W H A T I S O BL I G A T O R Y U P O N T H E N E W M U S L I M
T O D O A N D T O A B A N D O N
Shaykh Saalih Al-Fawzaan
All the praise is for Allaah; may prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and companions. To proceed:
Allaah has created the creation for His worship. Allaah, the Exalted, has said:
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And I (Allaah) created not the Jinn and humans except they should worship Me
(Alone). (Adh-Dhariyat 51:56)
They are not to worship Allaah except by that which He has legislated. He has sent His messengers to clarify to the people that which He has legislated for His slaves; for worship with other than that which He legislated is invalid. He sealed (the sending of) the messengers with Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) and He made it binding upon all people to follow him. Allaah, the Exalted, said:
Say (O Muhammad ): "O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger
of Allaah.” (Al-A'raf 7:158)
So he who does not believe in Muhammad is a disbeliever. The religion of Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) is Al-Islaam and Allaah will not accept any religion besides it. Allaah, the Exalted, said:
And whoever seeks a religion other than Islaam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers. (Aali Imran 3:85)
The Islaam which Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) came with has five pillars: 1.) The testimony that none has the right to be worshiped except Allaah and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah 2.) The establishment of the prayer 3.) The payment of Zakat 4.) Fasting in Ramadan 5.) Performing pilgrimage to the Sacred House of Allaah if one has the ability
That which the One who Enters into Islaam Must Do
He must pronounce the two testimonies and then he must perform the pillars of Al-Islaam as follows:
Firstly: He is to openly say:
Ash’Hadu An-Laa Ilaha Illa-Allaah wa Ash’Hadu Anna Muhammad Rasool-Allaah (I testify that none has the right to be worshiped except Allaah and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah)
Secondly: He is to pray the five prayers: Fajr (The dawn prayer), Dhuhr (Noon prayer), ‘Asr (afternoon prayer), Maghrib (sunset prayer), and ‘Ishaa (the night prayer); every night and day for the duration of his life. Fajr is two Rak’ats; Dhuhr is four Rak’ats; ‘Asr is four Rak’ats; Maghrib is three Rak’ats; ‘Ishaa’ is four Rak’ats. He is not to pray except after having performed ablution. That is by washing his entire face, washing the hands (up to and) including the elbows, wiping the head, and washing the feet up to the ankles, with pure water.
Thirdly: If he has money which exceeds that which he needs then he is to give away 2.5% of it as Zakat (charity) to the poor and indigent; every year. If his wealth does not exceed that which he needs then there is no Zakat due upon him.
Fourthly: He must fast the month of Ramadan. It is the ninth month of the Hijree year. He is to leave eating, drinking, and intercourse with his wife from the appearance of dawn to the setting of the sun. He may eat, drink, and have intercourse with his spouse at night only.
Fifthly: If he has the monetary amount and the physical ability then he is to perform pilgrimage to the House of Allaah, one time within his life. If he does not have the monetary amount or the physical ability, due to old age or a chronic illness, then he may commission someone to perform Hajj on his behalf one time.
Sixthly: The rest of the acts of obedience are completers for these pillars.
What the New Muslim Must Abandon
Firstly: He must abandon Shirk in all of its types; and it is the worship of other than Allaah. From that is supplication, slaughtering for them, and vowing for them.
Secondly: He is to abandon innovation; this is acts of worship which the Messenger of Allaah—Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam)—did not legislate. This is due to his (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement:
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“He who does an action which is not from this affair of ours then it is rejected.”
Meaning, it will not be accepted.
Thirdly: He must abandon usury, gambling, bribery, lying in dealings, and selling prohibited substances and commodities.
Fourthly: He must abandon fornication; which is to have intercourse with other than one’s legislatively (permissible) spouse; and he must abandon homosexuality; which is intercourse with someone of the same gender.
Fifthly: He must abandon the consumption of intoxicants, the eating of pork and that which is slaughtered for other than Allaah and the eating of animals found already dead.
Sixthly: He must abandon marriage to disbelievers, with the exception of the women from the people of the book.
Seventhly: He must separate from his disbelieving wife if she is not from the people of the book, unless the disbeliever embraces Islaam along with him or she does so during her prescribed waiting period.
Eighthly: If circumcision will not harm him, then he is to be circumcised by a Muslim doctor.
Ninthly: If he is able to relocate from the land of the disbelievers to the land of Al-Islaam then he is to relocate; otherwise, he may remain in his land while holding fast to his religion.
Written by Saalih ibn Fawzaan Al-Fawzaan-Member of the Committee of Senior Scholars 19 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1433 H.
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ReferenceAl-Bukhari, cf. Al-Asqalani Fathul-Bari 10/118PronunciationLaa ba'sa, tahoorun 'inshaa'Alla