5 Pillars Made Plain – Where Can We Make the Shahadah, Testimony of Faith

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you all, Abdullah oduro. And welcome back, there was a man that was sitting in the coffee shop with his friend, and they were talking about how they embrace Islam. And they were just reminiscing over the years and you know, the trials and errors that they have. But in the end of the conversation, they were being very thankful they were talking about where they would have ended up if they wouldn't have had this type of structure and guidance, were upon an individual was sitting two seats away and was listening to them. He walked up to them about 45 minutes later, and he said, You know what, I

apologize. But I've been listening to you all. And what you're saying is very intriguing. You know, I've been hearing about this Islam from my friend at school. And I want you to tell me a little more about it. Whereupon they started to tell them about Islam. And they sat there for hours on end. They ended up in the parking lot of that coffee shop, because the coffee shop closed, it was around 1230. They were in the parking lot. This individual said, You know what, I think I want to, I want to embrace Islam, and I really want to do this. They asked him are you short? He said, Yeah, I mean, what you told me Is that right? When she told me about God and Mohammed, I mean, I've been reading

about it, but I believe that I think I believe that we're probably one of the friends said, Okay, well, you know, we got to wait till tomorrow because that's when the mosque opens, the mosque is closed. The other friend said, No, no, you can embrace Islam right now. embrace Islam right now. Where can one take their Shahada? And this situation? What do you think? Of course, it was okay for him to take your Shahada there, you can take your Shahada anywhere. But the real question is, where is it more befitting and beneficial to do so? If you're in a bar, and you're sober, and you hear about Islam as one individual that told me, he heard about Islam in a bar, and he decided to embrace

Islam in the bar he embraced Islam in a bar would have been more beneficial for him to go outside in the parking lot. And embrace Islam, we say yes, because it's not a place to where one would want to embrace Islam, but we don't stop them from doing so. You can embrace Islam anywhere, don't let someone think that you can't embrace Islam, in a gym, in a parking lot. Maybe even in a club, is it appropriate, not that appropriate. But do not stop a person from doing so because we don't know when Allah will take their soul. We don't know when it can happen. So where someone should embrace Islam, do not confine it to a certain place. Now. The mosque is probably the best place to embrace Islam.

And I'll tell you why. If you go to a mosque, that's a place where Allah is remembered, where the name of Allah is Exalted, where people are praying with a brotherhood and sisterhood is initially established. So for you to come and profess your Islam in front of the community, there are so many benefits from that. It's important for you as a convert, to know your immediate community, to where you can possibly take on a mentor from your immediate community, to see the people that represent what you believe that human connection, that fraternity of brotherhood that you have, it's important for you to establish that relationship. Islam is not only a religion of a personal, a personal

relationship with God. There's also a community element that goes along with that, consider this. Two things I want you to consider when embracing Islam and a mosque, taking your Shahada in a mosque. The first thing is that the community will remember the universality of Islam. As I mentioned, when talking about when should when should we embrace Islam, we see that many times an individual that has a mosque near their house, it's very ethnic, the ethnicity is of one ethnicity, and they feel out of place when going there. Sometimes they feel maybe some resistance from the immediate community. Yes, some communities they do live in their bubble. And when they're amongst

people that are like them of their culture, they may look at you strange, but don't let that deter you. When going into this place, it ruin mind them a lot of times of the universality of Islam, that in America or in any place, when you walk in and you're not of their cultural fabric, and you are accepting a religion that they probably have grown up upon. They realize that Islam is a profound religion, and that it goes beyond their culture. It transcends color, it transcends experience. It transcends all of these superficial, tangible things. It reminds them of that. Secondly, it reminds them of their responsibility towards their immediate communities. If you're someone that comes into

that mosque, or that comes into an MSA or that comes into a circle

locality to our people are so complacent within their practice of Islam with their people, or their locality or group of people. It reminds them that people are still watching them, that people are still embracing Islam, that along with the universality of Islam and people converting to Islam, they have to remember that they have a responsibility of professing Islam, in their actions primarily, and in their speech, and what they believe. So when it comes to where you should embrace Islam, remember, you can embrace it anywhere. We're primarily in a place where the name of Allah is Exalted, where you see your future brothers and sisters, may Allah subhana wa Taala bless you all,

with the courage that you have an increase you in your courage and bravery and embracing Islam. Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Thank you.