Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Tips for a New Muslim Revert

As-salamu Alaikum sister, as new revert I was wondering if you could help me out with some of things. 1) It’s summer, how should I keep cool while still wearing hijab? What about going to pools/beaches? 2) What tips do you have for remembering how to conduct salah correctly and knowing the prayers by heart? 3) What are the most important things for me to know about going to Mosque? Thank you!


Wa alaykum al salam Sister :)
First off, congratulations on your reversion to Islam and May Allah make everything easier for you. Of course I don’t mind answering your questions, if you have anymore I’d be happy to try to help. 
1) When I first started wearing the hijab, I was scared to death of the summer time because I thought it would be incredibly hot and I’d die of the heat (i was a dramatic one lol), but it really isn’t bad at all. You quickly get used to it. I have a modest fashion blog called Her Name is Modesty, there are plenty of modest summer outfit ideas there. During the summer time, women who wear the hijab usually stick with maxi dresses and skirts. You can also wear pants and not be hot. If I were wearing pants, I would just pair it with a tank top and cardigan. There are also options with the hijab. You don’t need to wear a thick scarf, go for a light breezy preferably cotton scarf to keep cool. There are also different styles you can wear your hijab to keep cool, don’t wrap it too tight around your face, that could also make you really hot.  
If you want to go to the pool or beach, there’s a lovely option called the burqini lol see here. It’s really not that attractive, but if you’re desperate to get in the water, go for it. Otherwise, I usually just wear regular clothes and get in the water at maybe knee level. You can always go to an all girls pool. It’s a sacrifice you have to make for Allah, of course you can go swimming, but if it’s too difficult and there’s no way to dress comfortably and go swimming maybe you can let it go until you find a better option?
2) When remembering how to conduct the salah correctly, the best tip I have is practice. Try to practice a few times before you actually pray. Take a look at this, it shows you how to pray and what to say. If you mess up, it’s okay. Allah is the Most Forgiving, you’ll figure it out eventually. Also when memorizing the prayers, practice over and over again. Write it out in English transliteration if it helps you. Find a Muslim who can help you with knowing the prayers by heart. It really helps if you have someone there to listen to you recite the prayers and correct you when you make a mistake. 
3) The most important things to know about going to the mosque:
- Dress modestly even if you don’t wear the hijab everyday, wear it to the mosque. If you didn’t know already, the hijab consists of you covering everything but the face and hands. 
- You should be clean. Make wudu (ablution) and make sure your clothes are also clean. Watch this video if you want to learn how to make proper wudu and learn what to say before and afterwards. 
- Before entering the mosque, remove your shoes (it’ll be pretty obvious to know where to place your shoes, it’s usually at the front near the door)
- The prayer area in the mosque is divided between the men and women, so you should go to the women’s section. If you don’t know where it is, just ask, I’m sure someone will be happy to help you.
-Finally, enter the mosque with your right foot. There is a duaa for entering and exiting the mosque if you want to learn it (don’t stress yourself out if you don’t memorize it)
I hope this was helpful and I didn’t provide you with any wrong information (May Allah forgive me if I did). Have a wonderful day wa salamu alaykum wa rahmutullahi wa barakatu :)

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