This is the basic and foundational message. As a matter of fact this Chapter is so important that just reading it once, God gives the blessing of reading 1/3 of the entire Quran (reason why many Muslims say this frequently in their prayers to get the blessing). These books were revealed to different prophets over different time periods to various nations brought to them by the arch angel Gabriel which in Islam we call Jibreel (peace be upon him). And in Islam we believe that God’s last and final book is the Quran. After the revelation of this book as a guidance to humanity there will be no more revelation and this book was instructed by God to be followed by all mankind who came after This Book’s revelations or existed during the time it was revealed. We also believe that the receiver of the last and final revelation is the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and we believe that he is the last and the final Prophet sent to mankind from God for guidance. All of mankind during the time of Muhammad (SAW) and after are instructed by God to follow the last book which is the Quran and in addition follow the teachings of Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), in terms of how he believes Islam should be followed, society should behave and interact with others and more interestingly the things he observed and witnessed related to the Divine and the unseen world (which other being could not witness as they were not blessed by God as they did not have the status of being a Prophet). Which is why in Islam we also pay attention to these teachings and observations of the Prophet, meticulously documented in books called Hadith. Of course the Quran is the ultimate book and it is the book of revelation from God. These books of Hadith have additional information and recollections in regards to teachings of Islam that the Prophet himself learnt from his interaction with the arch angel Gabriel and also his direct communication with God.

In Islam we call God, Allah and it means The One worthy of being worshipped. This name was given to us in Islam to call God and encouraged as among all of His names this is the greatest of His names. There are other names of God given to us in Islam in the Quran that ascribes his characteristics and attributes for example Al-Khaliq, meaning The Creator, Al-Bari meaning The Producer, Al-Musawwir meaning The Fashioner. There are about 150 or so names of God given that talks about his attributes. Of these, 99 names are special which we will come to discuss later. Knowing the names of God gives us a greater understanding of God and is actually one of the main ways to know about Him as it tells us about His attributes. We cannot come up with names unless it is in the Quran and the Hadith as that will lead to innovation and Islam is a religion strongly against innovation as it leads to falsehoods. The blueprint to worship God and to follow his last and final guidance is given in the Quran and the Hadith and we do not add or subtract anything from it.

So in Islam we strongly believe the Quran is the last and final book given as guidance to mankind by God and God instructs to follow the last book for mankind to people that have come after and during its revelation. I would strongly encourage you to explore this fact and commandment of God seriously. And the best way to do would be to pick up a copy of the book itself, the Quran and start reading it and making the decision based on your own learning and observation of The Book. One of the best sources that I have found very helpful to read the Quran is the website https://quran.com/. It has the translation of the Quran in many languages. I found it very helpful for myself, the English translation as that is my primary language in which I was educated in and grew up in and have no understanding of Arabic. The best translator option to pick for the translation that I would recemmend is Saheeh International as I found this translation very meaningful and brought out the beautiful meaning of the words of the Quran. Reading the Quran will take time and it is a lengthy book. Afterall it is not only a book of how to worship God but as you read you will find there is a lot of information about the world, the universe and the seven skies referred to as Seven Heavens but they are actually the seven skies or universes created on top of each other in layers. Yes! The Quran already reveals that there is more than one universe or what we call multiverse which is a thought that has been catching up only the last ten years, but it was revealed in the Quran over 1400 years ago. Before you go onto reading the Quran (as I mentioned it is a lengthy book), here are some videos regarding the Quran and Islam that can serve as an introduction:

This shows the seven skies referred to in the English translation as Seven Heavens frequently mentioned throughout the Quran but they are actually the seven skies/universes, built on top of each other great in size and magnitude. In Arabic in the Quran it is frequently mentioned as ‘Samawaati wal Ard’ and in English it translates as ‘the Heavens and the Earth’ but it actually means the skies and the Earth. This confusion exists because in English speaking cultures when people look up to the skies from our planet they call it Heavens. Heaven or Paradise which is referred to as ‘Jannah’ in the Quran actually starts after the seventh sky or Seventh Heaven ascending from there and there is a typo in this video as it does not mention ‘Jannah’ after the seventh Heaven and moves onto The Kursi. The size of Paradise or ‘Jannah’ as you can imagine is huge as it is like the Seventh Heaven is a ring in the desert and Paradise is the desert. We do not know from the Quran or Hadith exactly how many levels of Paradise are there but there are infinitely many more than the seven skies. And these levels of Paradise are just like the seven skies built on layers upon another, and the levels of Paradise keep on ascending all the way till the highest level goes up right below the Throne of God (Al-Arsh) and this level is called Jannah Al-Firdaws. In Islam we believe we as human beings have been given a great chance and opportunity to spend the Afterlife, if we make it to this level close to God and mankind has been honored with this opportunity. Which is why this life is a chance to do good deeds and pass the tests that God gives us to get this reward to gain closeness to Allah residing in Paradise.

As you can see the Kingdom of God is great and vast and its size we cannot comprehend. The information we have been provided is that there are seven universes on top of each other and then there is Paradise. But how many other other universes God has created? We don’t even know and the multiverse hypothesis formed by physicists recently believe there are atleast 10^500 universes. Just to make it simple God’s creation is infinite and He can create infinitely and there are infinite universes out there. God knows best how many. Allah knows best. But these two videos provide some information on the multiverse with the first video showing verses from the Quran about the seven universes made known to us:

This leads us to address the issue of Aliens or what we call Aliens but they are other creations of God. Has God created other intelligent creations and if so where are they? The Quran even answers these questions as these videos will reveal:

The Quran gives us just enough information about Aliens to remind us of the infinite creation ability and the Greatness of God. Not too much information as it might be redundant and not beneficial so that we can focus on the Afterlife and getting to Paradise, the things that matter for us in this life. In the Quran we are only given our part of universes to keep in our knowledge and do our best to reach Paradise ‘Jannah’ in the Afterlife. As a matter of fact there is an authentic Hadith and anytime I say authentic for your future references, coming from the chain of narrations the information is 100% correct and accurate. Here is the Hadith of the last man who will enter Paradise and what this last man will get according to our Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him):

And also here is a Hadith about the size of the Paradise in which the inhabitants of Paradise will reside:

So these two Hadith makes us reflect on the objective and purpose of life. We have been sent in this life as a test as God says in the Quran (2:155):

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ وَٱلْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ ١٥٥

And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, (2:155)

— Saheeh International

 Based on how we do in this test and how good of a person we are upholding good values, and on how well we handle the tests and the quantity and the quality of our good deeds we accumulate in this life, we will be rewarded in the Afterlife. Which is why there are many levels in Paradise based on how many good deeds we have. The more good deeds we have and the harder the tests we overcome, the greater chances we have of having God’s mercy and be gifted with a higher level by Him which has greater rewards and privileges for eternity.

So does this mean we should leave everything we have such as work, attending to our family etc. and pray all day. Islam is a religion that calls to prayer five times a day which takes a maximum of 20-30 minutes. We have a lot of free time the rest of the day to carry out our life activities. This topic is talked about in detail in the video below “This Religion is Ease”. As a matter of fact, Islam encourages being productive in your everyday life, in your business pursuits etc. Other than fulfilling your religious duties towards God and pleasing God, I believe that in life you should find a passion. Something that interests you, drives you and motivates you (something good of course) and pursue your passion. As a matter of fact, this topic is actually a central characteristic of a good follower of Islam. A good follower of Islam pursues excellence in whatever he does. Not only in praying and the acts of worship towards God but also any other activities he or she engages in such as business, playing sports, undertaking a project etc. This characteristic in Islam is referred to as Ihsan. Ihsan means whatever you do, you do it with excellence and the pursuit of perfection and this topic and theme is highly encouraged and explained in detail in the video below ‘The Importance of Ihsan’:

Therefore, a good follower of Islam is one who does his Islamic duties well as well as his duties in everyday life with Ihsan. You can see that Islam encourages being a well balanced individual instead of being someone who is an extremist, neglecting his personal and wordly duties, but unfortunately in Islam we do not find that many preachers talk about this aspect that much. As a matter of fact extremism is discouraged in Islam and instructions have been given by God that the followers of the last Book, the Quran are a ‘nation of middle’ as it says in the Quran “And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way, so that you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind….” (Quran 2:143). Here the ‘middle way’ refers to be not too left or nor too right meaning avoiding the extremes. But this is not the case in many places as discussed earlier due to their cultures and way of life which has nothing to do with Islam. One of the great scholar of our times Dr. Yasir Qadhi does inform us about the topic of Ihsan in the video above. Furthermore, Islam promotes and puts a high emphasis on good manners and how you interact with others. This topic of good manners is so important that the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) said that “I have been sent for nothing other than to perfect the best of manners”. This is contrary to what we may see in many of the conflict stricken Islamic countries where the Ummah (the follower of Prophet Muhammad and Islam) is so lacking in good manners. This issue is not talked about and emphasized on often but it holds a very high place in Islam and in the sight of God. You will see its importance in the video “This deed puts you in the elite group of Allah” below:

After reading and watching all the information so far, you can see that Islam many times is misunderstood and there is a misconception. What we hear about Islam is about the extremists causing violence and mispracticing the religion and people form impression of Islam based on many of these extremists that we see in war torn countries or extremist promoting cultures/parts of the world and form a perception of Islam through their poor culture which has nothing to do with Islam. Culture and religion are two different things, but more than often these cultures have been associated with Islam. These negative stereotypes have prevailed but if we had the fortune of witnessing the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in person, God’s greatest Messenger than our impression would have been different. Still, we can form an accurate and correct impression of Islam through the Holy Book sent to us, The Quran and the information we find in the authentic Hadiths. These are available to us and God has promised that even though the previous Books sent by Him were altered/lost, the messages in Quran and Hadith will be preserved, which has been the case. It is only fitting that Islam and God’s greatest and last Book, the Holy Quran promotes a well balanced, successful and prosperous individual and a successful and prosperous community and a nation as a result ,as a successful nation are the result of its individual construct, the people. What do you think about Islam after reading and watching all the information?

Are you ready to take the next step and be a follower of Islam?

In Islam you cannot force and even put the slightest bit of coercion in converting someone to Islam. Doing this is highly discouraged in Islam as you can see in the verse of the Quran

لَآ إِكْرَاهَ فِى ٱلدِّينِ ۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ ٱلرُّشْدُ مِنَ ٱلْغَىِّ ۚ فَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِٱلطَّـٰغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنۢ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِ ٱسْتَمْسَكَ بِٱلْعُرْوَةِ ٱلْوُثْقَىٰ لَا ٱنفِصَامَ لَهَا ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ ٢٥٦

There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become distinct from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in ṭāghūt and believes in Allāh has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allāh is Hearing and Knowing. (2:256)

— Saheeh International

Therefore the decision for conversion has to come from the individual himself/herself and it has to come from the heart. What I can suggest is go over the videos again posted here and the Quran in the link that is posted earlier and go over at least Chapter 2 (the longest chapter of the Quran with a lot of significant and central information of Islam) and Chapter 7 (the chapter with most detailed information on creation in Islam among other topics) and see what you think. Furthermore there is more information in the site here below that has a lot of information and videos on Islam posted. I highly recommend to watch all the videos and information that comes below after the Five Pillars Part that will help you get more information and decide so please keep on reading and watching all the videos.

If you are ready then the process to convert is simple. You take/say the Shahada with an honest intention to be a follower of Islam, which is a statement in Arabic but the transliteration is provided here and also the English translation first:

 I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God

Ashadu an la ilaha illa illa-ilah, wa ashadu anna Muhammadan rasul ullah.

After this you follow the five pillars of Islam which are:

The Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam:

1. Profession of Faith (shahada). The belief that "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is central to Islam. This phrase, written in Arabic, is often prominently featured in architecture and a range of objects, including the Qur'an, Islam's holy book of divine revelations. One becomes a Muslim by reciting this phrase with conviction.

2. Prayer (salat). Muslims pray facing Mecca five times a day: at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark. Prayer includes a recitation of the opening chapter (sura) of the Qur'an, and is sometimes performed on a small rug or mat used expressly for this purpose. Muslims can pray individually at any locationor together in a mosque, where a leader in prayer (imam) guides the congregation. Men gather in the mosque for the noonday prayer on Friday; women are welcome but not obliged to participate. After the prayer, a sermon focuses on a passage from the Qur'an, followed by prayers by the imam and a discussion of a particular religious topic.

3. Alms (zakat). In accordance with Islamic law, Muslims donate a fix ed portion of their income to community members in need. Many rulers and wealthy Muslims build mosques, drinking fountains, hospitals, schools, and other institutions both as a religious duty and to secure the blessings associated with charity.

4.Fasting (sawm). During the daylight hours of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, all healthy adult Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink. Through this temporary deprivation, they renew their awareness of and gratitude for everything God has provided in their lives—including the Qur'an, which was first revealed during this month. During Ramadan they share the hunger and thirst of the needy as a reminder of the religious duty to help those less fortunate.

5.Pilgrimage (hajj). Every Muslim whose health and finances permit it must make at least one visit to the holy city of Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia. The Ka'ba, a cubical structure covered in black embroidered hangings, is at the center of the Haram Mosque in Mecca. Muslims believe that it is the house Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) built for God, and face in its direction (qibla) when they pray. Since the time of the Prophet Muhammad, believers from all over the world have gathered around the Ka'ba in Mecca on the eighth and twelfth days of the final month of the Islamic calendar.

So now it is all about practicing the religion and making sure to follow the five pillars and avoiding the sins (a topic I will come to in a moment).

It should be noted that all the videos provided here, the information is based on the Quran and Hadith. The sources of information matter and the videos would have no authenticity or credibility if they were not based on either or both the Quran and Hadith which is why these videos are shared here to spread the information and knowledge. Moving forward I would like to provide a few more information and videos that talk more about the values of Islam, ways to keep yourself motivated and what the Quran and Hadith says what do when you face tough times. After that the final piece of information and videos I will share is about practicing the religion, doing the prayers and the deeds you can do. These videos will help with providing information and knowledge and more importantly staying motivated to stay the course which is most important. I myself watch these videos from time to time to remind myself of the information provided by God in the Holy Quran and the Hadith so that I am motivated and stay the course and hopefully it will do the same for you. Afterall, knowledge is key and knowledge plays a key role in Islam as by acquiring knowledge you change, adapt, grow and act upon.

Here are the first series of videos. The first four videos are about the love of God. God is All-Loving, magnanimous and most generous to His creation and the love of God is so great that nobody can match just like his all other attributes, He is the greatest. These videos talk about what God loves in a human being and what deeds he loves us to do. It is helpful to know this information so that we can do more of these deeds to gain the love and pleasure of Allah and these videos also provide information to keep ourselves motivated during tough times:

These videos focus on information in the Quran and Hadith when you are going through a tough time. It shows us what the Quran and Hadith tells us in regards to hard times and how to deal with them.

These videos and topic focus on sins and the concept of God’s mercy in Islam. You see all of us are sinners and it might not be possible to be absolutely spotless and sinless. But what matters is that we try. More importantly what matters is that we seek the forgiveness of God as God always forgives as long as you are not a hypocrite. As a matter of fact the concept of God’s forgiveness is so important in Islam that as it will be mentioned in the videos, none of us will enter Paradise based on our good deeds. Because first of all, the rewards of Paradise and what is given there is so great and vast that our good deeds are small and not enough to earn the rewards. Therefore the vast reward of Paradise is given by God based on His mercy towards us. And we need to earn God’s mercy. Therefore in our prayers we should always seek God’s forgiveness. In regards to how to ask for forgiveness and repent for specific sins (which we need to do for major sins) I will provide information regarding this soon. But first knowing about the concept of God’s forgiveness is imperative if we want to be successful in the Afterlife and gain Paradise:

The final and these last group of videos focuses on your deeds. Other than abiding by the Five Pillars if you want to increase your chances of getting God’s forgiveness and get a higher level in Paradise with greater rewards than these deeds mentioned in these videos will be helpful.

This is everything I would like to share at the moment in terms of information in regards to Islam and learning more about this great religion and God’s last book, The Quran sent to all of us mankind as guidance thorough the last and greatest Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). I hope all this information is helpful and have shed some light on the misconceptions of this religion and I highly advise you to explore and find more information to gain knowledge about Islam. There will be more posts in the future with more information. In the meantime if you have any questions or clarifications that you need feel free to contact me in the Contact section. God bless you. May all of us are granted Paradise.