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[krazykat88]

I've been researching (? I guess researching is the right word. :) ) Islam on my own, on-and-off for a while, and many aspects of it appeal to me (it seems, in many ways, more logical than Christianity, if that makes sense. Every time I've started to research it before, I've stopped as soon as its started making sense - I think in some ways,

Comments

[tenaciousrei]

I was sacred as heck to go to the mosque at first as well. I was lucky that the local Islamic Center had a New Muslim program and I was able to go and talk/ask questions. They also had open houses and lectures for those interested in Islam. You might want to see if something like that is available in your area.

You can also go to Whyislam.org. They have an toll free number and they can help organize a Mosque. I think they are active up there in Canada. :)

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/ and halaltube.com are my favorite resources on Islam. http://musfem.wordpress.com/ is about Islamic feminism...it's not my cu of tea really but it is interesting.

[hushdawg]

I got tons of literature from them for free distribution at our dawah events here in the Philippines, great folks!

[hushdawg]

There is an LJ community called Islam Feminism that you can check out some past archives.

I'll plug my mom's books because she's awesome and in many ways a pioneer woman herself:

www.lit-by-linda.com

Music is a long-debated subject in modern times but there have been strong comments made by Imams and scholars in the past which seem to indicate that it is okay so long as the message itself is clean.. the prohibition of music and dancing seems to be more involved with a prohibition of mixing it with worship. I copied a rather lengthy section of my mother's forthcoming book here about a year ago on the topic.

Alcohol.. you know, it's better to stay away if you are new into Islam and it holds a temptation for you but if you do not feel temptation and your friends are respectful about your personal abstaining from alcohol then it should not be a problem. We live in multicultural societies and we cannot and should not become cloistered in our religion.

[scribbled_mess]

for internet resources I'd like to recommend http://www.jannah.org/ It's got lots of links and there's a message board which I go to often. The users on there are really knowledgeable mashallah.

[salam_k]

I was just like you as well. I researched Islam alot on my own and I learned how to pray before I converted. I was extremely nervous to attend the masjid for the first time, so I called them over and over again asking 1000 questions. The administrative staff was extremely helpful and many local masjids list prayer times online. I would recommend going to jumuah and seeing muslim people in action. One day, I mustered up the courage to throw on tons of articles of clothing and I just walked to masjid for jumuah prayer. I looked so crazy because it was the middle of the summer and I was wearing a sweater, but the women were so nice to me. They helped me with everything and were so accepting and exciting that I wanted to become muslim! Just go! There's also a website called muslimconverts.com (I believe that's the address)... you can call this hotline and talk to them about Islam if you are nervous to speak with someone face to face