Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

i have a question regarding getting converted to ISLAM  i have a friend who is a punjabi ,wanhts to get converted to islam ,since he wants to marry a bohri girl.  is it right to do so? what are the general procedures in doing this,like MISAK etc?  please reply soon

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Answer:

Punjabi convert to bohra

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

To enter Islam, one has to simply declare the testification: I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah Subhanah Alone, and I bear witness that Mohamed (saws) is the Slave and Last Messenger of Allah.

Once, a person declares the above testification without any force or pressure and of his own free will, he will be considered a ‘legal’ muslim, and immediately all the rights that are due to a believer will be granted to him; like marriage with another muslim, burial in a muslim cemetery, etc.

Thus if your friend is a pagan, and wants to convert to Islam only to marry a muslim girl, there is nothing stopping him from doing so in this world. We, as human beings, can only determine what the person declares. Allah Subhanah Alone knows what is in the heart of the person and He Alone will decide and reward the True Believers on the Day of Judgement. But this friend must also realize, that above all is Allah, and He knows the inner-most secrets of our hearts. If he declares the testification to enter Islam, he in fact is making an oath of allegiance to Allah with this testification; and there are some duties and responsibilities which one has to fulfill to honor this oath. If he honors the oath, believes and does righteous deeds as commanded in the Quran and Sunnah, he will be successful in this world and in the hereafter. But if he dishonors the oath, and takes the oath only to marry a muslim girl; he may be successful in marrying the girl, but in the hereafter he will obviously have a very severe accounting.

Other than the declaration of the oath or testification, there is nothing more your friend has to do to enter Islam. This testification is in itself a ‘meethak’ or covenant that a person makes to enter Islam.

If the muslim girl sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, and knows for sure that the only reason the person is taking the oath of allegiance is to marry her and has no intention of fulfilling the oath, she should abstain from marrying the person. Although if the person takes the oath and declares the testification, the marriage with the muslim girl will be legal in the eyes of the world; but in the Court of Allah, there will be a severe accounting.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan