As-salam alaykum, I got hold of this book “To Be A Muslim” and I thought it fit to share this part with you all. The book generally talks about how a muslim ought to live his/her life in accordance with the dictates of Islam as an individual and also as an active member of a worldwide Islamic movement. Below is the excerpt;

The Responsibilities Of A Muslim Brother / Sister
In his educational discourse, Imam Hassan Al Banna outlined more than thirty responsibilities of a member of an Islamic Movement. These responsibilities are obligations to himself or herself, family, and community. He said:
“My honest brothers (and sisters), your pledge (bai’ah) requires to carry out the following duties. Once you have done so, you will be strong and as hard as a rock.”

1. Recite the Quran, at least a juz (1/30 of the Quran) daily. You should finish a reading of the whole Quran in no more than a month and no less than three days.
2. Improve your Quranic recitation by listening to good reciters and taking lessons in recitation. Set aside some time to study the life history of the prophet (sirah), and the history of Muslims. You should read a lot of books, but a Humatul Islam is a must. Also you should read a lot of ahadith and memorize at least forty, if possible, from the collection of Imam Al-Nawawi. Last but not the least, you should study the basics of Islamic faith (aqidah), Islamic law (fiqh) and its branches.
3. Have a medical check-up regularly and have a doctor check any ailment. You should take care of your strength and refrain from anything that will harm your body.
4. Avoid excessive use of coffee, tea and other caffeinated drinks, and abstain from smoking.
5. Practise cleanliness in every aspect of your life, e.g., house, clothing, food, body, and work place. As a matter of fact, Islam has been built on cleanliness.
6. Speak the truth and never lie even once
7. Fulfil your promise and commitments and do not result to lame excuses.
8. Be brave and wise. Bravery requires one to talk frankly about what is true and right, to keep secrets, to admit one’s fault, to be aware of oneself, and to keep oneself from getting angry.
9. Be serious but your seriousness should not stop you from enjoying jokes and laughing.
10. Be modest, careful, and sensitive to good and bad things by expressing your happiness when experiencing good and gratitude when encountering bad. You should ask for a less prominent position, although you deserve or have a higher one.

11. Be fair in judging according to sound evidence. Your anger should not make you ignore the good in others and your blessings should not make you forget the bad in others. You should speak the truth even to yourself and to your closest friends, even though it may be painful to do so.
12. Be active in community service. You should be happy when you have a chance to a help others by visiting a sick person, helping the needy, and offering charity.
13. Exhibit sympathy, generosity, and forgiveness. You should be tolerant, flexible, and gentle. You should be kind to human beings and animals, have good relations with the community, preserve the courtesies of Islam, be gentle when talking with young people, respect elders, give up a seat to those who need it more, respect others’ privacy, and neither condemn nor insult others.
14. Improve your reading and writing skills; increase your knowledge of the Islamic movement (Ikhwan Muslimin) by reading about it. Read newspapers and magazines. You should have a personal library even it is a small one. You must increase your knowledge both generally and in your specialty if you have one. You must be able to understand the problems concerning muslims in sufficient depth to develop your own solutions in accordance with our ideology.
15. Work to earn money no matter how rich you are. Give priority to ordinary jobs even though their pay is small, and also give your full attention to this kind of job no matter how high your qualifications are.
16. Do not work in the government, but do not reject an offer of work in the government, even though the pay is poor, and do not quit unless the work is against Islam.
17. If you are given a job, work wholeheartedly, and honestly.
18. Demand and respect the rights of your brother and yourself.
19. Avoid gambling and unlawful sources of income.
20. Do not take interest (riba) in any dealings and you must avoid the circumstances that may lead to it.

21. Contribute to the material gains encouraged by Islam by promoting private industry, especially Muslim-owned and employee-owned enterprises.
22. Support da’wah by contributing some of your wealth to the Islamic movement. You must pay the minimally established amount of zakat on your assets because this is the right of those who should receive it.
23. Keep a small amount of your income for emergency use. Never overspend on luxury goods.
24. Strive as far as you can to keep alive the beneficial practices of true Islamic culture and eliminate secular culture in your daily conduct. Some of these practices are to greet everyone with salaam, speak the Arabic language, read the sirah, wear modest clothing, maintain regular hours of work, and rest, and observe the rules of eating and drinking, and follow the etiquettes of visiting, in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet (saw).
25. Avoid all newspapers, magazines, clubs, gatherings, and schools that oppose the principles of Islam, unless your reading and activities in such prohibited institutions are designed only to promote the good and oppose the bad.
26. Always remember Allah, the Almighty, and the day of judgement. You should look for every means to seek the blessing of Allah, the Almighty, with high spirit and self-esteem. You should always seek to be closer to Allah through voluntary prayer such as night prayer (qiyam al-layl), and fasting at least three days a month. You should use the supplications of the Prophet (saw).
27. When you clean yourself, always follow the rules and regulations. Always maintain wudu (ablution).
28. When you perform your daily prayers, do so on time, and always fulfil the rules. Pray in the congregation and at the mosques as much as possible.
29. Observe the fast of Ramadan and go to on the hajj as soon as you have the means.
30. Regularly make the intention to go on jihad with the ambition to die as a martyr. You should be ready for this right now, even though its time may not have come yet.

31. Regularly renew you repentance, ask for Allah’s forgiveness, and avoid every kind of sin. You should set aside a special time to evaluate yourself before going to bed every night. Always keep track of your time because time means life. Do not misuse your time. Always fear Allah guarding yourself against evil, and keeping away from dubious things so as not to fall into doing the unlawful (haram) things.
32. Avoid lustful thoughts, emotions, and occasions of sin, for example by restraining your gaze from haram things, urging your emotions to focus on good deeds, and keeping your heart and desires away from all that is forbidden.
33. Do not eat or socialize where alcohol is used and consumed.
34. Do not take immoral people as friends and avoid all places that may lead to sin, such as bars.
35. Avoid all evil forms and places of entertainment, and in general avoid the environment of arrogant and extravagant luxury.

Culled from the book “To Be A Muslim” by Fathi Yakan

^Excellent! JazakumLlahu Khayra.

maclatunji: ^Excellent! JazakumLlahu Khayra.

wa iyakum bro

Jaza kummullahu khairan

princehb: Jaza kummullahu khairan

Wa iyyakum