The best way to give you an insight into how to deal with the change you’re going through, or about to go through is to share with you a letter I would write to my younger self. It is fascinating to read accounts from people that have written to themselves (like this one from Pete Sampras, the US tennis legend) at a point in the past and this is often used by people to heal themselves from mental trauma or to help them make sense of the past. In my case I want to give you insight into some of the challenges I went through to help you ease into Islam in a better way than I did. It took me over 10 years to properly understand and be overtaken, in my heart, by Islam. Over 10 years to get into the rhythm of praying 5 times a day. Over 10 years to feel upset at missing a prayer because of the guilt of missing a commandment of Allah. Over 10 years to spend the proper time researching and reading about Islam, the story of the very first companions, of the comparison with other religions, the various sects of Islam (a very important matter) and many other things beside. I shouldn’t have lost so much time and I pray you don’t. That’s 10 years of potential reward gone, forever. Ultimately reward from The Almighty is what we strive for?
So what would I write to better prepare me for the start of my journey? Here goes…
Dear 22 year old me,You’re currently enjoying your University work placement, earning more money than you’ve ever seen doing a job you enjoy in a great company surrounded by fantastic people. Every day is a blast surrounded by likeminded people and you’ll enjoy all the late nights, parties, clubs and everything else that comes with it. You’re still harbouring dreams of DJ’ing in Dubai as the party scene is starting to kick-in and your love of playing football and producing music is keeping you busy. That girl you’re currently dating won’t work out but then you kind of knew it wouldn’t anyway and I know deep down your heart is reserved for someone else. She’ll soon come to realise what she means to you too.You’re going to have a great trip to Dubai in a few months but it’s what happens when you’re back that’s going to alter everything you planned for and dreamed of. Forget the life you’re living and friends you think you have because there’s a plan written for you that you had no idea could exist. You’re soon going to go through the biggest life changing events you’ve ever faced.The girl that you fell for at Uni is about to come back into your life and you’re going to dedicate your life to her. Wow dude, married at 22, you wouldn’t have thought that possible – not at least until you were 30 – need to live life and all that? Marriage is life changing for sure, but more than that you’re going to do something as a result which you could not have predicted and you certainly didn’t plan for – you’re going to agree to convert to Islam in order to marry this girl. You see, she’s Muslim and whilst you knew this when you first met her, little did you know how much her religion meant to her. She was always going to marry a Muslim guy and the finger is about to point firmly at you. I don’t exactly know how you decided this, my memory from that period is a little hazy but what I do know is that you always had a strong conviction to God.Becoming a MuslimAll your prayers were listened to and God is about to throw you a life raft. That life raft is in the form of a woman that left an impression on your heart and she will in turn bring you to Islam. You’ll find something fascinating and intriguing about the religion and something amazing will happen; you will have no doubt that it’s the right thing to do. You’ve always been logical and analytical, which are two facets which Islam encourages and it is this which has captured your left brain. Islam has answers for you including the questions you never thought to ask.What does it take to become a Muslim? The Shahada. “ASH-HADU ANLA ILAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MUHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAH”. “I bear witness that there is no deity (none truly to be worshipped) but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”. Technically at least this is all that’s required. But Islam starts from within. The best of Muslims are those that inwardly truly believe and follow Islam, not the ones that do it outwardly. It’ll take you about a decade to fully appreciate this.As a result of your reversion (Islamically you revert to Islam, not convert because of the belief that everyone is born a Muslim – “one who submits to God” as it is loosely translated from Arabic), you will be born again. Imagine this, all your past sins forgiven and a clean slate from which to build your account up full of reward and good deeds. But what comes next will kind of surprise you.What’s in a name?What’s your Muslim name? Hey? Yes, that’s right what’s your Muslim name? When someone reverts into Islam they choose a name befitting of their new identity, usually a meaningful Arabic name. You’ll go for something that sounds kind of cool and has a decent meaning. You’ll choose ‘the warner’ – well, just ‘warner’ because Al-Nazeer sounds too Arabic for you and you’re not quite ready to identify with that just yet. In fact you will feel it is too much pressure on you to choose your name. What’s that all about? It’s not the right time to be choosing a name because you still have so much to learn and understand but here’s the catch 22; in Islam it is believed that the future has already been written and so your name was always going to be Nazeer so does it matter? Ultimately not, but you’d have probably chosen something more powerful than ‘warner’ wouldn’t you? Or perhaps there’s more to the name than