Assalām ‘alaykum [Peace be upon you],
Welcome to the bliss of Islam, the religion[2] of Truth. We ask Allah to bless you in this life and the next, and to make your journey to Him easy.
Allah says in the Qurʾān:
“He is the one Who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the religion of Truth to make it manifest over all other religions.” [At-Tawbah 9:33]
“Whoever Allah wants to guide, He opens his heart to Islam.” [Al-Anʿām 6:125]
“Whoever desires other than Islam as a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.” [Āl-ʿImrān 3:85]
INTRODUCTION
Now that you have embraced the faith and accepted salvation, all praise be to Allah, you must have many questions, and maybe even concerns. The purpose of this guide is to make things easy and clear for you, and to put you in the right direction so that you can stand up in this world as a confident Muslim, proud of your Islam and prepared to deal with challenges that will come your way while constantly turning to your Lord for assistance, seeking His forgiveness, and asking Him to shower His mercy upon you in this life and the next.
Let us now look at the benefits of embracing Islam and accepting salvation:
* All previous sins have been wiped out and all previous good deeds have been validated and recorded.
This means that whatever good deeds you have done in your life have been recorded, and you will be rewarded for them, insha’Allah (Allah willing). As for all your sins, they have been wiped away. Allah has now given you the opportunity to start afresh.
* You now have a direct relationship with your Lord. Allah says:
“And when my slaves ask you [Muḥammad g[3]] about Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the call of the caller when he calls on Me, so let them respond to Me, and let them believe in Me, so that they may be rightly guided.” [Al-Baqara 2:186]
Call on Allah at any time. Ask Him to make things easy for you, to guide you, to fill your heart with love for Islam, love for Allah, and love for the final Prophet, Muḥammad g. If you have just recently said the Shahādah, it is highly recommended at this time that you make lots of supplication (duʿā) to Allah. This will help you build your relationship with Him, and you will start to feel Allah working in your life. Allah also says:
“Is there doubt in Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth? He calls on you in order to forgive you your sins, and He gives you respite until an appointed time.” [Ibrahim 14:10]
* You will see Allah in the Hereafter, and be admitted into Paradise.
Allah says: “Faces radiant on that day, looking at their Lord.” [Al-Qiyāma 75:22-23]
This is the most awesome reward, and cannot be comprehended or understood by our limited human minds. Seeing Allah in the Paradise is the exclusive reward of the believers, and cannot be compared to any pleasure that we know of or don’t know of.
