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871 / 1951
41
Afterlife
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Afterlife
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
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Culture
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Culture
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
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358
Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khalid ibn al-Walid (ra): The Legendary Military General | The Firsts
499
Quran
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615
Allah
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Prophets
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Angels
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810
Afterlife
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967
Life of the Prophet (seerah)
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1544
Acts of Worship
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Identity
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1663
Social Justice
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1703
Acts of Worship
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1755
Social Justice
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1756
General Psychology
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Jurisprudence (fiqh)
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Acts of Worship
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Ramadan Convert-sations | Webinar
Observing your first Ramadan as a convert can be exciting and special, but maybe also a little intimidating! Yaqeen's Convert Resources Department has partnered with Embrace, MAS, and Ibrahim Islamic Center for a live program to help you feel better prepared for the upcoming holy month.
Explore more of Yaqeen's Convert Resources.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon you all. How's everyone doing out there? My name is Abdullah Oduro. I'm with the Convert Life Department at Yaqeen Institute. And here we have our illustrious guests with us. And each and every individual that is here has a unique experience, as many of y'all do. But subhanAllah, I've personally interacted with each one of these individuals. And they have something that they can share with you that will benefit all of us. And inshallah, we went through some of these experiences as well. So just to briefly introduce the individuals on this panel, alhamdulillah, we firstly have Sister Munira Madison. Sister Munira Madison is the program director at Mass Youth, and she's been Muslim for around five years. We also have a brother, Khalis Rashad, and he's been Muslim for around 31 years, converted to Islam as well. And he's with the Ibrahim Islamic Center in Houston, Texas. Also, we have Sister Nihila Morales. Nihila Morales has been Muslim for, when I asked her, she said, I can't keep track. But then subhanAllah, I think it was the light that came to her or something that reminded her. It was 17 years, alhamdulillah. And she's with Embrace Organization that deals with converts and their life experiences as well here in Dallas, Texas. And then we also have Brother Sanjay Sibal. He's been Muslim for around five years. He's a volunteer with Yaqeen, and he just, mashaAllah, works his nine to five and likes to get involved, mashaAllah. As I mentioned, mashaAllah, I've had interactions with each one of these people, and I think that they can really add to this experience. This experience that we're talking about is the new Muslim or convert experience, particularly in that time that is coming that we will see in the next couple of moments or days is of Ramadan. Now, Ramadan that we know, subhanAllah, linguistically comes from that which is extinguished or a fire to extinguish or to burn out the sins. And each and every one of us have those particular mishaps or shortcomings that we still do have.
But sometimes before Islam, we may look back and it may have an influence on the way that we live our life. But particularly in Ramadan, it may be a time of fear. It may be a time of anxiety. It may be a time of graciousness that we really want to think about. It's a time of pondering. It's a time of recall. It's a time of reflection to connect, reflect, to connect. So what we're going to do inshallah is we're going to have a brief introduction for each one of these individuals and explaining their experiences and their stories, but also giving some education to each and every one of us to those that are of the seasoned Muslim community, those who were born Muslim and want to know a little about this experience, which will help them and helping the convert along their journey and even helping them along their journey as well. And lastly, giving some advice on what's some advice that we would give to each other, what's some advice we would give to the seasoned Muslim community just to make this Ramadan a blessed Ramadan. It's the first one, but it's not the last inshallah. Don't forget to tune in to the series that will be coming up within the next couple of weeks. There are going to be some videos that are speaking about Ramadan and some of the rulings of Ramadan and the enrichment portions of Ramadan as well as the carousels that will be present speaking about the new Muslim convert experience inshallah. So with that, let's get started. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. So firstly, I would like to hear each and every one of you's worst horror story. Now I'm just joking. No, an introduction. Okay, so each and every one of you embrace Islam. Alhamdulillah. You mentioned here someone five years, brother Sanjay, brother Khalis, 31 years, mashallah, tibariq Allah. There are some moments that you don't forget. And I'm almost sure that one of them is that moment in Ramadan. Maybe it's your first Ramadan experience or it's a Ramadan experience that you remember because of your life as a convert.
It's something that you won't forget because of your life before you becoming Muslim, being introduced to a new cultural nuance, a new academic theoretical nuance and your Tohid and things of that nature. What was that first Ramadan experience like? And we have to be, mashallah, cognizant of that because it's important for you to share that for people can benefit from it. And somebody on the other side of the screen may say, wow, I'm not alone. So sister Nahila, your first Ramadan experience that you can recall, if you don't mind sharing, sharing that with us, like what was it like? If you could just take us back to that day, that moment when it was your first Ramadan experience. Bismillah Rahmani Rahim. So my first Ramadan was in the East Coast and the days were much, much shorter. I didn't know much about Ramadan and therefore I made a lot of mistakes along the way, which is something that we got to remember as new converts. It's OK to make those mistakes because you will learn from those mistakes. And so I made the mistake of actually drinking water, not knowing that I wasn't permissible to drink water because in Catholicism, it's completely different type of fasting. That was one mistake I did. And I remember the first time someone saw me drinking water, they almost like slapped the bottle off my face at the mosque. I was like, what's going on? And so one of the things that I must say is that when we are correcting one another, we need to do it with kindness and be gentle and remember your first Ramadan. And so it was a very scary moment because it wasn't handled the proper way in my eyes.
And so every time I had an experience such as this one at the masjid, at the mosque, I always promised myself I was very new. I was still kind of learning. I always would say I'm not coming back. I'm not coming back. And so I hear this very frequent, especially working with converts on an everyday basis, that there's a lot of converts that, you know, have these experiences and don't want to step foot in the mosque ever again. So we have to be very, very cautious the way we correct each other. And we have the best example within our beloved prophet, peace be upon him, where he was kind and gentle, soft spoken. And so that was on a short note. That was one of them. The other one was and this is speaking to my sisters with all due respect. I actually fasted during my menses and I had no idea that one was not permitted. We were not permitted to fast while you are on your menses. And so I quite did not understand that till later on. And again, coming from Catholicism, obviously, a lot of these things are either not spoken about or are taboo even within our communities. So this is something that we need to pull ourselves away from, especially if you're among sisters. Make sure that you ask these type of questions. And so later on, I learned that if you are on your menses, you stop fasting and you start counting the days that you are not fasting in order to make them up after Ramadan. So the menses for my beloved sisters, we got to remember that's from Allah. And so getting involved with your community and what have you. And possibly, you know, continue to make dhikr and duas and perhaps cooking more and more delicious meals.
And since you will be able to taste your cooking and so on and so forth. So those are my two things that come to mind when I talk about my first Ramadan or my first Ramadan where I did make those mistakes. I learned from them. And now I have the opportunity to share these experiences with other individuals who are coming into the faith. And during the pandemic, mashallah, we had a lot of shahadahs, even though we were not at a park giving dhikr or what have you. And so there's a lot of new individuals out there that will need from us, seasonal converts, reverts, whatever you want to call yourself, first generation Muslims. And so just be very kind and very gentle when you are speaking to one another, inshallah. Yeah, definitely. So, you know, that happens a lot. You're going to make those learning mistakes, learning, learning experiences, because we can say it's a mistake, but we can say it's a learning experience. And I think it's important sometimes, even with the wording that we use as seasoned community members, are those of you that just embrace Islam know that it's a learning and you will always be a learner. Doesn't matter if you're a scholar in any field. I mean, think about the field of Islam. It's a lifelong journey. Right. So Jazakallah khair for that. Jazakallah khair for drinking water during Ramadan, inshallah. Because we learn from it. I mean, I used to make my sunnahs after Asr. You know, I used to make my sunnah prayers because, you know, it's prohibited to pray after Asr. And I used to make my sunnah prayers after Asr until one brother pulled me to the side. I mean, Allah bless him. But it's a learning experience. Alhamdulillah. And as you mentioned with the with the menses, it's beautiful because Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, peace be upon him, she was saddened by this during the Hajj time. And he said, this is something that Allah has created within you. It's OK. Don't worry about it. It's something that Allah has created. The same one that is legislated, that is the same one that legislates for you to do other things. So there's many other spiritual opportunities. So, brother Sanjay, your first Ramadan, my man.
