Hi, i have started looking for marriage and i wanted a converts perspective on marriage with converts. I (F33) born muslim, and generally practicing but i do struggle with being consistent. I have spoken to a couple of convert brothers on the muslims apps but they have been at the early stages of practicing their deen and investing in their religious journey so i felt like perhaps it was not the best time to start this marriage journey with them. I am not sure on how best to move with this as one part of me likes the idea of supporting someone on their journey and another part thinks that this is a very personal journey and should happen outside of marriage. I am not sure on how best to navigate this or what things to consider.

Friend of mine converted 3 years ago. no Arabic at home, and honestly, reading in Arabic still feels out of reach for him. Every method He tried mixed in Nahw & Sarf, meaning, and speaking all at once, and he got lost.

Did anyone else go through this? did you care more about being able to read the words correctly, like sounding them out, or about understanding the meaning? What actually helped, if anything did?

🌷*Duaas to fight anxiety and depression*🌷

by Asma bint Shameem 

We all go through difficult times one time or another. 

Here are some duaas proven from the authentic sources that we can read at such times. 

1️⃣ The Prophet ﷺ said:

There is no-one who is afflicted by distress and grief, and says:

‎اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي عَبْدُكَ ، وَابْنُ عَبْدِكَ ، وَابْنُ أَمَتِكَ ، نَاصِيَتِي بِيَدِكَ ، مَاضٍ فِيَّ حُكْمُكَ ، عَدْلٌ فِيَّ قَضَاؤُكَ ، أَسْأَلُكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ سَمَّيْتَ بِهِ نَفْسَكَ ، أَوْ عَلَّمْتَهُ أَحَدًا مِنْ خَلْقِكَ ، أَوْ أَنْزَلْتَهُ فِي كِتَابِكَ ، أَوْ اسْتَأْثَرْتَ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الْغَيْبِ عِنْدَكَ ، أَنْ تَجْعَلَ الْقُرْآنَ رَبِيعَ قَلْبِي ، وَنُورَ صَدْرِي ، وَجِلاءَ حُزْنِي ، وَذَهَابَ هَمِّي

 ‘Allaahumma inni ‘abduka ibn ‘abdika ibn amatika naasyati bi yadika, maadin fiyya hukmuka, ‘adlun fiyya qadaa’uka. 

As’aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw ‘allamtahu ahadan min khalqika awista’tharta bihi fi ‘ilm il-ghaybi ‘indaka an taj’al al-Qur’aana al-adheema rabee’a qalbi wa noora sadri wa jalaa’a huzni wa dhihaaba hammi 

“O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of Your maidservant; my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the Qur’aan the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety),’ 

but Allaah will take away his distress and grief, and replace it with joy.” 

He was asked: “O Messenger of Allaah, should we learn this?” He said: “Of course; everyone who hears it should learn it.” ( Ahmad- saheeh by al-Albaani) 

2️⃣ The Prophet ﷺ said:

“There is no Muslim who is afflicted with a calamity and says that which Allaah has enjoined, 

‎إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ اللَّهُمَّ أْجُرْنِي فِي مُصِيبَتِي وَأَخْلِفْ لِي خَيْرًا مِنْهَا

Innaa lillaahi wa inna ilayhi raaji’oon. Allaahumma ajurni fi museebati wa akhlif li khayran minha 

“Verily to Allaah we belong and unto Him is our return. O Allaah, reward me for my calamity and compensated me with something better than it,

but Allaah will compensate him with something better than it.”(Muslim)

3️⃣ Ibn ‘Abbaas said that the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ used to say at times of distress:

‎لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ الْعَظِيمُ الْحَلِيمُ ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَرَبُّ الْأَرْضِ وَرَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ

“Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah al-‘Azeem al-Haleem, laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Rabb al-‘Arsh al-‘azeem, la ilaaha ill-Allaah Rabb ul-samawaati wa Rabb ul-ard wa Rabb ul-‘Arsh il-kareem 

“There is no god but Allaah, the All-Powerful, the Forbearing; there is no god but Allaah, Lord of the mighty Throne; there is no god but Allaah, Lord of heaven, Lord of earth, and Lord of the noble Throne.” 

(al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

4️⃣ The Prophet ﷺ said: 

“Shall I not tell you of something that, if any worldly calamity or disaster befalls any man among you and he says these words, he will be relieved of it. (It is) the du’aa’ of Dhu’l-Noon: 

‎لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

“Laa ilaaha illa anta subhaanaka inni kuntu min al-zaalimeen

“None has the right to be worshipped but You (O Allaah), Glorified (and Exalted) be You [above all that (evil) they associate with You]! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers).”

And in another narration he said:

“No Muslim man says this duaa’ concerning anything but Allaah will answer his prayer.” (at-Tirmidhi -Saheeh by al-Albaani)

5️⃣ The Prophet ﷺ  said: 

“The du’aa’ of the person who is in distress is: 

‎اللَّهُمَّ رَحْمَتَكَ أَرْجُو فَلا تَكِلْنِي   إِلَى نَفْسِي    طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلا أَنْتَ

‘Allaahumma rahmataka arjoo fa laa takilni ilaa nafsi tarfat ‘ayn wa aslih li sha’ni kullahu laa ilaaha illa anta 

“O Allaah, for Your mercy I hope, so do not leave me in charge of my affairs even for the blink of an eye; rectify all my affairs. There is no god except You” 

(Abu Dawood -hasan by al-Albaani)

6️⃣ If some matter was troubling him, the Prophet ﷺ  would say:

‎يا حيُ يا قَيوم بِرَحمَتِكَ أسْتَغِيث

Yaa Hayyu yaa Qayyoom bi rahmatika astagheeth 

“O Ever-Living, O Sustainer, by Your mercy I seek Your help” 

(at-Tirmidhi - hasan by al-Albaani)

7️⃣ The Prophet ﷺ  said to Asma’ bint ‘Umays:

“Shall I not teach you some words which you can say at times of distress and hardship? 

‎اللَّهُ اللَّهُ رَبِّي لا أُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئًا

‘Allaahu Allaahu rabbee laa ushriku bihi shay’an 

“Allaah is my Lord, I do not associate anything with Him).’”(Abu Dawood- saheeh by al-Albaani)

8️⃣ The Prophet ﷺ said:

‎اللَّهُمَّ لَا سَهْلَ إِلَّا مَا جَعَلْتَهُ سَهْلًا، وَأَنْتَ تَجْعَلُ الْحَزْنَ سَهْلًا إِذَا شِئْتَ

“O Allaah, nothing is easy but that which You make easy and You can make hardship easy if You will.” 

(Ibn Hibbaan - saheeh by al-Albaani)

And Allaah knows best.

-

Please keep me and my loved ones in your duas.

Assalamu alaikum everyone.
I’m a revert Muslim sister in Birmingham UK and I’m still learning about Islam. I joined because I would love to connect with other reverts and sisters who understand what it’s like learning everything from the beginning.
Sometimes I feel shy asking questions because I worry they might seem silly, but I’m trying to grow in my deen and become more confident.
I’d love to hear from other reverts — how did you build confidence, learn Arabic words/pronunciation, and feel more comfortable in the Muslim community?
JazakAllah khair ❤️

I have to keep hiding my prayers from my family every day, they make pork so much, I feel like the walls are closing in and they'll find out eventually and I dont know what to do. They've found out before and I know what happens, ill get disowned if they find out again. I especially hate being white and wish I was anything but. I hate being an outsider to both kuffar and Muslims. Besides my friends I already have I know for a fact I won't make any more, no one will want me. I feel like i dont even have much to look forward to anymore, im still young but my best days are already behind me if im being real, september of last year up until around June was a nightmare, my family found out and I had to hide it even more and it was really difficult and depressing. and ive just felt kind of numb ever since. I dont know what to do in life and cant imagine it being anything but terrible

Hi all! Already apologies in advance for my english, i am not a native speaker and i struggle with getting these emotions and thoughts across in a different language than my own. I (27F) have been together with my boyfriend (28) for 3 years. He is a born muslim and moved away from his country to mine for his studies. He is very progressive and has modern views when it comes to his religion, which i really appreciate. He practices but is not strict, does drink alcohol but also goes to the mosque occasionally. I have always said that i wouldn’t mind raising our children muslim as i think it’s a beautiful religion. I admire the spirituality of it and the focus on a personal journey. I am also aware that this is not everybody’s experience with islam, but this is his way and how he speaks about it. But lately, he has told me that he would love me to revert as well. I pray fajr daily because i love to do it for myself. I also read quran every now and then and fasted the entire ramadan together with him. I believe in the one and only God.

