Nahela Morales – Tips and Advice for New Muslims
AI: Summary ©
The importance of setting healthy boundaries and setting boundaries to achieve a balanced life is emphasized in a YouTube video on Muslims. It is crucial to be honest, sincerely prayerful, and praying when working and being busy. The importance of practice gratitude and early on setting one's own boundaries is emphasized. Consistent behavior and prioritizing one's actions are also emphasized. The importance of learning about one's rights and maintaining one's identity for personal growth is emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
He will but again to welcome back to another episode here in about
Islam. My name is Nayla Morales and today we're going to talk
about something very important some practical tips for new
Muslims. So I want to give you a few seconds to go ahead and share
this out as you are coming in if you know any new Muslims that can
perhaps benefit from this, so we are going to be sharing out as
well inshallah. And this way you can also if you have any
questions, if you want any tips or anything specific that you would
want me to answer, please feel free to put it in the chat and I
will be answering inshallah. So
Salam aleikum, welcome. We are going to give it a few seconds
just to make sure we give an opportunity to our viewers to
share this out as this is a very important topic, like all the
other topics that we talk about here and about Islam. So please do
share out
in your pages Inshallah, so others can benefit and you can also
become the law, you can also get rewarded for it.
Again, my name is Neha mirallas. And
I've been a convert a revert for quite some time now and come to
the lab. And so I'm going to be talking about tips about, you
know, when you enter the faith, and perhaps you may have friends,
or you may have some colleagues, or your family comes with
questions, and they have, you may not know those answers. So
hopefully today we'll cover everything. It's a very extensive
topic, Mashallah. But it's a very important one, as we know that
Islam is the fastest growing religion worldwide. So I'm in the
US, and we know that many people come to the folds of Islam Al
Hamdulillah. And so we want to make sure that people have some
tools and some tips as they are coming into the faith and make
sure that
Bismillah they're there, they're being welcomed and not
overwhelmed. And that's the key here, right as as an ummah, we
need to make sure that we're taking care of one another. And
one way to do that is by educating ourselves, first and foremost,
and, and understanding our faith with conviction. So, again, today,
we're going to be talking about practical tips for new Muslims. So
if you have any new friends
that are new to the faith, or perhaps you have friends that are
curious about the faith, and
this can be shared out to them in the future. Bismillah.
So first and foremost, I think it's quite important for us to
understand that this journey that we have embarked or about embark
are about to embark, if you're not Muslim, yet, is that it's a
lifetime journey between us and a lot, right. So that's very
important to establish early on. And why is that because faith goes
up and down. And so it's, it's important to understand that it's
not a one day or a one week or a month, or it's a lifetime journey.
And so, just like anything else, there's some days where we're in a
good mood, there's days where we're having a rough day, you
know, you have always something to come back. And that is the first
tip is actually our prayer, right. And we've talked about this a lot
here.
So being able to establish that prayer is so important, because it
will help you with your emotions throughout the day, we pause five
times a day to worship our Creator, but more than anything to
shut out all the noise that is happening in our lives, and
sometimes it becomes very overwhelming, especially as new
Muslims, right? We have tons to learn. And we get overwhelmed very
easily. So it is extremely important for us to make sure that
that relationship is always there. That way we're able to to navigate
those emotions that happen throughout the throughout the day
throughout the years throughout the months and what have you.
Is it easy? No. So that's why the next tip is to make sure that uh,
we we talked about mentorship last last month and so we need to make
sure that we are going to the right individuals that are right
for us, right so that we're we're seeking for advice, but we're
seeking it right so oftentimes we get all kinds of advice and it
becomes very overwhelming because people are giving us
Advice according to whatever they believe is what we need. And we
know exactly what we need. So we need to make sure that we set
boundaries healthy boundaries where we know exactly what we need
as converts as rebirths new Muslims, you know, if you're
struggling with a lot, you are going to look for that individual
or that sister, that brother of your brother, brother, sister
Sister, that you know that they're on their Deen, that they're
praying, that they're inviting you to the masjid that every time
you're together to lock comes in that no, they invite you to Salah.
So this is what you need. And this is the type of individuals you
need in your life in order for that Eman to continue to be
balanced, right. And this is so important. So number three is
balancing everything. And while so many things happen when we embrace
Islam, there's so much noise, such as you got to change your name, or
you got to get married, it's half your deen, or there's just so much
thrown at us. And so we need to make sure to set those healthy
boundaries in order to have a balanced life as we are coming
into our new way of life, right. And so, along with that, we need
to set a pace that works for us, right. So we understand that Islam
is vast, it's an ocean, and we're not going to learn everything
overnight. And that's something that we also need to make sure
that we establish that mentally.
