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The scholars have differed on this issue. It's worth mentioning that part of the stigma against it was because music has been an essential part in every alcoholic setting (which are unlawful in Islam). Music that encourages engaging in unlawful things like adultery, alcohol, cursing, or anything that is unlawful in the Shari'ah (islamic law) is therefore unlawful. Most of pop music is one such example.

Music that speaks of good things or instrumental music that relaxes you or inspire you to be productive and do good deeds are not unlawful. I recommend you read what Imam Al-Ghazali have said about this issue in his 18th book of his magnum opus "Revival of Religious Sciences". You can check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Al-Ghazali-Responses-Listening-Experience-Ecstasy/dp/1911141074

Good luck! And one word of advice, don't read fatwas (legal rulings) from anyone who's not specialized in that.

God knows best! And if you need anything my friend, you can DM me and I'll do my best to answer you!

Assalamu alaikom (Peace be upon you) ❤️

So long as its quiet, I think it should be OK? I only know it's not valid if you just say it in your head. Personally I just mouth it because in congregation I don't want anyone to hear me and then be distracted.

Here's a link my wife found, to a course we took: https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/shane2k/alkauthar-fiqh-of-salah

Agree 100%

And it's good to see more scholars who are themselves converts to Islam leading the way forward

This is an excellent book by 2 convert sisters titled "The New Muslim Field Guide"

https://www.amazon.com/New-Muslims-Field-Guide/dp/1981328998

A highly recommended read for all new converts for valuable advice, to avoid all the pitfalls

What else do you recommend?

Salam & welcome

There is a list of suggested reading materials here at the Cambridge Crescent website for support to new Muslims:

https://www.cambridgecrescent.org/shahadah-resources

The book I would recommend for new Muslims was written around 4 years ago by two converts titled (The New Muslim's Field Guide)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Muslims-Field-Guide/dp/1981328998

An excellent, informative and entertaining book to read, which is a very beneficial guide especially in the early stage to make sense of it all

Hope that helps

The best translation is (The Clear Quran) by Dr. Mostafa Khattab

https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Clear-Quran/dp/097730096X

Don't take the risk of reading an unknown translation, as some translations out there are not reliable

The second best translation is the translation of Prof. Abdel Haleem, from the UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quran-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199535957/

>Instead, I have been given a gift when I read bismillah alrahman, alrahim, I am forced to stop at each word and ask “okay, but what does this really mean?” I have to pause, to consider, to reflect. When learning the word Rabb, I find that the word does not mean Lord exactly, but rather, it means creator, nourisher, sustainer, protecter, and controller. This learning causes me to stop, look up towards the heavens in wonder and amazement and just feel the depth this word conveys.

Over time, naturally, it gets better and easier. There is a steep learning curve at the beginning that gets easier over time, and when things start to click, Arabic is very methodical, predictable and pattern-based so you will really be able to take off if you put in the work to build a good foundation. Arabic is the key to so much knowledge that is just not accessible if you only have English, and I personally have found both the process and the results very satisfying.

I personally found the Dictionary of the Holy Quran very helpful at the beginning, as well as the Hans-Wehr dictionary and the Corpus Qur'an website. I recommend (as you seem to be doing) focusing on vocabulary acquisition first, and once you get enough vocab that you can piece together the general idea of something, then would be a good time to dive into a grammar text.

Please reach out to Embrace Reverts:

https://embracereverts.org/

They will help break the isolation for you In-Shaa-Allah

They are converts themselves, so they understand all the challenges converts face.

An excellent book by Theresa Corbin that also will help is titled "The New Muslim's Field Guide"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Muslims-Field-Guide/dp/1981328998

Very useful insights with a lot of humor :)

Salam & welcome to r/converts

Having time is a great blessing, especially in Ramadan

Reading more Quran is highly encouraged, especially in Ramadan. So this is a golden opportunity to read and understand the Quran at a deeper level.

Also, if you enjoy reading, I would recommend this book written by a convert, sister Theresa:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Muslims-Field-Guide/dp/1981328998

It is both funny and educational. A book to enjoy reading in Ramadan and benefitting from

Other hobbies you have, you can pursue throughout the day, once the fasting is balanced and you feel more energized In-Shaa-Allah

Volunteer work in Ramadan is also highly recommended

Wishing you an excellent Ramadan

Hope all goes well

Yes, welcome to r/converts

May it be a blessed month for you, with abundant peace and serenity

The first suggestion is be pro-active. Try to find Muslims near where you live, and get in touch with them. I understand that socializing at the mosque can be a bit difficult at first, but do check to see if they have iftar meals over the weekend you can attend.

Having meanls together at the masjid helps breaks the ice and helps us meet new people we had not met before.

You will find some more suggestions here:

https://aboutislam.net/reading-islam/living-islam/be-proactive-say-goodbye-to-ramadan-loneliness/

It's an article written by sister Theresa Corbin, the author of this excellent book for converts:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Muslims-Field-Guide/dp/1981328998

An excellent book by the way to read in Ramadan with excellent tips for converts.

Do you know of her?

I didn't find it very hard or challenging - I'm from Melbourne and maybe I was blessed in the sense that the local masjid I stepped into for the first time was extremely welcoming and has an amazing and supportive community. Then again that was a pre-pandemic Melbourne so i guess it would be harder at this point for new Muslims. I attended a lot of classes prior to taking my shahada so I met a lot of people and got to explore the faith slowly before taking the deep dive!

