Search the Community

Dealing with Autism I wanted to write something about the topic of Autism, because when I looked back I have never seen this topic addressed by anyone in our Muslim community. Autism is a growing issue in the world as one in 68 children are diagnosed with this condition. I wanted to address a few issues about dealing with Autism in hopes that it may help someone who is a parent, loved one or a friend of someone with a child who has Autism. I’m not going to go into what Autism is exactly, because that would be a lengthy discussion and there are plenty of websites and books dealing with this topic. I will just say briefly that it is a neurological disorder that affects ones social and communication skills. It is termed as being on the spectrum, because there are so many different variations of Autism that every child is different and they all have different needs according to how many of the indicators the child has.

Assalam alaikum dear brothers and sisters and may the blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you all. I saw another user make an introduction, so I thought I would too. I came to Islam as the light at the end of the tunnel and attended the only mosque in my Welsh county, slotting by default into hanafi ideology. I moved to a England and to larger Muslim and mostly Indian/Pakistani community after marriage. Despite members of the Welsh community telling me that the community in this English city was better, it became quite clear, quite quickly that they weren't right. Increasingly isolated by both the community and the hanafi school, particularly hadiths, increasingly ashamed by terrorist attacks and sectarianism, after three years as a Muslim I felt at conflict with myself. I really struggled as I felt between two cultures, the culture of Islam and the culture as a British white man, and I didn't slot into either. I came to this religion because I saw inclusion of the Abrahamic narrative, inclusion of white people, people from Asia, Africa and elsewhere, I saw Islam as the final message of God, one of salvation, hope and solace. I did not see these things being practiced. I grew up respecting people of all faiths and views, and I hold that stance to this day. Muslims are Muslims, I see beyond the sects, if you love Allah and His messenger and you uphold the principal of peace, charity, kindness and so on, then who am I to hate you or be a takfiri on you!? I attended a salafi mosque on Ashura, because it was the only one that did English sermons, I saw a congregation humiliate a student (who I assume was Iranian by his accent) for asking why nobody mentions Hussain on such a day. I also saw brothers stand up and defend a man who had been arrested and later charged for trying to buy firearms for terrorism in a sting operation on a separate day. I myself had been targeted for not doing footsy during prayer with the person next to me. I continued to see this idiotic approach to people who follow the Ahlul Bayt, it trickles down from adults to kids, my nephew said that Shi'ites worship Ali, astaghfirullah. He said his friend at school told him. I corrected him. I used to have an Instagram account where I posted lessons and tidbits that might inspire people to be peaceful and good, I had even aspired to train to become an Imam and open a mosque, it would have been, to my knowledge, the first to feature a prayer room where women prayed behind men and not closed off in a tiny 2nd class room upstairs. It would be one of only a few where management would have not been of one school of thought, but many, where women would play an important role and where counselling services would take place for domestic violence and mental health... All sounds great, but because of my own mental health, I did not feel I could take on such a task. What did come out of Instagram was that I was responsible for reporting somewhere between 30-50 Daesh inspired or far right inspired profiles which as a result were removed, alhamdulillah. Anyway, for a long time I felt unhappy, with people, with the thought that people churn out such nonsense, whether it is about people or even things like hadiths. Andwe are expected to just take it all as gospel because an Imam said it, a sheikh said it, a pillar of the community said it. I started following the maliki maddhab, but now I don't adhere to any ideology as such. People might erroneously say I cherry pick, but picking the truth isn't always the easy option, so I hardly call that cherry picking. I seek truth and logic according the the Qur'an and if that comes from Ammar Nakshawani, so be it, if it comes from Abdal Hakim Murad, so be it. So why am I on Shiachat? Because first of all I want to meet like minded people in my area, and second of all, because I respect you and care for you as fellow Muslims. I just can't live a life spewing hate, teaching my children to hate and expect the world to be a better place for it. It does nothing here on Earth and it does nothing up there in Jannah either. Apologies for the novel, but at least I used paragraphs hey! Oh Lord send Your peace and blessings upon Muhammad and his family. May You always be pleased with us, keep us firm upon your truth and your religion. May we be standing together and may you always allow the light, wisdom and intellect to exist in this world so that we learn to love and put down our hatred, as although we are different people with different opinions and of differing backgrounds, we are all in need of Your light, all in need of Your mercy and all in need of Your pleasure with us. Forgive us all for what we say and do, what You know but we don't of the things we do to displease You. Oh Lord, send Your peace and blessings upon Muhammad and His family.

From the teachings of Imams (عليه السلام), the virtues of marriage are clear. Examples: The Prophet (S) said, “One who marries, has already guarded half of his religion, therefore he should fear Allah for the other half.” And in the Qur'an: “And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves; if they are needy, Allah will make them free from want out of His grace; and Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing.” (Surah an-Nur, 24:32) I am a 21 year old male who goes to university in Canada, and I will be graduating in 2 years Inshallah. I am also a convert to Islam, and I've accepted the school of the Ahlul Bayt shortly after my conversion. Because the scholars recommend marriage early, I am looking for a way to get married to a religious and faithful wife. Looks and ethnicity are not important for me, it is enough if she is strongly committed to God and the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt. Can some of the brothers here give me some advice? Should I wait more because I am new to Islam? How can I find the right person when I don't have a Shi'a family or any Shi'a friends? There are many Sunni women at the University, but I would much rather it be someone who is a follower of the Ahlul Bayt. There is no Shi'a mosque near me, but when I graduate I plan to immediately move to a place where there is a Shi'a community (probably Toronto). Thanks

I recently became convinced of Twelver Shia Islam but have been up to this point following the Hanafi madhab. Although I have been able to find many great books to learn more about Shia history, philosophy, theology, etc., it is hard to know where to begin in regards to changing madhab. I do not know any Shia personally and I do not live near a Shia mosque. One thing I really do not want to do is change in an uncoordinated way and be practising some kind of Hanafi-Jafari hybrid which is acceptable to no scholar of any perspective ever! Maybe this is too vague. To be more specific, what should I change first? My opinion would be my wudu and salat as it is to be performed daily. Any other views? If not, what next? Also I can find a few online resources on how to pray in the Jafari way but is there any online resources you recommend for this and other things? Thanks so much in advance! I am so happy to have found Shia Islam. Jazakallah khair.

In short, this text relates a debate that took place during the reign of Seldjuk king Malikshah I (the son of Alp Arslan) between sunni and shia scholars, qnd which resulted in thea conversion of Malikshah and the famous vizir Nizam al Mulk to shia Islam. How reliable is this ? http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/mub/mub.htm

[ADMIN NOTE]: This is a thread devoted to sharing stories and issues pertaining to all reverts to Islam, particularly Shia Islam. Allah bless you. Salam Alekum, I am writing an article regarding women reverts to Islam. The common belief amoung researchers is that the vast majority of revert women between 17 to 35 are married to non revert men (arab, persian, indo/pak, etc). So I would like as many revert sisters as possible to participate in order to get some good information regarding this subject. Please do not vote unless you are a revert to Islam, a women, (not born into a muslim family and currently identify your religion as Islam) and between the ages of 17 to 35. Some definitions. Non revert muslim man. A man who was born into a muslim family and currently identifies his religion as Islam revert muslim man. A man who was not born into a muslim family and currently identifies his religion as Islam.

Hi I am a shia convert Alhamdulilah since the past 4 years and honestly it has been incredible at the same time it has been difficult aswell. I just wanted to know why is it so diffcult for shia community to take a revert and make him/her a part of their family and even takes them time to make him/her a part of their community. Especially seeing that a convert already faces the bigger challenge of going against their parents and entire family to believe but these difficulties I would suppose would dishearten several individual who would like to convert. Any comments on this?

As-salamu alaikum to all, To keep this brief. I am in a permissible relationship (mutah) with a female (I am a male) who at the beginning I envisaged as being the perfect wife/potential wife for me. My outlook was based on her character, qualities and behavior which I am satisfied with. However the missing piece was her religious outlook/lack of, which plays a huge role for me and in my personal opinion overrides the prior qualities. I therefore decided to give this relationship an opportunity based on her character and what her religious outlook ideally could be in the future if it is worked on. She is new to the religion and has been for a handful of months. We discussed the religious outlook such as prayer, fasting and other such issues such as khums and inheritance. She is willing to learn and try this out, however I feel the outlook she has is a bit stubborn/not so optimistic. To illustrate my point, for example in regards to prayer, she is willing to learn how to pray and do so with myself/when she has the time, however she doesn't regard it as important to do so while she is at work, she even expressed that she will not be waking up in the morning at all as she just doesn't want to. She also said that it can be worked on whether it takes her 5 years, or even 20 years down the line. At the end of the day it is her choice and whatever she does or doesn't is between her and Allah. She wants to get married, settle down and have kids. Which I want as well however I wouldn't until I can see some results and can be satisfied that she has taken her obligations on board. I am possibly extreme in my view and thinking. Most would say that small steps are good and it will take time, better one step forward, than no steps at all. I agree and applaud that, however on the other hand given such an outlook of hers to have to begin with specifically in regards to prayer, when she doesn't take her relationship with Allah seriously, I feel like I can't take our relationship seriously either (maybe someone can address this thinking of mine). I myself may miss the morning prayer, due to forgetting to put an alarm on or something, although I wouldn't intentionally plan not to wake up. If I couldn't pray due to my work, I would rather find lower paid work whilst being able to pray than not. At this stage I don't feel ready at all, it would feel as a gamble marrying her, and there is something within me that keeps sort of telling me to call it all off. I am not sure how to differentiate this between some sort of guidance or wiswas. To sum it up I feel as if my love towards whoever it may be, especially on an intimate level such as marriage is conditional on their love/obedience to Allah. I look forward to your replies. Thanks.

I have a friend who is kind of interested in Islam and mainly the differences between Shias and Sunnis. She keeps asking me question so it’s actually she and not me and I tell her about Jesus and Mary in Islam she gets even more interested before I do anything crazy as making her convert to Islam or something I want her to be sure about what she’s researching. Do u have any Shia hadiths or saying in the Quran that might interest a Christian as her or someone that is looking for answers? Need your help guys, I know nothing about hadiths and very little about the Quran.

Salam to all, I wanted to get a few opinions and advice preferably from someone who has or knows someone who has been in a similar situation. Background: I met this girl who was a non-Muslim and didn't ascribe to any religion she had an interest in me and brought forth her interest in Islam. So we spoke about the possibility of getting married as there was mutual attraction, characteristic wise and physically etc. Of course as a Muslim you cannot marry a non-Muslim so I told her at the beginning that it would only work out if she was to become a Muslim, however I made it clear that there is no pressure and that if she doesn't connect with Islam or find any truth in it then it isn't the end of the world (I know how this may sound however I didn't want to give false hopes/mislead however making a condition like that by and of itself is pressuring). She then briefly researched at her own pace and didn't want my help as she wanted to do it for herself and not because of me. After a while she decided to convert and done so herself. To cut the story short, we then got temporarily married and are now living together for a while. This part felt a bit rushed however this is not an issue. We discussed important expectations of each other as we would such as hijab, children etc. Islamically speaking I have expectations and have expressed them such as hijab and prayer etc. Again I havent said you need to do this as I don't want to force anything upon anyone it should be their own choice. My concerns: Now that we have been together for a while, she hasn't really progressed from the Islamic sense, she hasnt expressed an interest in prayer, said she doesnt think fasting is safe etc. it seems as though now that we are together that is all that matters and the job is done now. I practice daily with her being in the room when I pray etc. She is very supportive of what I do, and she has great characteristics and potential to be a great mother no doubt. Although at times cant be as supportive as I would like to given some situations such as some of her old friends being in the wrong circles and only socially meeting when alcohol is present etc. So when she asks how I would feel if she went to meet them in that environment, given she wouldnt drink, that is not something I can support. This brings a lot of doubt and uncertainty with me in terms of what is the best way to proceed foward. I don't want to be wasting my and her time, getting emotionally caged and thereby living a life that we didn't envisage. I understand that someone who is a new Muslim it takes time, and I am willing to spare that time, as I myself wasnt practicing until later in life so its not foreign to me. She has had a very rough childhood emotionally and has expressed ideas of self harm in her teens. A lot of people have let her down. She says I am the best thing in her life and I truly believe she means this. Just to conclude, her as a person, I am fine with that. However as I take my religion as Nr.1 priority and she it seems takes me as Nr.1 priority it seems a bit conflicting to me. Given at later stage when having children, she has a few Western ideas of the upbringing of children which I don't fully agree with as well. 1. However at what point does one decide this isn't going anywhere? As my main concerns are compatibility and the future of our children. Thank you.

Salam aleikum What are some good YouTube videos explaining the fundamentals of Islam whether conferences/lectures/sketches. Something with a bit more substance than just bullet points. This should be suitable for those new to Islam with little to no familiarity. Thanks.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/afd-islam-politician-arthur-wagner-conversion-germany-far-right-a8175896.html German politician quits far-right AfD party role after converting to Islam Party claims Islam is incompatible with the German constitution A politician from the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, known for its anti-Muslim rhetoric, has quit his leadership role and converted to Islam. Arthur Wagner stepped down from his post in the eastern Brandenburg state but remains a member of the party. AfD claims Islam is incompatible with the German constitution and wants a ban on minarets and the face-covering burqa. READ MORE Top primary school reverses hijab ban after major backlash It became the third-largest party in the country’s parliament after the general election last September. The party said it stood for the constitutional right of religious freedom, regardless of Mr Wagner’s conversion. Cont...

As Salam Aleykum Hello everyone I am an Australian Christian who two years ago wanted to learn more about Islam because of the climate of terrorism which unfortunately we have a problem with still today. I have read the Qur'an and as I read more of it I believed it to be the words of god. I researched the prophet's life, his teachings and courage all inspired me to believe that his characteristics were that of a true prophet. When I met some Sunni Muslims and asked about Ali and Karbala a event that frequently popped in my research. I was told Shi'a were pagans that believed Ali was a god which these people were my friends so initially I believed them until I researched myself. I found an Islam after the prophet's death that had already strayed off the path of islam. The Arab elites quickly established themselves on top, contradicting the Qur'an with racism and greed. I saw a man named Ali who fought this until he was assassinated and his sons Hussain, Hassan and Abbas had continued to do the same which led me to conclude that Ali and Ahlulbayt were the true successors to the prophet. Now that you know my story I would like to know what steps an individual has to take to convert and confirm his belief in Islam. Thanks you for reading my story, I look forward to your answers.

(First of all; I'm sorry for my bad English) Hello everyone! My name is Laurencia and I am from Chile. I'd like to convert to Shia Islam, but I am not really pretty sure about how to do it. I had never met anyone who can help me, and almost almost all web pages about Islam in Spanish are of sunni orientation. I want to be a good Muslim but I find no orientacion or guidance. I was wondering if you could help me to become a Muslim woman and to follow the God's journey. Thanks you so much.

Bismillah al Rahman al Raheem, Salaam alaikum, I am a convert Alhumdullillah, if 10 years and I follow Sayed Kamal al Haydari, formerly my husband and I followed Ayatollah Sadr (may Allah lighten his grave and have Mercy on him). But we have since seen the necessary importance of following current and living scholars. First question : does anyone know how to get any English works of Ayatollah Sayed Kamal al Haydari, besides what is already on his website which is only 2 works I believe. Any supporting materials in English or newer lectures that have been translated to English would also be appreciated. Unfortunately, for an English only speaker, there is not a lot. Has anyone listened to the lectures my the servant Mohamad Musa on kenat Eleyoun channel on YouTube, they are amazing and inspiring and I want to know more! I don't know where he learns what he knows but I would like to learn more (scientific presentations and deeper almost gnostic spiritual irfan materials just beautiful MashaAllah). I highly recommend. Second : family gatherings, with my Christian family.... So Thanksgiving, and the like... What is the ruling when there is alcohol present, like my parents do have a glass of wine with dinner. Usually they avoid any pork products while I am there, and we have halal dishes, but they may have some non halal meat dishes excluding pork, but we are vigilant in keeping our utensils and the like seperate, I'm aware of all those rulings, but not of the ruling that I'm sharing a meal where others are drinking wine (like not getting drunk, my parents aren't like that, but they are also Italian and enjoy the taste). So if I constantly avoid any gathering where others may or may not drink an alcoholic beverage, I would be displeasing my father and to ask them not to drink, is imposing my own beliefs on them and what they choose to do. They have been very supportive with my conversion. I just don't want to disappoint my father or tell him what to do as that is disrespectful. I feel like asking them not to drink wine when I'm present is going to far and don't make sense to them, but this is my own insecurity. I feel weak in this position. Also sometimes in the morning before I get there they have had bacon and the house smells of it, It makes me naueous honestly, so what happens if I smell it? They also have cats in the house, and I'm aware of the najis factor of cats so I try and keep my clothes free of hair and I pray outside. Not to mention I'm highly allergic. Any suggestions? My step sister is getting married and I told her I can not attend a mixed gathering or a gathering serving alcohol and explained, she seemed to be understanding. Alhumdullillah. But what happens when my other sister wants me to be a bride maid for instance (not happened yet but I could see this happening in the future perhaps). Being a convert is hard. Sometimes you feel as if your imposing your beliefs on others, (mostly family situations) but I fear Allah SWT more. Insha'Allah. You feel alone alot if times. It's hard, Especially when it comes to having children and trying to raise them in a right way in a western society (America) and having anyone for Islamic, motherly advice. Alhumdullillah I've found some support in my community and my kids go to a shia Islamic school Alhumdullillah Rubbil Alameen. I'm trying my best Insha'Allah. I appreciate your informed advice with supporting evidence. Wa RahmatAllah wa Barakatu.

Salaam, I am an American Shia Muslim, raised Sunni. I learned about the Ahlul Bayt and read some more then came to the conclusion that to be the Shia of Ali was the right path. I only really know the surface levels of Shia Islamic practices, but just like the Sunni Madhabs, there is a lot of variance in opinion on several things. Ayatollah Sistanis website has been very helpful, and I tend to refer to his judgement for consistency, but is there anything in the west or online where one can get a foundation on Shia fiqh? (Since I live in America, going to Iraq or Iran really is not an option for now.)

salam, I am a convert from canada and i was looking to expand my knowledge and going to study in a hawza. i only speak english, french and really basic arabic, would the hawza still be suitable for me? where could i develop my knowledge better najaf, qom? would other hawza be more suitable for me? Thank you

Salaam alaikum I am a revert to Shia Islam (reverted three years ago at the time of writing this). I was hoping to get in touch with fellow reverts, be it from UK (where I live) or abroad. Just to share stories, network, make friends and help each other out with common revert issues. Moral support and things like that. I had set up my own website called Revert Hub, which helps reverts learn about the basics of Islam and share their stories. Unfortunately, I did not have time to maintain it but iA I might restart it depending if reverts think, something like that would help them. On the other hand, if something with a similar concept of Revert Hub does exist, please let me know, as there is little need for me to reinvent the wheel and if another thread like this one exists. I could not find anything. thanks!

