The process towards conversion varies from person to person, but the act of conversion is the same for each convert – it is to believe in (internal component) and say (external component) the testimony of faith:
There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.
Saying the testimony of faith is usually done formally, and is called the Shahada. When a person wants to say their declaration of faith, we say they are “taking their shahada”. It is normally done in the presence of witnesses, and can be conducted by an Imam or other religious leader.
Converting with Benevolence
Benevolence has conducted many beautiful and peaceful Shahada ceremonies for converts. Converts are welcome to come alone, or bring any family or friends with them. Taking one’s shahada is a simple process of saying (and believing) the declaration of faith in front of witnesses. You may say it in English and Arabic and we will guide you through this process.
If you are interested in taking your shahada and converting to Islam, please contact Benevolence to discuss this, and hear more about the process.
Following your Shahada, we can also offer you a printed Shahada certificate, signed by your witnesses and verifying your conversion to the faith. Thanks to generous Zakat donations from our community, we also offer resources including gift packs, prayer resources and Islamic books to new converts who take Shahada with us.
Benevolence Shahada Certificates
Benevolence Convert Gift Packs
Our Convert Programs are supported by your Zakat donations
Convert stories and experiences
Malcolm X Autobiography
Malcolm X, Alex Haley
Malcolm X’s blazing, legendary autobiography, completed shortly before his assassination in 1965, depicts a remarkable life: a child born into rage and despair, who turned to street-hustling and cocaine in the Harlem ghetto, followed by prison, where he converted to the Black Muslims and honed the energy and brilliance that made him one of the most important political figures of his time – and an icon in ours. It also charts the spiritual journey that took him beyond militancy, and led to his murder, a powerful story of transformation, redemption and betrayal.
The Road To Mecca
Muhammad Asad
In this extraordinary and beautifully-written autobiography, Asad tells of his initial rejection of all institutional religions, his entree into Taoism, his fascinating travels as a diplomat, and finally his embrace of Islam.
Even Angels Ask
Jeffrey Lang
Drawing on his personal experiences as a Muslim, Professor Lang discusses conflicts between faith and reason, obstacles in converting to Islam, extremism within some Muslim communities and future outlook for American Muslims.
Daughters of Another Path
Carol A. & Carol L. Anway
The rapid growth of Islam in America is a current phemonemom. Why are our American daughters leaving their Christiam backgrounds and choosing Islam, a religion that requires discipline, submission, and being “different?” Daughters of Another Path reveals some of the reasons and thought processes that led these daughters into a new journey in their spiritual life.
Struggling to Surrender: Some Impressions of an American Convert to Islam
Jeffrey Lang
In this book Professor Lang gives a very personal account of his search for God when he found out that his inherited religious beliefs could no longer answer his questions. A chance encounter led him to Islam. But now, how does he adapt to his new community, its beliefs and lifestyle?
The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman’s Journey to Love and Islam
G Willow Wilson
The Butterfly Mosque, journalist G. Willow Wilson’s remarkable story of converting to Islam and falling in love with an Egyptian man in a volatile post?9/11 world, was praised as ?an eye-opening look at a misunderstood and often polarizing faith” (Booklist) and ?a tremendously heartfelt, healing crosscultural fusion” (Publishers Weekly).
Inspired by her experience during a college Islamic Studies course, Wilson, who was raised an atheist, decides to risk everything to convert to Islam and embark on a fated journey across continents and into an uncertain future. She settles in Cairo, where she attempts to submerge herself in a culture based on her adopted religion and where she meets Omar, a man with a mild resentment of the Western influences in his homeland. They begin a daring relationship that calls into question the very nature of family, belief, and tradition. Torn between the secular West and Muslim East, Wilson records her intensely personal struggle to forge a ?third culture” that might accommodate her values without compromising them or the friends and family on both sides of the divide.
Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law
Ahmad Ibn Naqib al-Misri
This is a classic manual of fiqh rulings based on Shafi”i School of jurisprudence and includes original Arabic texts and translations from classic works of prominent Muslim scholars such as al Ghazali, al Nawawi, al Qurtubi, al Dhahabi and others. It is an indispensable reference for every Muslim or student of Islam who needs to research on Islamic rulings on daily Muslim life.
