Assalamu Alaikum Warahmallahi Wabarakatuh

Back in August I accepted Islam and I made two posts previously detailing my personal and spiritual journey. My younger years were hell but Allah SWT is the best of planners. I’m a man. I’m a better man because of everything I went through in my life which eventually guided me to Islam. I’m turning 20 next year and I have some things in my life I wanna figure out.

I live in Virginia, USA. I see the degeneracy almost every where I go. That’s why I chose Islam. Whatever happened in the past with me, I’ve decided to make peace with it. All of it. I’m a different man now. I chose Islam to save myself from the degenerate and Godless behavior going on here in the West. However, I feel stuck since taking my Shahada.

My regular routine is as follows…

I wake up at 2:45 AM

I drop down and do 80 push ups

I have a protein shake, get on the sauna suit

I go out by 3AM to jog 3.5 miles

I come home and shower

After showering, I meditate

Afterwards I read The Quran (my goal now is to read 10 pages) and other books as well

I begin to do journaling (I have two journaling books, one for gratitude and the other for personal thoughts)

I get ready for work by 6:30

From 8-4 I work

I come home and have another protein shake

I get some work done on the computer for 2 hours

I go the gym and/or stay at home to train

Usually by 9PM I sleep

That’s essentially what a day looks like for me. Fridays are different because I get in 10 miles of walking after going to the gym.

I feel stuck in the sense that I don’t have any Muslim brothers nearby for support. I don’t have a car yet and the Mosque on foot is almost a hour away. I haven’t learned how to pray on my own yet. I did recently download an app called Namaz that’ll hopefully help me InShaAllah. And because of the fact I haven’t had any proper guidance from any brothers I fell back on some old bad habits. Alhamdulillah though I’ve stopped doing the BS because going into next year I’m gonna be the best version of myself. I’m gonna be a different man. I would like to include Fajr in my morning routine and slowly but surely get the other 4 prayers in. During Fridays I wanna go to the Mosque for Friday prayer too. I feel like in my soul I’m doing a disservice to myself by not praying and by not doing what I need to do as a Muslim man.

I have been making Dua though. Dua is powerful Subhan’Allah. I remember one time I was feeling down from sinning and so I called my one friend (who’s one of my boxing sparring partners and who gave me Dawah) and I told him my situation. Long story short we both prayed Asr on the phone. Alhamdulillah I felt something powerful properly praying for the first time. Like I felt cleansed. May Allah forgive me for my shortcomings InShaAllah. Me and my friend made Dua together after praying. My friend made Dua for me. And shortly afterwards another friend of mine whom I know had texted me. He went to Mecca and then was at Texas at the time. He joined our call and man it was a really deep conversation we had.

A couple weeks ago I visited my friend. He lives like 15 miles away. Took a uber there. We got some sparring in before we went to the Mosque he goes to for Isha’a. Alhamdulillah the Mosque was beautiful. The people there were really cool with me. After praying my friend introduced me to the people he knew. All of them hugged me. I don’t think I ever visited a place and ever got showed that much affection. One brother said to me “Allah SWT saw you were sincere and He guided you to the Truth” They all welcomed me. We went to speak to the Imam. My friend and I sat in the Imams office and I broke everything down for him. Explained to him my story. He invited me to visit his Mosque the first sunday of every month. InShaAllah I can do this. And he also advised me to go to the Mosque that is close by to me for prayer. I naturally agree with him, its just transportation that’s the issue. I’m gonna figure it out though InShaAllah.

I realize now that I’m becoming the guy I was meant to be this whole entire time. My mindset is different. My actions have to be different too. I’m only getting stronger. I have to thank Allah SWT for guiding me. But I hope anyone who reads this can reach out and help me. Especially if you’re in Virginia. I definitely could use the help.