A man decided to convert to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad. The man uttered two sentences of shahada at a mosque in Blackburn on Friday.

Reported in Asian Image, Thursday (11/11), the man was previously known as Craig who came from Whitebirk, England. He said the shahada sentence was witnessed by mosque worshippers after performing Friday prayers at Al-Hidayah Mosque, Milham Street.

The Shahada is the first pillar of Islam and is a legitimate condition of a person converting to Islam. Reading the shahada means believing that 'There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger'.

A message read: "Alhamdulillah after Friday prayers at Al-Hidayah Mosque, Blackburn a brother said the shahada and changed his name from Craig to Muhammad in the blessed month, Rabbi-ul-Awwal. 

"Allah accepts the creed and makes this new life his means of salvation in this world and the Hereafter."

Still in the same video footage, the man was welcomed into the community by an imam at the mosque. "We feel special and I cannot express my joy and happiness brother Muhammad that you have been enlightened. Your heart has been expanded."

"We as a society are obliged to welcome Brother Muhammad as part of our family. When someone walks into the door of this mosque, don't think of them as someone else, they are our brothers. They belong to this mosque," the imam said.

"We invited him collectively as a community. You are now part of our family. You embraced Islam. You are now my brother. You are now like my blood brother. You are welcome to come at any time (to the mosque)."

The Imam told this new Muslim to realize this process of learning religion (faith) is the journey of a lifetime.