New Muslima's questions

Question



I am a new Muslim. I do don't know the prayers' times though I know what to do before prayers. Can you inform me when the month of Ramadan will be this year? I am trying my best to follow Islam; none of my family member is Muslim. So, please help me.


Answer



Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

First of all we are delighted to hear the good news and we congratulate you on embracing Islam. Praise be to Allah who guided you to the straight path.

We inform you that this is a decision that you will never regret in your life. According to Islam, you are now considered as a new-born baby, free from sins.

We bring you the good news that the Prophet has given for every new Muslim.
Muslim reported in a sound Hadith that Amr Ibn Al As said: "When Allah instilled the love of Islam in my heart, I came to the Apostle (peace be upon him) and said: Stretch out your right hand so that I may pledge my allegiance to you. He stretched out his right hand. I withdrew my hand. He (the Holy Prophet) said: What has happened to you, O' Amr? I replied: I intend to lay down a condition. He asked: What condition do you intend to put forward? I said: I should be granted pardon. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Are you not aware of the fact that Islam wipes out all the previous (misdeeds)? Verily migration wipes out all the previous (misdeeds) and verily the pilgrimage wipes out all the (previous) misdeeds.''

So these are glad tidings for all new Muslims that anyone who converts to Islam, all the sins he committed before becoming Muslim are forgiven. This is made explicit in the following verse, Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {Say to those who have disbelieved, if they cease (from disbelief) their past will be forgiven.}[8:38].
Allah further says: {interpretation of meaning)''Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful}.''[25:70]

By embracing Islam you become a member of the Muslim community, and you have the same rights as any other Muslim. It is obligatory on every Muslim to honour you, support you, love you and help you against any oppression. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "A Muslim is the brother of another Muslim. He neither betrays him nor tells him a lie, nor humiliates him. Everything belonging to a Muslim, his honour, his property and his blood, is sacrosanct to another Muslim; and the piety is here (pointing towards heart). It is fairly serious evil to consider a Muslim, 'mean'.'', reported by Imam Tirmizi.

Therefore, we ask Allah to make you firm and steadfast on His Religion and enable you to do good.

As regards your question, we inform you that it is difficult for us to precisely indicate the prayer times in relation to where you live in the United Kingdom. As the prayer time in the North, for instance in Manchester, is different from theSouth (Southampton).

Therefore, it would be more appropriate for you to approach the nearest mosque to you to inquire about this or any Islamic Centre and we are sure that they will provide you with the prayer time-table as all mosques have one. You can also find out the prayer time-table in your area by checking our Website.

With regard to the month of Ramadan, it is the 9^th month of Hegira year. But this differs in relation to A.D. year, as the Hegira year changes every year by nearly ten days (backward) as compared to the calendar year. For instance lastRamadan was in November, but ten years ago it was in approximately the month of March. Next Ramadan will be Insha Allah about 15^th October depending on the sighting of the moon (it could be on 14 or 16 as well), as the Arabic calendar is a lunar year. We are certain that you will here about it when the time comes (and we are sure that you are looking forward to it).

As a new Muslimah, we remind you that you have to seek the necessary knowledge that will enable you to perform the important acts of worship correctly. We ask Allah to enable you to do good and we wish you every success in Islam.
Allah knows best.