How to Become a Muslim?

Hello my precious brother,

I have frequently mentioned in my previous articles that Islam is accepting to receive His divine education by being subject to the will of Allah. Since the creation of the first human being, those who had adopted this divine education reached the peak of maturity and therefore became the owner of a perpetual happiness. Those who had not agreed to this divine offer and preferred to be the subject of their egos' worthless desires on the other hand, could get rid of neither the worldly nor the hereafter troubles. The latter also create inconveniences for the people around them in as much as they were in trouble themselves.

Must firstly believe in Allah, in his messengers and in all their messages

In order to accept Islam, in other words to become a Muslim, first of all it is necessary to believe in a unique creator, Allah (God) as well as to recognize that He has created all the material and spiritual alems (worlds), that He has absolute sovereignty over all things which were created by Him; and that He keeps them in existence by supplying their needs. Allah (God) does not have assistants, partners, coequals or similars. He always treats his creatures with mercy and justice; He is free from all defects and deficiencies and He is the owner of an endless power and might.

It is also necessary to believe all His prophets (including Mohammed aleyhissalam) and their messages which were sent to enable human beings to reach eternal happiness by making them go through a divine education.

The last ring of this prophet chain is Mohammed aleyhissalam. Mohammed aleyhissalam has corrected the false comments that came out in earlier times with the last book Qur'an that was revealed to Him. He also notified the human beings of the rules that are valid all the time and that make people happy eternally.

Anyone who believes in such manner and declares his belief with the words "Lailahe illallah, Mohammeden rasulullah" (There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet) can become a Muslim. This declaration of the faith is called the Shahada. This oral declaration is important in terms of the law and procedures, but indeed the belief is the essential element.

Messengers are salvation guides and none of them is God

It is also necessary to believe in Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah aleyhissalam and all other prophets, and their messages. All of them are the most selected creatures of God and all were sent to show the correct living style. It is necessary to respect and to be grateful to all of them. Yet it is very wrong to divinize the prophets (they were humans just like as us) and such manner is certainly not admissible before Allah. Allah is the only one God.

"Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed." (Qur'an, Nisáa, 48)

"They say: 'Allah hath begotten a son!' - Glory be to Him! He is Self- Sufficient! His are all things in the heavens and on earth! No warrant have ye for this! Say ye about Allah what ye know not?" (Qur'an, Yunus, 68)

"Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him." (Qur'an, ikhlas, 1-4)

The fundamental of Islam: the God's unity faith

One must never be hesitant in the matter of "The Unity of God".

"No son did Allah beget, nor is there any god along with Him: (if there were many gods), behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others! Glory to Allah. (He is free) from the (sort of) things they attribute to Him!" (Qur'an, muminun, 91)

The fundamental of Islam is the "only One God" belief that is expressed with the words "There is no God, but Allah."

Becoming a Muslim is a very easy process. There is no need to apply to an authority or to conduct any religious ceremony. There is also no specific time or a specific location required. Any point of the universe is appropriate for becoming a Muslim, to live Islam, and to worship God, being clean is sufficient.

Cleanliness of the surroundings, body and heart is the basis of Islamic worships. The first step of the divine education after the Belief is the cleanliness. (Cleanliness is of faith. Hadith) For this reason, one must be cleaned with ablution by washing his mouth, nose and the whole body after accepting to receive God's divine education with the repetition of the shahada.

Since the essence of Islam is submission to the will of Allah taala, one should start all his work with Allah taala's name by reciting "besmele." He must also intend to do any work for the contentedness of Allah taala.

(Besmele is to recite "Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahim" "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful")

Should first learn the essence of a correct faith

My dear brother,

A person must first learn the essence of the Islamic belief after becoming a Muslim (by saying the shahada). As I often emphasized so far, the fundamental of Islam is the "One God" belief and a correct faith. An individual should not try to learn Islamic knowledge through asking questions to any ordinary Moslem around him. He must learn Islam from the books written by ahl-i sunnah scholars. The correct faith is the belief that is underlined in these books. We must strengthen our faith according to the true knowledge in these books.

Then must try to obey the commands and refrain from the prohibitions of the religion

After learning the God's commands and prohibitions, a person must try to obey these rules as much as he can do. I have given briefly these commands and prohibitions in my subsequent article titled "The Golden Rules of An Eternal Happiness". A person should learn the details of these rules from the fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) books. In this way he reaches to maturity and perfectness in this world as fast as possible if he is sincere in learning and applying them. He becomes a truthful, dependable, well-mannered, polite and an excellent human being. He is loved and respected by everyone, everywhere.

A man who is sincere in his faith becomes also sincere in his acts, in his statements, in his friendships and in his love. If a man is genuine in his belief and his acts, and also tries to accomplish his worship duties as far as he can do within his knowledge, Allah taala teaches him the things that he doesn't know. "Allah taala teaches him the things that he doesn't know" means that He creates the necessary reasons for the one to learn.