Trying to become an Arab is not a requirement; it is also an unnecessary difficulty. You will fail if you try to be or become that which you are not. Those who mistakenly mix accepting Islam to denying their own cultural identity often fail at the latter…

Being active in the field of dawah and support of new Muslims, I hear and see many stories of different converts and their parents. One day, as I was preparing to help a new sister to say the shahadah in a mosque in Amsterdam…

If you are contemplating to become a Muslim and you cannot directly find a Muslim gathering in which you can state your shahadah, this is not a problem. Islam is a realistic religion; it never requires something which is impossible to do for a person.

Step by step, I leave all materialistic matters and privacy behind me until I sleep outside underneath the clear sky. To return to God is to return to oneself. Everything that ties you down in this world slowly disappears. Your choices and strength of belief surface. It is a learning experience.

In most of our deeds we follow in the footsteps of the Prophet, peace be upon him, but not for the sa’i. Here, you follow in the footsteps of Hajar, like the Prophet peace be upon him used to do. Hajar and her son Isma’il…

My advice is based on my personal experience and a matter of priorities. I’ve seen pilgrims arrive to the city of Makkah and immediately starting to perform voluntary – non-obligatory – deeds of worship. You have traveled for hours, sometimes more than a day, to get there.