He wants to become Muslim and marry a Muslim woman
Question

                I am a Hindu boy who is in love with a Muslim girl.We have always been good friends and gone to the same college.Our feelings for each other changed into love but we do not want to elope. I would like to marry her as she is a wonderful person, kind,loving,intelligent and pious.I love her so much that i am willing to embrace Islam, a religion which has always fascinated me.How can i go about it?I will accept all the tenets of Islam and stay faithful to Allah and my wife to be.Please guide me, I know Islam welcomes people into its fold.I wil wait for your reply eagerly and then i will go talk to her father about it .
Praise be to Allah.Who has created in you the desire to 
    enter Islam. We appreciate your asking about how to enter the religion of 
    Allaah, which none will be saved on the Day of Resurrection but those who 
    follow it. Allaah says in His Book, the Holy Qur’aan (interpretation of the 
    meaning): 
    
    “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will 
    never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers”

    [Aal ‘Imraan 3:85]
Entering Islam is very 
    simple and is not complicated at all. All that you have to do is to utter 
    the Shahaadatayn (twin declaration of faith), which is the key to Islam and 
    the summary and foundation of the faith. So say: Ashhadu an laa ilaaha 
    ill-Allaah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasool-Allaah (I bear witness that 
    there is no god except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the 
    Messenger of Allaah), then do ghusl (full ablution, washing your entire 
    body) with the intention of purifying yourself for prayer, and practice all 
    the rituals of Islam, the greatest of which is prayer, which connects a 
    person with his Lord. 

    We would like to point out a number of things to you: 

    1 – You say, “I love her so much that I am willing to embrace 
    Islam.” Although the motive for your entering Islam may be your desire to 
    marry a Muslim woman at this stage, when you become Muslim, learn more about 
    this religion and practise it sincerely in your life, then your conviction 
    will become stronger, your intention will become pure, and you will become 
    more sincere towards Allaah and become fully convinced of Islam’s validity, 
    for nothing can cleanse and purify the soul but that. 

    2 – You say “We have always been good friends and gone to the 
    same college”  

    Please note that one of the basic aims of Islamic sharee’ah 
    is to preserve people’s honour. Islam has enjoined many regulations in order 
    to achieve this basic aim, one of which is the prohibition on free mixing 
    between men and women even in the noblest of places and when seeking the 
    highest of objectives. One of the teachings of Islam is that men should be 
    separated from women in the mosque. Muslim narrated in his Saheeh 
    (440) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger 
    of Allaah  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best 
    rows for men are those at the front and the worst are those at the back, and 
    the best rows for women are those at the back and the worst are those at the 
    front.” 

    Al-Nawawi said in Sharh Muslim (4/159): What is meant 
    by the worst rows for men and women are those that bring less reward, are 
    lower in status and furthest removed from achieving the aims of sharee’ah. 
    The best rows are the opposite of that. The best rows for women who attend 
    prayers with men are the last rows, because they are further away from 
    mixing with men, seeing them and becoming attracted to them when seeing 
    their movements, hearing their words and so on. The front rows are 
    criticized for the opposite reasons. And Allaah knows best. End quote. 

    Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have 
    mercy on him) said: 

    Contact between two who love one another in a manner that is 
    not Islamically acceptable is a serious problem. In this case it is not 
    permissible for the man to contact the woman or the woman to contact the 
    man, and say that he wants to marry her. Rather he should inform her wali 
    (guardian) that he wants to marry her, or she should tell her wali that she 
    wants to marry him, as ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) did when he 
    offered his daughter Hafsah in marriage to Abu Bakr and ‘Uthmaan (may Allaah 
    be pleased with them both). 

    But if the woman gets in touch directly with the man, this is 
    a source of fitnah (temptation). 

    As’ilat al-Baab il-Maftoohah, 
    question no. 868. 

    3 – You say: “but we do not want to elope.” 
We appreciate this 
    approach which tells us of your good attitude and sound mind. 

    4 – You say: “I would like to marry her as she is a wonderful 
    person, kind, loving, intelligent and pious.” 

    This indicates that you are keen to marry one who is fit to 
    be a good example to your children and will strive to be easy going with 
    you. The good characteristics that you have mentioned are some of those 
    which Islam has described as motives for marriage. It is narrated in 
    al-Saheehayn and elsewhere from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with 
    him) that the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 
    “Women may be married for four things: their wealth, their lineage, their 
    beauty and their religious commitment. Choose the one who is 
    religiously-committed, may your hands be rubbed with dust (i.e., may your 
    prosper).” 
This hadeeth indicates 
    that the most important motive for marriage, which one should pay attention 
    to, is religious commitment and good character. 

    5 – You say, “I know Islam welcomes people into its fold.” 

    This shows that you have a fair-minded view of this religion 
    which came as a mercy to the worlds. 

    By the grace and mercy of Allaah, He has caused Islam to 
    erase whatever sins came before it. If a kaafir becomes Muslim, Allaah 
    forgives him for everything that he did when he was a kaafir, and he becomes 
    cleansed of sin. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

    “Say to those who have disbelieved, if they cease (from 
    disbelief), their past will be forgiven. But if they return (thereto), then 
    the examples of those (punished) before them have already preceded (as a 
    warning)”

    [al-Anfaal 8:38]

    Muslim (121) narrated that ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allaah be 
    pleased with him) said: … when Allaah put Islam in my heart I came to the 
    Prophet (S) and said: Hold out your right hand so that I might swear 
    allegiance to you. So he held out his right hand, but I withdrew my hand. He 
    said: “What is the matter, O ‘Amr?”  I said: I want to stipulate a 
    condition. He said, “What do you want to stipulate?” I said: That I will be 
    forgiven. He said: “Do you not know, O ‘Amr, that Islam destroys whatever 
    came before it…?” 

    “Islam destroys whatever came before it” means it erases it 
    and removes all trace of it. This was stated by al-Nawawi in Sharh Muslim. 
Finally, we have high 
    hopes of a happy future for you, because you are starting out well, as we 
    see from your question, especially if we ponder the meaning of the verse in 
    which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

    “And whomsoever Allaah wills to guide, He opens his heart 
    to Islam”

    [al-An’aam 6:125]
We ask Allaah to open 
    your heart to this religion and to help you to enter it. Undoubtedly that 
    will be good news for the Muslim woman whom you are going to marry, because 
    she knows that she cannot marry you until you become Muslim, as is the law 
    of the Lord of the Worlds. We welcome you to come and ask questions at this 
    website and to read it, and to cooperate with us in doing good. 

    May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad 
    and all his family and companions.