Many people wish to learn Islam without knowing where to begin. In this article we will try to gather the most useful information for all those who are on this path. How to learn Islam? What is the most relevant approach according to the interests of the learner? Let's see this right away.
Where to begin to learn Islam?
Motivations to learn a subject differ from one individual to another. Whether one is a child or an adult, a Muslim person in search of knowledge to grow their faith or a convert, learning will not be oriented in the same way. Also, and first of all, each person should begin by questioning their goal before learning Islam. Is it out of simple curiosity? A work of professional research, or to improve one's religious practice as a Muslim believer?
In this article we will base ourselves on motivations as a Muslim to help our faithful readers of the Muslim faith better understand their din, but it remains a foundation for any other person. Thus, an approach driven by the pursuit of excellence leads one to sincerely question oneself about one's relationship with Allah, one's relationship with others and with the world. Learning Islam for converts or born Muslims without great knowledge about their own religion will not be a task carried out with detachment, as could be the case when one is curious to deconstruct an accumulation of bad information.
The novice in matters of religion will need to know what could help him not only to better understand his religion but also to start off on good foundations in his devotional practice, or even to improve them. The ways of learning Islam are multiple and remain a matter of personal taste: whether in a self-taught manner by choosing Islamic books, or on the internet, at the nearest mosque, to each his own approach, even though learning Islam with a teacher remains preferable. The risk of getting lost, alone, faced with an incessant flood of information is too great. Moreover, not everyone is destined to become a student of religious sciences.
The method differs but the most important thing is that every Muslim must know the basics of Islam to enable him to pray to his Lord correctly.
This is why this article wishes to give the broad outlines of this noble learning to anyone eager to know more about Islam.
What questions to ask to learn Islam?
To better learn Islam, the Muslim asks himself the right questions in order to embrace through knowledge what is obligatory for him, what is forbidden for him and of course what is preferable and useful for his life in this world and above all for his Hereafter. In Islam, the notion of responsibility is crucial. Carrying and propagating knowledge does not fall to the responsibility of each and every one. On the other hand, every Muslim is required to know a certain number of elements of knowledge concerning him personally. Thus, every man and every woman in Islam must seek to know:
- Who is his God?
- Who is Muhammad?
- What is his religion?
- What is his book?
These are moreover the questions that will be asked of him at his death by the Angels Munkir and Nakir when he enters his grave. May Allah make this stage of our Future Life easy for us all.
Knowing Allah
Someone who has converted to Islam has certainly become Muslim after questioning himself about the meaning of his life, even if the reasons for converting, as well as the stories of conversion, remain diverse. After understanding that the purpose of his creation by the Lord of the Worlds was to worship Him and serve Him on Earth, the Muslim never ceases to learn in order to improve his relationship with his Creator. The same goes for anyone who has grown up in a Muslim family without knowing anything about what is asked of him as a Muslim. How to worship Someone one does not know, or knows only very little? How to recognize the Oneness of Allah without learning more about the foundations of Tawhid (Pure Belief) and the Names and Attributes of Allah azza wa jal?
Knowing Muhammad
The list of subjects to discover in Muslim spirituality is immense, and among them, the pillars of faith, the prophets and their stories, the different sciences such as that of the hadiths or texts on the prophetic Tradition. That said, learning Islam is also, and first of all, learning the life of its prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. The one who received the revelation from God, endured many persecutions from his people so that the Words of Allah would come to us, must be the object of regular study. Reading works, or even just learning by audio, allowing one to know more about the Sira of the Prophet of Islam, nourishes our love for the one who is the seal of the prophets and our intercessor on the Last Day. How to follow the Sunnah of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, without having gone through the history of our messenger?
Knowing the 5 pillars of Islam
Among the themes to study, there are also the five pillars of Islam. Aiming for a minimum of useful knowledge about one's religion involves understanding what is expected of Muslims by Allah.
Thus, the person who embraces Islam must understand what the five pillars of Islam contain, which are:
- Ach Chahada: the profession of faith
- As Salat: the prayer
- Siyyam Ramadan: the fast of the month of Ramadan
- Az Zakat: the obligatory almsgiving
- Al Hajj: the pilgrimage to Mecca for the one who has the means.
This is the foundation of knowledge in Islam. Every practitioner must know how to pronounce the shahada and know what it means, but also the actions it implies. In the same way, each pillar of Islam involves rites whose validity is conditioned by certain criteria to be known.
Learning Islam for a convert
To become Muslim, a man or a woman must testify that Allah is One, and that Muhammad is His Messenger. Through this profession of faith, the convert recognizes that Allah is Unique, and he accepts to worship Him without associating anything with Him, and he recognizes that the divine Message was carried by the noble prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.
He also accepts the pillars of Islam which are the foundations of his religious practice and of his bond with his Creator.
Knowing the Quran (or at least reading it)
The Message of Islam, a monotheistic religion, was carried by the seal of the prophets Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. It was revealed to him in the Arabic language through the intermediary of the Archangel Gibril (Gabriel), peace be upon him. It is the Quran, the Word of Allah revealed from the height of the Seven Heavens, and the Holy Book of Islam revealed in a fractional manner to the prophet Muhammad. The Muslim or the person who wishes to learn Islam turns to the learning of certain parts of the Quran. This learning, in addition to revealing the depth of the Words of his Creator, will serve to recite these learned parts during the accomplishment of the five daily prayers.
Learning the 5 prayers of Islam
Each person who wishes to learn Islam in order to know what is obligatory for him, so as to strive for the Satisfaction of Allah, must learn this very important pillar of the Muslim religion which is prayer, with its conditions of validity, and everything related to it. Prayer was made obligatory and revealed by God to His prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, during a particular event of his life which is called the Isra and the Mi'raj (the night journey and the ascension).
The Muslim learns to connect to his Creator through 5 obligatory daily prayers and a number of supererogatory (voluntary) prayers. Some of these supplementary prayers have a number left to each person's convenience, and others are regulated at certain moments of the day, such as the prayers of 2 units plus one that the Muslim performs after the obligatory night prayer Al 'Icha..
The obligatory prayers are distributed as follows:
- Al Fajr: 2 units of prayer
- Ad Dohor: 4 units of prayer
- Al 'Asr: 4 units of prayer
- Al Maghreb: 3 units of prayer
- Al 'Icha: 4 units of prayer
Obligation to learn Arabic in Islam: true or false?
It should be noted that among the knowledge to be sought is the Arabic language, considered by the majority of scholars as a science to be acquired obligatorily. Every Muslim, according to his capacities, is encouraged to learn Arabic because it is:
- The language of the divine revelation
- The language of our prophet Muhammad and of his people
- The language chosen by Allah to be the language of Paradise.
Indeed, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said:
« Indeed the Arabic language is part of the religion, and its knowledge is an obligation, because the understanding of the Quran and the Sunnah is obligatory, and they can only be understood with Arabic, and when an obligation cannot be carried out except through a certain thing, then that thing becomes obligatory. »
Conclusion
The person who nurtures the ambition to learn Islam must not let himself be discouraged by the number of themes to discover or even to learn. There is no prerequisite to learn one's religion and to develop one's faith at the pace of the increase of one's knowledge. Everyone can succeed, and every Muslim is even under the obligation, as we have seen, to study what allows him to better worship his Lord.
It is deliberately that we have not gone into the heart of each subject, in order only to enumerate the essential subjects for anyone who begins to learn Islam.
May Allah grant us a useful knowledge that is profitable to us. Amin