That way, it doesn't take over our emotions, when we are not learning
a fatty half fast enough, or where it's taking longer for us to learn
the prayer in Arabic. So make sure that you sit that piece, but also
don't get too comfortable. Because when we get comfortable shaytan
comes in whispers and it's a bit dangerous, right? Because we get
comfortable. We're like, ah, Allah is merciful Allah, you know, we
start making excuses. And so those excuses become
a sense of laziness for us, some of us become too comfortable,
lazy. And so it's we start, you know, falling, falling into a dark
place. So make sure that
we are running at our pace, but not getting comfortable in the
sense of becoming lazy. And so along this, this first part also,
I want to mention how important it is, to be honest, be honest and
sincere with yourself, right? So if you know that you're struggling
with perhaps, and prayer is one of the hardest things to actually
establish, because this is something that you're doing for
yourself, right you're doing at your own time you're doing.
Obviously, the prayer comes in, and you have to be sincerely, you
know, is this more prioritize? Is this more important? Or can I stop
five minutes and do my worship, right? So be very honest with
yourself, be very sincere with yourself. And that will help you
balance and carry the pace that you want, as you're setting those
boundaries. And I think that's so important. And I'll pause there
for a minute. Because we tend to fall in in a way where
life gets really busy. And so we understand that.
This is the one pillar, you know, first is our shahada, we've taken
our shahada, mashallah, and it's wonderful, and you feel on cloud
nine. But the second pillar is, you know, the prayer. And so it's
very important for us to establish that early on, and make that a
habit early on. And we talk about this almost every month, and why
do I talk about it, because I see
this, you know, falling, and being short, and especially the reworks
that I work with, you know, in the organization that I co founded
embrace, that sometimes people are not have not established their
prayer, and so they feel an emptiness. And so one of the
things that Islam does give us is that, that seal that that feeling
of the fulfillment that nothing can give us except Allah subhanaw
taala except that pause that we do it five times a day, so that's why
I mentioned it and that's why it's so important to be honest with
oneself and be very sincere and be very sincere why you're doing
things right. So are you only praying when you are with people,
right? Because you want people to see that you are practicing. But
Allah subhanaw taala is all knowing he's all aware so he knows
exactly what we're doing when we're doing for what we're doing
it right. So be very sincere with yourself and make sure
or that that sincerity is only for the pleasure of Allah subhanaw
taala. And that's why I mentioned this and I pause there because we
have to be very frank with oneself in order to be able to benefit in
the hereafter from all those good deeds and, and obviously have
established our prayer. And so in the second phase, I want to I want
to talk a little bit about,
you know, when we come into this faith, we tend to compare
ourselves a lot to, you know, whoever Maria or Isha you know,
Laurie, whoever we tend to Subhanallah, we tend to
compare our journey. And so we need to remember that we all come
from different walks of life. And so we cannot compare our journey
to anyone, because our journey is our journey. And so we need to
make sure that we are not comparing ourselves our wealth,
our level of of knowledge, right, if you just came into the faith,
you can't expect to know everything that perhaps someone
that's been Muslim for 20 years, you know, to know that because you
just came into the faith. And so as long as you're sincere with
everything that you are learning, and you are implementing it, then
that's all that matters, because Allah Subhana Allah knows exactly
what we're capable of. Right, and he will never give us anything
that we can handle. And so obviously, the invitation of
coming to Islam is already a beautiful gift from from our
Creator, right, that he has chosen, you and I to come into
this faith, and be part of this faith. And so this way of life,
and so it's important for us to never compare ourselves to
somebody that is, you know, more wealthier than you because wealth
comes in many ways, right? Some people are wealthy, and that's all
they have there. They have money, but they might be very poor in
their faith or, or in their religion or in their practice or
in their implementation. So never compare yourself and always count
your blessings. That's, that's so important for us to make sure that
we practice that attitude of gratitude every single day, just
look around and and say Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah, for
absolutely everything, the fact that we are awake, that we wake up
in the morning, and that we're giving that second chance is, is a
blessing in itself, right? So never compare yourself to anyone
you never know what that individual is going through. And
you know, I heard this long time ago some people are so poor that
all they have is money. And just think about that for a second some
people are so poor that all they have is money because their hearts
are empty, you know, they are not grateful for what they have and so
they still feel empty and so when you have a lot in your daily
practice in your daily life, and you're very God conscious and your
dhikr is on point your remembrance of Allah is on point your your
filthy rich, because that happiness that joy, no one can
give you this dunya can give it to you, right? And we have to make
sure that inshallah you know, we understand that this life is
temporary. We should never feel very comfortable in this life.
Right? We should. We're supposed to be travelers. I'm talking about
travel. You know, some people get to travel, some people never get
to travel. So it's important that you know, we do establish that
early on as well because Allah subhanaw taala tells us I believe,
I believe is in sort of the spider where Allah tells us to get out
and get to see you know, what has he created like his creation get
out and and see his creation so it's very important for us to see
and admire the trees in the sky and hear the birds and and just
appreciate everything around us whether it's a walk to the park
that's traveling right or we traveled to the masjid we walked
to the masjid and along our travel to the masjid, you know, not only
are we getting rewarded for walking there and going to the
masjid and pray in congregation, but we are appreciating Allah's
creation. So traveling doesn't always mean that you have to go
somewhere very far Traveling means that you appreciate what you have
in your backyard, right? Just the fact that the sun came out that
the sky is blue, that perhaps you have some fruit in your backyard,
and the birds are benefiting from it or you can pick it and take it
to your neighbor. There's just so much to to when we think about you
know, traveling and when we think about gratitude.
Another thing that we take for granted and we don't think about
very, very frequent.
And the Prophet saw some said that there's two things you know, that
we need to be very mindful of and that's our health and
In time, right, and so, being healthy, that's a richness in
itself. And it's so important for us to make sure that we're taking
care of ourselves taking care of that body that Allah Subhana Allah
has blessed us with. And so you know, when you are sick, also be
very grateful because it's, it's a means of purification. So whether
you're healthy, you're sick, always 100 lab, but make sure that
you don't take your health for granted. And so if you're healthy,
and these advice is, is for myself, first and foremost, get
out there and exercise and eat healthy, drink a lot of water,
hydrate yourself, because we only have one body, right, and so our
bodies have rights over us. And this is something we don't think
about very often.
And so when we are healthy, we need to make sure that we're doing
everything we can for the pleasure of Allah, you know, if you're
healthy, and you're able to help others, make sure that you get out
there if you know have volunteer opportunities, make sure you go
and not waste time and help those in need.
And, and if you're sick, you know, make sure that you are being
grateful for for that opportunity of purification. We are believers,
you know, we always say I've handled the law in good and bad
because there's always a lesson in everything. So the next point is,
you know, we don't think about this, but you know, the youth and
our youth goes. And so as we become older, we become a bit
wiser. And so make sure that you enjoy and appreciate and are
grateful for every stage of your life. And appreciate the youth for
what the youth is and respect the youth for the things they are
doing. They're capable of doing, you know, help them out as, as new
converts, you know, we are involved all together. And so make
sure that we are
we are giving everybody's rights. And as we're learning about this
faith, you know, we need to learn that everybody has rights, the
young be old, and and so never feel like you're at a place. I
know that some of my best friends are much older than I because
there's a lot of hikma there, there's a lot of wisdom. And so
these individuals, Allah send my way as a new Muslim, because they
have things to teach me. So make sure that you sit with both the
youth and the older generations, because we have a lot to learn
from especially since we come into the into the faith at different
times at different ages, right. Some of us accept Islam, in
college or in our in our teens, while others we embrace Islam at a
much later time, whether it's our 20s 30s 40s 50s I mean, I've seen
people come into the folds of Islam at 75. You know, so a lot of
guys who he wills whenever he wants. And so it's important for
us to make sure that we have a good community and we don't want
away from from that advice from the young and the old as new
converts. The other thing I think it's very important, but not don't
overwhelm yourself is make sure that we are educating ourselves.
So if you come into the fold of Islam, and you are in college,
don't leave college because you still need college, right? But
make sure that you insert that knowledge that will get you to
understand your new faith and allow you to have that conviction
that you need to be able to convey the message of Islam. So it's
important for us to maintain our, our our college if you if you're
in college, because I know a lot of mshs are giving Dawa and a lot
of people are coming into the folds of Islam through school. So
don't ever think that you are going to leave school and that you
have to just learn Islam. It's both right. So you are going to if
you're not married, you're going to need a job in order to support
your family. So it goes hand in hand. But education is important.
And so we're going to talk a little bit more about that later.
So that's just the second portion in a nutshell, right? So don't
ever compare your journey to anyone. Make sure that you are
grateful with what you have and what you're going through. The
next portion is about setting priorities as new converts, we
need to make sure that we set our priorities early on. And we need
to make sure that we understand that when we came into the folds
of Islam, Allah subhanaw taala forgave us for everything in the
past and we are on a new slate right? And the only way to
maintain that slate is to make sure that we don't associate
anything or anyone with a loss. So make sure that you're always
Is your Tauheed your oneness of Allah is very onpoint and I will
highly recommend to learn Surah Eclass early on in sha Allah. So
you understand what Allahu Allah is a loved one, right? And so
making sure that we understand early on that ALLAH does not
forgive shirk, right associating partners with and with, with him.
