ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Seeking the Straight Path: Reflections of a New Muslim Appendix: If You Decide To Convert Although this is an appendix, this section should not be regarded as an afterthought. It is merely serving a different purpose than the rest of the book. You may regard this section as a brief technical manual on what to do and the basics of what you need to know if you decide to become Muslim.

This section contains some information on web sites and mailing addresses that are accurate at the time of writing but I can’t guarantee their accuracy for all future dates. If you decide to be Muslim, this means that you believe that there is only one, indivisible God, and you believe in all the prophets sent by Him, including (saw). You must state this belief to God.

This is called Shahada and is stated as follows: Ash hadoo an laa ilaahaa ilallaah [I bear witness that there is no god but Allah (one god)] Ash hadoo anna Muhammadan Rasoollallah (I bear witness that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah). If you state those two things with belief and conviction, you are Muslim.

The following may be added if you wish to declare that you have consciously decided to accept the Ja’fari school of thought with Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) as the divinely appointed guide and ruler after the Holy Prophet.

Ash hadoo anna Alioon Wallioollah Wasiyo Rasoolillaah, Wa Khalifatahoo Bilaa Fasl [I bear witness that Ali is the successor appointed by Allah, inheritor of the Prophet, and the rightful ruler or Caliph (immediately after the Prophet)] It is tradition to state your belief in the presence of a few Muslim witnesses, often in a mosque, but this is not required for your conversion to be valid before God. So, what’s next?

The information and instructions I will provide now are based on the Shia (Ja’fari) school of thought in Islam and may have slight variations from other schools. It is intended to be general to get you started and is not meant to be an authoritative set of instructions, as I am not at all qualified to be authoritative. There are five roots of religion (Usool e deen) that are considered the major components of Shia Islamic belief.

These are monotheism, justice of God, prophethood, imamat, and resurrection. Monotheism – This is the belief in a single, indivisible God. Justice of God – This is the belief that God is by nature just and fair.