But here is the thing. I was raised in a very strict christian household, in a very atheist country. I am the eldest child and my parents were young when they had me. My childhood was good on paper, but the older i get, the more i figure stuff out that wasn’t normal. Religion wise, my parents were very conservative and strict. I was not allowed to watch certain tv shows and movies because it was ‘evil’ (pokemon, harry potter to name a few) some music and artists were banned from the house because it was music from the devil etc etc. As a child, i never really understood it. It felt incredibly alienating and i always felt like the weird one among kids my age. I didn’t know what they were talking about or they straight up called me weird for not being allowed to watch or listen to certain things. I always felt like the odd one out and like i was missing out. Later my parents came around a bit and were less strict on this, but they kept forcing me going to church every sunday. I absolutely hated this. Puberty also played a great part in it and i dreaded every sunday. It went as far that we were picked up early from slumber parties to go to church, reinforcing the alienating feeling. It wouldn’t matter how much i begged my parents to not force me to go. Also, every critical question or thought was met with anger. Not even to speak of how i was taught to feel shame when it comes to sexuality or anything to do with sex. I can never get across how this part of my childhood made me feel, but it turned me into an adult who is repulsed by christianity. Not religion, but specifically christianity. I moved out at 17 and it took me a long time to set myself free from the way of thinking that i was taught.

I understand that the perfect picture for my boyfriend would be if we were both muslim. A part of me wants this, i love the religion and it’s teachings like i mentioned before. But there is also a lot i don’t agree with, some certain intepretations or the culture around it. For example, i will never ever wear the hijab. He is 100% fine with that and agrees it’s not mandatory, but i know that for a lot of muslims this is not the case. I am afraid that should i revert, i am met with the same judgement as i had faced growing up. That thought just sucks the air out if my lungs and make my stomach drop. I know in many muslims eyes, i will never be enough. And i just don’t want to deal with that shame ever again. At the same time, i also don’t want to feel judged and shamed by my family or non-muslims. Either way, i will never do good enough for both sides.

My boyfriend says that i shouldn’t care about what other people think about me. I know he is right, but these feelings go deeper than that. It is nobodies business, but that won’t stop the comments. Ideally, i would revert because i want to, but to never publicly wear that label so that i don’t have to deal with other people’s opinions on it. But i am pretty sure that’s not a sustainable option.

Does anybody recognise this and maybe have some advice on how to navigate this?

Hello!

Any males who married a woman who converted to Islam?

How did things work out?

Im not a revert, was born into it, but over time i got lost at one point. I have been contemplating hijab lately. Any revert muslims who wore it for themselves? What is your story. Im looking for some inspiration, i feel like i just need a push.

Besides my friends of course, I have had it with how born Muslims treat us, convert women are treated like sex toys and convert men are treated like garbage. Ive had it, I feel like this is the only place I can say this, im not saying all born muslims are bad, but a lot ive seen aren't exactly great either. I hate that I'll never be taken seriously and I'll just get mocked because im Muslim and white and not Arab or Turkish or Persian, or African, or South Asian. The sense of superiority i see in some of them is appalling. It makes me really not want to go to a mosque, but because I have to im just gonna cover my face whenever I go with a surgical mask or something. I just need to let this out because it's making it so hard to be Muslim.

Edit: im not a woman, quit calling me "sister"

Hello all. A little about me: I was raised Catholic but stopped going to church and Catholic school around age 15. I saw the hypocrisy around constantly asking for money but then spending it on nice things for the church. I had a very Islamophobic father who pushed me HARD to hate Muslims and join the military because of it (I did not end up doing that, and in fact the “screw you, dad” attitude was a big thing that pushed me towards wanting to learn about Islam ). After leaving Catholic school I found friendships with a handful of Muslims (men and women both) throughout high school and college, and they set a much better example of being a good person than any of the Christians I had grown up around. In college, I ended up with an alcohol/drug problem, and what made me really legitimately consider turning to Islam is that they tell you to turn yourself over to a higher power as part of the 12 step recovery program (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-step_program). This isn’t one of those situations I occasionally see on here where I am already in a relationship with a woman whose family is requiring me to convert. However, being a single lonely 25 year old man I have women and relationships on the brain pretty much constantly and if I’m being honest with myself — after seeing the example many of my female Muslim friends set I don’t think I could ever be happy married to a non-Muslim woman. I also am on the autism spectrum, and a lot of what dating culture requires of me feels like dishonesty to me because of that. A big part of the appeal of converting is that Islam seems to offer a much more straightforward approach to relationships. I think I have some very good legitimate reasons for converting, however I have been putting off formally going to a mosque and taking shahada because I feel guilty and like my heart is in the wrong place for these last few reasons. If you’ve made it this far thank you for reading my rambling post. I would really appreciate any advice anyone has to offer.

Ya Allah save me from my strict household and allow me to practice Islam freely. I’m tired of this. I even left my ex fiance because they wouldn’t let me practice. But I still pray, even if it’s to Yahweh and Yeshua. I know I might not be forgiven for my shirk but I have no choice.

