Category: Da'wah

I have read the many pages of your web site that instructs a non-believer. I believe that there is only Allah (one God). Ibelieve that Muhammed is the seal of the prophets. History bears this out. My question is: How do I declare this (shahadah) if I do not speak arabic?  How do I perform the five daily prayers (salah) without understanding arabic? Finally would I have to change my name?

I have very difficult question and I think this is my only hope that you can help me to find the answer.
I am a Russian Jewish girl and I know this Muslim guy for over a year. The longer we know each other, the more problems and difficulties we face. Not in the religious or cultural ways. We love each other and there is an issue of whether he can marry me or not.
He is a very good Muslim and he comes from traditional family. I am very fond of his beliefs and beliefs of his family. I was born in a very agnostic country and couldn't be properly introduced into any religion. It was forbidden. When I came to the US I started my research on different religions and found out that my beliefs do not really match all Jewish sayings. I did a lot of research on Islam and by looking at him and a couple other Muslim boys and girls, and by reading Quaran, I have a very strong feeling that I could become a good Muslim. I want to go to school to learn the culture and religion more precisely, to learn the language. I contacted the mosque and was ready to go... but I faced the issue: would I be accepted as a Muslim sister like other people who came from different religions except Jewish? Jews and Muslims are in big contradictions and I know that friendship is almost impossible. I am praying to God (in my home language - Russian), to lead me the right way to achieve my beliefs.
Please, help me to find my answers

How can we prove to non-Muslims that Islam is a tolerant and easy religion?

A brother of ours has recently become Muslim. During his days of Jaahiliyyah (ignorance – i.e., before he became Muslim), he earned a lot of money by dealing in drugs. He brought this money with him and opened a big bookstore and got married using this money. Recently he has been told that it is not permissible for him to give this money in charity, because Allaah is Good and only accepts that which is good, Our question is, what should he do with this money, and how sound is what he has been told?.

If a man decides after a life of sinfulness to come to God and promise to reform his life, I understand that Islam says that he will be forgiven and therefore inherit the promises etc.
My question though is what has happened to the weight of this man's sin, as in sinning he has offended God and therefore this sin has to be atoned for; who is going to atone for his sin, if God is just going to forgive him on the promise of his being good and faithful? Surely as we saw with Adam there has to be a consequence for sin...

How should we call people to Islam?

What advice can you give to the Muslims in the west in the current situation in which the Muslim ummah finds itself? How can we fulfil our Islamic duties and please Allaah?.

I used to be very sinful, my most beloved hobby was to sin. I used to take drugs (hashish, pills, and wine) and I used also to commit adultry.
By Allah’s grace, I repented from the sin of adultry before marriage but the sin of taking drugs remained. It was because of the bad companions I had. Then one of my cousins died, he was of similar age to me. But he was not married, I thought about my situationand that someone who is younger than me has passed away, and we were comitting the same sin togeather, taking drugs.  
Allah has guided me by His grace, so I gave up all sins, I even broke the satellite dish. My life has changed 180 degrees. I became charitable, pray, call people for good and denounce evil, distribute tapes and booklets and attend lectures.
The problem:

I face criticism, starting from family, mother and sisters, that I am strict. They want to listen to songs and watch series on television. If I advise them and say that what they are doing is haram they say: “why is istighfaar (seeking Allah’s forgiveness) prescribed?, If you do not want to listen to songs and watch television then leave, we want to watch and listen” the same problem happens at work as well, I have left home more than one time, my wife stays with them, I take her with me when I leave, but they ask me to let her stay with them. I refuse and my wife feels embarrassed and fears her situation causes any problems. But when I leave her with them, she sits far from TV and from where they sit.  Sometimes I hear my mother making du’aa against me saying: “I wish Allah did not guide you, you made us restless” I seek refuge with Allah from what she says.

My problem at work is, that I work in a military sector, all colleagues are bad, the religious ones are only three, there are six bearded brothers. They get over so many things, the rest of them take hashish and drugs, flirt women and majority are of course smokers.

They all agreed on insulting me, whenever I sit with them, they remind me of my past. They mock the bearded brothers, slander them and describe them as (liers and terrorists) and I feel jealous for them and say: “you are slandering your brothers, they are muslims, you should not mock the beard because it is sunnah to keep it”. Sheikh, they gave me bad reputaion, they always critisize the bearded brothers, they never mention anything good about them.

Is letting my beard grow, abiding by sharia, enjoining good and denouncing evil in this time a crime that I have to pay for, or become immoral like them?
Even my boss, he says: “you bearded men, I will put you under the misoscope, I will not forgive any mistake you do”

I have tried some solutions:
Firstly: I asked to move to another administration, but my request will take some time.
Secondly: I cut my relationship with everyone insulted me by a word or an action. This helped limit the problem. But I do not like this way, as people became careful when they deal with me and fear that anything they say may be disliked by me. So they dislike me and make others dislike me as well.
I wish you provide me with the suitable solution for my problem because I became really tired of it.

Is it permissible to make phone apps to sell Islamic information? For example, the iPhone mobile phone has a number of apps that are sold via the Apple company, such as the electronic Mushaf, Saheeh al-Bukhaari, Saheeh Muslim, and so on. I would like to make apps like these, that deal with the Qur’an and Prophet’s hadeeths, for the iPhone and iPad, and upload them to the App Store as unique apps.