Increasing Our FAITH (Eeman)

faith increases by:

1.) Increasing your islamic knowledge  

• reading books & hearing
• attending lessons about Islam

2.) Increasing your islamic acts of worship & good
deeds

•  salat
• fasting
• charity
• omra

3.) Increasing the time you spend in *monitoring* *signs of Allah* in the universe and how He manages everything with His perfect wisdom.

• creation of sun
• moon
• mountains
• humans

4.) Increasing the time you spend in remembering Allah (THIKR)reciting;

• Quran 
• saying du'a
• supplications*
• & invocations ,it's very important here to

Choose; 

• good friends
• righteus wife
• (environment )that remind you about

God,and encourage you to join the race of being the best in your time and
place in racing towards paradise' highest degrees,you should avoid factors
that distract your mind,or worse,deviate your mind ,to bad ideas,low desires
,blue movies...etc

Courtesy of Muhammad Abdul-Rahman <
msapublication@yahoo.com>

Six Articles of FAITH

Muslim One must;

1. Believe in Oneness of Allaah S.W.T.

-He/She must believe in " La Ilaha Illa Allaah" ( there is no God, except Allaah SWT.)

2. Believe In the Angels of Allaah. 

Allaah taala says: "Righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and the Scriptures and the Prophets." ( Quran 2:177)

-The angels are God's chosen way of sending His commands into the world, and of taking reports on the fulfilment of these commands. Thus it is obligatory for every Muslim to have faith in angels as part of having faith in God and His ways.

3. Believe in the Books of Allaah!

• Injeel ( Prophet Isa Alayhis Sala'am)
• Torah ( Prophet Musa Alayhis Sala'am)
• Zabur ( Prophet Dawud/David Alayhis Sala'am)
• Qur-an ( Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)

  4. Believe in the Messengers of Allaah!

-Allah alone has knowlege of true number and names of messengers and prophets chosen by Him. Allah's guidance to mankind began with Adam (peace be upon him) and was completed with Muhammad (peace be upon him).

5. Believe in the  "al-qada wa al-qadar" ( The dive decree of pre destination)

 -God has measured out every thing. He has measured out the sustenance in the world, and He also measures out what He has given us, the span of our life, the amount of our goodness and our evil, the things that happen to us. The question of predestination versus free will is a challenge in any religion and is certainly beyond the scope of this simple introduction. Rather than get into it, I will simply mention two of the most frequently used phrases of Muslims. One is "inshallah" which means "if God wills". It is used whenever a statement about the future is made. For instance, "Next I am going to discuss Judgment Day, if God wills". We all know that very often things do not go as planned. I could be interrupted by anything from a telephone call to an earthquake and never get back to writing my introduction. What we have willed does not always happen. What God has willed does. The second phrase is "mashallah" which means "what God has willed". This is used in two ways. One is a statement of acceptance of whatever happens, e.g., "I didn't get the job. What God has willed". The other is as a compliment of something good. In this sense it might be interpreted as "What a good thing God has willed". For instance, "What a beautiful flower that is! What a good thing God has willed". By the use of this phrase, we acknowledge that all things, both bad and good, happen according to God's will. I think the two phrases "inshallah" and "mashallah" provide a simple, practical demonstration of how Muslims think about "the measuring out".

6. Believe in the Day of Resurrection!

- The Day of Judgment and the Hereafter are essential beliefs. Muslim thinkers sometimes talk about three "roots" of belief, which are monotheism, prophecy, and the judgment. Monotheism and prophecy have already been discussed in the essay above and in the articles of faith devoted to them. Judgment Day and the Hereafter are crucial too. They are a necessary aspect of God's justice. Judgment Day isn't for God to discover our good and our evil. He already knows it. He is delivering His judgment to us, so that we can know it. Now, we all know that things happen in this world that aren't fair. Innocent people suffer. Evil seems to go unpunished. These are the results of our free will, and through them God tests us. Will we still remember Him when times are rough? How would it be a fair test for us if He stepped in every time somebody did something wrong? Think about it. Religion's answer to the question of the existence of evil has usually been that it is a result of God's justice regarding our free will. But at the same time, it is also an essential component of His justice that the good will be rewarded and the evil punished. The Hereafter is necessary because it is there that the reward and punishment will come. Moreover, as the Quran says, the Hereafter is "better and more abiding" than this world. The suffering we may undergo now will seem as fleeting as a nightmare when we look back at it. So will the pleasures and joys of the things of this world. But the pain of Hell will last forever for those whom God condemns to it, and the joy of Paradise will last forever for those whom God admits to it. In this way, the reward of the good truly is a just recompense for what they worked, and the punishment of the evil likewise. This is part of God's design and plan for us and belief in it is an essential part of having faith in Him and His ways. 

