Online Resources for New Muslims
Find Information Relating to Islam through these Websites
Here is easy access to information pertaining to Islamic practices, movements and salient issues affecting Muslims around the world.
New Muslims or Muslim reverts may find it difficult to access information about their new religion, especially if they are living in a non-Muslim majority country. Here are some websites that are rich with information pertaining to Islamic creed and practices; the ideal Islamic lifestyle; Islamic history and Qur'anic resources; and contemporary issues affecting Muslims worldwide. In fact, many born Muslims may benefit from these websites as they provide opportunities to learn about Islam regardless of one's background. Islam Online (IOL) is a popular website due to its interactivity with visitors. Its visitors include Muslims (born and new), as well as those who are interested in learning about Islam. IOL is a gold-mine of information, with staff writers covering Muslim interests worldwide - from America to Asia, from Africa to Australia. Those who visit IOL may find the amount of information within the site rather overwhelming as news is updated almost immediately.
New Muslims will mostly benefit from their question and answer segments: "Ask The Scholar" and "Ask About Islam". It is possible to submit questions to IOL to request an Islamic ruling (fatwa) or further information about a topic of interest. But due to the sheer volume of questions this can take time. Fortunately, IOL runs weekly dialogues with scholars and prominent Muslims who engage in social work - these provide avenues for visitors to ask questions with regard to the topic at hand.
Besides that, there are plenty of educational articles that relate to the important aspects of Islam: prayer and worship, marriage and family, work and education, the Islamic dresscode and other important issues.
Islam 101 is an extremely simple website to read on the surface. It provides the basic information about Islam with all relevant quotations from the Qur'an and the Prophetic sayings. Its messages are simple and eloquently written. Within the pages however, there are plenty of articles (through links on the page) that will allow the reader to read and understand futher. This is a well-structured website that allows new Muslims to learn at their own pace. Generally, Islam 101 talks about theology, human relations, selected disciplines that fall under Islam purview and comparative religion. Islam 101 also offers downloadable educational material in the form of Microsoft Word and Power Point presentations.
Islam.About.Com sits on About.com, an online information hub. The column is written by Sister Huda who has contributed plenty of articles relating to Islam. Her articles fall under topics of basic beliefs, history, Islamic law, politics and family, to name a few. There is plenty of information here and the articles are written to communicate directly with the lay-man; therefore, all of them are easy to understand, visualise and put into practice. For those who are a keen follower of Sister Huda's work, subscribing to her articles is possible, as it is for all other contributors to About.com.
Islamicity is another website that is jam-packed with information. Besides the news, the website is geared to educating the reader on the salient issues of today's world and how they affect practising Muslims. Thes would include issues in Islamic finance, multimedia and science. It is very much a lifestyle website where plenty of services are offered by Islamic providers. For example, there are plenty of learning facilities for those interested in acquiring fluency in the Arabic language. There is even a shopping bazaar within the site with gifts, books, art and digital devices all with the Islamic bend.
