Looking for other new muslimahs to chat with

**amani77** · 01-04-2012, 11:15 PM

I am fairly new, 4 years since converting, and looking to chat with other converts/reverts. I know 4 yrs seems like a long time but in the scheme of Islam, Im still learning. I am a woman so please only other women for me

Also, I have a blog with tons of information to help others like us if you wanna check it out. Its http://americanmuslimconvert.wordpress.com

I share my stories on their as well. Look forward to meeting you all. Im sort of new to the forum as well.

Salam, Amani

**muslima1234** · 02-04-2012, 10:16 PM

Amani I would love to chat with you!

**muslima1234** · 02-04-2012, 10:43 PM

4 years isnt that new haha. I am only like 1.5 years. I dont have a blog

**amani77** · 03-04-2012, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by muslima1234

Amani I would love to chat with you!

As salamu Alaikum sister! Ty for your reply. I hope we can help each other out and get to know each other!

**amani77** · 03-04-2012, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by muslima1234

4 years isnt that new haha. I am only like 1.5 years. I dont have a blog

well 4 years doesnt seem new but I still have alot to learn. Hopefully talking to you all will help me along the way

**amani77** · 03-04-2012, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Acacia

Amani, welcome

[I'm the blogger towardsfalah]

Salam sis! Great to see you on here! Thanks for the welcome

**muslima1234** · 03-04-2012, 05:49 PM

Does this site make you feel stupid sometimes? I was commenting on a post and some brothers replied using these comments full of these arabic words that I have no idea what they mean.

**muslima1234** · 03-04-2012, 09:20 PM

Originally Posted by Acacia

Sister Muslima1234, please don't despair - just ask whenever you need more clarification or help. I know I've had to ask and will have to ask so many questions here as I work things through. I know I replied to one of your q's and perhaps (in hindsight, sorry) I wasn't clear enough ("Allahumaghfirlee" translates roughly to: "O Allah! Forgive me").

BTW: I'm Turkish (don't live in Turkey though), how long have you been in Turkey? Did you convert there?

I converted back in the US but I basically studied Islam almost solely from a Turkish group. I tried learning from other people as well but I was drawn to the Turks because of their tolerance and their understanding. I am learning a lot by reading books by scholars like Said Nursi and Fethullah Gulen and I find their writings beautiful and inspirational. Because I had taken Turkish as a language requirement in college I knew the Turkish group through my professor so I approached them for help and they have become my second family. I had gone to various interfaith events held by them before converting and I really liked them and now they are teaching me. I even volunteered by teaching Arabic to the little kids at our weekend school in exchange for free lessons. I was no expert in Arabic but the kids knew less than me so I could help. I really love the way Turks transliterate Arabic since it is easy for me to read, rather than the english way which inserts a bunch of extra letters. I have been in Turkey for about a year, taking graduate courses in Istanbul. I am more focused on Turkish language then I am on Arabic since Turkish is necessary for my career path but I am taking Ottoman Turkish and that is giving me some understanding of Arabic structure, although modern Turkish is much easier!

**muslima1234** · 03-04-2012, 10:06 PM

A decent book by Gulen is Pearls of Wisdom. It is a quick read about 100 or so pages but it is really well written. A lot of people here don't seem to be too fond of Gulen because of what he looks like but I don't focus on what someone looks like I focus on what they say. I love my Turkish friends and family, I have them at school and I love hanging out with them and talking. The Turks have given me a very positive experience and they have been nothing but supportive. They are really gentile in letting me know if I do something haram. Also they emphasize that while maintaining hijab is important, the inside is more important and it is necessary to have a good heart. They also tell me not to get carried away in small details, there are some aspects of sunnah which are very hard for me to grasp, for example eating with the right hand (I have been eating with my left hand my whole life) and they tell me that that I don't need to worry about that since there are many aspects of Islam that are much more important.

I one time decided to go on Pal Talk to ask some Islamic questions and I mistakenly joined a Salafi room. The topic ended up being them asking me about myself since they found out I was a revert. I apparently was doing a lot of haram actions (which to Salafis seem to be most things) without knowing and I ended up in tears because they were so nasty. One told me "I am a filthy little girl, in fact I am one of the dirtiest women on earth and that I should be ashamed to call myself a Muslim" so that really made me question myself, since Salafis are convinced they are the only ones practicing true Islam. They were just so horrible and nasty and those comments really stuck with me. I hear so many bad things about Salafis and after that experience with them I see what people mean.

This is a totally off topic question but many times I am googling an Islamic opinion on an issue and I get linked to a site,Islam qa, Is this site any good? It seems to be very extremist because the views expressed in the fatwas seem to be very sexist, telling women they shouldn't drive, they have to stay at home and that niqab is required and one is sinning for not wearing one ( I just wear regular hijab and I dont think niqab is really for me). Often times I can barely understand the fatwas because they are written in such archaic and awkward sounding English and they are full of awkward gramatical structures and run on sentences. They way they are written make them very hard to read and understand. Is this a valid site?

**muslima1234** · 04-04-2012, 06:33 AM

Originally Posted by Acacia

You might want to take a look at this thread for alternatives to the site you mentioned. If you have more questions, just ask and insha'Allah someone with proper knowledge on the subject can help out (I simply don't know enough to say anything good, bad or otherwise about the site). I should add, however, that the site you mentioned is banned here (on SF), and if it is banned here, I believe the reason must be valid.

Your experience with salafis sounds terrible and I feel awful that anyone would put a person through something like that, much less a sister who is just getting acquainted with the deen. I haven't had any such experiences and to be honest, I had no idea about 'salafism' until I joined this forum

Insha'Allah, I will add Gulen's Pearls of Wisdom to my 'to-read' list... so many books waiting patiently for my time <sigh>. I don't think Gulen is disliked just for his looks though

I'm pretty sure a chunk of Turkish society dislikes him for his views and they sling a lot of mud his way... as they do most religious figures who aren't state 'approved'.

People in this site need to stop forcing things on me. I am honestly thinking some times not ready for this religion since people are shoving so much at me at once. Let me take things slowly, 1 thing at a time and I am so sick of people on here trying to correct me when I tell them this. They don't know my situation and all they are doing is overwhelming me.

Some brother on this site tells me I need to make up missed witrs since apparently I was supposed to have been praying witr from day 1 I never knew this and I still dont feel ready to pray this and now I am having a heart attack since I have to make up countless witrs. And I thought witr is only strongly reccomended. I fdid talk to someone I know and they told me just to start praying witr and not make up for the ones that I "missed" because I wasn't doing them yet. Great I am crying again. Since people try to islamically guilt trip me if I don't do something.