بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
In February 2013 I converted to islam. I have been trying my best to life according to an islamic lifestyle ever since. Of course, as with everything in this life, there have been many struggles and difficulties. In this post I would like to talk about the things I found necessary to have in my life as a recent muslim convert.
Quran
Needless to say, the first thing I bought was a Quran. This is probably a thing you already have in your house before you convert because you want to read the Quran before converting, at least I did. You might want to look into getting a translation of the Quran in your native language first, since most of us don't speak Arabic. And even if you do speak Arabic, the Quran is written in classical Arabic, which is quite hard to understand. A few translations that might be worth looking into are the Sahih International and the Muhsin Khan translations.
Prayer rug
Once you convert to islam, you probably want to start praying. This is why I recommend buying a prayer rug. They are really not that expensive and you can get great use out of it.
When I started praying I was very confused about the different prayers there were and what time to do which. That's why I installed an app on my computer as well as on my phone to help me with the prayer times. For my computer I got an app called Guidance from Batoul Apps. For my phone I downloaded the Muslim Pro app. Muslim Pro is an app that helps you with prayer times, location of the Qibla, and has an audio Quran feature.
Scarves and pins
As a female muslim convert I made the decision to cover. For other female (convert) muslims this decision is probably one you need to make at one point of your life. When you do decide to cover yourself, you need some supplies to do so properly.
The first thing that is essential for covering up is some sort of scarf. You can choose whatever you like, as long as it doesn't show what is beneath it. Personally I have a preference for viscose scarves and pashmina's but sometimes I also wear al-amirah hijabs. For comfort you might also want to look into underscarves, these can be bought online but the easiest place to find them (for me, at least) is at markets or small islamic stores.
When you cover your head with a scarf, it's necessary that you pin it down because otherwise it won't stay without slipping for an entire day. You can pin your scarves down with safety pins and straight pins, both available at sewing stores and online.
Islamic clothing
When you convert to islam, you probably have heard of the way a muslim should dress. At the very least, most people are familiar with the way a woman should cover up. But for a man as well, there are some clothing rules. Clothing shouldn't be too tight, and it should cover up specific parts of your body. I will write another post on this later.
What I found quite easy to wear are maxi skirts, blouses, loose fitting T-shirts with a long sleeve top underneath.
Research material
When I was new to islam I wanted to learn more about the religion. I read a lot about it so I could learn new stuff. I bought books, I looked on youtube and I visited sites online. I will list the things that helped me most down below.
How to Pray by Mustafa Umar
The Muslim Woman's Handbook by Huda Khattab
Lecture videos from Mufti Menk
Videos from ChelseyHijabLove
Videos from The Daily Reminder
Muslim friends
Now I know that I'm saying Muslim friends, but any friend that is supportive and understanding will do. Muslim friends are mentioned only because they can, especially when you're new to islam, help you with your questions, take you to the mosque, explain certain principles to you and help you with finding trustworthy information about islam.
Besides all those things, you are going to need friends by your side that can and will support you while you are going through a difficult time - since it's not easy to tell people you converted to islam, especially not these days.
I hope my explanations were clear and understandable, and you have gotten some insight about what things are convenient for new muslim converts.
May peace, mercy and blessings from Allah be upon you
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