Where do you reside, by the way? So I'm based out of New York City. New York City. You know, Mashallah, brother Sanjay was the first one. I met Imam Siraj, but I never got to speak on a platform with him. So after Allah, then him, he was the one that put it together. And Siraj is like my idol, man. He's O.G. to the fullest. Capital letters, bolden, italicized in red. He's definitely someone that is represented. It's a whole other webinar just to give him his due right, man. Mashallah, Allah bless him and protect him and his family. So with you and your first Ramadan in New York City, how was it five years ago? Yeah, so Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh everyone. My first Ramadan was quite an interesting one, and I think one that many converts can relate to. It was extremely, extremely lonely, even though I had many Muslim friends, many Muslim neighbors, maybe, and so many people around me who are Muslim. But I still had a very, very large sense of loneliness and isolation. And at the time I was going through this transitionary phase of leaving bad company and trying to go around good company and trying to change my life and my habits and my ways and my lifestyle. And then Ramadan comes around and I have to tell my family about me being Muslim. And so you can imagine living with non-Muslim family, telling them that you're Muslim, that you're going to fast during Ramadan. And that was a whole nother level of anxiety for me. But it wasn't until I put my trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and I went ahead and did it to the point where I felt peace in my heart, regardless of what the situation was going to be. But I felt so good knowing that I was doing what my Lord created me to do. And so my first Ramadan, I remember I took a picture at Fajr time, right after I had prayed Fajr and began fasting for the day. And it was like 4 a.m. in the morning or something like that.
And I just so where I lived at the time for about 20 years, me and my family, we lived in a in a small apartment in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It wasn't the best neighborhood. It wasn't the best just situation. And so my prayer space was nowhere except the small little space next to my fridge in my kitchen, believe it or not. And so I would always have to just kind of cramp, just like very make myself really small and try and pray any prayer at that space right there. And so at 4 a.m. I remember just sitting there. It's like so quiet. Nobody's awake except me. And I just knew it was just me and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala together there. And I just knew that that there was a different feeling regardless of how lonely and how alone I felt and how much of a how much I was in need of a community. And inshallah later on in this in this webinar, we'll go ahead and talk about that. But, you know, just feeling that peace that at least I have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's something I was missing this whole time. And it reminds me of a quote from Imam Shafi'i rahim Allah, where he says that if in your heart you possess contentment, then you and the one who possesses the world are equal. And I never understood that more until I was sitting there alone with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But in my heart, I knew I knew that I was fulfilling my purpose and that was enough for me to keep going and carry on. And of course, I made mistakes along the way. I made so many, so, so many mistakes. You know, I, I, at one point I was eating past budget time. I was going all the way to sunrise. Right. And I would just it wasn't until I texted one of my one of my teachers at the time. And I asked him, am I doing this right? He was like, no, not at all. So we had to figure all of that out. But it's a learning process, like we mentioned. And subhanallah, like you come a long way as a convert as the years go by. I literally feel like a different person than I was last month.
Sheikh Abdullah, when we met last year, I feel like a totally different person. So it's about a lot. It's just like you grow so, so quickly as a convert to Islam. And it's just a learning process that you just have to take in steps. Masha'Allah. Masha'Allah. No, that's great, man. I mean, I like how, you know, being alone with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you know, and sometimes, you know, as a convert, definitely, you know, you you you're lonely, even though you're in a crowd of people. Right. Even though you're in a community of people. And there's different there's different reasons for that. It could be a cultural nuance, which is huge. And I'm not even and I'm not even saying Arab versus, you know, Pakistani or someone that's American slash Caucasian, African-American and a different, not even from an ethnicity standpoint, even from interests, even from, you know, the things that they may value, you know, the way that they obtain knowledge and see, respect, et cetera. You still could feel, you know, lonely. But I like how you turned it and you you made an effort. You know, you made the effort to be alone with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a small area in your home. You know, you could have easily went out and just said, you know, I can't pray anywhere over here. And, you know, but it was that effort that was made. And Ramadan definitely needs that. So, you know, Masha'Allah, Jazakum Allah khair for that. Telling your family, did you embrace Islam in that Ramadan or was it like what made you decide, you know, telling your family in Ramadan? What was if you could just touch on that for like a minute? Yeah. So in January, I accepted Islam, January 2017. And at the time I was just I went home and I was quietly Muslim. You know, I wasn't telling my family anything. If no one was home, I would pray. But otherwise, it's just like, you know, just keep it in silence. And there was no room to really hide. Right. Like I shared a bedroom for 20 years of my life, you know, and I, we may do a little that we had at the time. And, you know, I come from a this is always kind of shocking for people to hear.
I'm not I'm a lot of people think I'm from South Asia and maybe ancestry wise I am, but I'm actually from Trinidad and Tobago. So I have a Caribbean background and for the most part, my family is very accepting and very tolerant. They don't know anything about Islam. You know what I mean? And so when they heard that I want to be Muslim, they only jump to what they knew about Islam. They're very little misconceptions and the issues there. And I knew for months and months where I was just holding it in that I had to tell them because Ramadan is coming up. If there's one thing that I didn't stress, it's food. Like you're not you're not sitting in this Trinidadian household and not eating. So I had to tell my parents and SubhanAllah, like even though it was rough, a little rough in the beginning, it was nothing. Alhamdulillah, it was nothing besides just misconceptions and things we had to work through together as time went on. But SubhanAllah, now, five years later, all the meat in the house is Sabiha. We all eat Sabiha meat in the house and, you know, they're very accommodating for everything and anything. That's beautiful, man. And those are you know, you'll see Congress, those of you that are listening. He mentioned a scholar by the name of Imam Shafi. Imam Shafi was a Palestinian scholar from Gaza, Palestine. But if you ever hear like the four schools of thought in Islam, which you may hear, you will hear soon in your life. He's one of the leaders of that of one of those schools of thought came from his academic rigor. He memorized the Quran at eight years old. I mean, he was someone that was well-known. I don't know if you got that from Duwana Shafi, but he wrote books of lines of wisdom, mashallah. And he was someone that's definitely goes down in history in Islamic scholarship. SubhanAllah, I'll reward you. So I guess it was you could say the food made me do it. So the food made you decide. Mashallah, man. Mashallah. Watch the roti, man. Watch that roti. That roti is off the chain, Sheikh. Mashallah. You gotta come to New York and get some authentic Trinidadian food, Sheikh. I don't know, man. I got to do a workout right after this thing.