.

 courtesy of : www.religionfacts.com

www.muhajabah.com

converting to islam

Introduction to ISLAM

I

 Prophet Muhammad (peace and the blessings of God be upon him) said, "Every child is born according to the fitra then its parents make it a Jew, a Christian, or a Zoroastrian". Today we could add "or a Hindu, a Buddhist, an atheist, etc".

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

Belief in Oneness Of Allaah Suhanaho Wa Taala!

-To do this one, he/she must simply state with all his/her heart publicly "Ashadu Allaah ilaha illallah wa Ashadu anna Muhammad Rasullullaah"

Performing Salah/Salat!

PROCEDURE
 -In performing Salah/Salat you have to wash your body to purify yourselves.

wudhu - ritually cleaning the body clothes and ground used for prayer.

Clothing - one must be covered in the manner according to his gender.

Facing the Ka'aba - (refered to as the Qibla).

Intention- merely saying in your mind that you are attempting to pray and gain the benefits from it.

List of 5-obligatory prayer

   1.Fajr-Before sunrise.
   2.Zuhr-After the sun begins to decline from its zenith.
   3.Asr-Mid-afternoon.
   4.Magrib-Just after sunset.
   5.Isha-night.

In addition to this, everyone must also perform 12 Sunnah everyday. 

 This Sunnah Also Known as " Sunnah Ar-Rawatib."

• 4 rak'ats before Dhuh'r
• 2 rak'ats after Dhuh'r
• 2 rak'ats after Maghrib
• 2 rak'ats before Aisha
• 2 rak'ats before  

Giving Zakah/ Zakat

-It is an obligatory charity to every Muslim to give charity as an "Act of Worship and Spiritual investment".  Zakat does not only purifies the property of the contributor, but also the "heart and mind" purifies from selfishness.  The Contributor should not seek pride or fame but if disclosing his name and his contribution is likely to encourage others, it is acceptable to do so.

The recipients of Zakah are:
 
- the poor, the needy,
- the new Muslim converts,
- the Muslim prisoners of war (to liberate them),
- Muslims in debt,
- employees appointed to collect Zakah,
- Muslims in service of research or study or propagation of Islam,
- wayfarers who are foreigners in need of help.

Fasting-Sawm

-Fasting is abstaining completely from eating, drinking, and intimate sexual contacts from the break of dawn till sunset. It is a matchless Islamic institution which teaches man the principle of sincere love to God, creative sense of hope, devotion,patience, unselfishness, discipline, etc. Obligatory fasting is done once a year for the period of the month of Ramadan. Fasting during this time is obligatory on every Muslim adult if he is mentally and physically fit and not on a journey. Women are allowed to skip a fasting day due to menstruation, and while nursing a baby.

Pilgrimage-Hajj

-It is obligatory to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in a lifetime. Muslims from all walks of life, from every corner of the globe assemble in Mecca in response to the call of Allah. It is to commemorate the Divine rituals observed by the Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael, who were the first pilgrims to the house of Allah on earth: the Ka'bah. It is also to remember the great assembly of the Day of Judgement when people will stand equal before Allah. Muslims go to Mecca to glorify Allah, not to worship a man. The visit to the tomb of Prophet Muhammad at Madena is highly recommended but not essential in making the Hajj valid and complete.

 

Courtesy of Muslimah's Homepage on Islam