How to Convert To Islam

So, you want to convert to Islam and become a Muslim. You will be joining the world's second largest religion. Islam means "submission," and Muslim means "one who submits to God." The religion encompasses a wide range of practices. All Muslims are required to observe the five pillars of Islam, which are testimony, ritual prayer, alms-giving, fasting during the month of Ramadan and Hajj or pilgrimage.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Accept fully the basic tenets of Islam. These are: God is One; The Holy Prophet, Muhammad, is His true and final messenger; the Holy Qur'an revealed to Muhammad is the last divine book; after death comes eternal life when a person will face the consequences of their actions; the contents of the Qur'an are absolute and unambiguous.
2. Pronounce the testimony of the Islam faith, or "Shahada." Recite, "I bear witness that there is no God but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad, Salla-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger. I have believed in Allah and His angels and His book (as they were originally revealed on His prophets) and in His messengers and in the Last Day and in the fact that all the good and bad destinies come from Allah and in being raised alive after death."
3. Free yourself from any beliefs that are not compatible with Islamic faith. For example, a Christian convert must reject the belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God or part of the Holy Trinity.
4. Take a symbolic bath or shower to purify yourself from your former life.
5. Apply the rules of Islam into your daily life. This means observing the five pillars of the faith.
6. Obtain a certificate of Islam. To convert to the religion of Islam is not a formal process. However, a certificate will be necessary when you wish to become married or go to a pilgrimage.

Tips & Warnings

• A number of theocratic and totalitarian groups, like Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami promote Islam as the solution to the world's problems and view Western values as a threat to Islamic ideals.
• The Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, groups that are said to have hijacked Islam, employ terrorism and hide behind Islam, which is a religion that in no way condone acts of terror. These groups of people are fundamentalists and have a skewed interpretation of Islam.