You know, you can show me where the gym is. You know, we can do this. Sister Munira. Thank you for coming. Jazakallah khair. Thank you for having us. This is such an important conversation. I wish I knew about Yaqeen five years ago when I was traversing my first Ramadan. So how was that? Alhamdulillah. Mine is a bit of a different story. My very first Ramadan that I observed, I actually had just made the intention to convert to Islam. And I was before I knew I shouldn't do this. I was testing myself before I converted. And so this was the seemingly hardest thing for non-Muslims that Muslims would do, which is fasting for a whole month from sunup to sundown. I said, OK, if I'm serious about this and this is really where Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is leading me. I came from agnosticism. So I was like, OK, let me test myself and let me let me go through this process. And so that first Ramadan was actually very, very important because like Brother Sanjay was saying, it allowed me to know what I was doing was because I believed in it, because I at least was thinking about that belief and exploring that. Then my next Ramadan as a Muslim, I converted. I took the shahada right after that Ramadan, alhamdulillah. And then the next Ramadan, my first Ramadan as a practicing Muslim, I kept going back to that time. And alhamdulillah, it served as a source of strength for me because like Brother Sanjay said, everybody around me, you know, didn't understand. I wasn't in a very strong Muslim community. I've actually spent the majority of my Ramadan's without community, even five years into my journey. And I knew that what I was doing was for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
I knew experientially, like it took me through that experiential knowledge of what it is to be a Muslim, to submit to Allah, to know that he is the only one who is the constant, the contingent necessary, the only one that will stay throughout your life and the only reason you should be doing something. So you get caught up with like judgment. You know, people are saying, oh, you need to finish the whole Quran or you need to do this or you need to go to Tarawih every night. And it's very easy, I think, when you're first jumping into faith or back into faith, to get caught up in comparison with other people. So you just mentioned the gym, Sheikh Odoro. I think it's very important. It's like the gym, like compare it to yourself, where you're starting from and make attainable goals that will help you get to your long term goal. Don't look at it like, oh, I have to finish the whole Quran and you've never even opened the Quran. Or look at what can help you grow in that relationship with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Maybe that's learning his ninety nine names first. Maybe that's learning the Sira first. These types of things, I think it's easy to get caught up in comparison as to what we should be doing in the month of Ramadan and go from zero to one hundred, especially as well intentioned people who are really saying this is what I believe in. This is what I want my life to be now. So you said so basically your third Ramadan was the. I don't want the spiritual awakening. Yeah, I think, you know, my my my first Ramadan as a practicing Muslim, I think, was that spiritual awakening where I really understood why I was doing what I was doing. And looking back, I'm I'm grateful. Like I was actually reviewing an interview I did about that Ramadan in preparation for this. And I started crying because that Muslim, like that person I was four years ago, that level of sincerity, that level of confusion.
My family was against Islam. I had to hide it completely. I kept like protein bars upstairs. I prayed in private. I said I was going to work when I was going to the masjid. The masjid wasn't very accommodating. It wasn't very welcoming. There wasn't guidance. I had no clue what tarawih was for three years until I facilitated tarawih. I had no clue what tarawih was. So I heard people dropping the term. But if you're dropping the term around someone, just like you just took the time to explain Imam Shafi, sometimes we make assumptions. We forget that in our growth, people don't know that terminology or what that is. So taking that time to explain what is tarawih, if you're asking me, hey, you want to go to tarawih? Oh, no, I don't know. You know, so that was really the spiritual awakening was my first Ramadan as a practicing Muslim. And then my third Ramadan, I was thrown into faith based work and I was helping facilitate all the tarawih programs and the khatirah speakers. And that was an even deeper transformation and what it means to now go from individual to communal. Like, what do you do once you have solidified your belief system? You understand what you're going through and how do you serve the community with that? What was that push that made you go? What was that push that made you go to the masjid? You said, OK, the third year was the first year that you were, quote unquote, practicing. Right. And that that term practicing is an interesting one, because a lot of times, like you said, you know, they mentioned, you know, the gym comparison. You know, it's you don't go and look at everybody else. Right. Don't look at anyone else and compare yourself to them. So when you hear the word practicing, especially someone that's a convert or someone that's a born Muslim and they may have converted, you know, they may have had a spiritual awakening and decided, you know what, I think I have conviction in this. I really want to do this. What was it that made you in that third year of being a Muslim?
Was it a person that, you know, said, come on, let's go? Or was it some event you thought about? Because, I mean, you're talking about you prayed in private, your parents were against it. What was it? I think it was actually being part of community at that point. So for the two years prior, I had no community, was transplanted. You know, we often forget even the convert experience is translatable to other marginalized groups within our community. Think of students who are studying abroad who are without their family. Think of transplants and people who have relocated, the elderly who don't have family among them. And so I think it was that I was finally in a position where I was serving the community during Ramadan with a Muslim community. Nice, nice, nice. We're going to talk about that, inshallah. We're going to talk about the importance of community. And speaking of community, we have a community leader here in our midst, brother Khalis Rashad, mashallah. May Allah bless him. I've known Khalis for a long time, mashallah. Fellow Houstonian, fellow mentor. And on the side, my accountant, mashallah, Khalis Rashad and Associates. A small, shameless plug. He deserves it, though. Mashallah, if you need an accountant, he's here. Mashallah, Tabarik Allah. Your first Ramadan, Sheikh, how was it for you? The first memorable Ramadan, how was it for you? I would say that there were some high points and of course there were some points that I would say, quote unquote, that were low points. When I converted to Islam, the literature was very, very scarce. And the literature that was available, they were printed in other countries. The print, the pages were literally, I can remember certain works that the print on the pages, you could barely read them or the binding was bad.
And now this was 31 years ago. And so now we have organizations such as Yafin Institute that are able to curate and design very, very beautiful materials and content for Muslims of all stripes, especially converts to Islam. And so, however, out of all of those badly printed materials, there was one book, a few, I will name a few, but there was one book by Sheikh Tajuddin Shuaib. It was called The Essentials of Ramadan. That was a book that I read that really, really gave me my initial knowledge and understanding of how to fast. And then other books that I actually, I still have that book. And then another book was, you know, at that time, a lot of people were walking around with what I called green books. And when I was a Christian, I would say, why are all these people walking around when I see these brothers? And I'll say, they have these green books. I wonder what this was about. And so the green book was The Meaning of the Holy Quran, translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. And then other small pamphlets that I would carry around, booklets, if you will, that really gave me my introduction to Islam was books by Sheikh Ahmed Didat. And so those were books, although they were small pamphlets, but they were well printed and the binding was fairly good.
And so the reason why the books by Sheikh Ahmed Didat, may Allah have mercy upon him, the reason why these books were a benefit to me is because I come from the Pentecostal Christian tradition. And so I was raised by my grandparents. My grandmother was a Christian pastor. My grandfather was a reverend and a deacon in the church. And so reading these books by Ahmed Didat, they really helped me to see Islam through the Bible. And I converted. And so shortly, soon after I converted, probably about a couple of months later, I was fasting. And so just to answer your question, Sheikh Abdullah, yes. No, no, Mashallah, that's good. Sheikh, put a semicolon there. We're going to get back to that. Please put a semicolon on that. Just a couple of things I want to mention. And it's Mashallah, it's good that you all are mentioning this because for the convert to hear your conversation and some of the words that you're using, it's good that you're mentioning it because it introduces them to what they will see in the future. So we mentioned Imam al-Shafi'i, which was mentioned earlier, was Zabiha. Zabiha means meat that is slaughtered in the name of Allah. So what they do is they'll say, Bismillah, Allahu Akbar, and that's when they will sacrifice the animal. And that's what they may call halal meat. The meat is slaughtered in that fashion. They call it Zabiha from the Arabic word Zabiha. So Z. So you may go out with some people after Ramadan. Are you from the Z crew? Are you Z? I remember the first time I was like, what? What? So basically, do you eat kosher meat, which is basically kosher meat that has been slaughtered by saying the name of Allah before slaughtering it? There may be differences of opinion in regards to that, but it's totally fine.
That's what's meant by it, inshallah. And Ahmed did that, may Allah reward him. That was when I became Muslim as well. If you Google him, please Google him, because, you know, he had debates with Christian Christian pastors. He had good lectures, which which represented Islam very, very well at the time that he was there. May Allah have mercy upon him. He passed away, but he was one of a kind. I mean, there was no one that was like him, to be fair. And if there was, mashallah, I didn't know about him with my limited knowledge. But he was definitely someone in the Western world, if you will, or English speaking world that represented Islam and Muslims and opened the eyes and hearts of a lot of people. Mashallah, that's right. The next portion that we want to talk about is the educational aspect. Now, when I'm talking about the educational aspect of. The first Ramadan, but not the last. More of you all kind of touched on it briefly within your introduction and your journey, your memoir and your story of your first Ramadan. You kind of touched on some advice that you would give, but we don't want to get to the advice as of yet. More of the perspective in regards to the nuances that you have seen during Ramadan, yours or others. So when we're talking about. This Ramadan coming up and you may see a convert. What is, you know, how sister, you know, sister, sister Nihila touched on briefly about, you know, the situation of that time of the month, you know, that that that may come to certain people and how brother Sanjay mentioned, you know, with with the family and how they were accepting. But then again, with with sister Munira, they weren't. So what's some some some educational aspects that you would give primarily to the seasoned community in regards to a Ramadan experience of a convert?
