What Should I Do to Become a Muslim?


Answered by Shaykh Sulayman Van Ael

Question: Assalam alaykum,

I wanted to know what a person must do in order to become a muslim. I’ve read a wide range of opinions regarding this matter.

What is the valid view?

Answer: Bismillah,

To a person intrested in how to become a muslim,

To become a muslim you need to be one hundred percent sure that Allah is the Lord, King and Sustainer of the worlds. You have to believe that He is perfect and has no shortcommings, that He has not been created and that He does not look like mankind and is not described in such a way that may lead to thinking that He is comparable to His creation. You should believe that only He has the right to be worshiped. You have to believe in Muhammad (s) as being the last Prophet being send by Allah to all mankind. Believing in Muhammad (s) is not possible if you do not believe in all the prophets that were mentioned by him or by Allah in the Holy Quran. You have to believe that he conveyed the Divine message and that he did not dischieve or lied. You have to believe that the Quran is Allah’s last revelation as a guidance to mankind. You should believe that there is no oppression in His rulings and that there will be a day of ressurection and that everything has been decreed. You also believe that praying, fasting, paying zakat and visiting Allah’s house in Mekka are obliged. And you should believe that fornication, stealing, lying, drinking alcohol, magic, killing and being bad for ones parents and all the other sins are forbidden.

If you believe this firmly in your heart without any doubt, and confirm this with your tongue and strive your utmost to live accordingly, then you are a muslim.

Wassalam
[Shaykh] Sulayman Van Ael

Shaykh Sulayman Van Ael
received ijazah from various luminaries in the ten Qoranic readings, in Ihya ulum ad din, in several books of hadeeth, in Matn abi Shuja’, in several books of Shaykh Abu Ghudda and in many different basic texts in grammar, fundamentals of fiqh, tajweed …