I just read this beautiful saying on one of the facebook pages.
Do your non-Muslim colleagues know about Islam? Do you tell them what Islam is really about? Do they see Islam in your awesome manners? Don't allow your non-Muslim colleagues to argue on the Day of Judgment 'but my classmate never even told me he was a Muslim!' Indeed we are told:
"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best"..
So please help your colleagues understand the truth of this world.
I was going through a number of islamic videos on youtube and came across the following video by Abdur-Raheem Green, a revert to Islam. It is a very lengthy video but Masha-allah, very motivating.
This video also shows that if a person has good knowledge about his/her deen, no matter what religion he had followed since birth, the ultimate thing that matters is that the person has finally chosen the right path. :)
In this blog, I would like to share few arabic terms which a new muslim should include in his day-to-day life. You can use it as a small little dictionary of commonly used terms. If you ever come across a term you don’t know and isn’t in the list, please let me know so I can include it for others.
~A~
Alhamdulillah – ‘Praise be to Allah’; a phrase said in thanks to Allah
Allah – the Arabic term for God.
Ameen – a supplication meaning ‘O Allah, respond to (or answer) what we have said’
Assalamu alaykum – a greeting, ‘Peace be unto you’; recommended for use among Muslims only
Astaghfirullah – an Arabic phrase meaning ‘I ask Allah forgiveness’
~B~
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim – ‘In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful’; said as a blessing before eating food and other actions that are worthy of giving thanks to Allah or asking of His support
~C~
~D~
Dhuhr – the fardh prayer performed in the afternoon
Dhikr – remembrance of Allah
Du’a – supplication and invocation to Allah
~E~
~F~
Fajr – the morning fardh ritual prayer, performed before the sunrise
Fardh – an obligatory act of worship; relates to the validity of an action
Fiqh – Islamic jurisprudence
~G~
Ghusl – the ritual bath one takes to remove major impurities
~H~
Hadith – refers to that which is attributed to the Prophet as regards words, actions or approvals, physical features and characteristics
Halal – permissible, lawful; usually used in reference to food
Haram – impermissible, illegal; used for something that is sinful
~I~
‘Ibada – Arabic term for ‘worship’
Iman – Arabic for ‘faith’
Insha’Allah – ‘Allah willing’
Isha – the evening fardh ritual prayer, performed at night
~J~
Jazakallah khair – ‘May Allah grant you goodness’
~K~
~L~
~M~
Ma’asalama – ‘(farewell) with peace’; used like the English ‘goodbye’
Maghrib – a fardh prayer performed between sunset and ‘isha
Mosque – an Islamic house of worship
Muhammad (peace be upon him) – the name of the final prophet of Islam
~N~
Namaz – the Urdu word for the ritual prayer
Nasheed – a religiously themed song, much like a song of praise, but usually sung without any musical instruments accompanying the performance
~O~
~P~
~Q~
Qur’an – an Islamic scripture believed by Muslims to be Allah's revelation to the Prophet Muhammed; believed to be the exact, unadulterated words of Allah
~R~
Rak’a – a single unit of prayer (plural: rak’at)
Ruku – a form of prostration done in prayer
~S~
Salam – a shortened version of ‘Assalamu alaykum’; Arabic term for ‘peace’
Salallahu alayhi wassalam – used whenever the name of Muhammad is used; translates to ‘Allah’s praise and peace be upon him’
Shari’ah – Islamic law concerning the community
Subhana wa ta'ala – translates to 'Pure is He and He is exalted' and it is placed after the name of Allah
Sunnah – the ways, teachings and activities of Prophet Muhammed
Surah – a chapter of the Qur’an (plural: surat)
~U~
Urdu – a South Asian language, spoken mainly in Pakistan and India
~V~
~W~
Wa alaykum assalam – the reply to the greeting of ‘Assalamu alaykum’; translates to ‘And upon you be peace’
Wajib – a necessary act of worship; unlike the term fardh, wajib relates to the soundness of an action
Wassalam – the reply to the greeting of ‘Salam’
Witr – a wajib prayer of three units performed between ‘isha and fajr
Wudu’ – ablution; the ritual cleansing done before praying or touching the text of the Qur’an
~X~
~Y~
~Z~
Zina – unlawful sexual intercourse
May Allah subhana-wa-tala show you the correct path and help you here and hereafter.
