Being Muslim: A Practical Guide

I've been a student of Islam for going-on 20 years, in my duties as a senior U.S. military leader (now retired), and have become deeply familiar with the scripture, theology, and jurisprudence of the faith. But it's only within the last couple of years that I've begun to think of myself as a prospective revert. And as I began contemplating that step, I realized that--despite my studies, and my experience of Muslims over two decades of war--I was woefully unprepared (ignorant, even) on the MECHANICS of daily life AS A MUSLIM. This book fills that critical gap in the English-language literature on Islam. You may know Muslims pray five times a day, facing Mecca--but what are the actual STEPS in that prayer? How are the five prayers similar--and how do they differ? It's all in there--WITH HELPFUL DIAGRAMS & TABLES. You might have heard that you have to be in a state of "ritual purity" when you pray--but what does this MEAN, how might you inadvertently BREAK it, and what would you have to do to restore it? It's in there--again, with appropriate illustrations. Muslims fast--especially during Ramadan--but what EXACTLY does that entail, what things (bodily or spiritual) could invalidate a day's fast...and what do you do then? It--and so much more--is in there. As a Catholic for much of my adult life, another thing I appreciated about this book was its AVOIDANCE of what I might term "cafeteria Islam." This is not a book that soft-pedals parts of the faith revealed through Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad to "fit it in better" with what we might LIKE it to be--comfortable in all the cautions our 'liberated' 21st-century civil culture has thrown to the wind. Any faith worth following isn't one that conforms the will of our Creator to our desires; rather, it challenges us to conform our desires to the will of our Creator. That is the Islam presented here. And yet, it is ALSO a reflective introduction to the thoughtful faith of the God whose first command to His final Prophet (pbuh) was "Iqra!" -- READ! Muslims are challenged to never cease learning, reflecting, and drawing closer to God, and Being Muslim is written in that spirit. The book concludes with exceptionally rich end matter: key Qur'anic readings in both English and the (transliterated) Arabic used in worship (a real leg-up for reverts who previously didn't know a word of Arabic!); a categorized list of further readings to continue your spiritual journey as a Muslim, an extensive glossary you can refer back to as you master Islam's particular vocabulary, a bibliography of the works cited in the text, and a good index so you can move from READING this book to using it as a reference, for quick location of passages when you need to refresh your memory on a specific topic. A final note: the one key omission I'd identify in the list of readings is an orientation to normative Islam's second source of scripture, the Sunnah--the sayings and lived example of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). While a couple of reliable introductory COLLECTIONS are listed, the Sunnah is basically oral history, and it's important for the new Muslim to understand that it comes in the full spectrum of quality--from completely trustworthy all the way down to weak or even likely fabricated--and a range of authority (tracing to the Prophet himself, or just to one of his original Companions, or merely to a successor to an original companion). OUTSIDE the curations in the list, you'll encounter lots of things people are presenting as hadith, which may or may not be suitable for the use being made of them--and this can be a source of much confusion, even leading you astray, if you're not attuned to it. So before you delve into hadith, I would recommend the book, Approaching the Sunnah : Comprehension and Controversy , by the eminent scholar Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi; it's been of great use to me. Welcome to Islam--and may Allah bless you and guide you on the straight path.

Great overview of Islam for a westerner like myself. This is easier to understand than Mullins Muhammad Ali’s works but now I can read those works and understand better.

I wish I had found this book first. ME= 67-year old male who converted(reverted?) at age 60. I live in the middle of the desert in AZ, no Mosque or anything like it around. I STILL haven't found any male Muslims in my area that I could befriend and learn all this stuff from. Drive to a Mosque? For me, that's at least 3-hours in any direction at 75mph. Too far for me to travel often, if at all due to pains & limited funds (retired on Social Security). I bought soo many other little books & booklets, ALL of which assumed some prior knowledge and/or someone to help explain it in person. None of those books helped me much. I even bought one book that was about the size and page-count of this book, but it was no good either (I returned it). That book was one of those "print on demand" books, and the ink was too light, so that I could not see the drawings of Salat postures, nor could I read the words that went with each illegible picture. And worse still, it was from an author whose name shows up ANYPLACE amongst Muslim Authors who might write a book such as this. Worse, the author of that book did not quote any Quran verses, nor did he quote any Hadith sources, nor did any other Sheik write an intro or forward to his book. So, the author is unknown, he writes in his book "Allah (SWT) says this" or "Muhammad (SAW) says that" AND he gives NO REFERENCES for anything he says. So I could not trust such a book, and returned it. THIS BOOK is very well written, has forward by a Sheik I trust, and it very thoroughly referenced, and states plainly in the Forward that this book is from the SUNNI perspective. It's everything I've been looking for in a basic Islam book for someone like me who (at least so far) has to do Islam by myself.

So, I live in a small Alabama town where there is a Mosque on every corner (Not!), and a Muslim behind every tree (definitely not!) where I can get my inquiries about Islam answered. Therefore I needed a resource to help me live and practice my new found faith. And what I found interesting is that the author was approached by someone (such as myself) who needed practical and useful knowledge that could help them understand what it means to be Muslim. And in 2006, the author sought for books to recommend to a new convert about the basics of Islam. And try as he might, upon looking in every Islamic bookstore, there was not one book that would prove helpful. Several, yes. But not one. So then this author compiled a list of things he thought essential for new Muslims to know early in their Islamic learning. And this manual was born, out of the realization that beginner English-speaking Muslims, whether new or returning, were underserved with regards to written material to help them learn and practice their faith. THIS SHOULD BE THE FIRST BOOK YOU RECOMMEND TO REVERTS!

We've found this to be an excellent offering for the incarcerated Muslims we serve. It answers a lot of their questions, and more. Nothing but good feedback about it.

While I am a committed Orthodox Christian I've always wanted to know more about Islam, not from a dry western academic perspective but from the inside, from a believers perspective. This book is written primarily for those who are just getting started in practicing Islam, and does a great job of teaching everything from proper etiquette between the sexes, how to perform ritual ablution, how to pray and how the Muslim calendar works. It was a very pleasant read and highly recommended.

The text is valuable. However, in the Kindle version, images are either very, very small, or distorted so much they are illegible. I would very much like for Amazon to redo the images for all who have purchased the Kindle version so we have the same value as realized by those who purchased the print book.

I converted in 2012. This book is packed with basically all of the real essentials that a convert Muslim like myself may have just had to 'figure out'. It's all just here. Anything that was left out, I believe was left out with intent that it is probably actually unnecessary and if something may not be in this book, I believe it is a testimony to it's worthlessness of a topic, at least in terms of getting a wrap around all of the different aspects of the faith. It is in no way apologetic, "modernist" nor fundamentalist. This is right out of the classical tradition. I find it so amazing to see that it is just all here, in one book, explained so well. I thought I would end up giving this one away to a new convert I meet or someone with immense interest in Islam from zero understanding, but I think this book even now is a great resource to recenter myself and to come back to the issues that are important with full clarity. Allah reward the authors.