{"id":210,"date":"2011-11-06T02:58:06","date_gmt":"2011-11-06T02:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/areasontosmile\/?p=210"},"modified":"2011-11-06T02:58:06","modified_gmt":"2011-11-06T02:58:06","slug":"qa-should-i-convert-to-islam-for-the-sake-of-a-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-should-i-convert-to-islam-for-the-sake-of-a-man.html","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: “Should I convert to Islam for the sake of a man?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
There are many reasons to convert, but I'm not sure getting a date is one of them<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Question\u00a0submitted via Formspring<\/a>:
\n\u201cI’ve met a great guy who is a Muslim. He won’t date me cause I am not Muslim. I know he likes me. I am 20 and I want to do the right thing, my friends say I should convert (majority are also Muslim).
\nMy family will not be happy if I do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to change faiths significantly transcends dating one potential guy. While I’m sure he’s a great guy, there are plenty of great guys of your faith, or who won’t feel threatened by your faith, whatever that is.<\/p>\n

Converting to a new religion is a big deal. If he cares enough about being a Muslim that he isn’t going to date a non-Muslim, than he is going to expect you to COMPLETELY acclimate to his faith-based world view. That means it is a lot more than just saying \u201cla ilaha illallah muhammad rasulullah\u201d (there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet); it is a way of life.<\/p>\n

The firs thing you should do, is learn about his faith. Find out what kind of Muslim he is (they aren’t all the same), and find out what he believes, and what that denomination believes. Find out what your role in his life and family will be. Is he going to expect you to wear a Hijab (veil)? And if he wants that, are you OK doing it?
\nOpen up the Holy Qur’an and read it; see if it makes sense and speaks to your heart and soul.
\nIs Allah a God you can worship and obey?
\nIs Muhammad a Prophet you can listen to and pattern your life after?
\nThese are the questions you should be asking, before you even begin to consider converting to Islam, or any other faith.<\/p>\n

In this question, you said what he wants (to date a Muslim), what your friends want (for you to convert) and what your family wants (for you not to convert), but what you didn’t say is what YOU want.
\nYour time would probably be better spent figuring out who you are and what you want.\u00a0Once you have a firm foundation of loving yourself first,<\/a>\u00a0you’ll have a better idea of what you want in a man and how to know when you’ve found him.<\/p>\n

If you decide to convert, convert because you fell in love with Allah, not a boy.
\nThe world doesn’t need any more paper Muslims, any more than it needs any more paper Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, or anything else.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Feel free to comment down below!<\/p>\n

You are great, and I love you!
\nAnd if you love me back, click subscribe over on the right hand side!<\/p>\n

B. Dave Walters<\/p>\n

Writer, Life Coach, and Talk Radio Host<\/p>\n

Find out more about me:
\nhttp:\/\/about.me\/BDaveWalters<\/a><\/p>\n

Ask me anything:
\nhttp:\/\/formspring.me\/BDaveWalters<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question\u00a0submitted via Formspring: \u201cI’ve met a great guy who is a Muslim. He won’t date me cause I am not Muslim. I know he likes me. I am 20 and I want to do the right thing, my friends say I should convert (majority are also Muslim). My family will not be happy if I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":450,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,47,55,39,38,31,46,43,49,45],"tags":[3,44,54,109,14,23,53,26,51,24,42],"class_list":["post-210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-change-2","category-communication","category-emotions-2","category-fear","category-hope-inspiration","category-love-2","category-love-yourself","category-relationships-2","category-religion","category-tainted-love","tag-b-dave-walters","tag-breaking-up","tag-getting-married","tag-god","tag-life-coach","tag-love","tag-marriage","tag-peacelovemoney-com","tag-rejection","tag-relationships","tag-self-talk"],"yoast_head":"\nQ&A: "Should I convert to Islam for the sake of a man?" - A Reason to Smile<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-should-i-convert-to-islam-for-the-sake-of-a-man.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q&A: "Should I convert to Islam for the sake of a man?" - A Reason to Smile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question\u00a0submitted via Formspring: \u201cI’ve met a great guy who is a Muslim. 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