We will start with sister Nihila. So for the last I would say now for the last few weeks, we we run Embrace here in Dallas and throughout the US, we have about six chapters, and so we've been trying to focus on on Ramadan and yes, the whole experience of it. And so one of the ways that we do try to do that is by bringing a similar conversation as this and walking, walking through our own journey last night at our at our Holika here in Dallas. Three new converts, literally one is two months in. One of them is six months and one she is, I think, five months in. So very, very new converts. And so one of them expressed anxiety, right, feeling a bit anxious about not doing it right. And one of the things we did speak about is that and I mentioned it earlier that you're going to learn, you're going to learn as you go. And so I think sister Manuera talked about the whole community aspect of it. And so when you are in community spaces such as, you know, we have our our Holika on Mondays at Valley Ranch through Embrace. We have another one in Fort Worth and then we have one here in Richardson. And so being able, among other other folks like yourself, will help as far as the educational aspect of it, because obviously somebody has already been there, done that. I would say be very intentional, be very mindful, but be very patient with yourself when it comes to even the nuances of your first Ramadan and the educational portion of it.
Be very in tune of yourself. Be very mindful of everything that you have experienced up until now. You're not going to learn everything overnight. Like Sheikha Dura said, this is a lifetime journey. And so when we're talking about this component of perhaps, you know, feeling this type of anxiety, am I going to get it right? Is it going to be accepted? And for those that are still living at home with their families, you know, make sure that you invite those those closest to you, perhaps to dinner. So don't break any bonds in terms of your family. Make sure that you are inclusive and answer questions. So another way to I would say if I if I went back, I would literally prepare myself a little bit more. And this happened to me when I went to Mexico for the first time and it happened to be towards the end of Ramadan. I had to go for an emergency trip and I didn't want to stop fasting. So even though it's permissible for us to stop fasting while traveling and make up those days, I'm very stubborn like that. I don't like to make a lot of up a lot of days. So I tend to continue my fast. And it was very difficult for my family to understand why. Brother Sanjay said his family is about food. So is my family. You know, Mexican families eat all day, every day. And so, you know, they finish one meal and they're already thinking of what they're going to cook for the next meal and so on and so forth. And so it was very difficult. But that time I was well prepared in the basic questions that they might be asking. And what I didn't know, I would say, I don't know. And that's OK for us converts. We don't know everything. And so one of my favorite lines that I would tell individuals, including my family, would be like,
hold that thought. I will get that answer for you. And they appreciated that more than me coming up with whatever. I would also stress out that I wasn't allowed to just speak out of, I believe, I think, I know. And so my uncles really appreciated that. They're like, oh, you're going to go and ask someone. I'm like, yeah, I'm doing this way of life. Let me get back to you. So, yeah. That's good. SubhanAllah, you know, a lot of times, you know, I remember, subhanAllah, this is kind of out of Ramadan, but really in the from the aspect of family asking questions, you may not have the answer. Sometimes you may feel that they may think that, OK, well, if you don't have the answer, then Islam is this. Right. So, mashallah, that's that's very, very interesting how you say that. And it kind of brings an organization. And even a sense of community, because you have someone to go back and talk to. You have your minister to go back and talk to. And I remember my family member, family member said that. And, you know, my father, he's talking about the Iraqi war during the time of the Iraqi war. He was like, why does that why does everyone have the Muslims held up like this? They can't do anything. I didn't know the answer. So I said, well, I'm going to go find out from our farm, from the minister at the mosque. You know, that in Houston. But no, mashallah, Tabarik Allah. In regards to you being able to go back and ask someone. What is important for the community system, Munira, because you mentioned how that third year of yours was the catalyst for your spiritual journey or your spiritual rejuvenation or, you know, activation, if you will. What advice what would you educate the seasoned Muslim community about the new Muslim experience in Ramadan? Yeah, Alhamdulillah, it was really like my second year. That was that spiritual catalyst. And then that third year in community even deepened it and made that connection with community.
And what we're called to do as a community, as an ummah, what our social responsibility is and what our individual accountability is in making that a reality. And so looking at, you know, what helps community, like what helps converts, what helps new Muslims in community. We also go back to the very same things that are that the rest of the congregation really needs, which is like welcoming practices. So when I was helping to facilitate the Tarawih, we had something where we started at the very beginning of each Tarawih. We asked everyone, raise your hand if you're new here today. If this is your first time coming to Tarawih at this masjid, please raise your hand. Everybody look around, say salams, and then encouraging people to start these welcoming practices in our community. So, you know, we have so many people coming in our masajid in Ramadan, right? And sometimes you assume, OK, this is just a family who's already Muslim or they're from a family that's Muslim and we just don't see them. We only see them at Tarawih. But that may not be the case. That might be somebody who's a new Muslim who's trying to figure everything out. And so if we don't know who's in our community as an organization, as community members, if we don't know our demographic that's in our masjid, it's very difficult to have welcoming practices because you don't know who you're welcoming. So somehow starting those practices and don't wait for your leadership to institute it. You don't wait for somebody from the minbar asking people to do this. Just start it yourself. You know, if you notice people aren't welcoming new people, walk up to people and say, salam alaikum, I'm Sister Munier. What's your name? This is the first time I've seen you. Are you new around here? And just start that conversation. And that leads into something that is really needed, which are some sort of modes or systems of authentic mentorship. Like I wish I had known all of you five years ago. I wish I had had a sheikh or an imam to ask. I didn't even have any imam to consult.
And Sheikh Google, as we laugh and call it, it's very confusing, right? Like you can get a variety of answers. And so being mindful that you are providing sources of knowledge for people who are seeking information and making sure that it is accessible. Don't assume that everyone has the sheikh's phone number. Do you have a WhatsApp group? Do you have a Facebook group? Do you have some process for people to feel comfortable to ask those questions? And oftentimes people won't feel comfortable if they don't know the people. So how do you build relationships? Potlucks, Fasher Club, Iftar, special Iftars, these types of things, and really thinking about being intentional about that, inshallah. Okay. So I mean, subhanAllah, you mentioned Potlucks, Fasher Clubs, Iftars, kind of using those means to get people involved. If you see a new face, you know, at arm's length, right, go and give them salaam, say hello to them. Also, like you mentioned, don't wait for the organization or the powers that be, quote unquote. Not to use that in a negative connotation, but sometimes there's processes and there's, you know, there's just there's processes that take place for something to get made, for a flyer to get made. Almost each and every one of us have been through that. And if we haven't prepared for it, if we try to do any work, inshallah, it just has this process that it goes through. Right. So, you know, being someone that's proactive. So for the community members, I think you're saying what you're saying is that, you know, that it's a very crucial. For them to kind of create some mechanisms for these converts to kind of, you know, just immerse into inshallah, that that will eventually help them. Jazakallah khairan for that, really. Brother Khalis, being that you're someone that's an imam and a community member, what have you seen in existing communities that if, let's say, someone from a big masjid in Houston or comes to you from any masjid,
and they would say, masha'Allah, I see you have these programs in your masjid. What would you educate us about converts that what can we do for converts in our respective masjid to make their Ramadan experience a memorable one? Masha'Allah. I like what the sister said before, just a few minutes before, is be intentional about our approach to community. Oftentimes, you don't know that converts are even walking around your community. But if we are intentionally building intentional community, then we would discover, hey, this person is new, or this person took the shahada or what have you, and begin to, I guess, pair this person with a mentor or with a Ramadan coach or with a teacher. One of the biggest challenges that I hear about when people come to me from other communities is, well, the imam at my center, he's not even approachable. Or Sheikh so-and-so or Sheikh Hadith or whatever, they're not approachable. And so if we're building community, the leadership should be approachable. That's the key thing, is the leadership working to be more approachable. Nice, masha'Allah. And I'm glad you mentioned, I'm glad you, I don't want to use the word piggybacked as Muslims. I don't know how that feels. Camelback, masha'Allah. Camelback, yeah. Camelback. We're going to bring the jargon in. No, so you use, you're mentioning intentionality. That's beautiful. And then you also mentioned a Ramadan coach. You know, we have this series and I'm almost sure that each and every one of y'all have been somewhat of a convert coach, right?
