The Five Pillars of Islam:
After my shahada - which I said infront of my friend and the Mallam who took her Quran lessons (professing it in public wasn't really necessary, my friend's family knew, and within minutes, all of our classmates knew about it... So, thank you mobile phones and Instant Messanging! :D) - I went on to learn about the five pillars of Islam... Thats what you learn after the shahada.
The most important thing to learn immediately after the shahada is the five daily prayers (Salat is the second of the Five Pillars of Islam) and to perfect this, one will have to learn the ablution (wushu).
Salat:
In Islam, performing Salat is obligatory for everyone. Salat is performed five times each day, every day and it is the only single Pillar of Islam that is required to be done the most (in comparison to fasting (Sawm) and the paying of Zakat (alms or charity).
Qur'an: Al-Baqarah 2:238 - "Guard strictly your prayers, especially the Middle Prayer; and stand before Allah devoutly."
Qur'an: Ta Ha 20:14 - Verily, I am Allah: there is no god but I: so serve you Me (only), and establish regular prayer for celebrating My praise.
But there is a problem here, how do you pray in arabic when you CAN'T even speak Arabic?!
Well, in my case, the Mallam wrote each step down on a piece of paper - along with the arabic words to say with it - and he gave it to me to practice. And with the help of my friends, I started to practice it. It wasn't all that hard for me because I learn languages easily. But for those who don't learn new languages too easily, I suggest you write down the things you are supposed to say (adhan, surah al - Fatiha (and e.g., Qul Huwa Allahu) and your tashahud) on a piece of paper and place it infront of you (on the ground), then as you pray, you'll be reading from the paper (it is allowed for you to learn this way, but you have to be very serious about it, you have to memorise Surah Al- Fatiha as quickly as possible, then you can learn the tashahud with time).
As you progress in your studies, you should also endeavour to memorise short chapters from the Qur'an (the last chapters of the Qur'an are the shortest), and you should read a translated Quran (in your language) to gain more understanding of the religion. You should also have a translation of the chapters you choose to memorise because it is pointless to memorise just the words and not know the meanings.
It is very important that you understand what you are memorising and reciting. Memorising hasn't been very easy for me because I cannot attend an Islamiyya. Learning and memorising alone isn't easy, sometimes you need someone who will continue to push you, and when that someone isn't there, there is always a big chance of saying: "I'll just learn it tomorrow". From my experience, "tomorrow" could eventually turn into three days or a week or more.
So, What Changes Come With Reverting To Islam?
Everything about your life will change for the better!
For me, what I experienced - and what I still continue to experience even to this minute - is peace! I felt a sudden rush of peace! It was as though after I returned home and took the obligatory bath after the shahada, I washed away all my worries - I had a lot of them then - and peace took over! And this is one of the things that endear me to Islam, because even when I am facing things I would otherwise get unnecessarily worried about, I remain calm. Why? Well, I just have the belief that God is in control, so I don't have anything to worry about! I know that God is not deaf, and He is not blind, and he watches over everything and everyone, and I know that he knows what I am going through, so there is no need for me to get worried!
Instead, I go out and work hard to get myself out of whatever situation I find myself, and I leave the rest for Allah. I know He will make a way for me as long as I work hard enough to get myself out of my situation.
Well, here are a few things that you'll have to change in your life once you become a Muslim:
Alcohol:
A big percentage of the world all consume alcohol, and they consume it everywhere. They consume it at parties, they consume it in clubs, they consume it in the living-room at home, they consume it while eating, and they give a whole lot of reasons for this!
Some say they take it because it is good for the heart
Some say they take it because it calms them down and soothes their nerves
Some say they can't help but take it
Some take it because of peer pressure
Whatever the reason, we all know - or should know (for those who are ignorant about it) - that alcohol is t good. Alcohol kills!... Okay, it might not cause you health damages immediately, but while you're driving-drunk, you could have am accident! And with time, it does damages to your liver a d your overall health!
In Islam, consuming alcohol is NOT allowed, it isn't allowed for you to use recreational drugs and intoxicants either.
Gambling:
Gambling is not permitted in Islam (lotto, slot machines, etc).
Like alcohol, gambling is not good for you. Gambling can be very addictive, and of you are not careful, it could destroy your life. After years of gambling away your finances, you might find yourself having to mortgage your house or other properties to offset bills you accrued from gambling! And after you become homeless, you will begin to steal to manage this addiction.
To stop these two things - alcohol and gambling - you have to make the decision from deep down inside you, you shouldn't just voice it out. You have to ACT on it!
Pork:
The eating of pork is not permitted in Islam.
Reasons for why pork shouldn't be eaten aren't given in both the Quran or the bible, so I don't really know why it is prohibited, but I think it is because pigs are generally dirty animals. Not because they roll around in dirt alone, but because worms also find their way into their bodies (because of the dirt). And you may think the pork you're eating has been cleaned thoroughly, but you never know, you might be eating the residue of a worm. Yuck!
If anyone knows the reason why pork is prohibited, please, enlighten me.
You cannot and should not expect things to go smoothly for you, there will always be turbulences, and sometimes, you might get discouraged, but you should remember this: "nothing good comes easy!". And this isn't just the usual things we consider to be "good things", it is HEAVEN we are talking about here! It isn't going to be a temporary thing, it will be permanent!
The best thing to do after the shahada is to take things easy. Don't rush into anything, don't attempt to memorise Al-Baqara because you think you can, or because you want to impress anyone. You are not in this world to impress anyone, you're here to impress God. You should take little steps in your journey to understanding the religion, take things one at a time. Learn to pray, then memorise some chapters of the Qur'an, then you can browse the Internet for blogs like this one and learn more about Islam, then you can return to memorising the chapters of the Quran again!
I wish you luck on your journey! And you shouldn't allow anyone discourage you from being a Muslim, be determined about what you want to do and keep to it. Even if you're discouraged, keep moving forward. Sometimes you might miss a few prayers, but there is nothing to be worried about. God doesn't give us more than we can handle. If you miss a few prayers or do so etching wrong, he will be more than willing to forgive you... Remember, He is Oft-Forgiving!