Salaam Alaikum sisters and brothers, I come here for explaining about my situation and see other people opinion about my case, I am a 20 y.o guy born in Barcelona, Spain. My background comes from a catholic- but not practicant nor religous family. About 2 years ago I started to become interested about Islam and started to make my own research into in on the net, etc. I also visited a Sunni mosque in Barcelona, where they explained me basis of Islam and some of their Sunni traditions. On a travel to a North European country, I get to know an Afghan girl (Shia muslim) working on her family market, and I showed her my interest on her religion and asked some of my questions about it, she helped me with my issues and yea. I kind of liked the way she was explaining me about her religion, and we kept in contact with each other when I went back to my home city. We became closer and closer with each other, talked about personal life, family, and of course, the religion. About a year ago, I went back to that country, and there, after a year of research about Islam, and figuring out about my beliefs, I became a muslim in the Imam Ali Mosque (largest Shia mosque in Europe). The Imam taught me maaany many things during my stay, I spent lot of my time in the mosque, talking with other brothers, etc. After converting to Muslim, at the begining when I was back home, I was praying on my room, and my family didn't really know anything about about my conversion, since I knew talking or explaining about this to them would be something difficult for them. But I had to explain about all this when Ramadan came, because I wanted to fast and perform it. So I had a serious talk with my family and explained everything about my conversion, about Islam and that I wanted to do Ramadan. At the first days it was very very difficult for them to understand it, and we had many fights and a not so-good atmosphere at home, but after some time, it all kind of normalised for them. The Afghan girl I met was always a support for me, we always was in contact with each other, and really really helped me in the difficult moments with my family, as well as I was a support for her, we was talking a lot, helping with school issues, talking about our families, daily things, everything. And we "fell in love" with each other. She of course keeps everything about me in secret with her family, and they don't know anything about me, she talks with me hiding the headsets, or deletes the conversations, and keeps everything hidden since sometimes her brothers check her phone. She is 19 years old, and originally from Afghanistan, but has been living in Europe with her family for more than 15 years. She is Hazara Afghan, in case this helps. She is the only daughter in the family and has 6 brothers. The issue comes when we start to think about future, about being together and about the difficulties we might have. She says her family is pretty restrictive and her dad has even told her that he would like her to marry with some of her cousins, but she of course refuses to that. She says that the family can refuse her to marry with a Spanish guy instead of an Afghan one, or a Spanish guy who converted to islam without a muslim family, and yea.. I would like to know your thought about all this, if know some case about reverted man marrying a muslim woman, and if had issues with that. Because it's common to see marriages betwen converted woman and muslim man, but not the opposite.. Or if there is someone that knows about the Afghan traditions and could advice me with that, or give me their own oppinion. --- We have met with each other because I've travelled to her city 2 times after meeting her for the first time, we didn't just see each other one time. --- On the mosque, I got to know an Afghan man, and he resulted to be an Imam when he was in Afghanistan, as well he has been Imam in Iran and Dubai. We have become close to each other, explained me afghan traditions, and he has also helped me a lot with my Islam questions. I exposed to him my situation with the afghan girl, and he said that he could come with me and my family the day that I decide to go ask for her hand to her family. -- Will this help be very helpful? Sorry for the long post, but felt like I had to explain it long so it could be understood, if you have any question, or something is not clear at all, be open to ask. Thanks for your attention, Daniel

Young Greek teacher converts to Islam in Razavi Holy Shrine (AhlulBayt News Agency) - Coincident with the birthday of Hazrat Masoumeh (A.S.), the Greek teacher converted to Islam in the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.). The young Greek teacher influenced by his Muslim students converted to Islam. "I grew up in a Christian religious family and I always had questions that I did not find their answers," Gracious, 34, from Philadelphia, said about changing his religion. "Many students in my schools are Muslim immigrants, and relationship with them caused that a window to the facts opened for me", he continued. Stating that the lifestyle and behavior of these children gave me a great lesson, the Muslim convert added, "This friendly relationship with the students brought me a lot of advantages and made me familiar with the religion of Islam and the Shi’ite in particular.” "With respect that most of these immigrants have migrated illegally to Greece, they live in difficult conditions yet they keep trying to learn," said Gracious. The Greek young man emphasized, “This effort is rooted in their deep inner religious beliefs and their faith in God, the One for whom they perform prayer every day to talk with, and fast in the hot and long days of the summer.” Noting that Christians have a specific day and place to speak with God and pray, he added, "But Muslims do not have special time or place to worship, unlike Christians who worship only in the church, and they can supplicate with God at any moment and this is the greatest advantage of Islam.” "I believe Islam is a peaceful religion and tries to have a good relationship with all", the Greek teacher stated. He expressed satisfaction that the Greek government has promised to construct a mosque in Greece, and added, “Despite the opposition of the Greek Orthodox Church, I hope that the doors of the mosque will be opened to the Greek Muslims in the future.” "I'm glad that on such a day and place I converted to Shi’ite Islam. I ask Reza (A.S.) for a beautiful and peaceful life. Noting that today the extensive domination of media over the world does not allow for keeping relationship with other countries, Muhammad Jawad Hasheminejad said, “The imperialism-running media do not allow people to have good relations with each other; yet, the same media have enabled the people of countries to communicate with each other and learn about one another’s culture.” He stressed that in this turbulent space, the media can be an effective means of showing the facts to other countries and revealing the reality of Islam to all. It is notable that at the end of the ceremony, a volume of Qur’an and several religious books were donated to this Muslim convert by the Management of the Non-Iranian Pilgrims of Astan Quds Razavi. http://en.abna24.com/news/iran/young-greek-teacher-converts-to-islam-in-razavi-holy-shrine_844474.html