And so we may come from different walks of life where luck was
always the way to go, whether it was a lucky charm, whether it was
whatever it is, that you thought was helping you. And as, as
believers, we know that the only source that helps us is Allah
subhanaw taala. So we need to make sure that we prioritize, and we
leave all of that aside. And that's one of the things that
I see very hard for individuals to let go of those habits. But it's
important. Because again, that's the one thing Allah subhanaw taala
is now going to forgive.
We talked a little bit about prayer. And so we need to make
sure that we continue to prioritize, and I've said this in
the past, even if you don't know the prayer quite yet, make sure
that you set 510 minutes, you know, five times a day where you
just, you know, have this meditation as you're learning your
prayer, but make sure you make it a habit. So that way, it just once
you learn your prayer, it's just part of your life, because prayer
should be on the top of our list right of this priority.
And so also prioritize what type of company you have around you,
what type of friends you are making, and we talked about not
Shontayne away from young and old, but make sure that there are
people that are going to enrich your journey. Right and what do I
mean about that, like I said earlier, if you know of a sister
like
that, that is Mashallah. Always inviting to good and forbidding
the evil, then these are the type of individuals that you want to
make sure that you connect with and learn from right. But if you
know that someone's always very negative and is always, you know,
still cursing is still doing their own ways. Then obviously you want
to kind of make sure that you prioritize what's more important
because the Prophet peace be upon him. He tells us that we become
who our friends are, right? So it's it's so important for us to
make sure that we are surrounded by those who will invite us to
good remind us of Allah subhanho wa Taala and sha Allah. And then
obviously knowledge knowledge, we're never going to finish or you
know, learning everything of our deen. So it's important for us to
have that connection with first and foremost the Koran. Don't wait
until Ramadan. Don't wait until you know that once of year you go
and grab your Quran, make sure that you establish that connection
with your Creator through his book, even if it's one idea that
you read a day one verse, Even if that's it after fajr or whatever
prayer Isha. Wherever you are, your downtime comes, it's
important for us to establish that connection.
And so the knowledge will come as you get to know your Creator,
learn his 99 names, so important to know who our Creator is through
his 99 names until the prophets Allah alayhi salam tells us that
whoever memorizes the 99 names of Allah will enter Jannah so this is
actually something good that we should be looking forward to or
trying to. And again, these reminders are for myself first and
foremost. Another thing that is very important along this journey
is obviously to be consistent and I can extra, I can't stress that
enough to be consistent in every which way possible.
Unfortunately, we tend to fall short,
almost immediately, right? Because that hype goes away once you know
you're alone. Or perhaps you live in a rural area or perhaps you
don't have the friends that you wish you you had. But ultimately
all we need is ALLAH SubhanA wa sallam, and we need to make sure
that that connection is established and make dua dua is
the weapon of the believer and ask Allah Subhana Allah to send you
those individuals that will help you grow in your deen. So that's
that's important.
So we want to be consistent in our practice. We want to practice
Islam as much as we can. The prophets Allah wa alayhi wa sallam
tells us he who loves my sunnah loves me and he
who loves me will be with Me in Paradise, right? So we want to
make sure that we are consistent, we are consistent with our
practices we are consistent
with, with our daily responsibilities and priorities,
now moving along, in sha Allah, and again, there's a lot to cover
here. Because obviously, in a in a in a period of 15 years for me,
I've learned different tips and tricks and what have you not only
my own experience, but working with converts, and what has worked
for them. So
the other tip I really want to stress today about is respecting
our parents, right, and making sure that we don't break those
ties. And so we have to be soft, and we have to be gentle. And we
have to remember that just like this is new for us, it's new for
them. So we should never try to shove this deen or this religion
or our new way of life into our family, we should try our best to
implement, again, that consistency and show our character make sure
that
we show our actions and we show our character and they will see
how we have improved. And so one of the things one of the headaches
that comes to mind is that we need to remember right that Jenna had
Heaven lies under the feet of our mothers. So we have to make sure
that we never break those family ties. Very, very important. And
obviously, we we've mentioned the whole finding a teacher finding
that mentor, it's very important for us to do that.