Someone that coaches, you know, because it's interesting. I was reading this book. I think it's called Million Dollar Coaching by Alan Weiss. It's interesting because he talks about the difference between a mentor and a coach. A mentor is someone that you see every Wednesday, every Thursday, once a year. They are dropping gems because they've been in this game for 30 something years. Right. They're giving you statements that you won't realize it till years later, which is good and which is needed. Something like your grandfather. Right. But then you have a coach who's there on the sidelines with you every single day. The one that is seeing you change gradually, the one that is keeping information with you until they're ready to see that you, you need it. They know you from the beginning in the end. So you mentioning Ramadan coaches is very, very important. And being approachable and, you know, some kind of law, I fell into it to where, you know, some kind of I want to talk to you, but it just seems that I can't get to you when I hear that. I got to put myself in check. It's like, OK, you know, why am I here? You know, and the boards as well. You know, we have to. Yes. No, please, please. Go ahead. To that point, Imam's coaches, mentors, self-care is important for us as well. This one doesn't mean that you need to be all over the place and every time your phone rings, you may be picking it up the side of the other, because pretty soon you'll be the one that needs some self-care. I'll be I'll be burnt out. Right. And so but if the leadership have certain office hours or a certain time frame that's blocked out for this or maybe after Juma, this is the time to be pulled aside by people. And you already know that and you schedule that. And so it works both ways because us converts, oftentimes the mistake we make is we have a sense of entitlement. And we show up in environments or institutions with this sense of entitlement. No, we got to put the work in as well. Islam is something that you have to work for.
Fasting the month of patience, as the prophet said, is something that we have to work for. And so there will be some challenge and some struggle. And we should expect that as well. No, just like a lot of care. Well said. Well said. I mean, just, you know, it is it is. And that's one thing that I really, you know, I'm not a big fan of of the culture of, you know, that the convert is always the oppressed one. You know, there has there is still there is still a level of a level of effort that we need. I mean, Ramadan is effort. You know, Maryam was told to shake the tree when she was conceiving a child. I mean, can you imagine that? You know, Allah could have just made the dates just fall. But he told her, well, who's the elected? So to shake the tree so that that's very important and being approached with, like you mentioned, self-care. Subhanallah. And just a small plug for Madestan, if you ever heard of it, M-A-R-I-S-T-A-N. It's an institute that deals with clinical psychology, but tying the Islamic tradition into it. So it's with Sheikh Rani Awad, Dr. Rani Awad, Sheikha, R-A-N as in Nathan, I-A. And they give workshops from the workshops that I just took with them with suicide prevention for imams. They have a 500 imam project. They want to educate 500 imams by the year 2023, if I'm not mistaken. And they also had a nice workshop for burnout for the imams and what are some things that they can do. And it's very important. So with the community, it's very important for the board, the board members and the community members to try their level best to be approachable, because you never know there'll be an individual like you said, Sheikh Halees, that there'll be someone that will reach out to you. You never knew that they were a convert, but they saw something in you that they can use you as a person that can help them in the system and be a coach or even a mentor. So, Brother Sanjay, in regards to the community, the seasoned Muslim community, I mean, you're in New York. I mean, mashallah, you know, there's a lot of seasoned Muslim communities. Islam has flourished in there. I mean, that's kind of, dare we even say, the hub of where Islam kind of, you know, flourished.
You'll find probably two to three generations of Muslims in New York, definitely in Philly, you know. So what have you seen in this community to where you, your input can be heavily educational for these seasoned Muslim communities? Yeah, for sure. I think one thing that we need to get right is. The communities that push these dower initiatives and push calling people to Islam need to equally push calling people after they come to Islam. Need to equally have similar initiatives, if not more, for new Muslims. And I find that that's something that we're lacking in a lot of these communities that will have these great dower initiatives, these great come to the masjid, take your shahada, Allahu akbar, everyone shakes your hand, hugs you. Everything feels so, you know, happy and flowery. And then the next day you're alone. Right. It just it's a cycle, I think, that a lot of a lot of converts go through where it's like, wow, this community is amazing. Look how many people came to see me take my shahada. And then 24 hours later, lo and behold, you know, nobody is there. And I think that's something that really throws people off. Right. Because I think there was a 2010 study done by a by a research group that that surveyed new Muslims in the UK. And we found that like half of those converts that were surveyed had problems with acceptance within their local Muslim community. And so half of them had issues locating support. Right. So they didn't know where to go to get support. And I feel I feel like in the year 2022, with how far our Muslim communities have grown and come, we there there has to be some local organization in in more places than others where converts can come in and feel a sense of home and sense of belonging.
Right. Imagine a convert who does not have the best home environment since becoming Muslim now coming into the masjid, hoping for acceptance and then completely, you know, feeling like they don't belong at all. You know, psychologically speaking, the immediate response to seclusion is withdrawal. You will withdraw yourself from a space you don't feel like you belong in. And that's why I feel most converts who fall out with Islam fall out because they don't feel like they belong, not because they don't believe, but because they don't feel like they have a sense of belonging, a sense of home with their community. So it's not that I don't believe it's that I don't belong. Exactly. The revolving door as well. Right. That's where that happens. And so, I mean, you just made me think of my shahada. I actually converted one last day of Ramadan. So imagine the masjid being packed. Like it was like, wow, 300 women hugging me, giving me numbers, pray for me. Are you married? Like all the questions you can think of came up that one day. I wasn't asked, are you married? It was exciting. I was overwhelmed. I was crying, you know, and nobody told me that the next day was a festivity. So they just told me, well, they told me come early in the morning. Nobody said bring money. Nobody said, you know, dress nicely. It's our celebration. Nobody said anything. So I show up with my little one year old and I'm excited and all these little kids are playing with their new toys. I didn't have cash with me. I was in a corner. Everybody forgot about me. And it was the saddest day of my life. And I just get choked up thinking about it because I went home and cried and questioned exactly that. Did I make the right choice? How sincere are these takbeers? That should be a T-shirt. How sincere is your takbeer?
You know, that's go ahead. You know, listening to what Brother Sanjay was speaking about, you know, we're thinking about convert care. You know, we often you know, you hear these stories, how to give a shahada in 10 minutes. Right. When we need the courses on, you know, how to keep Muslims in Islam for the next generation. And so one of the things that people appreciate, new Muslims appreciate about spaces like Ibrahim Islamic Center, Islam in Spanish. These are these are these are institutions here in Houston. Is that there is no difference in terms of your your Islam and your Americanness and your culture as as it already is. I remember going through Ramadan and being in certain communities and every single night the iftar was biryani or it was desi food. Right. It's like no differences. No. You know, so those are some of the challenges that we still and it still happens today. You know, where's the where's the mac and cheese? Where's the soul food? Where's the tamales? Where's the you know, you know, we we would know that Islam has truly arrived in America when we have dry aged Zabiha rib eye. That's where those like iftars and those programs come in, like one of the best ones we had was the multicultural one, like bring something from your ethnic background, et cetera. And we were surprised we found out there was like Zabiha, you know, prime rib, Zabiha fried chicken because the people knew where to get it. So I'd be like, that's an oxymoron. What are you talking about? No, no, no, no.
I remember, man, I remember, SubhanAllah, I remember it was it was it was it was a masjid event that we had at my masjid in Mohammadi Masjid when I was the imam there. That's a masjid I grew up in, like myself, brother Issa Perada with Islam in Spanish and Joe Bradford. We all kind of grew up at that masjid. And I remember I told the brother to bring some bean pies, man. I said, let the community, they're going to lose it. So we were sitting there talking. This brother, Mel Arbor from Jordan, he walks in with his mouth full. He's like, what is that? I said, this is a bean pie. I said, this is the most delicious dessert I've ever tasted in my life. Man, we looked at each other and we busted out laughing. I said, we know this is what we're talking about. You need to incorporate, like have asked our suggestions sometimes on certain foods that we can bring. You know, we used to have these potlucks for aid. That's where that's where I'm going to move to next. It's for aid, we would have the new Muslim convert potluck. And mashallah, you know, it was it was very nice. It was packed. It was about 250 people. Dream came down. Kim Al-Azhar came down there, mashallah. Pro basketball player from the Hall of Fame, mashallah. He came down, his brothers came down, but we had hot dogs. We had steak. We had, you know, tug of war, people playing basketball. You know, we had it was and it was a potluck. So it was like everybody bought their own dishes. Mac and cheese, you know, was nice. And you kept hearing from the convert community. Like, wow, there was there was I remember those. The main sentiment was I didn't know I could contribute like this because they saw people that were from another nationality that they probably would have never met before Islam appreciating their hard work, either food. So the food is an entryway to, you know, appreciation of each other.
And that is an Islamic muxat, Islamic objective. You know, losses in the verse. We made you nations and tribes in order for you to get to know one of them. Well, this is how we know through different methods of our different avenues of our culture. And food is definitely one of them. Speaking of that and talking about the aid, we're going to do that. And then we're going to leave with some some small advice. So the aid. You kind of touched on it when talking about Ramadan and you kind of touched on a system to heal. You know, what are the tech beers really real? I can't remember this shirt, but you're going to patent it. Let us know. Shalala, just like, you know. The that's when you're going to hear the tech beer a lot. And, you know, you mentioned it as well. So in the Hale and, you know, you kind of camelbacked off of off of Sanjay, Mashallah, when it was talking about, you know, you see them. It's like now you see them. Now you don't. You know, your Ramadan, the nights were beautiful. I got to see the community. Mashallah. Oh, my. Mashallah. Everybody's there. Mashallah. The next day, you know, they didn't tell you to bring your money because it's for the cats. You know, it's for the the charity that is given on the conclusion of Ramadan, which is spiritually, you know, to feed the people and to distribute to the poor. You know, they didn't tell you about the parties. Everybody's drip. They say dripped out. They're wearing their best clothes on this day. And I just came from work and I have my nice dress and my nice suit or thobe at home. Nobody told me. Why? And she can come in the picture sometimes. Like, why did anybody tell me? Am I not a member of the community? Or, you know, you come there and you just still feel kind of lonely because everyone's partying. Where are you going? I'm going to so-and-so's house. We go under it and you're hearing the conversations while you're on your way to the car to go back home. That's what happened to me. So what would you advise the communities in regards to ra'id in particular? What's something that they it's better that they need to be conscious of people that come into Islam?
And there may not be a family structure. There may not be. What would you advise in that? We will start with Sister Nahila. Thank you. So exactly. Early on, after that one Eid, that was Eid al-Fitr. It was the saddest Eid, my first Eid. And I went home. I made eggs. I literally cried and I questioned everything that just happened. And then I learned that there was Eid al-Adha. Right. So I like what Sister Munira said about being intentional and taking an approach, you doing it yourself. So I made sure that from there onwards, I was going to throw a party and I was going to bring out the pinata. And I was going to bring out my culture in it, because I also learned throughout those next two months that I didn't have to, you know, strip my culture away, that I can actually integrate it. And I had a lot to bring into my new faith with my culture, as long as it aligned with the principles and teachings of Islam. So for the next Eid, what I did is threw a party and I had a pinata for boys and I had a pinata for girls. And from then onwards, the party just kept getting bigger and bigger each year. So take that initiative. I would I would highly recommend for you to take that initiative. If you're feeling a certain way, speak out. I know sometimes if you're an introvert, it's very difficult, but you will be doing yourself and generations to come if you have children. So you're not only speaking up for yourself, but you're also speaking up for those who come after you. And perhaps there's other people in the room that are feeling the same exact way as you are and are not able to speak up. So I would say, just like Sister Munira said, be very intentional and put your best foot forward and say, hey, hey, hey, you know,
I'm Mexican. I can bring the pinatas. I can bring tamales. Let's throw a party, you know. And so I think if we all came forward and just made a big, you know, festivity in every community we're at. And so every place where I have been, this has happened. Like in New Jersey, I've been away now six years and now they continue that party. Right. That party still happens. They send me pictures. And these are kind of your legacy. You're leaving that again, not only for yourself for that moment, but also for the generations to come, inshallah. And so that inclusivity, you're creating these spaces and just look back and see, hey, I contributed to that. And Alhamdulillah. So don't be shy to show what you can bring to the table. Mashallah. Yeah. Don't be shy to show what you can bring to the table and let the communities, you know, inquire about their life, inquire about their lifestyle, like how Sister Munira was mentioning a multicultural day. I mean, we did this a long time ago in Houston as well. You just get people from different nationalities and just have a day to where you speak about your culture. Maybe have different dishes out there, different clothings out there, different ways, epistemology. What's the different ways that we obtain knowledge? What do we, you know, outside of the Quran and the Sunnah, but our culture, what do we view as something that's a level of respect, honor, et cetera. And this will increase the relationship between the community members. So, Brother Khalis, in regards to the Eid, what would you educate community members about, seasoned Muslim community members about Eid in regards to the convert, the new Muslim experience? I would say, again, going back to, I mean, I could echo, just play Sister Munira's point on a loop, the importance of intentional community. The leadership has to be aware of who is in their community.
And it's not all on the leaders. It's also on the community members in and of itself, because oftentimes the imam or the educational or the scholar in residence, they just don't have the capacity to deal with everyone at all times. But make sure that we carve out space, make space for people. Particularly for the converts during the Eid. And so, you know, as we are in our times of bragging about Islam being the fastest growing religion in the world, but the back door is wide open. And we have to be conscious about that back door, because just as many people that are coming in, people are also leaving and their trauma and their pain, unfortunately, is under the auspices of the religion. Hmm. Well, I'm still... Yeah, SubhanAllah, I like how you said that, they're leaving and they're leaving with trauma. You know, and it's important that we as seasoned community members, and even SubhanAllah, even like ourselves, some of ourselves, you know, the seasoned convert community members, that we stand as a liaison to these community members, you know, speaking to the board as well, and say, look, no, this needs to be done. I'm willing to lead it. And also, you know, having that, the responsibility of being willing to lead some of these programs, doesn't mean it's gonna be successful. You're gonna fail. People may be prejudiced. People may have, you know, their thoughts about the way a person's dressed, or the tattoos on this person, or how tight this garment is, or whatever the case may be. You, being someone that's a convert for a while, you understand, been there and done that. It's very important. I was gonna say you have to, but it's incumbent, you know, for you to stand as a representative, to speak out for them. And as we're doing now, Masha'Allah may Allah reward you all to educate the seasoned community, because a lot of times they just don't know. This is the way, you know. Oh. Yes, sir. One other point is, don't be,
the community leadership, if you need to actually outsource it to another community, for the outsource your aid, have an event, say, okay, well, you know what? I'm gonna reach out to this community that may be more connected with converts, and we're gonna all come together and do something. Excellent, excellent. Yes. PR, you know, inclusivity, our masjid, we wanna make sure that our masjid is the only, those days are over. We really, it's about changing lives, enhancing lives of human beings, Muslim, non-Muslim. You know, the masjid is supposed to be a center, a markez, a center. Center means the center of something, or of the surrounding areas. They look at that place and they see it as a solution to a certain problem. You know, a humanitarian aid, you know, a guide for spirituality, a place to where someone can vent, a space where they can speak to someone. So definitely, if you're a masjid, and you know, you're heavily cultural, and it's primarily one ethnicity, and you don't feel, let's be honest, you're not even really interested. You know, a lot of times we see there's, they're not even really interested in converts. You know, I remember one brother told me, they were sitting at a table, he said, no, the convert should come and talk to us. I said, brother, no, what are you talking about, man? He doesn't even know. No, so you may not be, it just, you know, it's important to, like Sheikh Khalif said, you know, it's very important to outsource. If you see people that are doing it right, give them a call or give the person their address and say, look, they're doing it. I think this will really help in your transition. So Sister Muneera, Jazakallah khair for that. Yeah. What would you, in regards to this Eid, you know, the day of Eid, the week of Eid sometimes, what would you advise the communities, the respective communities, in regards to the experience of the new Muslim? Yeah, for me, I mean, just listening to Sister Naha's experience of her first Eid is very, it resonated with me.
