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Reverts to Islam must start a long and glorious journey to learning about the faith and gaining knowledge about the philosophy, practices, and prayers to perfect their faith. While those born in Muslim households have the luxury of internalizing Islamic beliefs and practices from an early age and integrating these into daily life, reverts must learn from scratch.
This is just one of the many challenges that revert Muslims face. Many have to bear the opposition from family and loved ones to the point that they may become ostracized from their community. This uniquely trying experiencerequires patience and constant work.
Challenges Faced by New Muslims
Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) clearly states that the believers will be tested. Their faith will encounter challenges, however, with each challenge Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) also provides ease. In the Holy Quran Allah (سُبْحَانَهُوَتَ/عَالَى) states:
“Find strength in fortitude and prayer, which is heavy
and exacting but for those who are humble and meek,” [2:45]
The verse indicates how remaining steadfast in our faith and remembrance of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) through prayer can help us in the most difficult times. Reverts need all the strength that comes from unwavering faith because they must deal with challenges that most Muslims do not.
Family rejection, isolation, drastic lifestyle changes, and learning about Islam, are only a few of the challenges that reverts must overcome. This does not mean that reverts must do so alone.
The Muslim ummah is over 1.9billion strong. The least we can do, as part of a community, is to make life easier for our brothers and sisters who have recently converted. We can help them in ways to ease the process of gaining knowledge and by welcoming them so they do not feel alone and helpless.
Tips for Remaining Consistent in Your Prayers as
a New Muslim
One of new Muslims' most common strugglesrelates to regularity in observing the five daily prayers. Here are ways reverts can become more punctual in their prayers:
Just Start
While regularity and punctuality are not just desirable but mandatory, when starting new, Muslims can try to pray as many prayers a day as they can manage. You can start with just one prayer a day. This way, you can at least begin to develop the habit. Never miss the Jummah prayer because attending the congregation will help you strengthen your faith and connect with the local Muslim community.
As you develop the habit of praying a couple of prayers a month, a week, and a day, it will become easier for you to be more regular in your prayers. Eventually, there will come a time when you can get into the rhythm of offering the five daily prayers.
Schedule and Plan
To improve regularity and consistency you can plan and schedule your day in a way that includes time for prayers. The five daily prayers are spread out throughout the day and each one has a fixed period within which you can offer them. for example, you cannot offer thefajr prayer after sunrise.
Since you know the time for each prayer, you can incorporate them into your daily routine. You may need to make changes to your current routine, like shortening your time eating lunch at work so you can pray. Much like the previous tip, as you begin to schedule and develop the habit of praying, it will become easier for you.
Prepare in Advance
To save time and make sure that you do not have an excuse for not praying, always remain prepared. There are certain prerequisites to praying salah. Offering the prayers at their assigned time, for instance, is one such condition.
Other conditions include, being in a state of ablution, facing the qibla, and making sure that the place were prayer is offered is clean. Be mindful of these requirements and try to be prepared to offer prayer whenever and wherever.
You can do this by always being in a state of ablution. There are also mobile applications that help you determine the qibla position so you know the direction that you have to face while offering prayer. Finally, you can keep a portable prayer rug with you at all times so you can pray anywhere without worrying about finding a suitable spot.
Use Technology
Losing track of time and forgetting to pray is quite common. When you are not in the habit of praying, in particular, or have a busy routine you may forget to pray. In such circumstances it is best to set alarm and reminders so you never miss a prayer.
You can do this using the default alarm app on your smartphone, however, a much better option is to make use of mobile application designed specifically for the purpose. There are several mobile apps and most make use of your location to send alerts and notifications regarding prayer times. Since the alerts are based on location, these are extremely accurate.
If you are looking for Chicago prayertimes, you will get the exact prayer timings for all five prayers for that area. In addition to this, you can easily change the location on the app to figure out prayer timings in another area if you are traveling, making such apps flexible and helpful no matter where in the world you may be.
Seek Help from the Community
As Muslims we are obligated to help one another out, and this obligation is even more important when it comes to new Muslims. Reverts need help, guidance, and support. Being part of a community means that member of the community must help one another out.
Reverts can seek help in learning the basics of prayers and getting advice on how to become more consistent in their prayer. They can also get support through words of encouragement. It may seem like a lonely and difficult journey, but community support can ease things tremendously.
Welcoming New Muslims
It is challenging enough to be a Muslim in the world today, especially in some non-Muslim countries. Add to it being new to the faith and you can comprehend the struggles that new Muslims face every day. New Muslims need all the help and support they can get because they may be ambitious about learning about and practicing Islam, but their faith is still young.
Consistency in prayer requires hard work, like any other aspect pf the faith. At the same time, establishing prayer is a way of getting relief from the challenges of the world. Prayer is the answer to our hardships. When we recognize this we see prayer less as a burden, chore that must be done, and more as a means to gain ease. Having this mindset helps with becoming more regular in prayer along with the practical tips shared above.
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