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I was gifted an AMAZING book called "Being Muslim: A Practical Guide" which laid out the foundations of belief, knowing Allah swt, the Prophet saw, getting started with prayer etc etc.. An amazing resource for me, ma sha Allah. Can buy on Amazon here - https://www.amazon.com.au/Being-Muslim-Dr-Asad-Tarsin/dp/0985565926

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If you're in Melbourne I'm happy to chat and be of support where I can. If you're a sister I can also put you in touch with my wife who is a born Muslim.

In order to clear up the confusion over anthropomorphism and the hands of Allah, take a look at Ayat-ul-Kursi (http://quran.com/2/255) in which Allah refers to Himself as being "Al-Hayy" which in English can be translated as "the Ever-Living". From this we can both agree on two facts: (1) Allah is alive (2) there humans that are alive. I have yet to hear anyone say that by believing that Allah is alive humans are anthropomorphizing Allah because we understand that our state of life is completely incomparable to Allah's state. Why can't the same be said about the hands of Allah? A more detailed explanation of this issue can be found in pages 7 and 8 in the following handout (http://www.filedropper.com/iis011module9) made by Bilal Philips as well as some other information about methods of tafseer.

There was a great book I read around the time I converted called "Being Muslim: A Practical Guide" by Dr. Asad Tarin.

It's a great read on how to learn and practice the faith without being too much of an information overload. Everything is super practical and has so much that you can start implementing into your life as a new Muslim right from the get-go.

One piece of advice I give to anyone I speak to who is thinking of accepting Islam like I did, is to NOT overburden yourself with too much information at once. It's a lifelong journey and everything will come to you in time, so don't stress if you're not praying x5 a day one day one, or not knowing certain rulings on things etc.. As long as you have the right intention in your heart, it will come to you fast - in sha Allah (God Willing).

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May Allah the Most High make it an easy and beautiful journey for you. DM's are open for you if you have any questions!

Sister Theresa has an excellent book, highly recommended for new converts to Islam:

The New Muslim's Field Guide

https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Muslims-Field-Guide/dp/1981328998

An excellent book

You can get it from Amazon if you're not a fan of PDF's as well
Or ask for the book in any Islamic Center or Mosque. It's a well-known book, they may lend or give you one

As-salamu alaykum.

Welcome to Islam, May Allah make you a blessing for us and a light for those around you.

Muslims mainly used to use calendars with prayer times from their mosques, but today we use an app to inform us of prayer times.

For prayer times this app will give you all 5 when you put your location in. It will also provide tools like Qiblah (The direction of Mecca) and others: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitsmedia.android.muslimpro

To learn how to pray, I used this app: It gives you the instructions for all 5 prayers. You can focus on only the fardh prayers to become accustomed to it. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.quranreading.stepbystepsalat

If you are on iPhone, try searching the same names on the App Store.

In regards to those words, most of them sound exactly how they are spelt. It's no big deal if you can't pronounce them, but as you start to read the Qur'an and become accustomed to it, it will become second nature to you. Also the Arabic used in the Qur'an, is not exactly the same as the Arabic used in the modern world, it's an older and more formal form of it.

Take things step by step. I understand your attitude, but you don't need to learn everything all at once. I'd recommend reading a concise text like, The Absolute Essentials of Islam and working your way up from there.

JazakAllah Khair! 😊

You can get one here if you’d like. The quality is amazing and they have different designs you can choose from as well.

Aww, JazakAllah Khair! Don’t be jealous, the truest beauty is in our connection with Allah (SWT) during salat, not the rug we pray on.

If you are interested though, here is where you could get one. <3

JazakAllah Khair!

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I actually got it on Amazon, because the reviews were all great, and I couldn’t pass up such a beautiful print.

Here is the link! There are other designs, and the quality is incredible.

If you want to order from Amazon I suggest https://www.amazon.com/Quran-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199535957/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=quran+in+english&amp;qid=1594262126&amp;sprefix=quran&amp;sr=8-3 or https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Quran-Abdullah-Yusuf-Ali/dp/1853267821/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&amp;keywords=quran+in+english&amp;qid=1594262126&amp;sprefix=quran&amp;sr=8-4

Sister, I think you are doing great. Please don't let this get you down. Also a little off topic but I would highly recommend you buy Losing my Religion and read it. It covers a lot of topics to new converts, to living in western countries, to dealing with other over eager muslims etc.

I would also read https://www.amazon.com/Losing-My-Religion-Call-Help/dp/1590080270/

It will help when you are faced with well meaning but uneducated Muslims trying to bog you down with the minutia as if thats all there is to Islam.

In your case your better off with this.. If you'd like I can provide a kindle code.

As for your questions you start from the fatiha or the opening chapter and go through it like chapters however they may or may not feed into each other depending on subject.

Edit: forgive me clearly I don't sleep or have enough coffee. An even better choice is watching it listening to Nouman Ali Khan lectures but preferably his tafseer (Quran explainations) which he is still making but are awesome. He has podcasts too if you'd prefer that over YouTube.

Being convinced is very important

Take it step by step, and I suggest you start reading about Islam with an objective approach.

This is a process which needs patience, and also needs choosing the right books and suitable readings

You may wish to check the books of Dr. Jeffrey Lang for example, like:

Struggling to Surrender: Some Impressions of an American Convert to Islam

http://www.amazon.com/Struggling-Surrender-Impressions-American-Convert/dp/0915957264/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1422757756&amp;sr=1-8

Even Angels Ask: A Journey to Islam in America

http://www.amazon.com/Even-Angels-Ask-Journey-America/dp/0915957671/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1422757656&amp;sr=1-5