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the dean show greetings of Peace welcome
to the dean show and my next guest
preacher son not one but two literally
two of his family members grew up with
both mother and father Son of a Preacher
and preacher here on the D show to tell
us his wonderful story don't go anywhere
we'll be right back this is the
this is the
the this is
the this is the this is
the
the this is
the this is the this is the
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peace be with
youum Dr J how are you Professor I'm
doing well alhamdulillah we just had a
little good laugh going there I
mentioned preacher you know we as
preachers and then I had said for your
mother she was a preacher actually a
preacher also from the Christian church
is that right yes yeah so uh tell us a
little about yourself you're you're a
professor at the UIC University
and you we met one time before when I
was actually there and you got to talk
in on the panel and I really enjoyed uh
interviewing you somewhat and you had an
incredible story and as I started off
not one preacher in the family but two
mother and father and now you're one
who's wishing peace back to me me to you
and you're Muslim how did this all come
about um well for the people I already
know but for the people now I thought it
was such an incredible story that we
have to share this with the rest of the
world one more time uh well I was born
here in Chicago um I was born on the
South Side Chicago um uh I I'm the
oldest of seven at the time there were
four of us um my mother and father had
four children and eventually um when I
was very young we moved down to
Mississippi my parents were very active
in the Christian church and there was a
movement to get people to move out of
the cities to move more to to rural
areas so we moved down there and both of
my parents were very active in church um
we went to church almost every day um
uh both of them used to take turns uh
given the the sermon they used to preach
in church uh my father used to write
Christian songs so I basically just grew
up in the church um and I think being uh
a part of the church and having a lot of
time to spend with the Bible we had to
memorize books of the Bible uh we we did
a lot of like study of the Bible we
fasted uh we observed the Sabbath all of
those things uh it got me to thinking
about like what what it was that I
believe cuz my parents are very very big
on us having a belief for ourselves not
just taking it because they they belied
uh in Christianity so I used to just
read I I read a lot and I would read the
Old Testament I would read about the
prophets in the Old Testament like
Abraham and Noah and um and David and
Solomon peace be upon them all and it
just kind of occur to me at a very young
age that the doctrine that they were
following was a lot different than and
what was described in the New Testament
and so I think that kind of sparked um
an interest to find out why that
wash so now what you were being taught
for for for many many people now they
they really don't believe because it's
in the natural inclination of the human
being it's intrinsically built in us
just you know to to want to worship the
Creator now you know when you come into
this whole Trinity and three gods one
many people they they their innate
nature opposes this were you having that
uh that divide in your life now were
your parents calling you to this you
going to the church seeing this and now
there's something describe because so
other people can relate also to that
feeling you know um that you were
feeling at the time inside your heart
yeah I think as a as a young young uh
boy the Trinity never really made sense
to me and I I asked my mom about it a
couple of times um I talked to to my
friends like in Sunday School uh Bible
study and really the the overriding
message that we were we were taught is
that um it's it takes a leap of faith
like um no one was actually able to
really really explain it to me and so
that that kind of um it made me a little
bit uncomfortable because I felt like if
this was something that was going to
determine whether I went to heaven or
hell then I should have some
understanding what it was that I was
actually believing but as a young child
as I said I was living in a very rural
area in uh Mississippi and eventually we
moved to Louisiana there wasn't a lot of
uh other options as far as what what one
could believe so all I knew was
Christianity and I just tried to figure
out for myself what it was that what I
was being taught and how I can reconcile
this with the the questions that I have
and when we say preachers some people
think of the hit show LA preachers have
you heard of that no
if they had money they weren't sharing
it with us so it's nothing like that
what what it defined like when we say
preachers uh what what kind of what what
did your parents life consist of so I
mean basically I think if you would have
seen us back then um we might have been
considered what are call Holy Rollers
like my parents were part of a very
conservative Church my mom didn't wear
makeup she wore uh long skirts long
dresses we didn't listen to music um we
actually didn't have a TV for a number
