Islamic Online University

The New Muslim Course - The First Day

Islamic
Online
University
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 Islamic Online University

The New Muslim Course - The First Day

The New Muslim Course

(The First Day)

By Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips

Hiding Islam

Module 10

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 Islamic Online University

The New Muslim Course - The First Day

Hiding Islam
You have converted to Islam and you might have found strong opposition from your
family. Perhaps they might have even threatened you with physical violence, expulsion
from the home, or cancelling your educational allowance.
All sorts of physical, monetary, and psychological threats can be there. Perhaps your
spouse might have threatened you with divorce, and this might have caused you or
others to back off the idea of accepting Islam, even though you have realized that Islam
is the truth.
Now you have taken the first step, youve become a Muslim. But there are some threats
in the background. The question is, do you have to go and tell your family, your wife, or
your husband that you have accepted Islam, or can you keep it secret? Can you do that?
Yes. It is better if you are able to come out and deal with the issue, but if you dont feel
strong enough, you are in a vulnerable position and you feel safer if you just keep it from
them for some time, then it is permissible to hide your Islam from them. However, you
should be known amongst Muslims as a Muslim, so that they can be of benefit to you.
That is why we have the conversion done publicly, so that you are known in the Muslim
community. So if somebody sees you being harmed somewhere, or somehow they hear
about it, they can come to your aid. They can help you.
If nobody knows that youre a Muslim, then how can you get help when needed?
Therefore, if you fear for your future, your physical or mental self, or your economic
situation, then you may hide your Islam from your non-Muslim relatives, workmates,
and classmates, or people in the country where you live. It is permissible to practice
Islam secretly; not preferable, but permissible.
Also, if your life is in danger and you could get killed, then it is preferable for you to hide
it. If you do expose it and you die because of it, of course that is a death of a martyr and
that is a great thing. But the average person is not able to make that type of step, and
Islam permits him to hide his Islam.
There was a case in the time of the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, where
some of his companions went to Ethiopia in order to escape the oppression and cruelty
which was being imposed on the Muslims in Makkah. By living and practicing Islam
there, the ruler of Ethiopia, Najashi, or the Negus, converted to Islam, but he kept it
secret from his people.

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When Muslims came back from Ethiopia, they joined the rest of the Muslim community
in Madeenah. One day, they were informed by the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon
him, through angel Gabriel from Allaah that the Negus had died. He had died, and of
course people didnt know he was a Muslim. So, they buried him as a Christian. The
Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, called the people of Madeenah and told them
to make the funeral prayer, salatul janazah, for their brother in Ethiopia, the Najashi,
who had died. So he hid his Islam and the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him,
approved it.
However, if there happens to be other issues arising from hiding your Islam over time,
then it may be necessary for you to reveal it. As was the case where one couple in the
Emirates came to me, and they accepted Islam and hid it from their families who were
Hindus, for about two years. But now that the wife was pregnant and about to deliver,
her mother-in-law was choosing names for the coming child, obviously Hindu names.
They were wondering what they could do now, because if they gave their child a Muslim
name, this was going to expose their Islam. So they asked whether it was permissible
even now to continue to hide it and accept a Hindu name for their child while not
believing in it and later on change it.
Generally I would say 'no, the time has now come for you to inform your family.' But if
they are going to kill you, I would say, 'Ok, accept the Hindu name and change it later on
when you can as you mentioned.' But in this case, the couple were in the UAE, so there
was no threat to their lives. It was just a matter of the family being upset, and of course
when they informed the family that they would give the child a Muslim name, they
became shocked and asked why.
They said, Because we are Muslims. Their family was devastated. The mother was in
tears and the father was cursing them. Of course it was very tough for them and they
even wondered whether they should remain Muslims; whether they made the right
choice or not. Of course, these questions may arise. However, know that you did make
the right choice, regardless of people being hurt, etc. It is better for them to be hurt in
this life than for you to be hurt in the next; hurt in a way which will be far more severe
than any hurt that your family will feel in this life. So it was better for you to accept
Islam.
Usually a new child tends to bring people together. Sometimes it doesnt. There might
be some parents who say that they dont even want to see or know anything about the
child. You may have some extreme parents like this that exist as well. But we ask God
that this not be your case if you are in a state of hiding your Islam.

