يومي الأول في الإسلام
Praise be to Allah who sent His Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) as a mercy to the worlds. I testify that there is no god truly worthy of worship but Allah, the God of the earlier and later generations, and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, may Allah's abundant peace and blessings be upon him until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:
All people search for happiness: some of them think that happiness is in collecting money, some of them search for it under the lights of fame, and some of them believe that it is achieved by obtaining high positions, or other worldly pleasures. However, in reality, many of those who obtained these things did not attain the happiness they were looking for.
We can only achieve this happiness when we are guided to the true religion that the Creator of all mankind has chosen for us, follow it and comply with its teachings. Only by this we can obtain happiness and a good life in this world, and eternal happiness in the Hereafter. Allah Almighty says:
{Whoever submits himself to Allah and is a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord. They will have no fear, nor will they grieve.}
{Whoever does righteous deeds, male or female, while being a believer, We will surely grant him a good life, and We will surely reward them according to the best of their deeds.}
By entering Islam, dear brother, you will have placed your feet on the way of guidance, light, happiness and delight. You have to be confident that the day you become a Muslim is not like any other day of your life. It is the day of your rebirth!
So, if on the day you were born you came out from the darkness and narrowness of your mother's womb to the light and vastness of the world, then today you are leaving the darkness of disbelief into the light of faith, and from the narrowness of misguidance to the vastness of guidance, Allah Almighty says:
{Is the one who was dead and We gave him life [by faith] and gave him a light with which he walks among people like the one in darkness from which he can never escape?}
So, welcome to the spacious fold of Islam, and here for you is this booklet that contains important matters and great principles that you should learn about on the first day of your conversion to Islam.
Islam is the true religion that Allah has approved for all people. It is the religion that is exclusively accepted by Allah. Allah Almighty says:
{Anyone who seeks a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted from him; and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers.}
Whoever embraces the religion of Islam and adheres to it, he is proceeding in the path of light and guidance. The straight and clear path that leads to Allah who created man and brought him in this life.
The religion of Islam came to mend man's condition, and to give him tranquility and happiness in the worldly life, as well as happiness and success in the Hereafter, when Allah Almighty admits him into Paradise to enjoy what is in it of eternal bliss.
Every person must search for the true religion, which is Islam, get to know it, enter into it while believing in it, and hold on to its teachings and rulings, in order to obtain the good of this world and the Hereafter.
When one says the following, he enters into Islam: (I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah) with sincerity, certitude and knowledge of its connotations. Thus, whoever sincerely says this statement while knowing its meaning, being certain of it and complying with its implications, then he is a Muslim. Yet, he has to learn the other deeds of Islam and act upon them as much as he can, for, the more he does of good deeds, the more his faith increases and his reward with Allah Almighty magnifies.
The meaning of the Two Testimonies of Faith (I testify that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah):
You entered into Islam by saying: (I testify that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah) with belief and faith in it. So, do you know what it truly means?
To testify that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah: is to believe and acknowledge that there is no god that deserves to be worshiped and obeyed but one god only, namely Allah the Almighty and Exalted, the Creator of the universe and the One who manages its affairs.
To testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah: is to believe and acknowledge that Muhammad is Allah's slave and His final Messenger who was sent to all mankind, and to act upon this conviction by obeying his commands, believing his reports, avoiding what he forbade and warned of, and to worship Allah only through the way he legislated.
Dear brother, The day you entered into Islam is your best day ever. It is authentically reported that our Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said:
It means that Islam erases all what you committed before your conversion to Islam, of disbelief, evils, sins and misdeeds. So, rejoice in the forgiveness of Allah Almighty, for today you are purified from your sins, and you opened a white page in your life in order to return as pure as the day your mother gave birth to you, start a new life full of goodness, and proceed on the path of light, happiness and pleasure.
The great joy that you felt when you entered into Islam must remain with you throughout your life, for the blessing of guidance is one of the greatest and most valuable blessings that Allah Almighty bestows upon His servants. It is greater than the blessing of air, water, food and drink, and greater than money, position and prestige. It is the greatest blessing ever, how can we not rejoice in it?! Allah Almighty says:
{Say, "By Allah’s grace and His mercy let them therefore rejoice. It is much better than what they accumulate."}
You must feel the grace of Allah upon you that He chose you from among millions of people to enter into Islam. Allah Almighty said:
This great and huge blessing needs a lot of thanks, so you have to praise Allah Almighty frequently, thank Him and laud Him, the Exalted, for He guided you to the true religion.
