Islamic Society of Central Virginia: Forum Posts

Converting

Hi Katris,

Surprised to see that noone has responded to your question, sorry about that. This is the first time i have come to the forums section so hopefully i can be of some help. Below is what you have to do to become a Muslim. If you have any questions or would like to receive some pamphlets regarding islam, you can email me at wm2h@virginia.edu . I suggest for you to read a copy of the quran in english, you can read online at Quran.com, or if you email me i can send you a hardcopy (they are also available any any mosque or online). The most important distinction, as you probably know, between islam and christianity is on who Jesus was. Did you know that islam is the only religion besides christianity where it is a tenet of faith to believe in Jesus. However, we while Christianity asserts that Jesus is both human and divine, Islam does not accept the belief in Jesus' divinity. Hence, while Christians worship Jesus, Muslims instead revere Jesus and believe in him as one of the mightiest prophets (not God or son of God), using the Qur'an (not the Bible) as a reliable record of knowledge about Jesus. Furthermore, Although Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God, Muslims assert that God does not give birth and therefore has no sons or children. God is not physical for Muslims; and hence for Muslims God cannot be a father. And finally, While Christianity asserts that Jesus died in order to redeem the original sin of mankind or human sins as a whole, Muslims do not believe in Jesus as a redeemer and saviour, since they do not believe in original sin and since they do believe God's grace, guidance (in the form of prophetic revelation--the word of God), and human effort are sufficient for redemption and salvation. In summary, Muslims revere Jesus as a great prophet but do not worship him, instead we worship the same God that Jesus worshipped in the Bible.

I know its alot of information, however this is the most important decision of your life. If you believe in your heart that Islam is the truth, then follow the steps below to make it official:

If anyone has a real desire to be a Muslim and has full conviction and strong belief that Islam is the true religion of God, then, all one needs to do is pronounce the “Shahada”, the testimony of faith, without further delay. The “Shahada” is the first and most important of the five pillars of Islam. With the pronunciation of this testimony, or “Shahada”, with sincere belief and conviction, one enters the fold of Islam.

To convert to Islam and become a Muslim a person needs to pronounce the below testimony with conviction and understanding its meaning:

I testify “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasoolu Allah.”

The translation of which is:

“I testify that there is no true god (deity) but Allah (God), and that Muhammad is a Messenger (Prophet) of Allah (God).”

The first part of the testimony consists of the most important truth that Allah (God) revealed to mankind: that there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Allah (God).This conveys that all forms of worship, whether it be praying, fasting, invoking, seeking refuge in, and offering an animal as sacrifice, must be directed to God and to God alone. Directing any form of worship to other than God (whether it be an angel, a messenger, Jesus, Muhammad, a saint, an idol, the sun, the moon, a tree) is seen as a contradiction to the fundamental message of Islam, and it is an unforgivable sin unless it is repented from before one dies. All forms of worship must be directed to God only.

The second part of the testimony means that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the servant and chosen messenger of God. This implies that one obeys and follows the commands of the Prophet. One must believe in what he has said, practice his teachings and avoid what he has forbidden. One must therefore worship God only according to his teaching alone, for all the teachings of the Prophet were in fact revelations and inspirations conveyed to him by God.It also means that Muhammad (pbuh) is the Final Prophet and Messenger of God, and that no (true) Prophet can come after him.

Converting

My husband is Muslium and I am Christian, we want to have children we belive that it would be best if i converted. How would we start

As-Salaamu Alaikum

I would like to know where are the masjids located in Charlottesville. I live in Richmond but at times I come to Charlottesville to visit my family. The phone number to Iscv is no longer in service. If someone could please call me with info will be good. My name is Siddiq and my number is 804-400-5893.

Question about prayer times?

I am a student at UVa. Since my home city uses Islamicfinder, that is what I have been using pretty much since I started praying in May (I converted in April). However, I have just recently discovered that Charlottesville masjid uses islamcity for prayer times. Is this because islamicfinder's times are not accurate for Charlottesville? Should I start following islamcity instead of Islamicfinder? Thanks.

Why muslems do not eat pork

Our method of slaughtering is very hygenic. All the blood in the animal body gushes out of the neck. This blood is very high in uric acid which is very bad for health. Therefore, there is even a taste difference between halal and normal meat. Pigs however, do not have any neck. Therefore, you cannot kill them the way we kill cows or chicken. The only way to kill pigs is ti drive a knife through their heart. Therefore, the uric acid stays in the meat, making it not so good for out health. And given how they live in really filthy conditions, really, you don't want to eat their uric acid filled meat. Hope this answers your question.

Why muslems do not eat pork

Asalamo Aliekum,

I believe the answer to similar quetions with regards to why we "do or do not do" when comes to the comands of Islam is that this is "Part of our religion". The main reason/prupose of any command is to tes us are we believers and followers of the relgion or not. As a side-point, but not essential for the believe nor for us to follow Allah's command is if we can discover the wisdom of that command, that will be helpful . Some of the suggested benefits from not eating pork, is that "scientifically" that pork meat has more tendency for food-borne disease than beef for example.

Why muslems do not eat pork

I don't know how to place a topic, but i will ask for something maybe different. my question is, Why muslems do not eat pork? I know why, becouse I am muslim, but i want to explain my classmates in a presentation in class, and I want that my words sound as logic possible to them to understant. Can some one help me plz.? i will apreciate... baraka allaho bekom...