I’m going to assume you did your homework and studied what it is to be a Muslim. Being a Muslim is not an easy thing, it requires work, at the end of which is a huge reward. Let’s go through a short checklist of “to do” items:
- Read the Quran
- Talk with an Imam/Sheikh at a local masjid/mosque
- Go to the local masjid/mosque and observe Jummah (Friday Prayer)
- Get a real good understanding of what being Muslim is
- Talk to other “Reverts” – since Islam is the natural state that everyone is born into, people don’t convert, they revert back to their natural state.
You made it through the short checklist and your faith and spirit is at an all time high, what next. This is where you perform the The First Pillar of Islam, the Shahadda or declaration of faith.
Ash-Hadu An La Illaha Ill-Allah, Wa Muhammadun Rasool-Ul-Allah
The transliterated text above simply means: I bare witness that there is not God worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His messenger.
The 5 daily prayers were prescribed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) during the “Night Journey” known as the “Isra and Mi’raj”. As described in a long hadith, this is the night where the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) traveled from Makkah to Jerusalem and than up to the Heavens where God had prescribed to him 50 prayers per day. As the Prophet (pbuh) came down, Moses asked him what God had enjoined upon his nation and he told him 50 prayers, Moses told him go back and beg for reduction. The Prophet went back and forth several times and at the end it was 5 daily prayers, each being credit as ten. God does not need us to pray, it won’t decrease or increase his dominion in any kind of way, the prayer is a benefit to and for us.
YES! Allah is God and God is Allah, that’s what Muslims believe. The word God in English is what people are famililar with when you talk about the All Mighty. Most people think Muslims believe in a different God who’s name happens to be Allah. This is not true, we believe in the same God that Christians and Jews believe in, the only true Creator of the Heavens and the Earths and all that is between.
Muhammad (pbuh) is the last and final Messenger of God All Mighty. He was sent to all of mankind as a mercy from God to guide us and lead us to the right path. He has no powers, He is not God or any form of God, and we do not worship Him. Matter of fact, as a sign and example, the Prophet (pbuh) for 20 years tried to convince His uncle to submit his will to God All Mighty but he could not get him to do that and His uncle died in a state of disbelief as his forefathers. Had Muhammad (pbuh) had any kind of power, he could have easily made His uncle accept whatever message he delivered to him, but that was not the case.