My previous post was about my story, why I reverted to Islam. I mentioned that I had a lot of questions in my mind since childhood and I was not able to find their answers in Hinduism and when I started reading about Islam, all my questions got answered!
I'll share all those questions in my upcoming posts, but in this post, I'll share some questions which helped me understanding Islam and Muslims at the very initial stage. I was actually influced when I understood the actual meaning of the word "Islam" and "Mulism".
P.S. : All the information I share here, is from the online sources and after checking the authenticity on a number of Islamic webiste. However, in case you fine anything irrelevant, please feel free to contact me.
Q1. What is Islam?
Islam, which comes from an Arabic word "Salm" which means "peace" and is derived from the word "Silm" which means "submission of your will to almighty god". Islam in short means peace acquired by submitting your will to alimighty god. Islam teaches that one can only find peace in one's life by submitting to Almighty God (Allah subhana-wa-tala) in heart, soul and deed.
Q2. Who is a Muslim?
A person who submits his will to almight god is called a Muslim.
So, the religion is called "Islam," and a person who believes in and follows it is a "Muslim."
Q3. What are the beliefs of a Muslim?
The basic beliefs of Muslims fall into six main categories, which are known as the "Articles of Faith":
Allah
Angels
Messengers
Books
Aakhirat
Taqdeer
Q4. What are the five pillars of Islam?
Faith without actions and practice is a dead end, as far as Islam is concerned. Faith by nature is very sensitive and can be most effective.
There are five pillars of Islam:
The declaration of faith: To bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Mohammad (salallahu alahi wasallam) is his messenger to all human beings till the Day of Judgement.
Prayers: Daily, prayers are offered five times a day as a duty towards Allah. They strengthen and enliven the belief in Allah and inspire man to a higher morality. They purify the heart and prevent temptation towards wrong - doings and evil.
Fasting the month of Ramadan: The Muslims during the month of Ramadan not only abstain from food, drink and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset but also sincerity and devotion. It develops a sound social conscience, patience, unselfishness and will - Power.
Zakah: The literal and simple meaning of Zakkah is purity. The technical meaning of this word designates the annual amount in kind or coin which a Muslim with means must distribute among the rightful beneficiaries. But the religious and spiritual significance of Zakkah is much deeper and more lively. So it has humanitarian and sociopolitical values.
Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah): It is to be performed once in a lifetime, if one can afford it financially and physically.
There are a lot of leactures in the internet, but the one that I think will help us in understand Islam and Muslims is the one below:
This is my second post. In my first post, I mentioned that I am a revert, have reverted from Hinduism to Islam. A common question which comes to me most of the time is why I chose Islam.
So, my story goes as follows.
I belong to a very open minded middle class and religious hindu family. My parenst believe in one god but at the same time they follow something which is forbidden in Islam. According to them there is only one god, but they believe that god took birth on earth in different forms and hence they follow all the forms.
Since childhood, I used to question my parents a lot of things like, have we seen god? how can god take birth? the idols whom we consider as god, how do we know that god looks like this? why do we do so and so customs in the name of god? bla bla bla! My dad always used to answer me one thing, “This is what we have been following and this is what society follows”. My mind never settled, but I never ever thought of finding out the reasons. I had no muslim friend at that time and therefore was confined to the views of hindus only.
When, I got admission in the university for my Bachelors, Alhamdulillah, I met a lot of muslim people. I got to interact with people who have a completely different way of understanding and who live their life in a different way. Infact, my room mate was a muslim, so I could actually see what all activities a muslim do in his day. I slowly got influenced and a time came, when I was actually reading books and googling on the internet to find more about Islam. I was keen to find out answers to all my questions. I started questioning my parents more frequently, and if they were not able to answer my question, I would tell them what all I found in Islam! And one day, after getting fulling convinced and after getting convinced that there is no god but Allah, I decided to follow the truth, read the shahdat and asked Allah subhana-wa-tala for forgiveness. Did ghusl and started learning how to pray!
Today, I can say that I am a muslim by choice. This is what ‘taqdeer’ is and this is how Allah subhana-wa-tala helps a person to know the truth of this duniya and helps him in following the right path.
May allah subaha-wa-tala show the correct path to all of you and help you here and hereafter.