The other thing I want to I want to mention is to try to stay away
from any type of debate or arguments, right? Try not to
argue, especially if you're so new that you still don't have the
answer for it. And if somebody comes to you and ask you a
question about your new faith, and you don't have that answer, it's
more respectful that we say we don't know. And I'll tell you from
my own personal experience, I remember going to Mexico and I was
very new into the faith. And I remember an uncle of mine who was
asking me a lot of questions. And I didn't know those answers. And I
said, You know what, I can't just tell you what I think what I feel
or what I believe I have to come with facts. That's what my faith
teaches me. So I'm going to have to get back to you. And years
later, he told me that one of the things he respected the most about
me was the fact that I have said that early on. So, so important
for us to
to make sure that we we say I don't know, I don't know and I
will come back
Bismillah so don't ever argue don't ever debate.
It's really not necessary, inshallah.
What else let me see. Yes, the other one very important, maintain
your identity, it's so important to maintain our identity early on.
You know, I come across so many individuals. Just last week, I
remember one sister was referring to another sister as a name that I
did not know and she says that's her Islamic name. And there's no
such thing you know, we don't need to change our name if it doesn't
have a bad meaning or bad connotation or what have you. So
you know if your name is you know, John Mary or you know, Laurie or
whatever your name is, you don't need to change it if you choose to
change it, that's completely different. But don't ever allow
anyone to come and implement that on you because it's not necessary.
So it's important for us to be able to maintain our identity and
this takes us back to the whole boundary aspect of it knowing
yourself and knowing how to set those boundaries and say you know,
I like my name as a matter of fact my mom you know, loves this name.
And so we don't need to change that name. It's very important
inshallah.
What else let me see
avoid loneliness again. You know, for me, I know when I'm feeling a
certain way I look for sisters I look for company I go to the
masjid I go to events. So make sure that if you have that
opportunity that you go and seek that because when we enter Islam,
we're so vulnerable and she thought it is always looking for
that opportunity to whisper right and take us back. So make sure to
avoid
that lonely being lonely or not having those individual
Was that will help you and uplift you, inshallah
I know this is this is, you know, if you like if you want to
inshallah
I know, for me, I find a lot of peace at the mosque. And so one of
the things I established early on was going to the mosque on Friday,
it was it's been very important, it has always been very important.
So try to go if you're able to if you know you're able to go during
your lunchtime or what have you or speak to your boss or, you know,
you're able to
insert that time to go into the mosque on Friday, it's one of the
most special days of
the, of the week, Inshallah, if you're able to.
And so, let's see,
there's just so much to cover. I'm just trying to make sure that I
covered the most important things. Yes, the other one is avoid
rushing into any marital situations, right? I remember the
day I Subhanallah the day I took shahada The first thing I was
asked after I said my Shahada by an auntie and I'm sure it was well
intended, was she asked if I was married. And so
it's important for us to make sure that we learn our deen we learn
our rights, right, we need to know our rights and what we're getting
ourselves into. Before we we move on to the next step. So I think
I'm going to stop here and perhaps we'll have a part two, just
because there's a lot and it's important for for us to keep these
short in order for people to not lose their, their, their focus
when it comes to
these important tips. But I hope this was helpful. Inshallah, if
you find it helpful, make sure to support about Islam, it's very
important for us to support these means in order for us to continue
doing these type of talks, make sure to share this out and make
sure to be kind to one another. It's very important to be very
kind to one another, you know, in Surah hoogenraad, which is chapter
49. And the verse is 13, where Allah subhanaw taala and I'm gonna
paraphrase, but Allah subhanaw taala created us into nations and
tribes to get to know one another, right? Because this sutra is
Medini sutra. And when it was revealed, it was little
into the ninth year of the Hijra. And so a lot of people were
embracing Islam. So similar like us, a lot of people were embracing
Islam, and I want to, I want to leave that as your homework to
read this sutra. And basically what Allah is teaching us in the
sutra, three things, how to deal with our beloved Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa salam, how to address him,
and how we should conduct ourselves.
And it's so important because, you know, people like myself, I had
never heard of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. So it's
important to know who he is, and what level what status he has with
our Creator. So
I want to encourage everyone to please go ahead and read this
sutra. And then, you know, the second portion it talks about
between is six and 12. It talks about brotherhood, you know, and
so this is also very important as we are entering the space, what is
it really mean brotherhood and sisterhood? How are we supposed to
treat each other? And then lastly, so it's divided into three parts,
and it's only 18 verses so I highly encourage you to please go
and read this.
Basically, Allah subhanaw taala specifically tells us you know,
the nature of faith and so I'm going to leave that as homework
for all of you. Chapter 19 Read it, ponder and implemented. Until
next month, my name is the halal mirallas Salaam Alaykum
Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh