• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

I've decided that I want to be a Muslim...now how do I tell my family?

Peace

Peace

Quran & Sunnah
cocolia42 said:
I think you are misunderstanding. Of course we need the scholars. BUT, as a new Muslim, one can easily be misguided. A new Muslim should gain a basic understanding of the Qur'an and Sunnah first so they will have the ability to realize if and when they are being misled. That's why most Muslims recommend that reverts stay away from different sects and learn the Qur'an and Sunnah first. And in the day of Youtube its so easy to learn from the scholars without getting any "middle man" involved.
Click to expand...

Masha'Allah! I totally agree with you sister. Jazaki Allah khayran!
 
Gharib

Gharib

I want Khilafah back
cocolia42 said:
I think you are misunderstanding. Of course we need the scholars. BUT, as a new Muslim, one can easily be misguided. A new Muslim should gain a basic understanding of the Qur'an and Sunnah first so they will have the ability to realize if and when they are being misled. That's why most Muslims recommend that reverts stay away from different sects and learn the Qur'an and Sunnah first. And in the day of Youtube its so easy to learn from the scholars without getting any "middle man" involved.
Click to expand...


MatthiasGould said:
Regarding scholars, I think it best if I continue to study the basics of Islam before studying scholars. There is little point in studying their works if I can't understand what they're precisely discussing.

That's not to say I won't study scholarly schools and their works at a later point. But I think at present that I need to cement in my own understanding of the faith.
Click to expand...

What I meant was that if you stick to one madhhab it is much easy for you.

Go through the basics of the 4 madhhabs and choose which you think is better. Once you do that, all this confusion about how to pray, what to say during this position or that position etc will be much easier for you.

Some examples between the Hanafi and Shafi madhhabs since I know more about these two than the other two:

Hanafi raise their hands only for the first takbir while Shafi'i raise theirs for every takbir.

Shafi'i recite fatiha individually after the Imam finishes reciting it out loud while Hanafi do not recite it.

etc etc

All scholars agree that for one to be a Muslim he must follow the Qur'an and Sunnah. All 4 madhhabs follow the Qur'an and Sunnah and as human nature goes, they do have mistakes in some rulings. This mistake part is what you leave for after you have gained more knowledge and go into the commentaries of the scholars on these matters to understand if a specific ruling is correct or not.

Without following a madhhab you risk believing and doing things which are wrong because you choose to make a decision of whether to do or not do what this specific scholar says. And as we know a person like me who has little knowledge does not qualify to make such decisions. If your answer is that I will ask other Muslims, their responses will then be those of the madhhab that they follow as they too do not qualify in judging the rulings of scholars.

And by following a madhhab you eliminate the possibility of believing or accepting things which your desires approve of even though it may be wrong. If you seek information from different sources you may begin to look for alternative answers to your questions if the first answer does not seem pleasing even though it may be the only correct answer. I hate divisions more than anyone and I hardly ever talk about the madhhab that I follow. I am only saying that this is much easier for new starters/reverts/converts. I am only speaking from experience even though I have always been a Muslim.

I hope that makes sense.
 
Last edited:
MatthiasGould

MatthiasGould

Alhamdulillah!
This makes more sense. I've certainly come across Hanafi and Shafi'i scholarly schools before when I was looking up something to do with prayer times (I think), and also Ibadi scholarly teachings.

Question for anyone: is there a specific process to pick a madhab to follow?
 
Gharib

Gharib

I want Khilafah back
MatthiasGould said:
This makes more sense. I've certainly come across Hanafi and Shafi'i scholarly schools before when I was looking up something to do with prayer times (I think), and also Ibadi scholarly teachings.

Question for anyone: is there a specific process to pick a madhab to follow?
Click to expand...

Yes choosing a madhhab early on clears up a lot of confusion. Pretty much all Sunni's follow one of the 4 madhhabs. Madhhabs simply explain everything for lay people like you and me. So if you are a Sunni it is best to follow one of the 4 otherwise you will mix up all 4.

If you choose one then do not worry about the teachings of the others for the time being. And the way to choose a madhhab is by seeing which is easiest for you to follow. When the Prophet was given an option to choose between 2 things he always went for the easier option, so you should do the same.

Once you choose one you can simply type up "the ......(madhhab name) way/ruling on salah" and it will come up. It saves you time having to ask others and figure out what is right and what is not. As I said, all scholars agree that the 4 madhhabs are on the right track.

Every revert should be given this same advice but unfortunately they are asked to stay clear of this and instead try to figure out on their own what is right or not which is very difficult because we cannot comment the verses of the Qur'an nor the hadith while the madhhabs were founded by very knowledgeable scholars who have explained and commented on all matters.

