The word "Muslim" means one
who submits to the will of God,
regardless of their race,
nationality or ethnic background.
Becoming a Muslim is a simple and
easy process that requires no
pre-requisites. One may convert
alone in privacy, or he/she may
do so in the presence of others.
If anyone has a real desire to be
a Muslim and has full conviction
and strong belief that Islam is
the true religion of God, then, all
one needs to do is pronounce
the "Shahada", the testimony of
faith, without further delay. The
"Shahada" is the first and most
important of the five pillars of
Islam.
With the pronunciation of this
testimony, or "Shahada", with
sincere belief and conviction, one
enters the fold of Islam.
Upon entering the fold of Islam
purely for the Pleasure of God,
all of one's previous sins are
forgiven, and one starts a new
life of piety and righteousness.
The Prophet said to a person
who had placed the condition
upon the Prophet in accepting
Islam that God would forgive his
sins:
"Do you not know that
accepting Islam destroys all sins
which come before it?" (Saheeh
Muslim)
When one accepts Islam, they in
essence repent from the ways
and beliefs of their previous life.
One need not to be
overburdened by sins committed
before their acceptance. The
person's record is clean, and it is
as if he was just born from his
mother's womb. One should try
as much as possible to keep his
records clean and strive to do
as many good deeds as possible.
The Holy Quran and Hadeeth
(prophetic sayings) both stress
the importance of following Islam.
God states:
"...The only religion in the sight
of God is Islam..." (Quran 3:19)
In another verse of the Holy
Quran, God states:
