Asalaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh (May the Peace and Mercy and Blessings of God be onto you). 

For the longest time I was trying to figure out how I was going to use this site. After school had finnished I thought that I would finally be able to relax and enjoy myself and my life. What I didn't expect was the difficulties of trying to find a job, trying to move back home into my parents house (who aren't muslim) and start a new chapter in my life. 

I thought this would be easy, but I find myself struggling and a little sad with moving to back to a small town where there are only an average of 10 muslims that attend my mosque (80% of those being brothers). But InshaAllah I pray Allah makes it easier.

When I attended the mosque I realised that although the community was small, there were more and more converts coming or women interrested in learning the religion, Alahmdullilah! So I started to wonder, who will help these new sisters? I had the opportunity of being a part of a larger muslim community where I could be taught the basics and had a number of sisters that I could go to with questions. We as muslims know that there is a problem where sisters convert to the religion and that they have nowhere to turn for guidance. I thought I might talk about some bare minimums for my sisters over the next couple of weeks to help them to get a feel for the religion. 

On saying that, I also want to let my sisters know that I am not a sheikh or schollar, and that I have very limited knowledge of Islam, but that I want to introduce some of the basics to my sisters to get them started in the right direction in the religion Insha'Allah.

Today I thought I would talk about the Shahada. The Shahada is the very first of 5 pillars (or basic beliefs) in Islam and is summarized in one sentence :

La ilaha illa Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah.

I may write about my shahada in a later blog Insha'Allah, but today I write for those sisters who are looking to become muslim, or those who are new to the religion. A Shahada is a vow that you make to Allah explaining that there is none that you will be placing beside or equal to Allah and that he is the one true God, the One creator of all things and that he alone is to be worshipped. The second half of the shahada is a statement that you believe that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) is the last and final messenger  sent to the people by God. 

Amenakin from Pearl Daisy made a wonderful video explaining he Shahada for new sisters and people hoping to revert to the religion of Islam.

I hope you found this video helpful and I pray you all remain in good health and Deen Insha'Allah

Salaams <3