All I ask is that you should give it a try and if you find it harder you can always go back to finding things out on your own.
 
S

seeking4truth

Active Member
Follow the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(pboh) and his predecessors. Seek to develop your relationship with God through contemplation and prayer. They separated themselves from others to develop a close relationship with Him and then created a community of believers who followed them.
It is your intention to be submissive to Allah which matters. The sunnah is guidance. Following every iota of sunnah without the living desire to develop a relationship with Allah may not satisfy you. Allah is the living God He will guide you.
Remember also that over the many years of his prophethood Muhammad(pboh) developed and changed his practice. He was human. He was not an automaton or a robot that did exactly the same thing every time.
 
Gharib

Gharib

I want Khilafah back
F0uad said:
With all respect are you suggesting that he has to worry about these things when he just converted? I am pretty sure if one educates himself more into Islam he is already following a madhhab. I am not telling him to exclude himself i am telling him to find the right path and then come to a conclusion. I even personally don't know which Madhhab i am following since i don't know all the Fiqhs', i think its a mix i just adhere to the Quran principles and Sunna.

Not to forget a "New-comer" can get confused at looking at this diversity and take a whole different path.
Click to expand...

No that's not what I am saying. What you said, which is what salafis usually tend to say is not to follow a madhhab while you yourself follow the teachings of Muhammah bin Abdul Wahhab. That is contradictory telling a person not to follow a madhhab when you do so yourself.

I am not saying that he has to worry about how scholars do things, I am saying that he should go by what scholars say as they take the hard work out for us and just present the outcome which is easy. And there is no matter except that it goes back to one of the madhhabs, regardless of which scholar you take knowledge from. All follow a madhhab and the easiest thing for a new Muslim is to choose the one that is easiest for him/her and study/learn the teachings of only that madhhab for the time being as it eases their worries about what to follow and what not to follow.

And it's not about knowing all the fiqs, if it was about that then you wouldn't be a salafi either. The madhhabs all adhere to the Qur'an and Sunnah, that's what my post was about. You cannot go wrong with following a madhhab as you only need to listen and obey and not study things on your own when one has no knowledge.
 
cocolia42

cocolia42

Active Member
Yes, please, let's not argue. Allah was pleased to guide MatthiasGould to Islam, we should trust Allah to continue His guidance.
 
cocolia42

cocolia42

Active Member
MatthiasGould said:
It's strange, ever since I finally came to Islam I have no desire to do many haraam things! :D
Click to expand...
same for me. I thought it was going to be impossible to change all these bad "habits" that have formed over the last 30+ years. But honestly, I don't even think about those things anymore. Alhamdulillah!
 
MatthiasGould

MatthiasGould

Alhamdulillah!
cocolia42 said:
same for me. I thought it was going to be impossible to change all these bad "habits" that have formed over the last 30+ years. But honestly, I don't even think about those things anymore. Alhamdulillah!
Click to expand...

Prime example for me is listening to music: I used to be an obsessive music listener. Now I get little pleasure from doing so and my music listening time is now close to none. I much prefer nasheeds and qiraats now.
 
F0uad

F0uad

Well-Known Member
eselam said:
No that's not what I am saying. What you said, which is what salafis usually tend to say is not to follow a madhhab while you yourself follow the teachings of Muhammah bin Abdul Wahhab. That is contradictory telling a person not to follow a madhhab when you do so yourself.

I am not saying that he has to worry about how scholars do things, I am saying that he should go by what scholars say as they take the hard work out for us and just present the outcome which is easy. And there is no matter except that it goes back to one of the madhhabs, regardless of which scholar you take knowledge from. All follow a madhhab and the easiest thing for a new Muslim is to choose the one that is easiest for him/her and study/learn the teachings of only that madhhab for the time being as it eases their worries about what to follow and what not to follow.

And it's not about knowing all the fiqs, if it was about that then you wouldn't be a salafi either. The madhhabs all adhere to the Qur'an and Sunnah, that's what my post was about. You cannot go wrong with following a madhhab as you only need to listen and obey and not study things on your own when one has no knowledge.
Click to expand...
Well i never said that i followed the Whabist or Salafi's ways so i am not sure how you came to such a conclusion.

I was simply saying that one first should learn the Basic teachings of Islam before choosing a madhhab or looking into the subject. I agree on the notion that one should follow a madhhab or a mixture of them i was simply pointing out that a new "convert" first should worry him/her self about the basic stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top