you’ve come to realise yet…You’re going to initially have doubts about what you’ve done; will God accept you becoming a Muslim because the girl you wanted to be with wouldn’t marry you without having done so? Is this a valid reason to become a Muslim? What was the real reason you decided to do this? Forget about all that and focus on the decision. You were right and that’s all that matters right now. I thank you for that. What I do recommend, and I know you won’t listen to the advice because of your shy, quiet and reserved nature is to go seek advice of others that will know what you are going through. This my friend is going to be your biggest mistake. You think that by listening to the advice of Muslims born into the religion that have years and years of experience, such as your father-in-law and others will give you the guidance that you need. After all if they were born into Islam and are practicing then surely they’ll know what to do? Here’s the catch – do you think they know what it is like to become a Muslim? They were born into it, you were not. In fact you were born into a Hindu household and as far as Hinduism is concerned, the one religion you do not switch allegiance to is Islam so you’re heading onto a slippery slope from the start. Despite your family not practicing Hinduism this will leave many challenges in your path.Revert SOSI really wish you’d take my advice and go find fellow reverts and go seek their help. These are the ones that will understand you and be able to guide you into a better path. You’ll save yourself a decade of deviation. Your father in law has the best of intentions but he didn’t know what you really needed so don’t take his views on Islam with too much conviction – go research it yourself and speak to those more knowledgeable than you and him. He will help you loads though through your life and part of your success in your career will be through his help with your kids – oops, spoiler. Your mother-in-law will also play an interesting role too – not least because she takes you on as a son but because of a gift she has been given, in the power of her prayer. She will pray for you in times of need and distress, but it’s something you’ll take for granted – you too have the power to ask and receive, it will take you a long time to realise this. That’s despite the fact that deep down you’ll know that God listens.Your future wife will become the catalyst to your career success and will add elements to your character which make you a force on many levels, finding something you didn’t realise you had inside of you. She will also follow you closely on the journey into and out of Islam, eventually leading you back to a straighter path as she works hard on her own inner and outward beliefs. She will eventually trigger your heart and mind into action to take a proper look at yourself, and realise that with the guidance you’ve been trying to seek, you forgot to ask God for help. One prayer will kickstart your path back into faith, to simply and sincerely ask Him to give you guidance to come back to the right path.You’ll discover one of the most aspects of this life – your life has been pre-destined. Your wealth, your children, your sustenance and even the exact date and time of your death. With all this in mind would you do things differently? You certainly will one day. Having known this sooner and understanding what it really means will help you avoid periods of deep depression that will hit you in the coming years. Just know that it wasn’t your fault, you couldn’t have done anything differently and life is cyclical. Often in your life, pre and post reversion you’ll feel like the sole resident of a remote Island without support or company. Endlessly searching for meaning and purpose. Both will come to you but it will take a long time. I can’t tell you this now because the journey of discovery will help you understand the meaning and purpose of everything. Without this it will be empty words. Praise God for the good and don’t forget him during the bad and watch the rest unfold in front of you. Know that nothing happens without the knowledge or approval of The Almighty. The smallest pin drop to wars and destruction. The question is not why God has forsaken us but what we are going to do to pass the test in front of us. We are accountable for our actions and on the influences on others. You are a very patient person and this is partly due to your upbringing and lack of stimulation or attention as a young child. But that’s fine, it has put you in a position to absorb a lot of other people’s woes. This is one of your biggest strengths but it will soon be tested. Just bear with life’s test and continue praying.On family…You’re going to wonder how to deal with your family. It’s the worst thing you could have done, in their eyes. But it’ll be a big relief once you’ve told them. You’ll feel dishonest and not Muslim like but you’re not the only one to conceal their reversion to family or friends. Most of the earliest reverts to Islam, in the company of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) of all people had to hide their religion. Granted their situation was life or death but you don’t need to stress yourself out worrying about this. Put it on hold. It’s not them that’s not ready it’s you. You won’t yet understand Islam for some years and if you can’t understand it how can you possibly explain it to your parents. The right time will come, it might just take longer than you thought.On friends…And what of your friends? Guess what, you’re not in touch with any of them anymore apart from on Facebook. You don’t need to know what Facebook is just yet but it’ll become a montage of your old life. Time will sift out your