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However, you have to be prepared for anything and everything that could occur. And we
know basically that ultimately whatever we suffer in this life, whether its psychological
or physical harm, if were patient with it, then God rewards us for it. He purifies us of sin
as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him said, Even if you step on a thorn and
the thorn sticks into your foot and there is pain there and you are patient with it, it
removes sin.
So in Islam, we have a different perspective on the issue of pain, and that is why we try
to avoid the overuse of, and even addiction to, pain killing drugs, especially at the end of
ones life, or for one who may be suffering from cancer. We dont take drugs which will
just numb us to the world around us to the point where we dont even know whats
going on. In western medicine, pain must be masked. Whenever a pain comes, you
have to cover it. So they will give you all kinds of narcotic drugs just to mask that pain,
and you become nonfunctional; you become like a zombie. In Islam, we dont do that.
You can take some painkillers to keep the pain down, but not to the point where you
become a vegetable and you can no longer pray.
If God has given you time, although it may be painful time, you still have time to pray, to
purify yourself, and to renew your connection with God before you leave this world. So
we dont look at pain as being something intrinsically evil. In fact, pain is a way your
body tells you that something is wrong. Some people dont feel pain. They have certain
illnesses where they dont feel pain at all. This is something very dangerous, because you
can end up damaging or hurting yourself and not even know it.
To feel pain is a protective component which God has put into our bodies to protect us
from harm. So pain is actually a good thing. Too much pain of course can be a bad
thing. But as I said, if were patient with it, it purifies us from sin. Therefore, we dont
think in terms of euthanasia. Some people say, My life is painful, its not worth living!
If you cannot enjoy life, it is not worth living, so you should have to kill yourself, suicide.
Actually, you have people who advocate it (suicide), and people doing it, because they
dont understand the true purpose of life.
They think life is just for fun. If its not fun, entertaining, and enjoyable, then it is not
worth living at all. This is a misunderstanding of what life is about. This is not our
perspective. Not that we become masochistic, that we love pain, or we go looking for
pain. Thats an extreme opposite. We dont go there either. The middle path is where
we understand the role of pain. We understand the role of difficulty in life - that in the
end, it makes us stronger people. So we dont run away from pain in that way, not to the
point where we become vegetables, and have been drugged out of reality.

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If you are a female Muslim convert and your husband is not a Muslim, in Islam, the law is
that, you should restrain yourself from sexual relations with your husband until he
becomes a Muslim. Encourage him to become a Muslim. Ultimately if he refuses, and he
rejects it, then it is better for you that you leave him. Find another husband. God will
give you another husband.
You might think, Im too old, I have so many kids, who will marry me? A person may
have so many kinds of similar thoughts, but in the end, know that Allaah will provide
what is better for you. However, if you feel too attached to your husband, and you stay
with him regardless, that doesnt make you a non-Muslim. If thats your position, if you
feel you cannot deal with it at this point of time, then stay with your husband and
continue to practice your Islam. If you have to hide it from him, hide it. But the better
way is for you to put your marriage on hold, not that you necessarily have to move out,
but give him a period of time and encourage him to become Muslim also.
If he does, then you carry on in the normal marital life, and if he doesnt then it becomes
time for you to take another path, if youre ready. If youre not ready then you make your
own choice. But really, in the sight of God its not the better choice for you to remain
with a man who is a non-Muslim, even though you think you know him, you love him,
and all these other types of things; its not the better way for you. However, if you feel
thats all you can deal with, then you do what you can and ask Allaahs forgiveness for
the rest.

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