Can One be a Secret Muslim? The Importance of Knowledge, Community, and Company
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question
I am interested in conversion to Islam, but my situation is such that I live with a family that would not support my decision and I could very well suffer because of it. Would I be able to convert to Islam in secret and behave otherwise as I would before in order to not draw attention to myself? If not, what can I do? Any advice would be helpful.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate
I hope you’re doing well. You may already be a Muslim. One who believes in the Oneness of God, the truth of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) as the Messenger of God, and accepts the truth of his message is a Muslim between them and God. “Allah” is simply the Arabic name for God.
If you already believe, then you should make the statement of faith—bearing witness that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.
Discretion Is Fine—but Find Guidance and Company
You can be discrete about your Islam with your family, as needed.
Do take the means of learning about Islam through reliable sources. SeekersGuidance offers many reliable courses.
I would particularly recommend:
What is Islam? A Thinking Person’s Introduction
Introduction to Islam: What It Means to Be Muslim
All our courses are completely free.
Also, It is good to connect, even discretely and privately with Muslims in your area—if there is an Islamic Centre or Mosque. Faith and religion are cultivated and supported by the community and good company.
God Most High asks us this deep question in the Quran:
“Has the time not yet come for the hearts of those who believe to be humbled at the remembrance of God and what has been revealed of the Truth, and not be like those given Scripture before—who were spoiled for so long that their hearts became hardened. And many of them remain rebellious.
Know that God revives the earth after was dead. We have certainly made the signs clear for you so perhaps you will understand.” [Quran, 57:16-17]
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.