friends like a sieve and you’ll form new friendships in unexpected places. But you won’t have time for many friendships because life will be one fast rollercoaster. It’s not what you’re used to but it’ll become the norm and you’ll look back a decade later and wonder why you didn’t embrace Islam sooner. There are many reasons but you should know that if there is any chance of you increasing your faith, it was all through the mercy of Allah, whether you acknowledged it or not.On lifestyleOf course you’ll find the avoidance of Pork fairly easy, it wasn’t always your favourite but you’ll find other things harder, in particular only eating Halal food. It will take time, a long time, but you will get there. And of the many other temptations of this world you will forego, some will be more difficult than others. Just don’t stress out because everything has a priority and only you will make this happen when it feels right for you. Things like alcohol, which in the life you live in the UK and the circle of friends you developed are the norm, will be something you will think a lot about. Especially at the times when you’re not in a good place. It will feel like a short-term lift but know that it is your choice to control your willpower or not.Your inclination is to think of your external attire as one of the key aspects of becoming and being a Muslim. Let me tell you know, it isn’t. There are many educated and straight pathed Muslims ‘that walk around like regular people’ if you can call it that (at least in the UK). Fact is, thinking that you need to grow a beard and wear Islamic attire is a common challenge for reverts. I suggest you look past this and start work inside out. Change your way of thinking, about the world around you, relationships with friends and family, your purpose in life, the inner meanings of the Quran and focus heavily on intent. Islam places a big weight on intent and what you are feeling inside. Once you understand this your path will become clearer.You will however find music the most difficult thing to let go of. For all the advice I can give, I’m not sure I can help you here because I know what music means to you. The radio, mix tapes, nightclubs, the bedroom DJ’ing and small-time bars you played at, to finding your ‘thing’ with music production. You’ll find the latter in particular the most difficult to move away from. Those mixes you come up with in your head will continue long after you stop listening to or creating music. Let it flow, you’re only human. All I can say is that there are bigger things to work on than stopping music completely. Maybe one day it will happen and if I have learned something it is to be patience and to completely trust Allah and to continue in prayer for His help.On faithYou will continue to question and doubt the life you have, the world you live in, the society you interact with, the news, politics, religion, the Earth, space and everything in and around it. It is perfectly normal to question the Quran, the Sunnah (direct and indirect teachings of the Prophet, peace be upon him) and everything associated with Islam. Know that questioning Islam is all part of the learning exercise. Your challenge here is to find the right teachers. Islam is made up of many sects – this is very unfortunate as it will take you a while to fully understand this and know what to trust. Just know that true Islam believes in the Quran and the Sunnah, the 5 pillars, the final Prophet, of Angels and Jinn, of the Torah and Bible, of past messengers, of pre-destiny and resurrection and of heaven and hell, of Satan, charity, pilgrimage, fasting and prayer. If you don’t stray too far from here, you’ll be doing well.Truth is it will take you over a decade to really understand this. Your lack of guidance and support will lead you to taking various side alleys on your way to discovering what Islam is really about. If there is something that can keep you on the right track, it is to understand the fundamentals of Islam and of being a Muslim.You will get caught up in a whirlwind of stuff that you should be doing: from learning the names of the prayers, their order in the day and what times they are, through to learning Arabic, reading (and trying to understand) the Quran and changing your behaviour. It won’t be a great experience and will bring you to the brink of trusting in this structured and strict religion – unfortunately the overwhelming number of things being thrown at you will drag you down and hold you back. Bear with it, you will pick yourself up and everything will become clearer to you.On lifeI’ll end this with confirmation that despite reverting to Islam and trying to do the right thing, you will fall into temptation. The scale will swing from the ‘you really know you shouldn’t be doing this’ to the ‘you know you’re going to burn for this’ but despite this you’ll still do it. Reverting to Islam does not change who you are inside. There isn’t a magical reset switch that reverting makes you a better person. Instead, reverting to Islam merely places a new lens for you to observe, understand and respond to the world around you with. You will fall into sin and you will be very upset with yourself. Offer your most sincere repentance because Allah is full of mercy, I’ve seen it first hand. He has mentioned this in The Quran and asks his followers to repent with sincerity for sins small and large. And despite this, He will come through for you and offer you a chance to clean that slate and start afresh. Take it and don’t look back. But most of all, know that to err is human, we are born with chains around our neck and a whisper in our ear. You’ll come to know of this in the years to come but until then, keep the faith.Nazeer.
There are those born into Islam, that nothing beyond the religion of the one God where Islam becomes the way of life, a guiding beacon and a set of virtues by which to reach the ultimate goal of everlasting peace and pleasure.
Then there are those for whom Allah (swt) has set a different path into Islam. Each enters through the love and grace of The Creator with their own set of circumstances and challenges. With so much focus on the what, why and how of Islam, reverts are faced with the journey of finding their place within Islam, at a pace and in a way that makes most sense to them.
And so with the inspiration from Allah (swt) this website has been created to focus on the journey upon entering Islam and how to step into Islam in the way it was intended; with ease and in a way that is right for you (because ‘their is no compulsion in religion’ [2/256 – Surah Al-Baqarah]). There is no obligation to enter Islam because we are all afforded the choice between enjoyment and success in this life and forever success in the hereafter.
Which will you choose?
This website was created because I wanted to give those that believe, or want to believe in God and those that want to explore or commit to Islam a modern, western, perspective. I’m UK born and bred, now living in Canada. I was born into a non-Muslim family (actually, a very anti-Muslim family) and brought up without strong religious direction by parents that had a religion by name only. During my early teens, I grew a strong belief in God as it simply made sense to me that there was a creator. The religion of my parents believed in an overarching god supported by many other gods. My primary school (age 5 to 10) and secondary school (11-18) were both led by Christian belief and values. We sang hymns in assembly, collected food for harvest, celebrated and revered Christmas and Easter. We praised the lord in the morning, in the afternoon and were asked to do so in the evening too – I didn’t, as I was too busy playing football or computer games with friends. But what I did most nights before bed was to pray to God. It was nothing more than a prayer of gratitude because I felt embarrassed to ask for anything. My nights, just before sleeping, were a chance to reflect on the day and on the various parts of my life; the things that I liked, the things that I had and the things which I was grateful for. It always came back to gratitude and I thanked God for what I had, despite seeing others and having slight envy at the new trainers, game consoles, or holidays friends had been on.As time went by, people came and went, as did temptation, opportunity and many other things. Yet despite the path I chose to take and the people I chose to spend my time with, something drew me toward Islam.My name is Nazeer, a Muslim revert. This website represents my passion for writing and my need to share my story to help reverts, or those looking to consider reverting to Islam, along the journey into Islam.
Vision
To strengthen your iman (belief, faith and spirituality) through nourishment of mind (through this website) and soul (through your own thoughts and determination to seek the truth).
Mission
To provide a perspective of life and faith to allow you to take a step closer to success in this life and the hereafter through my journey into Islam. Did you know it took our Prophet (peace be upon him) around a decade to convince the majority of the inhabitants of Mecca to believe in one God? Nearly 10 years to simply believe that there was only one superior being that we should follow – at a time when idol worship was rife and values were very much as they are now – alcohol, prostitution, lawlessness and lack of self-respect. Whatever you’re going through or whatever pressures you’re feeling, just know that you’re not alone in this journey.
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