of years I think four or five years we
didn't have a TV TV like I mentioned we
kept the Sabbath so on Friday we would
turn off all electrical appliances my
mom wouldn't cook and we would do that
from Friday Sundown until Saturday
that's as a Christian yeah as a
Christian yeah we did that um my mother
sold these garments for us out of potato
sacks and we would actually pray in
those so um it wasn't like a very
glamorous type of Lifestyle you know it
was very uh rural you know U
workingclass type of community small um
people knew each other they they
interacted like in very friendly cordial
way um sometimes we would travel to
different states to what are called tent
meetings where you have Big Revival
Gatherings but it wasn't like uh the LA
preachers with the money and the cars
and all those types of things though but
you said holy rollers yeah you got high
rollers like the LA preachers but now
you're talking about Holy Roller yeah I
think these are people that they they
fervently believe in the Bible they're
uh they believe in the Bible literally
like it's the word of God they take
advant very seriously and they try to
put it in practice in their lives and I
think that's what my parents were trying
to do as uh young adults raising young
children okay we're going to take a
break and then we want to know how you
kind of went away from Christianity and
you ended up accepting Islam is that
right yeah yeah we're gonna we're gonna
come back with this exciting story with
Dr Jeremiah here on the dean show don't
go
anywhere is there a purpose to our
lives
do we simply exist to make a
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living or were we meant for something
greater something more
meaningful I looked everywhere for
answers
and I
found
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Islam I started my
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journey have you started
yours please subscribe to the dean show
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[Music]
below back here on the dean show now Dr
Jeremiah you're a man of Academia you
know someone who's prudent wise for you
usually when you go into the
universities they try to just cut out
God all together and you actually that
didn't happen you you you you stuck with
religion not the same religion of your
parents but were you at at a point in
your life tempted now to just leave off
religion altogether no I I can't I don't
recall ever like having the feeling that
I would not believe in God like I said
my parents were very serious about God
um even before like when they were very
young they got married very young um
there were certain things that happened
in our lives that like made us believe
that there was God like um like for
example I remember when we were living
here in Chicago and um we need a new car
every morning my mom would go out to the
to the window and say do you see it yet
you know God is going to bring it God is
going to bring it and so we got used to
like Reliance on God expecting that the
things that we we obtain were actually
from God and so um atheism just never
made sense to me I can never like
consider myself believing that there was
no God but at the same time from a
belief perspective Christianity also
didn't make sense so I think I was
looking for something that like which
straightforward simple easily explained
and something that I can put into
practice in my life do you think a lot
of atheists have just hijacked science
they hide behind science because you
know as Muslims we're very I mean
scientif the Quran is is not a book of
science but it has a lot of facts about
science things that are verifiable so do
you think you see a lot of um people of
of um atheism they hide behind science
they've hijacked it somewhat um maybe to
a certain extent but I think really it
it's probably just arrogance because I
think the couple the few people that
I've talked to that are atheists it's
they kind of have the idea that if I
can't explain it then it doesn't make
sense if I if I don't have tools to
measure it then it doesn't make sense
and I think that's like just the height
of arrogance there are a lot of things
outside of our experience that we don't
even know we can't detect them and so we
certainly can't explain away what's
happening so I think really it's
arrogant it's also kind of confusion
like um I remember my son my oldest son
when he was about four or five he asked
my wife where was she when he was born
and we kind of laughed because you know
she was doing the work on that day and
like we tried to explain to him how it
came about and he he just didn't believe
it because he didn't remember that so
that's kind of how I see atheists and I
just if they if they don't have the the
firsthand knowledge or capability of
measuring or detecting it they just
assume that that phenomenon is not
happening and to me it's just kind of
silly like the same way I look at my son
like you know he was just kind of
inexperienced he was young um and now
that he's older he's almost nine and
he's seen pregnant women he's been able
to experience certain types of um things
happening and he can see that um you
know his mom did birth him similarly the
same way we believe in God now the we
know that the islamophobia now you have
a lot of uh racist people out there and
now it's kind of shifted towards the
Muslims and did you see the same back
then was it anywhere near the level that
it is now today no I think it's uh much
more organized now um I think after 9/11
a lot of us were expecting that I was a
new Muslim but we were expecting to see
this kind of like coordinated
anti-muslim U backlash but I think I
think I don't think it really started in
until about 2010 I remember the uh um
World Trade Center MOS controversy
that's where it seemed to really really
pick up and now it seems like there
there's a well-coordinated effort they
have a lot of money and they have um uh
people who regularly appear on TV pretty
much just uh denigrating Muslims for all
kinds of crazy things MH how do you I
mean have you had uh experiences with
people who are kind of closed minds and
how do you deal with it when people uh
recently we had and we get hundreds of
emails people from all over the the
world email us and usually we get good
feedback from the program even people
who were very ignorant about Islam they
didn't know anything about it they
watched some of the shows and you know
what they they their they their false
fears kind of start to diminish but just
recently we had a a Kathy Smith actually
you know and this was brought to my
attention she really was uh someone
who's just kind of um uh bringing up
things like you murderous you know uh
making bold statements you know
obviously Islam has nothing to do with
lot of these horrific acts that's you
know Fring Fringe element do but to
categorize all Muslims as murderous
terrorists have you ever come across
someone like this and how how how do you
deal with this if you have I think um
probably what's more disappointed is
that I have people that I'm pretty close
to they're starting to buy into the
rhetoric a little bit and I know how
they were before this uh these camp
campaign started and I know where their
sympathies were so um really the when I
first hear it is kind of like shock like
you hear from a family member that like
all Muslims are terrorists or um I've
heard family members say um we need to
bomb Mecca and Medina those kinds of
things are um uh really disappointing so
what I try to do is just highlight the
people who are making these types of
claims and show how before they were
making the same the those camps were
making those same kind of um blanket
criticisms and denigrations of of black
people they were doing the same thing if
you go back further to Jews they do the
same thing to Italians the Irish the
Chinese and so it's the same history of
American racism and bigotry even though
Muslims are not a race uh same bigotry
and now it's just the Muslim turn
unfortunately mhm so let's continue on
with your story we'll come back to this
so what was it what finally had you you
know accept Islam what what was it about
Islam that finally had you you know come
into it wholeheartedly um as a teenager
I was I was a young teen a pre-teen I
was a part of the junior fruit of Islam
so that kind of gave me an exposure
somewhat to Islam but that was more like
a political social type of organization
so I think um what finally got me to
Islam is a good friend hasib um he was a
fellow graduate student um we were both
studying for PhD in Material Science and
Engineering um he went to Egypt the year
prior to study Arabic and um I was
always interested in Arabic so whenever
I would ask him how do you say this in
Arabic or how do you write this word in
Arabic he would throw something in there
about hislam so after a few months of
talking with him I asked him how to pray
he showed me how to pray in my office
then a couple of days later I asked him
what do I need to do to become a Muslim
and he was like kind of skeptical so he
told me show up 2 days from now in the
Masid I showed up um he wasn't there but
um I went and I pronounced the testimony
of faith in uh April 8th 2000 and since
then been Muslim alhamdulillah and
that's the same same I always repeat
this over and over for someone who might
be turning in for the first time that
you're declaring that the same way if
you were living during the time of Jesus
you were declare there's nothing worthy
worship except the god that Jesus
worshiped and Jesus if you were living
during that time he was the messenger of
God but today Muhammad is the last and
final messenger and I'm not going to
worship anyone but the Creator the one
God that's it that's it yeah so how how
how has it in impacted your life since
you've that was how long ago now 14
years 14 years ago yeah um I think the
the big the big thing that that uh I see
it changing and I think my wife we also
talk about this is this feeling of being
connected to This Global Community like
we have more than a billion Muslims like
many of us are trying our best to be
good people trying to follow the way of
the prophet and then being connected to
all of those people all the way back to
the prophets to the prophets before
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him all
the way back to the first prophet this
connected chain of people trying to
submit their Wills to Allah so that we
can gain the pledge of Allah that I
think that's the thing that sometimes it
it it takes me back that um God blessed
me to be a part of this community this
this community of prophet Muhammad we're
going to take a break right back with
more with Dr professor Jeremiah here on
the dean
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show
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please subscribe to the D show follow us
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below back here on the dean show
Professor Jeremiah now someone like I
mentioned earlier you know somebody
who's uh coming into Islam I'm sure the
person even back then there were some
misconceptions correct so you're you're
circumspect you're cautious about what
you're getting into you're prudent
you're you're looking to make a wise
Sound Decision you're a professor you're
an
academic you're not somebody who's
fooled easily so you did your due
diligence correct yes so tell us uh for
for somebody out who else is out there
who's also like they've tuned into the
dean show maybe they met some musl
Muslims what advice do you have for
somebody but now that you have all of
this propaganda that's out there against
Islam what advice do you have for people
out there sincere people yeah I think
the first thing is take it to the source
like the Quran is the holy book of
Muslims we believe there's no error in
there and if you hear someone cite a
verse of Quran and they try to justify
like some criminal type of activity go
and read that verse read the the verses
around it the ones before and after it
and I think most of the time like you
will have have no problem seeing the
clear wrong that is being done to the
reputation of Muslims and to the the
word of the Quran and then if in that
case if there's still some issues I
think uh there are lots of Muslims
around you know U not everyone is
prepared to answer questions about the
Quran but if you have a Muslim friend or
coworker um ask them questions and if
not you can contact your local mosque or
or Islamic Center and there a lot of
there's a lot of information on the
internet I'm a little bit cautious about
suggesting that people um look for
information on the internet because they
are like sites that they're trying to
look like they're Muslim sites but
they're not but I think the the the main
thing is that people have to challenge
themselves to not just take things the
the first thing that they hear like
verify information check the information
the Quran can defend itself like we
don't NE we don't have to need we don't
have to defend the Quran the Quran is
capable of Defending itself so read the
Quran ask yourself is this actually what
the Quran is saying isn't it amazing
that even with all this false propaganda
against Islam that Islam a continues to
be the fastest growing religion and more
women are entering uh Islam than men
isn't this amazing it is it is amazing
and actually here in Chicago we have a
lot of um white Muslims white new new
white Muslims which to me is like just
amazing because there's a lot of
pressure on white people if you convert
to Islam you're seen as like this huge
uh Outcast like in African-American
Community we've been more historically
more receptive to Islam but here in
Chicago we have a lot of white brothers
and sisters that are that are uh
embracing Islam and I think that's
because they are those before they were
Muslim they challenged themselves and
they tried to see what is this religion
about and if you you look and you open
your heart you can't help but be
convinced one of the other false
misconceptions is that Islam oppresses
women that women have no role in society
community and recently we had something
on our Facebook page it was a post about
the oldest university that was in the
world that was established by a Muslim
woman Fatima in Morocco and then we
asked the Muslim women to come on right
and to voice their voices and they came
on by the dozens you know so many uh
women came on talking about and these
are converts women who accepted Islam
and talking about how Islam has
liberated them how they feel this peace
and happiness and uh this this was
something is is amazing so um have your
have your have your parents have your
siblings have your family members been
receptive now to you it's been a long
time now but now that they've seen your
character improve you've you obviously
become a better human being H how how
was their attitude towards Islam and you
been um my family has always been
positive um my my immediate family has
always been positive my parents my
siblings I haven't had any um uh
negative reaction from any of my family
um actually when I told my family and
friends that I converted to Islam a lot
of my friends were like okay who who's
surprised about that you know they were
just expecting it to happen um so um no
we uh I haven't uh had any negative uh
negative responses from my family but
one thing that um I have noticed is that
um my family is they they they tend to
take up my imediate family they will
take up for Muslims even when we're not
there like if if there's a conversation
with someone else they will defend the
Muslims and I think that's because we've
tried to maintain good relationships and
that's something that is encouraging
Islam that's emphasizing Islam um did I
answer your question I feel like I lost
the tell me tell me when when I was was
there at the University there was a
gentleman who was in the audience and I
had asked him if he was because he was
really inclined towards Islam okay now I
have your previous can I go back yeah go
okay so um I think um I think it's clear
that Islam does not oppress women Islam
is a way of life um and if you look into
the rules of Islam the rulings of Islam
then definitely they that's they're
there for like a sound healthy society
and I think what we need to be careful
as Muslims is that we don't use our own
personal insecurities to
defame the quote unquote image of Islam
so there are some people amongst us
mostly men they might take some
Liberties that are not theirs but Islam
doesn't give them that yeah like Islam
doesn't give Muslim men the right to
oppress Muslim women and I think you'll
see that when you talk to Muslim women
that the the ones that know the religion
that have studied their religion they
will say this is not from the religions
so if there is some negative thing it's
from people and people will find
something to justify whatever they're
doing whether it's Islam Christianity
Judaism or whatever now how can if this
Fatima who established the first look
the oldest university in the world now
this is by a Muslim woman when now the
women in this country didn't get those
rights till somewhat you know they're
still fighting for um rights but I'm
talking about this was in 8 in the 1800s
and we're talking about this was back in
8 in in um in the 8th Century so I mean
when you just study a little bit of the
history and you take off those blinders
yeah and I'm I consider myself a
beneficiary of that Legacy personally my
teacher and um like the person that
taught us like how to practice Islam uh
the the rules of f he graduated from
that institution uh he's now an in
instructor at zetuna in in California so
I'm thankful may Allah bless her for her
sacrifice I really app the
sister yeah amazing yeah so a thousand
years later we're still benefiting
alhamdulillah tell us uh before we cut
out there was a Latino brother who was
in the audience we asked him if he
wanted to accept Islam he was inclined
towards it at that time he didn't we got
word that he actually accepted Islam do
you know the brother yes I do he did
tell us a little bit about him um I
don't know him very well um but he he I
really like the approach that he was
taking he was being very mindful he
wasn't like interested in just rushing
into something based off emotion um and
he he asked very good questions um he
made good friendships with Muslims and
he actually observed the character of
the Muslims first which I think is
important he got a chance to be around
the Muslim I think that's really what
convinced him in the end because a lot
of times people are convinced about
Islam but they don't know what their
life is going to be like they don't know
like how am I going to have friends um
will I have to change how I dress or the
food that I eat and once he saw that
people accepted him as he was that his
belief system was going was going to
change and the rest was up to him I
think he was he was comfortable and he
became Muslim and became Muslim one who
submits to the will of the Creator not
the creation thank you we're out of time
Professor Dr Jeremiah thank you so much
for being with us here thank you thank
you may God Almighty word peace be onto
you and that was the son of the preacher
and preacher two preachers accepted his
way of life by the way Muslims love
Jesus and no muslim is a Muslim unless
he believes or she believes in Jesus as
a mighty messenger and this is the
simple belief that a Muslim believes in
in all the messengers of God and we
submit only to God and Islam is a
beautiful way of life that practiced by
over 1.7 billion people in the world one
out of every four people is a Muslim we
have a book a believable book a
believable message and we have facts in
it not fiction so if You' like to pick
up the Quran call us at 18006 to Islam
this is just one of those stories that
we got to share with you out of the many
that you can watch at the show.com we
have so many people look with all the
false propaganda people are accepting
Islam on a daily basis why why if it
teaches terrorism if it teaches things
that go against humanity as a whole it
doesn't and that's why people thinking
people sincere people people are ridding
themselves of this racism and this
hatred they look into Islam sincerely
and they ask the creater for guidance
and they see that Islam provides all the
rational logical proofs and evidences
that it is indeed the way of life from
the Creator and it brings peace and
gives you purpose in life so you can
live a life that is pleasing to your
creator so at the end you can get
paradise and we hope that you've gotten
the benefit go ahead and keep in touch
with us at on our Facebook pages on our
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we're here with a new exciting show
we'll see you next time God willing
until then peace be with you