Sabeel

Begin

Your first steps

If you have just become Muslim, you do not need to know everything. You do not need to have read the Quran, or memorised anything, or be able to pray perfectly yet. Breathe. Here is what actually helps first.

This is one route through Sabeel, in an order that tends to work. You can leave and come back — nothing here expires, and skipping ahead is fine if something else is more urgent for you right now.

  1. Where to startWhat to expect, and permission to take it slowly.About 4 min
  2. What Islam isWho Allah is, what Muslims believe, and the five pillars.About 9 min
  3. Learn WudhuThe short washing before prayer. This is what unlocks everything else.About 8 min
  4. Learn SalahThe prayer, position by position, with the meaning of every word.About 14 min
  5. When to prayThe five times, wherever you are. No Adhan unless you ask for it.About 3 min
  6. Talking to AllahDua is simply asking — in your own words, in any language.About 8 min
  7. Begin the QuranWhere to start reading, and how the translations differ.About 5 min
  8. Stories of the QuranThe people the Quran tells you about, and why.About 10 min
  9. Learn GhuslThe full washing — when it is needed and how it is done.About 7 min
  10. The 99 NamesNinety-nine ways of knowing who you are speaking to.About 6 min

A few things worth hearing early

  • You will get things wrong. Everyone does. Forgetting a prayer or getting a word wrong is not a catastrophe — you correct it and carry on.
  • Culture and religion are not the same thing. Some of what you are told is Islam is the custom of a particular place. Asking what the evidence is, is a normal question.
  • Scholars differ, and that is not a crisis. On many practical matters there is more than one accepted position. Sabeel shows you the positions rather than picking for you.
  • Nobody is keeping score here. There are no streaks on this site and nothing to break.

Sabeel — educational summary

Sabeel is educational, and it is no substitute for knowing people. If you can, find a local mosque or community — most questions are answered faster by a person than by a website.