This is a follow up question, of my first visit to a Masjid for Jummah on Friday July 17.
Do I need to convert in order to learn how to pray based on the Quran in Arabic?
When I hear Arabic prayers, my heart ❤️ jumps and I get emotional.
I do not understand the words, but there is a connection there.
Hard to explain.

I’m in debt and live with family who don’t know I’m a revert, reverted in 2021, and I’m 29, feels like I’ll never be able to be independent, out of debt and eventually get married to a Muslim woman, and the amount I owe will take me atleast 6 to 7 years to pay off with my current salary if nothing changes in terms of job, living conditions etc

I’m a revert westerner and my non-muslim mother lives with me and my muslim husband and children.

She helps me a lot with taking care of the kids and the household. But she is very anti-Islam. Most of the time she doesn’t express it, but sometimes she says very hateful prejudice things about Islam, muslims and the Prophet pbuh as if it is common sense.

My mom is very rigid in her opinions about Islam and religion in general and discussions about it tend to become hostile even if we try to stay kind and logical.

She lives with a very good standard of living with us, but she has her own small pension with which she could get by.

Her presence makes me cautious about teaching Islam to my kids. I try to let my kids watch some videos with Islamic content and I recently bought an adhan clock.

The adhan clock is helping me a lot to remember praying on time and my older daughter enjoys hearing the adhan but it has triggered my mom more than anything before. She protested verbally and then posted some very hateful videos in our family chat group.

Please give us some advice if it’s ok to keep playing Islamic kids videos and the adhan clock if it triggers her so much.

I’ve not converted yet, it’s only been a few months since Islam has come peeked my interest, and I have not stop learning.
This Friday I’m going to my first Mosque for Jummah.
I need some protocol lessons in greetings.
I’m a hand shaker and a hugger. Not sure if that’s acceptable or not.
Anything else I should know, please share.

Thank you in advance.

Can I pray by myself if it’s the proper time for that salah? When I came for Jummah, i saw people praying on their own before sitting down, are they praying dhurh?

Riyad as-Salihin (“The Gardens of the Righteous”) is a renowned collection of hadith compiled by Imam al-Nawawi.

A spiritual garden where believers find nourishment for their hearts through the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ.

The book gathers hadiths on sincerity, repentance, worship, patience, gratitude, good character, kindness, remembrance of Allah, avoiding sins, and preparation for the Hereafter.

By combining Qur’anic verses with authentic teachings of the Prophet ﷺ, Imam al-Nawawi created a work designed not only to inform but to transform the believer’s faith and character.

Hello,

I would like to know ne to look for explanation from a Christians who converted to Islam. Is it that difficult and if someone really respect religion he wouldn't do that since he was born llike that nd want to keep the same religion till death..is there any converted thought that way and later on he was convinced. Thanks

I started praying a few months ago and I found peace in that. I know this is the right path. On the other hand, I also read about the contrary views on Islam itself and find myself stuck. Where do I belong? I can't figure since my mind is in a constant battle with itself. I need to decide which way to go as this can't continue for too long.

I may find a community, a worldview, the right way to live but I don't want to keep second guessing since the world provides compelling arguments against it.

So it's been more than a month that I have stopped worshiping Hindu Gods because I don't feel any connection. Namaaz i am doing daily+ reading Quran. Things that have changed in me that I stopped getting scared by the fact that I am not worshiping God of my religion which I used to feel previously!

I've come across several stories of adult reverts and lifelong Muslims who never learned to read Arabic properly — they'd memorized a few short surahs phonetically, just repeating sounds without really understanding what they were reading.

One pattern that comes up a lot: people in their 40s or older who finally decide to start from zero — the Arabic alphabet, then basic Tajweed rules, then actual recitation — with a teacher who doesn't rush them or make them feel behind.

What's interesting is how often it takes less time than people expect. Several months of consistent (not intense — just 20-30 minutes a few times a week) practice is often enough to go from zero to reading a new page slowly but correctly.

The recurring theme in these stories isn't really about the learning itself — it's about the years spent feeling embarrassed over something that could've been fixed much sooner.

If you're someone who never learned to read Arabic properly, or you know someone who feels that way, it really is never too late to start. The hardest part usually isn't the learning — it's just starting.

Anyone else come across similar stories, or had this experience themselves?

Hi, one of my friends is really interested in learning about the religion.

She told me that we were much closer to God and she would love to learn more.

I'm not sure which book I should give her.

I was thinking of gifting her a book that has the translation along with explanations of certain sentences that may be a bit confusing or sometimes gives history or context behind certain sentences in the Quran.

Do you know which book has that or what books have you guys read that made you come closer to the religion?