Islam 101 - a year later

...and still plugging away...

On April 1 of last year we had the first "Islam 101" class at my masjid. I helped coordinate the class in response to so many people saying we need a class for new converts.

We watch them say shahadah and then never do anything for them, never
follow up...

Say my fellow Muslims time and time again. Well, I do what I can, and so for a year I've been struggling to keep the class afloat, to publicize it and increase attendance, which has been tough because it's usually just two or three students (including me) there every Saturday. Some weeks there were no students, and some weeks no teacher. The class should have been one of those masjid projects doomed to die of inertia and lack of interest, but I've insisted on keeping the class going because it's needed. Even if just one or two people can be helped by it, that's a blessing for them and for us.

Today we had two new students, a woman and her teenage daughter who found out about the class on a web site where it was publicized, probably houstonmuslims.com, although she can't remember for sure. The woman recently married a Pakistani brother and converted to Islam before they got married. A couple months ago she said she suddenly really felt it - that Islam was right and she wanted to learn more and do more. Subhanallah. It's our fitrah - and when it's reawakened it is indeed a great feeling. Anyway, her daughter is inclined to also embrace Islam but the mom wants her to be really sure it's what she wants and that she understands it.

Our teacher reviewed tawheed, they asked some questions, and after he left we talked a bit and then they came to the prayer hall with me for asr. Neither of them knows how to pray, so they first followed along with me as I prayed my two rakat and then the three of us stood for the formal prayer and again they followed along. They were so happy! I gave them both the children's prayer and wudu books we use so they can look them over and I'll go over salat with them at next week's class.

Amazingly, when we were talking after class she said, "What's your last name?" When I told her, she said, "You have a blog, right? And you're opening a bookstore?" I was so thrilled...she said she had been to the LOI web site, although I think it was actually this blog, and had even called the phone number, although it wasn't connected yet. I don't even recall the weird ways that she found me in two different places but again, the qadr of Allah. Anyway, she enthusiastically agreed that something like LOI is absolutely needed. She had to search quite a bit before she found Islam 101. I worry that many converts or other interested people never have.