No. Absolutely not.  However, the Prophet ﷺ changed some names of his companions that contained extremely negative meanings after they converted to Islam. Islam does not require a person to abandon their roots and culture as long as they do not contradict the principles of the religion. Thus, a person is free to choose what style of dress to wear, for example, and types of food to eat as long as they do not violate something that is prohibited such as exposing nakedness or the consumption of pork. See our article here for a more detailed discussion.

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No. None of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ or Islamic scholars who came after them ever said this. This is due to a misunderstanding of the hadith, “There is no new-born except that they are born on the primordial state (Al-Fitrah), and its parents make it a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian.”[1] This does not mean that the child is born as a Muslim, rather, that it is born with a “clean slate”. Also, the term “Muslim” has a very specific definition meaning the one who has believed in and affirmed everything the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ came with. Since this is not possible for a minor to do, it is incorrect to label them as Muslims unless their parents are Muslims. The Prophet ﷺ was also asked about whether the children of disbelievers will be saved if they die young and he replied, “Allah, when he created them, knows best what they would have done.”[2]

[1] Al-Bukhari (1358), Muslim (2658).

[2] Al-Bukhari (1383), Muslim (2660).

In an ideal world, we would prefer not to use any of these labels, but we feel that the term “Convert to Islam” best describes the person who has taken on Islam as their religion, however, you may see these words used by us and others due to their widespread use in the Muslim community. The label “New Muslim” could not be applied to someone who has been Muslim for 5 years, or even 3 or 4. Likewise, if someone converts to Christianity, for example, we would not say, “New Christian”. As for the term “Revert” we feel that it is a loaded term as well as being theologically inaccurate. This is because revert, in this context, means to go back to one’s previous religion so could only be applied to the one who was already Muslim, left Islam, and then came back to Islam. There is no precedence of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his companions, nor any Islamic scholar who came after them using any term similar to it in Arabic. For more detail, read our article here.

No. Although converts to Islam (even if they are wealthy) are one of the categories eligible for zakah mentioned in the Quran (9:60), we feel that this is not needed and would not apply to us as an organisation. The scholars who said that this category is still applicable also said that only the Islamic head of state has the authority to decide which converts receive it specifically, this is coupled with the fact that zakah must be paid directly to individuals.

We are adherents to mainstream orthodox Islam (Sunni Islam). Our team and volunteers may have their own beliefs and practices within Sunni Islam but our policy is one of complete non-partisanship. We recognise that converts come from various groups, schools of thought, and ideologies. We also believe that new converts should be given the space to explore various views and make their own decisions, which is inevitable anyway. Our role is merely to provide a nurturing environment without promoting any agendas and to adhere to discussion of the areas that all Muslims agree upon and unite us as a community. Any people from the Muslim community that may work with us or for us do not necessarily reflect our views as an organisation. Furthermore, New Beginnings does not endorse any of the personal views or behaviour of guests, volunteers, employees, or authors of articles on any platform whatsoever.

Our ultimate aim is to fully integrate the newly converted Muslim into the wider Muslim community. There are several problems already existing in the wider Muslim community which could be harmful to someone who is new to Islam. We feel that they initially need their own non-judgemental space free of any type of pressure to explore Islam and become comfortable with the religion before this happens.