If you entered into the religion of Islam, there are things that you must learn and know, including knowing the answer to the three significant questions that every person is questioned after death, determining his eternal destiny; either to Paradise or Hell, they are:
A Muslim believes that his lord is Allah Who created the universe with all that is in it and created man.
If we reflect on this great universe with its enormous galaxies that include billions of planets and stars, and if we reflect on the earth on which we live and what it contains of plains, mountains, land, seas and rivers, and the wondrous creatures in the depths of the seas, deserts and forests, and if we contemplate the amazing creation of man and other creatures, our thinking will lead us to an inescapable conclusion; there must be a Great Creator that is All-Knowing, All-Powerful and Wise. He created this universe with originality. It is not possible for these creatures to exist without the presence of a Creator God who originated them, organized their affairs, and mastered their creation in a way that fascinates the mind. This matter was clearly explained by Allah Almighty to every sane person when He said:
Neither these beings created themselves, nor did they exist without a creator, for this is impossible in the view of the wise people!
This Lord is the only deity worthy of worship; because he is the Creator and the Manager of all that is in this universe, and the Provider for all those on it. He is the One Who created all people, caused them to exist on this earth, and gave them the means of life. Allah Almighty says
{Such is Allah, your Lord; none has the right to be worshiped except Him, the Creator of all things. So worship Him, for He is the Maintainer of all things.}
So, every person must worship Allah alone without associating anything with Him in worship. Allah Almighty says:
{O mankind, worship your Lord, Who created you and those before you, so that you may become righteous}
Despite the clarity of this matter, Allah Almighty, by His grace and generosity, and by His mercy to us, did not create us and leave us floundering in life. Rather, He sent us messengers and sent down books with them telling us about Him and to guide us to His way. Allah Almighty said:
{We have sent you with the truth as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. There has never been any community except that a warner came to it.}
Adam, the father of mankind (peace be upon him) and all the prophets, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets, the last of whom was our Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon them) agreed on a great principle: it is to call people to believe in Allah Almighty, celebrate His oneness, single Him out in worship, and to shun the worship of other deities, such as humans, stones, trees, stars, planets and others, Allah Almighty says:
{"We never sent before you [O Prophet] any messenger without revealing to him that none has the right to be worshiped except Me, so worship Me."}
Allah Almighty has beautiful names and sublime attributes. When we know them, our knowledge of our Lord Almighty increases, and so does our love for Him, fear of Him, and hope for His grace and generosity. Allah Almighty says:
His names that indicate His attributes are many, from the names of Allah Almighty are the following:
{And your god is one God. None has the right to be worshiped except Him – the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.}
He is the Possessor of the great expansive mercy that encompasses all things and all creatures. His mercy in this world includes all His creation of animals and humans, the Muslims and non-Muslims, Allah Almighty said:
He provides for all of them and gives them health, food, children, and so on. As for His mercy in the Hereafter, it is only for the believers among His servants who follow His prophets and messengers. Those will have the complete mercy that leads to eternal happiness.
He is the One Who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them. He created all things from the atom to the galaxy, and what is beyond that. He created everything based on wisdom, power, and benevolence, so you do not see in His creation any deficiency or disorder.
Al-Ghafoor (The Most Forgiving): The One Who forgives all sins for the one who sincerely repents, no matter what he did of previous deeds. Rather, He may pardon many of his creation out of generosity from himself - except for associating partners with Allah Almighty in worship - which is only forgiven by repentance. Allah has made the means accessible for all His creation to obtain His forgiveness through repentance, seeking forgiveness, faith, righteous deeds, and kindness to Allah's creation. Allah Almighty said:
{I am indeed Most Forgiving to those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds, then stay on the right path.}
Ar-Razzāq (The Provider): Allah, the Exalted, is the Sovereign in Whose Hand is the dominion of everything, and He is Free of need. He is the Bestower due to His grace. There is no creature but that his provision depends upon Allah. Allah Almighty said:
As-Salām (The Most Perfect): The Most Majestic, Who is free from defects and from all the attributes of imperfection, to Whom belongs the attributes of perfection, majesty and beauty, Who loves from His servants to spread peace by word and deed. Allah Almighty says:
{He is Allah; none has the right to be worshiped except Him, the Sovereign, the Most Holy, the Most Perfect}
Al-‘Alīm (The All-Knowing): Allah Almighty is All-Hearing, All-Seeing and All-Knowing. His knowledge encompasses all things; He knows what is public, what is secret, and what is hidden in the breasts. He knows what was in the past, what is in the present, and what will be in the future. He is the Watcher Who is aware of the deeds of the slaves, He is never unaware of the obedience of the obedient, the disobedience of the disobedient, the need of the weak, or the voices of the supplicants, Allah Almighty said: