What Are Some Suggestions for a Recent Convert to Islam?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Is www.seekers.flywheelstaging.com a Sunni Muslim site? Do you have any suggestions for a recent revert of one year like me who has many aspirations? I am 70 and an ex-Christian minister/missionary.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
Yes. SeekersGuidance is a Sunni mainstream Muslim site and prides itself on upholding the purity of the Prophetic tradition through authentic chains of transmission back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) himself.
Advice for the Seeker
It is great to hear of your high aspiration in drawing near to Allah Most High especially considering your age and your recent conversion. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Indeed, Allah loves lofty matters and abhors the paltry.” [Tabarani]
Religious aspiration is one of the highest virtues and most necessary in one’s journey to Allah Most High. However, alongside aspiration, one needs knowledge and direction. For this reason, many of the righteous of the past would have a mentor or a spiritual guide (shaykh) to direct their aspiration in the best and most wise ways. One can use many books as guidance until they find a righteous scholar they are comfortable taking as a religious mentor.
One such book I would highly recommend is the Book of Assistance of Imam ‘Abdullah bin ‘Alawi al-Haddad, which has been translated and printed and is easily available for purchase.
Book of Assistance
Our beloved Shaykh and teacher Habib Umar bin Hafiz (Allah preserve and protect him) would advise us to read books like The Book of Assistance one chapter at a time. He advised us not to move on to the next chapter until one has firmly implemented the guidance of the previous chapter.
I believe this is the best way to approach such texts, and I feel this would be most beneficial for you as well.
Final Advice
As a convert myself, I understand the difficulties involved and would advise that you find a healthy Islamic community/mosque. Try to attend one gathering in which you increase in Sacred Islamic knowledge and one in which you can focus your heart in the remembrance of Allah Most High and His Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace).
This, coupled with your own personal study and practice of the above work of Imam al-Haddad, should suffice. Feel free to reach out to us here at SeekersGuidance with any questions you may have.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
