Lauren Booth – Advice For Converts to A New Faith

			In this video, we're going to be looking at what I call the conversion pendulum, when a new Muslim
makes such massive changes, that they're hard to sustain, and they might not be in the best area for
development, how do we avoid that grand response and calm things down in order to really grow in our
new fate. So perhaps you've taken your shahada recently, everything is new and fresh. It really is
such an internal change what we liked one day, we no longer like the next day, what seems Hello,
Alan. Okay, one day. And it's commonplace in our communities and our society and our background and
our culture. Now we see the damage that it can do. And we want to avoid it add to that the fact that
		

			there are lots and lots of new stimuli that we're not used to going to the mosque for the first
time, we can feel like a foreigner, it's an alien space, it looks different. It feels different, the
prayer and the Salah, it welcomes us. But the community is not one that we've grown up with. I
compare converting to Islam, with moving to another country, you don't speak the language, you don't
really know the rules, how to navigate day to day what we're supposed to be doing. And everything
seems like a challenge. While you're learning the basics of Islam, you're constantly going to come
across things that you have never heard of before the words in Arabic, which will become basic to
		

			you and will be easily understood and actually trip off your tongue, they will become second nature,
but the first time we hear them, it can almost be a little bit disenfranchising. If they're not
explained to us, so we're not comfortable immediately in our in our new space. We're not even
comfortable in our new skin, right? How are you going to stay the course? What is going to help you
to really grow in your faith, I remember learning to drive a car with my father and almost crying in
the seat of the car before I turned the keys, I'm never going to get this. It's never going to be
natural. And he turned to me and he said one day you'll get in the car, you'll turn it on and you'll
		

			just drive and you won't even remember the process. Allahu Akbar, and he was so right, what we want
is to get to that place where Islam sits, like a second nature, in ourselves, in our actions, in our
homes, and in our lives, in our soul in everything we do. I certainly went through periods where I'm
thinking I'm failing at Arabic. I'm not a good enough Muslim, I you know, everything just seemed
like a challenge and you're gonna have days like that. There's famous Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him, which really speaks to the new convert experience. The best among you in the days
of ignorance are the best in the days of accepting Islam. But there's a proviso we don't
		

			automatically become the best a gift to Islam to correct people. Oh, we've had realizations because
we're from the west and we can bring it and reform this, this culture. There's a colonial mindset.
It's not that here's the if, if they acquire true knowledge and understanding of Islam, that's when
we get to be the best among the people Subhan Allah, it means that all that's gone before all of our
skills can come with us. If we get to know the deen in order to feel comfortable and in order to
thrive, in order to please Allah. And in order to serve our new community, we must do the basic
work. That's what we're here for. Consider the story of two early converts to Islam. Khalid bin
		

			Walid was the man who led the Muslim army to conquer Iraq, Persia, Armenia and sham Well, Amma even
Alas, was the one who spread Islam in Palestine in Egypt. Imagine the huge impact that these two men
gave to Islam how many people knew Islam later and contributed to the Ummah because of them, Allahu
Akbar, all of that influence from new converts. And it's interesting to note that both fought the
prophet in the early days they were against Islam, they actually criticized it, and mocked it and
even killed Muslims. They fiercely battled against the ideas of monotheism despite all that, look at
how he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam welcomed the two new additions to Islam. Oh Allah, He Khaled is
		

			one of your swords so support him from that time on Khalid used to be called the sword of Allah and
what have amor the Prophet peace be upon him said when he accepted Islam, all people become Muslim.
But as for Amma Evan, as he became a believer, he immediately entered into a higher rank of faith
because we don't want to just be Muslims. I'm guessing that you have not converted because you like
kebabs, cuz you can eat kebabs.
		

			without converting to Islam, you can eat kebabs and hang out with Muslims and not into Islam. Islam
is about faith. It is about belief. And we want to rise in belief that should be our driving force
every day. I know that we have children and families, and we have jobs and we have goals in our
career. But our number one, our number one aim as Muslims to drive you to learn, learn, learn, do
not critique others. We are not equipped to do that. This is your time to invest in knowledge. I'm
happy to give some links below to some amazing sisters who are scholars and who are offering great
courses. Don't go about critiquing other people. We critique start with ourselves and our standing
		

			with Allah to Allah. And if we do that early on, it means that when the poisons of dunya, the tests
of dunya and the spiritual tests come. We already have the antidote in place.