Assalamu ‘alaykum Tom,

We are naturally happy that you are a Muslim and interested in the sufi tradition.

The first step in the sufi tradition is to sincerely beg forgiveness of Allah, the Glorified and the Exalted.

We hope a masjid is nearby and accessible to you, so that you can mingle and pray with the Muslims.

If a masjid is not very accessible, and you need to know how to offer the five times daily prayers, please send us your postal address so that we can post you some relevant books.

If you do not yet have a copy of the Qur’an, please let us know.

To begin to become a practicing Muslim, we need to pray five times a day, recite at least one page of the Qur’an everyday and recite the Kalimah (Declaration of Muslim Faith) everyday, preferably a hundred times everyday. The Kalimah is given on the home page of our Iqra website.

It is also essential to avoid all the things that Allah has prohibited in the Qur’an.

Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, came to perfect moral character. He had the best character and manners. We should try to behave the best with our family, relatives, neighbours, our community, Muslims and non-Muslims.

Perhaps you have already gone through some of the articles on our Iqra website. If you need some more books on Islam, please go through our catalogue.

If you know Arabic, perhaps you should recite Ratib al-Haddad every night after Isha. It takes about 15 minutes to recite. It lights up the heart and soothes it.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are your brothers in this life and in the Hereafter.

With many salaams and du’a,
Siddiq

Wa ‘alaykum us Salaam brother Muhammad,

Welcome to the noble task of spreading the noble word of Islam.

First you have get ijaza (permission) from your Shaykh if you wish to begin to preach about Islam.

The best way to convince people to accept Islam is to be a good practicing Muslim which I am sure you are. The main reason why Islam has spread is that non-Muslims came across Muslims whom they saw as morally upright people who were honest, pious and sincere. This convinced them that Islam must be the true religion. and so they accepted Islam.

Our beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, came to perfect moral character. He had the best manners and character. If our behavior is best towards Muslims as well as non-Muslims, this is a sure way of spreading Islam.

We have to practice what we preach and avoid hypocrisy if we are serious about spreading Islam.

We have to be polite in our explanations without compromising on any of the principles of Islam. One main reason why many non-Muslims are accepting Islam is that they realize that Muslims are not wishy-washy but stand up against tyranny and injustice, so that truth prevails and the Word of Allah is raised high. We are committed to Islam and wish the rest of humanity to also share the joys of being a Muslim.

We have to be knowledgeable about Islam so that if we are asked any questions, we are able to give correct answers. Our children have to be knowledgeable about Islam because their classmates ask them a lot of questions about Islam.

We must seize this opportunity to spread the good word of Islam among ordinary people everywhere as a religion of pure monotheism that teaches belief in all the Prophets sent by Allah, that is against racism and exploitation, teaches about the unity of mankind and the world-wide fraternity of Muslims, enjoins all that is good and forbids all that is evil, calls for the perfection of moral character, and leads to a life full of bliss here and eternal bliss in the Hereafter.

It is good to associate with the awliya Allah (Friends of Allah, sufi masters) to gain their du‘a (supplication).

We have to spread Islam purely for the sake of Allah, without any other motive, without show-off and without the hope of any material gain.

If we are naturally and spontaneously concerned about the well being of the whole of humanity, Islam will spread naturally and spontaneously.

We have to fulfil the huquq Allah, that is the rights of Allah, of worshipping Him and obeying Him as is His right that He should be worshiped and obeyed. We should also fulfil the huquq al-‘ibad, that is, the rights of other people over us. We have to fulfil our duties to our parents, to our children, to our spouse, to our relatives, to our neighbours, to our teachers, to our elders, to our community, and to Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

We have to be constant in our five times daily prayer, in giving zakah (if eligible) and sadaqah (charity), in fasting in the month of Ramadan and in going for Hajj if we have the means. We have to be constant in the dhikr (remembrance) of Allah, in the recitation of salawat on Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam and in the recitation of at least one juz of the Qur’an everyday. In this way our heart and forehead will be lit up with nur (spiritual light) and our tongue will acquire a special effectiveness so that when we talk to non-Muslims about Islam, its effect will be immediate and positive and they will accept Islam by the Grace of Allah.

We should try our best to propagate Islam and then supplicate to Allah to guide the people to the truth and beauty of Islam.

When our Beloved Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam began to propagate Islam, he was mocked and ridiculed and persecuted like no other Prophet, peace be upon him, had been prosecuted before. If we face any hardship in our task, we should know that it is a drop in the ocean compared to what he faced. We should try to handle each situation with wisdom and patience.

We should draw inspiration from the example of the Sahaba (his Companions) Rady Allahu ‘Anhum some of whom laid down their lives for the sake of our religion.

We should remember the teaching of the Qur’an to repel evil with something that is better.

We should draw inspiration from the example of Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir al-Jilani Rady Allahu ‘Anhu who converted more than five thousand Christians and Jews to Islam. Through his preaching, thousands of sinners repented, abandoned their evil ways and became pious Muslims.

It has been said that calling people to Allah can be done in three ways: through writing, by word of mouth and on foot. Al-Imam ‘Abdallah bin ‘Alawi al-Haddad Rady Allahu ‘Anhu excelled in all these three dimensions among the folk of the later centuries. We should draw inspiration from the example of our Imam.

O Allah, open the hearts of all non-Muslims to Islam so that they also experience the joys of being a Muslim, Amin.

We wish you all the success in your noble efforts.

With salaams and du‘a,
Siddiq