I am very interested in learning more about and embracing the religion of
Al-Islam. My problem is that I live in an area that has no Muslim community
at all. No places of worship, no study groups, nothing. What is the best way
for me to get started learning what I should know?
Al hamdulilah
As soon as you have come to know, dear noble inquirer, that Islam is the true religion
of righteousness and the straight path, you should hasten to embrace it and begin
practicing the Islamically-prescribed obligations, such as the prayer, etc. Your earning
to learn about Islam is a wonderful thing for which you should be commended.
Your unfortunate complaint regarding the absence of a helpful surrounding and a
righteous environment is certainly a valid one and to a degree a problem; however, this
obstacle no doubt can be overcome by the will of Allaah. For example there are several
pages on the Internet that you can use to gain knowledge and benefit. You can also
correspond to the various Islamic organizations and publishing houses to get valuable
and informative books about Islam. There may be an Islamic center in your town or in
a nearby town that you can go to, even if only once a month, to get to know your fellow
Muslim sisters and to get advice from them and work with each other in enjoining
righteousness and good deeds. Perhaps you can use the internet as an avenue to find out
the addresses of Islamic centers in any particular city or state.
If it is possible for you to move to a city where there is a Muslim community or an
Islamic center which adheres to true, mainstream Islam (followers of the Sunnah and
the united Islamic community), this would be very good. If, in the worst case, may
Allaah forbid, lets suppose you don’t find even a single Muslim about you, this would
not ever prevent you from holding fast to the religion of Islam. In Islam you have an
ever-persistent relationship with your Lord; you worship Him and talk to Him and ask
Him
guidance, support, and aid in adhering to His religion; you feel His company and
security by your prayers to Him your seeking refuge in Him–to an extent that will
compensate you more than the absence of anybody else, and will allay your loneliness
and the inability to meet fellow sisters in faith and religion. Consider the situation of the
followers of our beloved Prophet
(peace be upon him) who embraced Islam at its
inception. They remained alone and estranged among their tribes and people, each one
worshipping Allaah from his place until the Prophet
migrated to al-Madinah, at
which time they migrated with him and supported him in establishing the Islamic state.
We ask Allaah for your guidance and for you to reply quickly to the call of Allaah and
his Prophet
(peace be upon him), and we wish you happiness in this life and the
hereafter.
