W-Salam,
What are you talking about man? Texas has plenty of Mosques and places. I am also from the South and got family in Texas, message me your city and I will try to hook you up.
Any ways, back to business.
What is Sect?
Sect is something which is fundamentally different in creed, for example Catholicism and Jehovah's Witness are Sects of Christianity because they differ in creed and belief.
In Islam, the disagreements in practise i.e. someone tying the hands in prayers vs someone keeping them on the sides are not sects because they do not differ in creed.
The basic and founding principle in Islam is:
There is NONE worthy of worship except God and Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) is the Messenger of God.
Anyone who believes in this, isn't a sect. In your setting and context (in Texas) the only sect relevant is someone who DOES NOT fall in this umbrella would probably be twelver-Shias, most common (extreme Shias).
So which particular "sect" in Islam are you specifically referring to?
At this point, my recommendation for you would be to:
www.amazon.com/Quran-Made-Easy-English-Translation/dp/817...
I like Quraan made Easy because the English translation is precise and easy to understand, here is a free copy:
ia801902.us.archive.org/31/items/QuraanMadeEasy/Quraan-Ma...
Shariah is basically the rules and regulations of Islam. These are basically dos and don't s of Islam in simplistic terms i.e. it is permissible to eat chicken but not permissible to eat pork. In US, there are issues with "Shariah Law" but it is nothing but rules and regulations pertaining to your personal life, there is no such as a "Muslim Court" or a "Muslim Judge" sitting around and pronouncing judgements in Louisiana etc.
This has 3 sources and you adopt rulings in this order.
Qur'aan-First & Primary Source: Whatever the Qur'aan states is primary and primary, for example God is ONE
Loading Qur'aan Verse
Sunnah-Secondary Source: These are the sayings, actions and (approvals) of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him), for example Islam has 5 pillars
Ijma (Consensus)-Tertiary Source: These are agreed upon opinions of the first 3 generations of Islam
Qiyas (Deduction): When a new issues occurs for which there is no example in the first 3 source then deduction is made for example is blood transfusion permissible or impermissible for Muslims? You have to resort to deductive analysis because technology did not exist previously.
Sure, copy that. This book is called "Riyadus-Saliheen", feel free to download and click on any chapter to read.
www.central-mosque.com/index.php/Hadeeth/riyadh-as-saalih...
But before doing that, lets get some basics down. I have written this entire section with the help of other Muslims as a starting point.
www.central-mosque.com/index.php/Table/Islam/
www.central-mosque.com/index.php/Islam/what-do-i-have-to-...
There are 7 things which need to believe in to be a Muslim and they are as follows:
Let me know if you have any questions about any of these.
Loading Qur'aan Verse
Loading Qur'aan Verse
Loading Qur'aan Verse
Loading Qur'aan Verse
One of the first duties incumbent upon Muslims is to stay spiritually and physically clean. Whenever you take a shower, you need to do 3 things from now on:
So jump in the shower and start practising this.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
Please wait...