Expectations

One of the biggest mistakes that new Muslims tend to make is to have unrealistic expectations. We have found this amazing religion which we want to follow with all our heart. We decide to leave everything that we've known our whole lives to live this new life as a Muslim. It is unknown territory which can be very difficult, especially if we go through it alone. Many people will desert their own family when their family members accept Islam. This leaves the new Muslims all alone without the support that they need. What makes it worse is that it's often very hard to find the right support from their community. This leads to a lot of issues and problems.

I think one of the biggest problems that arise is the issue of high expectations. We have changed our life which is usually in a very unfamiliar manner than what we are used to. Once we have tasted this new way of life, we want it all at once. We tend to leap too quickly into the matter of knowledge. Sometimes we compare ourselves with our fellow Muslims. We may be the same age as our sisters and brothers in Islam, but in reality we are newborns into this religion. We want to know everything that they know and we often forget that it's not how much we know, but how we use that knowledge in our lives. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Convey from me even if one ayah (verse) for it may be that the one being informed will comprehend better that the one listening (at present)." (Al-Bukhari).

If we push ourselves to learn too quickly, we will either learn nothing or we will become discouraged. Allah (SWT) has made our religion not of hardships and barriers but of ease and encouragement. He has given us a complete way of life in Islam, not just a few rules or sayings. Islam circles every part of a Muslim’s life. It is what pushes us in our moral decisions, our choices, our family life, our personality, and our character. This cannot be learned all at once. Even if we study day and night for the rest of our lives, we will never learn it all. With this in mind, we can’t push ourselves so hard to learn that we forget why we are learning in the first place; to be closer to Allah (SWT) and to obey him. Aiming high is a good thing at times, but other times it can be harmful to our determination and our want to learn. The best thing we can do is figure out what we want to learn and why we want to learn it. Once that is known, then we should pace ourselves so that we aren’t just reading and studying instead of learning. Allah rewards for intention. Keep your intention pure and go from there. Don’t let your new way of life discourage you in the least. It’s a lot to deal with, but it’s possible as long as we have a drive pushing us to become good Muslims. As long as we have this desire to be the best we can, we will continue to grow in Islam. If we lose that drive, we will lose this beautiful way of life that Allah (SWT) has blessed us with.