My first Eid prayer that I ever went to, it was a Coliseum prayer in the middle of Richmond, Virginia, and they had multiple misajid coming together, but nobody took the time to explain what to expect in the Eid prayer, and that Eid prayer was different. Even for a long time, I didn't understand why Jummah prayer was different than regular Dohur prayer. So it's okay if you're feeling that way, but don't make assumptions. As community leadership, don't make assumptions that your congregation knows these differences. Even people who are born Muslim, people who have been raised Muslim, it would benefit them too, to just know what to expect during the Eid prayer. I remember one Eid prayer I went to, and they actually had a printout of the takbir, of the type of what you do in the prayer, and that helped so much to understand what was going on, because that first Eid prayer I showed up, there was takbir going on. I thought the first prayer had already happened. I didn't know when to pray, when to do what. My best clothing was a black abaya with a black hijab, and I felt like, I don't know, I mean, people were just, it was like a runway of fashion. But again, I look back to that, and this is for our converts out there, anyone who's listening. I look back at those experiences, and it actually taught me the true meaning of what we were prescribed to do by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la because instead of being distracted by, or trying to live up to expectations based on culture, family, friends, community, I knew that this was all for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and if this was my best dress in front of Him, then what did that really mean? Why are you putting on that dress? It's out of respect for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. It's not for the respect or admiration of people. Inshallah, very nice point. The fact that we dress like that, and dress the best day on Eid, even though that's the sunnah to do so, but reminding yourself of that intention,
because sometimes when we come into the deen, we're leaving certain things such as showing off with our garments and things of that nature, but that beautiful garment that you wear is fine as long as we just have that intention, and we shift it and tailor it to that which is beneficial. Our time is wrapping up, but I want, I humbly request from each and every one of you some advice that you would give to the convert. If you saw someone convert to Islam in the masjid today, I don't know, we're in central right now, let's just say the Maghrib of your day, or whatever, Maghrib or Isha of your day, Sunday night, usually when the masjid is, or Juma, let's say Juma. They come there, you see that they're nervous, they get on the microphone, and they pronounce the shahada, the guy's looking down, the girl's crying, most of the time the girls are crying in the back, we're so used to hearing on the microphone. And they say, you know, I'm really, really anxious, or I don't know what to do, I'm gonna be hungry, my parents, so on and so forth. What advice would you give them? But before that, I wanna mention something. I wanna mention something in regards to the resources that these new Muslims can go out to. So, alhamdulillah, mashallah, in Houston, you have the Ibrahim Islamic Center, it's gonna be in the third ward area. Mashallah, you can find Imam Khalis there, been there for years, mashallah, a beautiful space. I like to call it a space, you know, for those that have converted to Islam, and those that have not, you know, seasoned Muslims, very relevant to the community's needs. You have Sister Nahina Morales, again, with Embrace, and they're in different parts of the world. It's a, I would say, a remote third space, if you will, for Muslims with different initiatives that they do, specifically for converts. They're here in Dallas, they have lessons in the Valley Ranch Islamic Center. Sister Munira with Remastered, but she leads the youth department for Mass Muslim American Society, and they've been around for a long time, alhamdulillah wa ala ameen. And the Remastered podcast, if you check it out,
Remastered, M-A-S in capital letters, kind of an interesting initiative, but very, very good. It's general, speaking to the Muslim community, but she's, mashallah, an empowered convert that the organization has taken upon themselves to help her. And then we have Brother Sanjay, mashallah, a student of knowledge, and Queens right now, right? Yes, I can hear, so Queens, yeah. Yeah, mashallah, and he's contributing to Yaqeen Institute, doing some volunteership. And also with that, you know, with Yaqeen Institute, we have these resources here. We will have a Ramadan page. If you go to the website at yaqeeninstitute.org, Y-A-Q-E-N institute.org, we have a whole page dedicated to this. It's the first, but not last Ramadan. We have some videos that were made in regards to Ramadan, the who, what, when, where, and why, in regards to different issues regarding Ramadan. We will have some carousels as well. And we have a Telegram community. Please join the Telegram community because the goal of all of this, each and every one of these individuals, they were picked because they, you know, I personally feel as many do, that they really care about enhancing the new Muslim experience. So this is everything that we're doing here is to make the Ramadan a memorable one for you and outside of the months of Ramadan, inshallah. So there'll be carousels that are there in the Telegram community for the new Muslim community, for the convert community. If you go to the website, you can check it out, inshallah, ta'ala. We also had a survey that will be on at the bottom of the videos for you to click on and to take. I'm the first person that does not take a survey, but at the same time, I'm the first person that appreciates a percentage of a number that deals with a certain demographic and subject matter. It's interesting. So if we take about five minutes to fill out that survey, again, it's for us to educate converts and to educate really the world about the new Muslim experience. So please, if you can go there to yaqeeninstitute.org backslash convert-resources, inshallah, ta'ala. So I want all of you all, inshallah,
you see that new Muslim after converting to Islam in the masjid, it's gonna take them about 15 minutes to walk through everybody. Well, I'm sorry. They have to give the hugs and then walk through the crowd. And you're a convert, you're sitting there like, sitting there by the shoe rack, right? You know, or the front door, you're like, okay, I'm just gonna wait for them to come out. It's Juma'ah, everybody's moving quickly. What advice would you give them? Along with your advice, please plug in any resources that you feel are relevant with what you're doing in your efforts in your city and place, inshallah. So we will start with brother Sanjay, inshallah. Small, all right. Such a bold question, Shaikh. So there's so much I can think of right now, but if I had to give one advice and a little plug, I wrote an article, 5 Reflections After 5 Years of a Muslim, that I definitely recommend everyone check that out. It's on muslimmatters.org. So you can find it there, inshallah. And that would be where I would build most of my advice off of. But I think one thing I would say right off the bat is just, even when things get tough, don't forget your blessing. Don't forget the blessing that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given you by you becoming Muslim. You becoming Muslim today is the greatest moment of your life. And every hardship that comes afterwards is just another step in that journey, right? I think I always like to put things into perspective of the greatest generations of people who came before us. The Sahaba, I think about all of those people who became Muslim as well. For example, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqas, who was a military chief during his lifetime and a noble companion of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, amongst other things. And when he accepted Islam, his mother told him, his mother was so upset that he accepted Islam. His mother told him, I will not eat, I will not drink until you leave Islam. You have to renounce your religion now. So imagine someone you love telling you that to that degree of like, if you don't leave your faith, I'm gonna starve myself, right?
How tough of a situation that would be. Perseverance is so important as a Muslim. Obviously, like inshallah, none of us have to go through that extent of an issue, but having that perseverance during hardship and being able, just like how Sa'd was able to say to his mother, oh, my mother, in spite of my love for you, you know, my love for Allah and his Messenger is greater than that. And if you had a thousand souls and one soul went to the part after the other, I would not leave this religion for anything. That is powerful. That is motivation. That is inspiration for a new Muslim who is going through hardship. And so this is an example, not just for converts, but for born Muslims as well, trusting Allah in times of difficulty, a calamity befalls you, a bad situation occurs. You know, we don't append this religion for anything. We don't abandon our Lord when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la gifted us with the beauty of Islam. And so we're bound to deal with it during Ramadan. It's how we respond that really determines our rank. And that's what I would say, inshallah. Mashallah. So just expecting the, you know, the perseverance that's gonna come there and know that that perseverance is a step forward to something that's more beneficial, inshallah, for you in the future, inshallah. I like how you acknowledge the fact that there is, that there are going to be hardships. And I think we always need to remind the converts of that, but in a way that's conducive to their development, inshallah. JazakAllah khair for that. Sister Nahila. She's crying, she's drying her tears up, you know, going through the crowd in Ramadan. Guys cry too, I'm just saying, you know. So what would you tell her in like two minutes? What would you tell her in two minutes that would be, what advice would you give her? This first year in Ramadan? Honestly, I wish somebody told me when I came into Islam to forgive myself. It's so hard to forgive yourself. It's so hard to move forward when you don't forgive yourself. Yet Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la forgave everything the minute you said, la ilaha illallah Muhammad Rasulullah.
So I think that forgiveness within oneself is crucial in order for growth to happen. And so for a long time, I carried a lot of baggage, unnecessary baggage, because I just didn't know that I had to let go. And so another thing I would say, or along that line would be like, you know, remember that your heart is the softest place, right? It's the softest place within our bodies. So we have to take care of it. And whatever comes in, it's gonna affect everything that goes out. So be careful with what company you are with, you know, make sure that you are, like you're conscious of every single thing that you're doing, but baby steps all the time. Like you're not going to run five miles in a minute. It's not gonna happen. So I love what brother Sajid said, but I would say forgiveness, forgiveness in order for you to be able to forgive. And we are entering the month of forgiveness and we are begging our creator to forgive us. So we need to forgive ourselves. Now, Mashallah, I like that forgive yourselves. And definitely that's one of the very important to move forward. Alhamdulillah, Jazakum Allah Khairan for that. Alhamdulillah. Brother Police. Yes, so now that the pompous circumstances over, the party is done, you're alone by yourself. Whether you are a new Muslim or you're a seasoned Muslim, I just have three quick points. One, this is Ramadan, set goals. If you don't have a roadmap, you're not gonna go anywhere. And some people say, well, my goal, my number one goal is to finish Ramadan successful. Well, you may be at a point where you don't have to put that down on paper. You know, you have to finish Ramadan successful. So maybe your goal would be to engage the Quran. Maybe your goal is some type of spiritual accomplishment during this month, but the set goals.
The second point, the second point of advice is to pace yourself. Many times, if you don't pace yourself, you could potentially burn out. Some of us, I remember I used to think that it was obligatory to finish the Quran every Ramadan. I thought Tarawih was obligatory. And so it's important that we don't try to compete with someone that's a more seasoned Muslim, someone that was born Muslim, have Muslim scholars all in their families. And we're trying to compete with that. We're trying to be a Tarawih every single night. We're trying to read the Quran from cover to cover in Arabic and all of these things. And you still gotta get up and go to work in the morning, or you still have to get up and go to school. And you're falling asleep and you're driving sleepy on the road and all of these things. And we're not in a Muslim country where everything shifts to accommodate the month of Ramadan. Okay, so be very, very careful of that. And the third point is to develop patience. This is grit, endurance, and determination. The month of Ramadan is a month of patience. So we wanna stretch ourselves and challenge ourselves. And if it's something that, and it's totally worth it, you will have a few sleepless nights, you will, but make sure that you pace yourself. Maybe you need to do Tarawih on the weekends, et cetera, et cetera. But figure out what works for you. It may take you a few years to figure out exactly what works for you. And the last point is to find a coach or a mentor. It doesn't always have to be the imam or the scholar in residence or the sheikha of the masjid. It could be that auntie that's a few generations older than you that would take that time for you. Very, very important. JazakAllah khair, that was beautiful. This information, we may have to have all these forms of advice on a carousel that's gonna come up, inshallah. Allah reward you for that, Sheikh.
Sister Munira, what advice would you give her? SubhanAllah, alhamdulillah. I mean, very similar echoing the sentiments, the advice of all the other panelists. But I would say like, even going back to what you asked me earlier as to why I said practicing Muslim, it was that I finally understood the meaning behind what I was asked to do. So instead of looking at a YouTube video and, okay, now I know the movements, but what is the meaning? So I urge you all to seek meaning in whatever you are learning, to seek meaning in whatever you are being prescribed to do. Like what is the prayer? Why are we expected to do this? What is da'a? Seek that meaning beyond the external, beyond the outward, beyond the mechanisms. And like Imam Khalisi said, really finding that coach, the mentor, a trusted reference, some sort of support system that can help guide you aside from Sheikh Google, as we laugh about. And something that helped me was learning the sirrah, the life of Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. There are so many excellent resources. Yaqeen also has excellent resources on the sirrah and the prophet stories. But this is something Brother Sanjay was alluding to, like going back to those stories as comfort and understanding, like learning the sahaba were converts. It seems very obvious, right? But as somebody who was a new Muslim, listening to that and then hearing about their struggles and spreading the message of Islam and being understood, even the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, peace be upon him, his own family, there were members of his own family, Prophet Noah, his own wife and son rejected him in the message. So I found great comfort in those stories, not only present day stories, but the history of our nations
and what our Dean guides us to. And then creating your own traditions, like Sister Naha was talking about, finding what really helped you. So if you grew up going to church every Sunday, then make sure that you try to ensure that you can go to Jummah prayer each Friday. And if you can't, what can you do to have that connection with the community? Something I started every Eid was creating barakah bags. I didn't have any community. So I was like, how can I teach people about Islam? What's the meaning of Ramadan? And I went and put together bags for people experiencing homelessness. And every Eid, I go around passing those out. And it's something that I do. And it makes it meaningful to me. But also if I have my own family, this is something that we can do. And creating those traditions to look forward to that really speak to you and your family as well. Masha'Allah. JazakAllah khair. I mean, as all of you viewers and listeners can see that there's always an opportunity, masha'Allah. And don't ever give up. And there's always, insha'Allah, with the dua, and as she was mentioning, to seek, to seek that knowledge. And the seeking in and of itself is worship. It's not that you seek the knowledge, and when you get the knowledge, now you're ready to worship. No. The fact that you're seeking and looking is worship. The fact that you were looking brought you here. That's what caused you to convert. Or if you're having a conversation and you still have questions, and you want to hear this and see if you're inspired or enriched, educated, all of that, insha'Allah, God willing, is something that will go as an investment for you to be something that will be beneficial for you in this life and in the next. So again, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward each and every one of you. Please look these individuals up and look up their efforts, insha'Allah, to help make this Ramadan your first one, but definitely not your last, insha'Allah. Any closing thoughts from any of you? No? Just make dua. We'll make dua. Make dua for each and every one of these individuals. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to bless you and your blessed Ramadan that is coming up, and to make it a fruitful one, one that is of good time management, one that is full of thoughtfulness, one that is full of solace and serenity and solitude with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah the Exalted. Insha'Allah. JazakAllah khair for tuning in. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Wa alaykum as-salam. Wa alaykum as-salam. Wa alaykum as-salam.
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