(bismillah) Assalamualikum. My husband and I are new to Shia Islam, and we have some questions about fasting. I have looked around this forum at similar posts and only grown more confused, so if someone could please spell out the answers clearly, that would be wonderful. 1. I will be traveling in the Middle East for 10 days this Ramadan. Is it okay if I do not fast those 10 days (and make up the fasts later)? 2. For the rest of Ramadan and beyond, I will be working in New York City. My daily commute is 2 hours by train each way, plus some time on the subway. I read something about 30km being the limit for traveling while fasting, and if that limit is exceeded, fasts become invalid. Is that true? Do I really have to not fast because of my long commute? What are the rules for fasting while traveling? 3. My husband is an Uber driver. His work hours are 10pm-7am. He is constantly driving for all of the shift. Would his fasts be invalid? What should he do if that is the case? We can't just not work for the entirety of Ramadan. 4. Before I became Shia, I had converted to a different denomination of Islam from atheism a few years before, and I could never fast all of Ramadan because my body got too sick to function. After a few weeks I would give up on fasting and instead donate a lot of food to the local soup kitchen. Is that permissible in Shia Islam? Should we just donate food in place of fasting because we have to be traveling constantly during Ramadan? 5. How do prayers work on a plane? I've never had to deal with praying while changing time zones before. Jazakallah khair in advance!

Hello all, I hope this is the right area to post in. I've been on the path to find God my whole life, Islam has always held a particular draw to me which I felt was unique. But I only knew about Sunni Islam and it became unappealing, it felt slightly alien to me. So I put Islam off, but to put it simply, I was introduced to Twelver Shia Islam later in life and looked into it. I started to read books such as 'A Shi'ite Creed' by Shaykh as-Saduq, Al-Kafi, Nahjul Balagah, and so much of the truths within these immediately clicked with me. They are things which I had already came to the conclusion of on my personal "journey" Ive intensely been on since I was a very young child. Now conversion feels like a path which I really would like to pursue, but my issue is there are no Muslim communities here. The nearest one is over an hour and they are Sunni. I don't mind not having a community around always, but I have trouble learning the practical sides of things on my own unless it's done in my own way. I can and will understand the deep aspects of things which many may at first struggle with or not even pursue, yet the practical aspects, like how to properly pray, (I do not speak Arabic etc) what if I don't teach myself the right ways and since there is no Shia community here to learn from, and I am limited at leaving,I fear I would have no one to correct me and so I would be doing it wrong for perhaps years.. I am very sincere on these things and in seeking a conversion, and in many ways already feel parts of me are Shia when I connect so well with the wisdom that's been revealed to me, yet why do I struggle at learning the "simple" things? What should I do to properly learn & conduct "practial" aspects of being Shia when I would be entirely on my own? Thank you for your considerations on my issue, I wish you all good thoughts on God and wise actions.

I want to revert to Shia islam please help me wit the procedure. [Mod Note: Personal information was removed.]

Assalamualaikum, I am a new convert to Shia Islam. I have some questions about menstruation and salat. 1. Do we have to make up salat missed during menstruation, or is dhikr during the time of menstruation sufficient? 2. My period is very irregular, sometimes lasting full months at a time. Do I just not do salat for months? Or is there a time when it becomes permissible to do salat during menstruation? Thank you.