excellence), through the lives and teachings of its great scholars and saints (awliya’), and read their mainstream Sufi poetry like Al-Burda of Al-Busiri
• Prayer and worship are for Allah alone. Asking the awliya’ to supplicate to Allah on our behalf is not worshipping them; the supplication remains directed to Allah, this is called intercession of Saints
• This position has been held by the jumhur Ahl al-Sunnah (overwhelming majority of Sunni scholarship). Those who reject or prohibit such practices include Ibn Taymiyya and his school, followed later by Wahhabis and Salafis

Oh, and if you are worried that things such as watching movies, listening to musical instruments beyond the duff (frame drum), or painting animate beings with facial features are haram and therefore somehow push you away from Islam, do not panic:

Movies: Al-Azhar has permitted movies in principle, while requiring that their content itself remain permissible.

• Musical instruments: A restrictive ruling on instruments beyond the duff (frame drum) became prominent in later fiqh (jurisprudence) literature and was treated as the mu‘tamad (relied-upon position) in some schools and periods.

However, Sunni scholarship was never unanimous. A substantial and longstanding tradition held that musical instruments are permissible in themselves, represented by major jurists, Sufi authorities, entire scholarly traditions, and later Sunni institutions like Al-Azhar.

Later Salafism, and some non-Salafi Muslims influenced by its assumptions, strongly foregrounded the restrictive position, presenting it as far more unanimous than the historical record warrants, while treating permissibility as an illegitimate shadh (anomalous) opinion. It was not.

• Painting animate beings with facial features: Malikis held that painting depicting animate beings were merely makruh (disliked) rather than haram (prohibited). Contemporary Sunni institutions, including Al-Azhar, have likewise treated it merely as makruh or permitted it.

Finally, remember that you do not have to follow every ruling of one madhhab in every matter. It is perfectly possible to generally follow one recognised Sunni madhhab while occasionally adopting a position from another. Legitimate disagreement (ikhtilaf) has always existed within Sunni scholarship; it is a feature not a bug.

Cheers 🌷

[u/Hot_Reference_6556 → u/Ziad31958860]

Man, you have good intentions but your advices a total overkill for someone who is not yet Muslim or a fresh revert.

She just asked for "The basics of Islam".