Answer
Assalamo Alaikom Logan,
I must say your message to us at aboutislam affected me deeply and I sincerely felt an immediate connection to you as a brother in Islam. Welcome to our muslim community and it will be my honor to walk you through the Shahadah so you can officially become a Muslim.
Is anyone Welcome to Islam?
In Islam neither race, gender, class, etc. play a role in your stance as a human before your Creator. Piety is the only criterion of status. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) says:
O people! Your God is one and your forefather (Adam) is one. An Arab is not better than a non-Arab and a non-Arab is not better than an Arab, and a red (i.e. white tinged with red) person is not better than a black person and a black person is not better than a red person, except in piety. (Musnad Ahmad, 22978)
That being said, Islam acknowledges that as humans we are prone to sin and that life is indeed a journey of trial and error.
But, as Muslims we have to always strive for betterment through asking Allah for forgiveness when we err and constantly find ways to become better people, whether for self improvement or through the way we treat others.
Once you embrace Islam all your previous sins are erased. I pray to Allah that through your sense of purpose and the peace of islamic rituals you will be able to overcome your addiction to alcohol and drugs and through happiness and unity in brotherhood overcome your feelings of arrogance and eventually through marriage overcome masturbation.
An Example in the Story of Umar ibn Alkhattab’s Journey to Islam
You will indeed find refuge in Umar ibn Alkhattab’s Journey to Islam. When he embraced Islam, his sins were not only forgiven, he became such a strong believer that Satan himself would hide from him. He did so much good for the Ummah (the Muslim Community) that he later became the second Caliph of the Muslims after the death of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
But, before he embraced Islam he had a very turbulent past. He was actually one of the most notorious opposers and persecutors of Muslims. Umar would volunteer to torture slaves. One example was his slavegirl who upon embracing Islam he started torturing daily for many years. One day he told her he would not torture her just cause he felt tired. To that she replied I see no hope in you being saved from Allah except that you embrace Islam because if you get tired Allah does not.
The One True Creator
I admire your deep connection to Allah through your words:
“Just tonight, I have purchased an islamic prayer mat in order to connect with the creator (I refer to Allah as the creator for I am uncertain of their exact name), so if someone were to provide to me the proper prayer rituals I would greatly appreciate it.
I want to praise the name of the supreme one, whoever they may be, for I feel in my heart of hearts that our universe had an intelligent creator behind it, but I simply don’t know who that truly is.”
Let me guide you in your search to the attributes of the One True Creator. Allah is the proper name of the One True God. Nothing else can be called Allah. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe. It is He only who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to Him.
This term has no plural or gender. This shows its’ uniqueness when compared with the word ‘god’, that can be made plural, gods; or feminine, goddess.
As for the proper prayer rituals you can find them here.
Islam is your Path to the Hereafter
Allah Almighty says in the Quran:
{Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating others with Him ˹in worship˺, but forgives anything else of whoever He wills. And whoever associates others with Allah has indeed committed a grave sin.} (Quran 4:48)
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