Feeling Alone

Welcome to Islamicity, and what a completely fascinating story. In the early days of the religion of Islam there were people who had faith in Islam and kept it hidden. Also, those who secretly converted without revealing this to their family out of fear. Islam is to testify that you believe there is no god worthy of worship but the creator of the heavens and earth, and all that is between (Allah), and that Muhammad is His Prophet and Messenger. Go ahead and make this declaration and you will enter the fold of Islam. It isn't necessary to tell anyone about your conversion. You can then begin learning how to pray, and moreover, pray for your husband as well. I suggest that you also begin studying for the New Jersey Bar Exam, which will allow for having marketable skills should the need arise in the future. Take things one step at a time, but by all means be proactive, wise and deliberate. Concentrate more on the pursuit and acquisition of your goals and worry less about broadcasting or telling others. All the best to you, as you sound like a truly wonderful person.

This is a testing situation; however, Allah does not put burden upon us more than what we can bear.

We definitely don't want to shatter your family, your daughter is the utmost importance here, and as you have said it correctly, the ideal situation would be that your husband accepts Islam and Inshallah things will fall into the right place.

So,
First off, we never know when does the death take our soul away from this world so NEVER DIE NON-MUSLIM. As abuaiysha said, declare the shahada and become a believer. Practice whatever Islamic things you can and don't make it too hard on yourself as it's the beginning, and keep doing the good deeds to even out with the mistakes. The goal is, if you leave this world unplanned and unscheduled, you take the emaan in your heart with you Insha-allah.

The biggest challenge you will have now is the Unislamic jurisprudence of being a Muslim female married to a non-Muslim. This is definitely a big No, No. So to counter that you will need to either start a direct (and very polite) talk to your husband, OR make a plan.

Option 1.

Here is what I think of a plan. Find a good female Muslim friend who is married. Share you situation and story with her and plan to invite her family to your home as often as your can, and also take your family to her home as much as possible. Her husband has to be part of the plan. The idea is to get your husband more exposed to inside of an Islamic family environment and values so he may appreciate the good things (dress code - prayers - good manners - no alcohol - respect for parents - worshiping one God etc), it is also VERY important that you keep praying to Allah for your husband to be accepted in Islam.

Once your husband is more comfortable in the Islamic environment, perhaps then you can start talking to him by appreciating the Islamic values and manners - who knows if Allah opens up his heart.

So in this way, you actually played your part and you tried your best. If it doesn't happen then perhaps you can tell him that you want to become a Muslim, what are your thoughts?
If he is ready to become a Muslim just to stay with you, even then you don't lose hope and start working on him by taking the kid to mosque and getting him along with you. Who knows if Masjid's environment and getting social with other Muslims opens up his heart?

If he is not ready at all then you will have to take the inevitable step and part your ways by trusting Allah. Inshallah Allah will bless you with an even better situation.

But if you just shun him then he will never get a chance of getting dawah (invitation to Islam) from you. So the idea is, you played your part, you did your effort and you did dua for him - it's now up to Allah whether Allah gives him Hidayah or not. We will also pray for you and him, and Inshallah only good will come out of it.

I am in NY and it's a little far for our families to get social or else I would have had you talk to my wife to make this plan. You both would have been a good match to each other as she is a physician and you are a lawyer - aren't we husbands the lucky one here? lol haha :)

But yes, I do have a good friend who lives in Paterson NJ. He and his wife are involved in Dawah and Tableegh. I may talk to him if you choose this route.

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Option 2.

We don't know your exact situation but option 2 is somewhat along the same lines of what Abu Loren said.

IF you think you can manage on your own for yourself and for your daughter, and IF you have a feeling that you have already tried your best with your Husband about Islamic Dawah and he won't accept it, then.

1. Say the Shahada in privacy - No need to to announce it to anyone
2. Immediately file for divorce and move out with your daughter.

In this case the judge or your husband does not know that you have changed your religion and this is the reason why you want to separate, so the kid stays with you after the separation.
Once divorce is signed off, you can publicly announce Shahada, and move close to a Masjid area where you and your kid could easily stay connected with the community.


Either way, stay in touch with us here and Inshallah we will find a way.




Edited by ll0OoO0ll - 30 April 2014 at 10:20am

Your question requires specificity, however generally speaking, it is not a sin to live with a non-Muslims provided certain conditions are met.

abuayisha wrote: The decision of the European fatwa and research council allowing a wife to remain with her non-Muslim husband was the most important decisions made in the eighth meeting of the council held July 18-22, 2001, in the Spanish city of Valencia. The meeting was headed by Dr. Youssef Al-Qardawi, president of the council. Al-Qardawi explains, "according to the schools of Islamic Shari�a [law] a Muslims woman can marry only a Muslim. This is a point on which all the scholars agreed. Another point of disagreements was that whether the woman should stay with her non-Muslim husband if she decided to join Islam." ... "In my opinion allowing them to stay with their husbands, which agrees with the Qur�an and is supported by opinions of Ali Ibn Abi-Taleb, goes with the needs of new Muslim women in non-Muslim lands, especially if they have children from that marriage... It may disagree with what many scholars are familiar with. But it does have bases in Islam." Counselor sheikh Feisal Mawlawi, vice-president of the council elaborates, "This study is limited to a woman living in a non-Muslim country... and decided to join Islam while her husband will remain non-Muslim... First, if the husband is not a person she is allowed to marry in Islam, i.e. a brother or else, the marriage is broken immediately... Other than that, there are bases in Islam to let her stay with him..."

Jazak Allah ya Sheikh.
I have a question here for my own understanding. Does the husband in this case has to be from the "Ahl-e-Kitab" (Christian or Jewish) or he could be from any religion or even atheist or agnostic?