How to become practicing Muslim?

In the Name of Allah,

All praise is due to Allah, the Creator, the Sustainer.


" By Al-'Asr (the time).Verily! Man is in loss, Except those who believe (in Islâmic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth (i.e. order one another to perform all kinds of good deeds (Al-Ma'rûf)which Allâh has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds (Al-Munkar)which Allâh has forbidden), and recommend one another to patience (for the sufferings, harms, and injuries which one may encounter in Allâh's Cause during preaching His religion of Islâmic Monotheism or Jihâd, etc.)." (Quran 103)

"At-Tabarani recorded from `Abdullah bin Hisn Abi Madinah that he said, "Whenever two men from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah used to meet, they would not part until one of them had recited Surat Al-`Asr in its entirety to the other, and one of them had given the greetings of peace to the other.'' Ash-Shafi`i said, "If the people were to ponder on this Surah, it would be sufficient for them.''" (Tafsir ibn Kathir)


Above Surah is the best scale to measure ourselves if we are on the right path. Allah makes the most perfect logical argument, I have ever seen made. Allah created humans, and he understands that only using our language is not enough to convey the message, but logic has to be used to convince a human. So, Allah has used negation to begin his most important messages, and this Surah is one of them.

Humans are logical beings, and Quran is a guidance for Humans, so Allah uses language that we can understand. Instead of listing all the rules, he starts by negating every action as being useless. So, this short surah can cover everything a Human will do. If he were to list all the good we can do, it would have span a big book, because everything Allah has created is halal for us, except a very small number. Yet, we stick to that small number of haram, and call Islam as a narrow religion. "Why can't I shave my beard?" "Why can't I listen to music?" "Why can't I go out without covering my hairs and neck?"

Allah is saying that goal for creating humans is to come back to Jannah, and most of them are heading towards Hell fire, except some who change direction. Then, he lists four things "Believing in Allah", "Follow Allah's command", "Advice others regarding Islam", and "Advice others regarding restraint".

There is a logical "And" between all four, which means all 4 have to be in a human for him/her to qualify to enter Jannah, not one, two or three. That is it. This is the blue print to Jannah. Not 27th Ramadan, not Witr after Isha, not tasbeeh, not Reading Quran in Arabic, etc. Those are extra credit, and we shouldn't go for extra credit before completing the homework. By negating everything else, he Allah is presenting the four heavist things that will be enough to take us to Jannah.

So, how do we go about doing these 4 things? I have thought alot about this, and struggled since 2006.

Here is what works for me. Whenever I find something in my life in violation of order of Allah or his Rasool (PBUH), I make a plan on how to eliminate it. It is almost impossible to stop cold turkey, because you will go back or end in a state where haram and halal is mixed, which is the worst.

For example, I found out that listening to Musical instrument was haram. Now, I loved music like other Pakistanis. Junoon was my favourite band, and Amitabh's songs were my life. I tried stop listening to it altogether, but then I will felt restless. While I am driving, I needed something to occupy myself. I added one CD of 30th para with other Music, and I would switch between the haram and halal. It certainly kept the peace between the two fighting sides within me for a while.
Slowly, I added another CD of Islamic songs wihtout musical instruments, but still listen to other music to keep feeding the Nafs, so it doesn't rebel. Basically, I was weining my Nafs off from the addiction of haram Music. I certainly felt that one step I took, "help" came running 10 steps.

At that stage, I decided to remove the CDs from my car, but I still listen to Music in other forms. Musical instruments are certainly food for the soul, but they are haram food. I beleive that a person can never come close to Allah, if they always have musical tunes playing in the sub concious. As my mind start loosing grip from Musical instruments, I start seeing things clearly. Suddenly, an ayah of Quran or hadith would affect my heart, whereas before it sound really boring.

In essence, I trained myself to stop, and the restlessness went away.

See, I found it boring to pray Salat, but found it really entertaining to listen to Amitabh's and Junoon Music. I used to not mind chatting my sister in laws and other ladies in the family dinners. I used to call everyone with a beard "Maulana", which usually means "a person who takes religion too seriously, and need to lighten up". I tried my best to not look like Muslim, so people won't think about me differently...

Once I decided to practice Islam, it became really tough because my family was neck deep in unIslamic traditions. First reaction from my family was very severe. This is a story for another day.

At personal level, I found myself rebelling aginst my will. On several occassions, I
broke my oath and reverted to sin. It was very easy to just drop the restrains, and join the party, but the remembrance of death and grave kept me going.

Most difficult thing to fight is the peer pressure from your loved ones. They will mock you, or comment such as "No one is perfect" "Prophet was perfect, and we can't be like him" or "We don't have to go too deep" "we are already Muslim why do we need to do more". If one is able to fight that pressure, and stand the wind of resistence, they will be successful.

Another thing to remember is that the process of improving ones life never stops. If someone thinks that they have all the major sins undercontrolled, and praying 5 times salat, they have fallen in to the trap of Satan. If Umar (RA) can drag his face in the mud worrying if he has done enough before he passed away, who are we.

One thing that no one talks about is that, to start practicing Islam, the changes have to be made, and you will have to fight your nafs, who knows you inside out, because your nafs can play tricks where you slowly slip back into sin without knowing about it. Either your nafs can be in control, or you are. You can never share the control with your nafs. You have to starve it, you have to trick it, you have to win. So, what am I talking about?

Hadith - Sahih Muslim 6757, Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, similar narration 6759 by 'Aisha, r.a.
Allah's Apostle said: There is none amongst you with whom is not an attache from amongst the jinn (devil). They (the Companions) said: Allah's Apostle with you too? Thereupon he said: Yes, but Allah helps me against him and so I am safe from his hand and he does not command me but for good.

So, the best way to take control of your actions is to target the biggest sin in you life, and take a couple at a time, and work on them. Divide and conquer is the key. Every six months, you should be able to look back and say, "Yes, I got this sin under control" which doesn't means that you will not accidently do it, it just means that intentionally you will not allow yourself.

In conclusion, never think that you are clear, even if you are the Imam of the Masjid, because Satan is an intelligent being, and he also goes for the bigger price. Always have one sin in the target, and keep at it. Although new year doesn't mean anything from the earth's orbit perspective, but use the new year if you like, and setup some goals, and beat that nafs, before it takes all of us to Hell fire.

JazakAllah Khairin
A struggling Muslim
AbuArman (Adnan Jumani)