[Music]
Allah there's only one word and muham is
his messenger
Allah
Allah there's only one God and Jesus was
his messenger
allahum greetings of Peace how you guys
doing Welcome to the show and every week
we're here subscribe if you haven't
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you and with no
exception we have another exciting show
with our brother The Golden Child Hamza
how are you brother I'm doing well
alhamdulillah rad Ramadan to you too so
you were The Golden Child I was yeah in
a manner of speaking Yeah so tell us and
I got the head to prove it so you you
came from uh predominantly well that's
interesting because in India it's
predominantly either Muslim or Hindu
right correct correct and then we talked
about the colonization time when they
came over and then the missionaries came
and your parents can you go out from
there yeah so um my family is actually
uh they've been Christian for a few
Generations um I I think at least three
or four and but I'm sure at some point
somebody was was Hindu and then you know
the Colonists came and then they uh
converted a lot of the people over to
Christianity so um I'm a product of a
few generations of colonial Evangelical
um Protestant Christian thought and
ideology uh that's kind of my background
and my parents background so how' you
end up here on the dean show what was it
now about Islam that had you accept it
well Subhan Allah it was a long road it
was a long road uh but in a nutshell it
was the Quran it was the overwhelming
beauty of the Quran um from the moment
that and and I wasn't somebody that
learned about Islam and then just
immediately went to the Quran and
started reading it uh it took me a while
for the Quran to come in in in front of
my face and when it finally did and when
I opened it uh I wasn't able to put it
down uh it changed my life forever now
was this one of those things that
because you'll see some of these stories
you know the person had some kind of
dream right that Jesus or someone came
to them and that just changed their life
you know was was that something like
that it's like usually a unique
experience just for that person corre
not based on much textual evidence
correct yeah so so my journey um the
interesting thing about my journey is
that it wasn't a emotional experience
for me I and and I did my best to kind
of separate uh emotion from my
decision-making process um so just a
little bit of background um I mentioned
my family's Christian
they're not only Christian by the way
they're wonderful people but they're not
only Christian but you know they're very
involved in the Christian Community uh a
lot of my uncles are pastors um and a
lot of our family friends are are you
know have their own churches um so I
grew up in that environment where
Christianity was not only very prevalent
it was I grew up in the church I grew up
in the community and as you alluded to
earlier as The Golden Child um I was I'm
the only child of my parents but uh in
terms of our family um we were highly
respected within the community so I was
I was you know doing well uh I had no
overwhelming reasons to leave the dean
but Subhan Allah Allah guides people in
different ways and the way that that I
came to Islam was in stages the first
stage of my life was where I was
questioning Christianity and and I know
this happens to a lot of people but the
the more I would learn about
Christianity I had questions in the back
of my head questions that I uh asked my
family like what questions what kind of
questions questions things like you know
um if if God had told God had told um
all the prophets in the
bible especially Moses peace be upon him
that you know your God is one from the
Geto and and this was the understanding
for most of uh the children of
Israel and they practiced this for for
you know thousands of years and that
didn't change until after Jesus peace be
upon Him left this Earth and then
somebody else came and and made a
statement on his behalf which changed
the Paradigm uh from that moment onward
so from that point everybody worshiped
one God and and they knew that the one
God had sent prophets after that they
said no the the prophet that uh then
Paul said the prophet that uh that uh
that God had sent the Jews uh Jesus
peace be upon him he actually wasn't
just a prophet he was actually God you
know in in the form of a man and that
really that idea didn't resonate
properly with me I had questions about
that I said why is it that you know God
changed flipped the script so to speak
all of a sudden um you know why didn't
he just tell people from the time of
Adam all the way down that hey you know
what
I'm God but really there's a Triune
nature to me you know and you should
worship all three that would have been a
very simple message now when people go
back and they they go and they start
digging into you know some of the
earlier books of the the Bible right the
Old Testament they try to connect that
they try to make that correct that trism
I've seen that I've seen that attempt
and uh it's kind of a sloppy attempt in
in my opinion uh and and the interesting
thing thing about it is that um when
they go back and they and I don't
remember the verses off top of my head I
used to at one point but I don't now but
when they go back to like the books of
Isaiah and Deuteronomy and they try to
make the connections between Jesus and
who they think uh or their understanding
of God it they usually do one of two
things first thing is they fail
miserably and the second thing is they
usually prove the reality of the Prophet
Muhammad peace be upon them you know cuz
when they go back to like Deuteronomy
1818 uh when they go back to certain
verses in the Old Testament uh and even
in the New Testament you know they all
allude to the coming of a prophet after
Jesus that he himself spoke about like
in the Book of Matthew um he he spoke
about the coming of another Prophet who
wouldn't speak from himself he would
just do whatever God commanded him to do
so and that's and and that fits the bill
for the prophet Muhammad peace be upon
Him exactly so a lot of that was over
whelming evidence for me um but going
back to what I was saying earlier is
that um so when I had doubts about
Christianity and I and I went and I
spoke to some people at my church um
doubts in Christianity for people that
are coming from that area of Faith where
it's just taking on belief what we say
is
absolute if your story doesn't fall in
line with the story that's accepted it's
usually rejected um nobody really wanted
to hear my side of things or my thoughts
about things so what I started to do is
I went on a personal journey to just
read about religion so I lost faith in
religion especially in Christianity um
when when a lot of my family members
they would claim that Jesus had spoken
to them in one way shape or form via a
vision a dream or whatever and they were
all on different pages they had they all
had different ideas about how to do
things they couldn't agree on things now
that necessarily in itself isn't a bad
thing but that kind of made me that made
me sour to to the faith that you know
what you have these people who claim to
be so close to God but at the same time
God's giving them all different messages
that's what it seemed like to me mhm and
it was uh it was one of those things
that made me decide that you know what I
need to look at look into this for
myself you know up until this point I
was just
listening and obeying but I wasn't
thinking so when I started thinking I
started reading books I actually went
away from Christianity and as I said I
didn't come to Islam until much later
but I went away from Christianity I
started uh going down the path of just
science because some of the things that
I heard in Christianity were were very
outlandish uh that that didn't make
sense to me rationally uh things like a
story of uh I think it was Joshua how he
prayed to God to stop the Sun and then
he just stopped the Sun and I was like
well if that happened you know every
everything would have just collapsed and
at the time I just couldn't wrap my head
around those kind of ideas uh so I went
into science I actually became atheist
for a while didn't believe in didn't
believe in anything um just thought that
there that science was the way to go
science was you know absolute in the
sense that we either knew things or we
didn't know things there was no gray
area um or at least as I understood so I
went from there and then I remember I
read this book uh I can't recall the
name of the person who made this quote
but it stuck with me and it helped me
get back into faith and that was a quote
I think it was Thomas
aquinus uh something to the effect or it
might have been somebody else but
something to the effect that um when you
religion to or or faith is basically
like for example if you had a tornado
that that went through that swept
through a junkyard and then perfectly
assembled a working 747 jet you know
that's what uh Faith basically is like
you know you're saying that the faith in
science is producing these these results
but it's not and so that that kind of
left a profound impact with me and I
said you know what you're you're right I
mean the way that we are now the way
that our our bodies the universe how
everything is designed it must have a
designer it must have a Creator things
couldn't have just you know
automatically have come together and
started working on their own we got a
lot more to talk about I want to ask you
about your family how they how they took
it and now the title with The Golden
Child because obviously you were really
they were they were preparing you to
come up in the church right correct yeah
so we're going to go from there don't go
anywhere for this exciting episode with
Hamza we'll be right back thank you my
friends caring is sharing so like and
share this video and support the dean
show so that we can continue educating
and sharing the message of peace peace
acquired by submission to the will of
God Islam with the world asalam alaykum
peace be with you welcome back to the
dean show so what was your your name
before you accepted Islam so my name
before accepting Islam was
Sunil uh it's a primarily Hindu name
which caused a lot of confusion for
people cuz I actually recently legally
changed it to Hamza um seil doesn't mean
anything it it just means uh I think
it's uh the color blue yeah and uh and I
think there was a lot of famous cricket
players in India that were named seil
yeah so my father you know he named that
uh he named me that and uh so you know
when I became Muslim I wanted to have my
Islamic identity I uh watch the movie
the message um Powerful movie Powerful
movie Anthony Quinn Anthony Quinn That's
a classic yes everybody needs to watch
that the message right the messenger or
the message yes it is the message the
message yeah with Anthony qu one
wonderful movie I watched it in high
school uh VHS VHS back in the day two of
them uh yeah two of them part one part
two this was back in like '98 yeah um
before we had all this technology but uh
wonderful movie I I I saw the character
of Hamza and I immediately connected
with that character and it wasn't until
and then I became Muslim in 2002 it
wasn't until 2002 and somebody said hey
you know if you want to choose a name
for yourself this would be a good time
and uh and I went through and I said you
know this was this is the name Hamza I
love the name I love the the meaning I
loved uh the message behind the name so
and and it fits it fits for me Hamza so
we got Hamza here uh so now your parents
what who was it that
brought Islam to you who brought you to
who shared who gave you da there anyone
particular or were you on your own
pretty much or did you have a classmate
did you have someone that you had
conversations with and they start to you
know bring up certain questions and had
you thinking correct yeah so I did have
uh a lot of good people around me from
the time of High School uh a lot of good
brothers and sisters uh that were part
of the the Muslim Student Association at
that time so you had some Muslim friends
I had some Muslim friends um but what
really all brought us together were
Sports you know I'm a big fan of
basketball uh we all used to go play
sports and then afterwards you know they
would go to these um Muslim club
meetings and they would do things like
watch a message and do other things um
so I I had good influences but like I
said for me I'm I'm not somebody that
bases decisions off of influence yeah uh
till this day I've never smoked a
cigarette nobody's ever influenced me to
do anything that I've never wanted to do
myself so uh and my family had this
concern they said who converted you to
Islam who forc you to take this and I
said nobody did I did I read I
researched and I came to this Dean
because from my understanding this was
the most perfect answer to Life's
questions to all of life's questions and
they were they they couldn't wrap their
mind around it they said no it had to be
somebody so although I did have good
influences in my life I had good people
who I could conversate with but the
reality was these individuals were you
know they were teenagers they were young
adults they they had their shortcomings
they did whatever they need needed to do
um so I never saw anyone and said hey
you know what this is a inspirational
figure but when somebody brought to my
attention they said hey you're studying
about taism and and Confucianism and
Hinduism and the other branches of
Christianity why don't you look at the
Quran you know why don't you look at
some of the uh the meanings behind the
Quran and and so in that way I was
approached about about Quran and the
Islam that's a very sensible thing to do
I mean there was a nice story of a
Muslim Christian and a Jew got together
and they start talking about religion
and the Jews says hey look uh we only I
only believe in Jesus and uh I mean
Moses and his Commandments and the
Christian steps up and says hey I
believe in Moses but also in Jesus they
elevate him obviously to God and then
they look at the bulam and the Muslim
says hey I believe in we believe in
Moses Jesus and the last and final mess
of prophet muh and peace and Ving be
upon him so this is in no way you know
putting down Jesus in no way putting
down Moses in no way you know coming and
attacking or you know really uh just
inviting people to look at what Jesus's
real message was and look at what he was
talking about another messenger because
it's clear if you read it like you were
that there was another messenger who was
coming otherwise it's incomplete yeah
it's in my opinion and I think in many
people's opinion uh is it's Islam
actually elevates Jesus because
Christianity brought him brought Jesus
peace be upon him at the same status of
uh of I think it was um one of the pagan
gods that they had you know formed his
backstory behind uh I forget the name
mitris so a lot of the the things that
present day Christians do now is a
result of Constantine and Paul and some
of the people back in the day that had
that made decisions that have nothing to
do with people today they made the
decision that hey you know what the
easiest way for us to take a message
that was meant only for the Jewish
people and and Jesus mentions that
specifically in the New Testament I
think when a woman comes up to him and
says you know um I have such and such
problem can you help me and he says I
wasn't sent here for you I was sent here
for the children of Israel and uh and so
they had to kind of um figure out how to
marry those two ideas that the fact that
Jesus came for the Jews but then also
for the Gentiles and uh and so then Paul
and Constantine and whoever they got
together and said hey you know what
we're going to we're going to marry
mythis this this mytholog mythological
figure that we have and we're going to
uh and this real person that we have
Jesus marry their identity so I think
Christianity brings Jesus down whereas
Islam elevates him his name uh he is a
prophet of Allah a beloved Messenger to
the Muslims and I'm sure to a lot of uh
um Christians as well but at the same
time when when you equate him next to
God that's that's putting him in a tough
position you know what I mean I mean
nobody wants to be the guy that's like
oh hey you're on the same status as God
I mean he's going to deny that on on the
day of judgment which which is what we
firmly believe um but that's that's a
difficult position to be in what are
your parents now okay so what what was
the there's a crossing point and many
people don't want to cross that point
right of no return because now you're
The Golden Child correct right your
family their name is on the line right
social status maybe you got some big
inheritance coming your way you're going
to inherit the Kingdom over here right
from from everything your parents have
the money these are the kind of things
people have to think about right correct
and Islam makes sense there's it it just
worship the Creator not the creation
everything is so Crystal Clear
but now the courage to step forward and
to say you know what I'm going to follow
this truth correct right or you're
you're going to cumb to the temptation
of look um it's this is more important
right I'm I'm not I'm just going to kind
of just keep blending in and just uh
people abandon the truth correct corre
what was that that thing that H had you
say you know what I'm not holding back
I'm going to give birth to what's inside
of me I'm going to come out and I'm
going to accept that there's nothing
worthy of worship except the creat of
the heavens and earth and Muhammad is
the last and final messenger that's what
someone has to do to become a Muslim and
obviously that would include Jesus Moses
and all the preceding messenger you
wouldn't just abandon them you would
just give them their prop proper due
that they were Mighty Messengers not
Divine of God correct correct so that
was the turning point for me or the
point of no return um to kind of
understand that I have to take just a
step back mhm and that step back was
that the way that I was raised um you
know I I me and my family went through
some difficult periods during my
childhood and um it it got to the point
where for me and my mom you know she
told me you're my only hope you know I'm
I'm hoping that you grow up to be a good
Christian son of mine so that you can
get me out of all the challenges that I
faced and so a lot was writing on my
shoulders from the family perspective
and I also had my uncles who were trying
to pedigree me towards being um
intricate part of the church I'm not
saying that I had to be the next Pastor
or anything but definitely in involved
deeply in the church um so a lot of
people had a lot of Hope in me and
what what made me change my mind is that
if I if I had looked at this whole
experience through an emotional lens I
would have definitely never embraced
Islam one one day I was uh sitting with
one of my friends his name is Muhammad
by the way uh interestingly enough and
uh he and I this was after I had
gathered all this information about
other religions as well as Islam and I
knew in my heart that Islam is the
absolute perfect way of life it's what I
want to do so now you're you're at that
point how far into to your journey is
this is this a few months few years how
approximately how long before you
realize okay this is it this is this is
what I've been SE this is the truth so I
started around 2000 and it took me about
two years to get to that point okay so
this is not something just like
overnight you took your time really
critical thinking correct um prayer what
you know were you asking God for
guidance in yourself or just reflecting
on on things that I knew things that I
understood to be true things that uh
didn't make sense to me I was trying to
just put all those things together and
kind of thread the needle to what was
real and what was obviously not real so
now you're here okay so you're about two
years into investigating you know really
corre doing some critical thinking and
contemplating and so what happens from
there yeah and and not just
contemplating but actual research
research lot of research I locked myself
up in my parents den and just was
reading books and you know I would do
research on religion I you're digging
man I'm digging yeah so I went to UIC
for the first uh uh couple years of my
college 20202 that's by the way that's
where I took my shahada but while I was
there I was researching so much on the
dean that you know I ended up dropping
out of UIC um because this was so
overwhelmingly profound for me but so
fast forward 2002 um I'm I'm talking
with my friend Muhammad as I mentioned
and uh he he said one thing to me which
I'll always remember don't don't don't
lose your place sure Muhammad tells you
something this is this is obviously a
this is a friend of yours from the UIC
correct uh we'll be right back with more
here on the dean show don't go anywhere
so you have two choices either be a
slave to the creation or be aave slave
to the Creator and submit yourself to
him like all of his Noble prophets and
Messengers did hope this got you
thinking take the first step and start
asking sincerely for guidance from your
creator thank you don't forget to share
and like this video subscribe and do
your best to help the dean show reach
its goal thank you very much asalam
alaikum peace be with
you welcome back to the dean show Hamza
in the studio Golden Child family comes
from a staunch Christian background they
were they were preparing you to be what
like a pastor in the church or yeah I
was uh being pedigree to be uh some type
of figure in the church yeah um but
definitely um from a very conservative
Christian background yeah okay so where
did you left off now that Muhammad your
friend Muhammad what happened from there
so I was just having a u a talk with him
M um I think we were just we had just
gotten some food or whatever just having
like a casual conversation so um he says
something to me that I'll always
remember for the rest of my life and he
said now that you have all of this
information that you've amassed really
from like 1998 is when I started really
thinking about religion but 2000 is when
I researched religion and he said now
that you have all this information what
are you going to do with it because if
you die in a state where you have all
this information but you didn't act on
it then God could hold you accountable
for not making that decision so that was
a very moving statement for me because
that meant I had to take some action it
wasn't just lip service anymore I
couldn't just pretend that I'm still
researching I knew where I needed to go
I just had to have the courage to go
there and so uh shortly after March 9th
2002 I I went to UIC and uh after their
Friday prayer I went up and you know um
I had already arranged it with some of
the people there and I took my shahada
got a lot of hugs it was a very
emotional moment at that point but
getting to that point I tried to use as
much logic and reason as possible Let's
help people identify shahada like paint
the picture okay you get up what this is
when someone finally acknowledges after
research contemplation um asking God for
guidance and now this is the truth and
this is nothing uh new this is what
every messenger brought what is the
shahada what what did you say actually
so the shahada is is the Declaration of
faith
is so that you're basically saying and
it's a very profound thing and I'm and
I'm moved just hearing it now yeah me
too um it's a very profound thing
because you're basically saying that
there's nothing no one worthy of worship
but Allah but you're not just saying
that you're casting aside anything that
could even be tried to compare to Allah
and you're putting Allah above
everything and then you're saying that
from from the mercy of Allah he sent the
final messenger the prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him to clarify all these
misconceptions that were made about
Allah and so that's why Muhammad is
beloved to me and to all the Muslims
because he came to really set the record
straight about who God is and what God
wants and how God wants us to approach
him so for me it's a very uh profound
statement uh when I met it uh when I
made that statement uh I was nearly in
tears or I was in tears probably um
there is a verse in the Bible I believe
it's in John
173 if I'm not mistaken where it says
this is life eternal that they may know
you where this is L Jesus speaking it
says this is life eternal that they may
know you now he's pointing you not me
he's saying you the only true God and
Jesus whom you have sent correct that's
shahada sh that's it this is this is
that testimony that you're you're
acknowledging that look the only one
worthy of worship is not a man not a
woman not a saint not a messenger not an
angel not money not Fame nothing but the
creator of the heavens and earth the one
who gave you life who give you death and
the messenger that was sent at that time
during Jesus's time it was him he was
the messenger Moses is time you would
say the same statement correct and then
acknowledge that Moses is the teacher
the messenger teaching you how to
worship how to get to Paradise right
correct correct and Abraham it was the
same statement at his time and then now
we have it at our time Prophet Muhammad
peace and bless be upon the last and
final messenger the Seal of the prophets
and you were doing nothing different the
same thing I was doing the exact same
thing and and it was an honor to to do
it a person all their sins everything
from the past it's a fresh start a fresh
start absolutely did hell all hell break
loose after that now the it doesn't like
it it's real now it's real now yeah yeah
now you're tested the the ones that God
Almighty loves the most he tests the
most right so did all hell break loose
in a manner of speaking yes now my
parents were wonderful people um I love
them to death um you know they had a
very hard time with this uh I didn't I
didn't initially approach them about it
because I kind of had a feeling how they
would take it uh I kind of hid my Islam
at home I would uh when I F when I took
my shahada people friends from high
school friends from College gave me
gifts books the Quran uh copies of the
Hadith um and I had put all these in
nice little cabinet in my uh in My Den
where I was doing all my research and um
so I I I hid my Islam and I came home
one
day and I looked inside this cabinet and
all those things were gone and I started
just freaking out and and I was like I
where is all this stuff so I looked
everywhere and then I finally went to my
mom and I said you know Mom have you
seen these things that I've placed you
know around this desk and she's she she
knew what I was talking about and she
said uh what things are you talking
about and I said you know there were
some books and some other things she was
like yeah I I found some things and I
threw them in the garbage mhm and my
heart literally dropped to my stomach
and I felt like the blood lost from my
brain it it was a surreal moment for me
and I was just like oh man I mean she
had just thrown the Quran away something
that brought me to the dean and I went
through a a different set of emotions
but what I did was I left the house and
I went to the Majid anytime I had any
issues I would go to the Majid and
that's that's a practice that I
encourage and I do till this day I went
to the Majid and um uh one of the old
Majid caretakers there or he was really
the only one Wonderful Name wonderful
man his name is um is some he's a person
that I'll remember you know for the rest
of my life uh we used to call him the
mois sa it's something in U but um his
name is Muhammad H he came to me and he
said why are you looking so sad today
what's
wrong and I said I don't even know how
to explain this to you but my mom just
threw away everything that I that I
owned about
Islam especially the Quran and and I was
in tears and so he's he looks at me and
he he kind of Chuckles he like he he
smiles and I'm thinking in my head like
why is he smiling this is a very serious
moment like I'm I've just lost a lot of
things that I really am care about and
I'm passionate about and then and then
he says something to me which I'll never
forget he says your mother may have
thrown out the Quran which is a book but
she can never throw out the Quran which
is in your heart she can never
extinguish that that light and uh that
really it literally sprung me back into
action uh it was the I felt like I had
been knocked out and then this before
the 10 count I was back up Subhan Allah
I was back up and I was ready to go that
charged me and it's still charging me
for the entirety of my life so it's
individuals like that that you know they
have a profound impact on new reverted
Muslims and uh they may not know it or
at that time you know and I I always
pray for that brother and his family
U but that really charged me to get back
into things and to also give my parents
uh the benefit of the doubt you know it
can't be easy to lose your son to
another Faith something you know I have
kids now myself if my child came to me
and said you know I want to practice
something else it would deeply hurt me
too so it made me understand my parents
perspective um I didn't intend to you
know hurt them when I made this choice I
just knew that this was the right thing
for me to do and I deeply in sincerely
wish that you know they had considered
it then and that they even consider it
now so for me it's been a personal
journey to um really educate them about
Islam we went back and forth that at one
point they said you know we don't want
to hear about Islam anymore and so now I
make Dua and I try to be the best son
that I can be hopefully those actions
because I know that this is the Sunnah
of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam this is his way that you
not only talk about the good but you do
the good in the hopes that people will
see that good and and and worship Allah
now they had did they have uh a bunch of
people like from because you had a a
large family of um people who are
prominent in the church people lined up
to try to like you know maybe uh think
maybe he's possessed you know work some
exorcism on you uh they try to like come
and usually what you'll see happening is
people will try to um distort Islam
they'll try to take the the matters of
and things that there's some ambiguity
as far as need some clarification where
people can get confused and they'll
start to attack you know did this
happened there was a lot of people um
from my own strong attack right they
were on the strong offensive they were
from my family like I mentioned my
uncles are are pastors uh some of our
family friends are all pastors very deep
within the church um they all came you
know lined up outside my door in a
manner of speaking um they with the
intent of bringing me back to Christian
Christianity um you know they told me
things like you know God is a spirit
it's it's they were trying to explain my
question of why did God change the
Paradigm after Jesus and before Jesus it
was all the same and they were trying to
explain to me you know that God is a a
spirit and um you know he didn't really
communicate the completeness about
himself but now after Jesus we know the
complete
and they they made a lot of attempts and
uh you know all those attempts now I
didn't really know much about the the
the the foundations of Islam I mean I
knew enough of the Quran and I knew
enough about Christianity to say
Christianity is not for me Islam is
definitely for me I need to learn more
but when people come to you and they
accuse the prophet Muhammad s alaihi
wasallam of uh of of of X Y and Z things
that they consider to be crimes um you
know I didn't really have any adequate
response for them mhm so I had to just
listen to all of this barrage of kind of
insults to the
religion while being patient at the same
time and uh and then then going back and
then I had to hit the books hard and
learn what what are they really talking
about is there any truth to what they're
saying and you know you always have as a
new Muslim you always have that fear in
your mind that maybe if I turn this page
you know there's something that I'm
going to learn that's going to take me
back but I had the confidence in Islam
everything that I had learned I knew I
was sound upon I knew that there was
only one God you know that anyone else
claiming to be God which Jesus peace be
upon him never did and uh but anyone
claiming to be God that couldn't be the
right way uh and anyone speaking to God
directly you know that he had he himself
had not chosen I took them with a grain
of salt like someone just saying like
like many many people they'll do they'll
say look God spoke to me I'm speaking to
God today they're living they're saying
that that's ridiculous it's it's intense
because they come to you they have a lot
of passion a lot of fervor and they
sincerely believe that God or or
somebody speaking to them in one way
shape or form Visions dreams and for the
most part the thing that I love about
the religion of Islam the most is that
we base our our belief on on on facts
and evidence facts and evidence that's
very important that's very important
because and so the way that I look at it
and my Approach is this is that we know
that God has sent Messengers in the past
M and we know that this is the practice
of God he sends Messengers to people
those Messengers try to deliver the
truth but invariably they get you know
for a manner uh in a man of speaking
they get crucified in one way shape or
form but the interesting thing to me was
that Islam was saying that this didn't
happen to Jesus that God saved him that
God elevated him and that he will come
back and then when he comes back people
are going to come back to him and say
you know we did all these wonderful
things in your name and he's going to
brush them aside so for me that was an
interesting thing to learn about Islam
that the way that Islam saw Jesus peace
be upon him the way that Islam saw
prophets in general that they were all
Messengers you know from God and the
final messenger being Muhammad s Ali
wasallam that he came not just for a
specific Nation but for all of mankind
and and that was uh profound because it
made me realize then that you know it's
not a racist thing or a cultural thing
or you know there's no class or anything
associated with it it's it's for
everyone yeah you hear many ridiculous
statements being made and I'm sure you
were probably hit with them they're
they're just so ridiculous and if
someone does a this I often bring my my
book I said look you got to read the
complete idiots guide I never met this
brother but I'm sure he's he's going to
we should meet one day I keep I keep
pushing his book CU you got to be a
complete I love the complete idiots
guide to understanding Islam because you
got to be a really complete I never want
to you know a name call anybody but just
generally speaking you really got to be
a complete idiot if you believe some of
these things and just swallow it whole
for instance that Muslims worship uh the
moon right correct that Allah is a moon
God when you just I mean Allah says
don't worship the moon real simple
things uh female female genital
mutilation ridiculous honor killings I
mean this is um these are things you
know there's no honor in killing uh
innocent people uh basic things that you
look into you know the basic teachings
of Islam refute this with a little bit
of knowledge and and then another thing
you know you see like um that they try
to tell you that the Quran was from the
devil you know correct yeah that's I've
heard that a lot it's crazy you know
every book every page of this book has
God's name on it it' be interesting if
the devil wrote this and he's cursing
himself because the Quran is constantly
cursing the devil constantly telling you
to be truthful the de Devil's trying to
get you to not be truthful you know to
commit all sorts of evil but everything
in the Quran what is it calling you to
to do good things to be a good human
being you know yeah did you hear some of
these things these attacks that started
to to um come at you yeah absolutely I
heard all those and and even more uh the
one that was very interesting for me
that that there's Idols that so what
people have done is they've taken some
information about uh the history of
Islam and then they've kind of melded
that in with their
own inclinations towards saying that
Islam and and uh and Satanism is is
related in one way shape or form so
they've come to me and they've said you
know there were Idols in the Caba before
and uh you know that's what that was
Muhammad peace be upon him's intent he
wanted people to worship the idols and
things like this and that couldn't be
further from the truth we all know as
Muslims that when um Mecca was liberated
first thing not a single person was
harmed not a single plant or animal was
touched or harmed and then one the first
thing that was that occurred was all of
the idols that were placed by Arab
pagans prior to Islam those all those
Idols were removed from the cabba and
the cabba is just a metaphorical place
this is the place where we believe that
Adam peace be upon him and then
subsequently Abraham peace be upon him
and his son built this house as a
worship to the Creator so this is this
this is the symbolic and the actual
first house of worship for uh for as as
Muslims understand it so it has a lot of
significance and this is why and and
it's a unifying place of direction for
everyone instead of people playing
praying to the left or the right or
whichever way they seem fit we're all
unified in One Direction and we pray to
the creator of the universe so I I've
I've heard a lot of things but they
didn't hold a lot of weight they they
they really they really don't and I I
believe there's great wisdom in this
that anytime something is a value you
got to really put some effort into it
you know most of the precious things are
in the ground there's dirt covering it
right Islam is a treasure so there's a
lot of dirt around it around it and a
the Creator God Almighty is is testing
people's sincerity so are you going to
some people it's are you going to go
back to the club are you going to go
back to that way of life that you were
living before right of following your
desires because now you're tested here
right someone comes at you and now you
like yourself you go and investigate you
know these things don't hold weight
because you obviously know the basic
teachings of Islam but some people right
they fail miserably on such a very basic
test very simple that if you were to
just research a little bit pray to God
everything would have been cleared out
but the desire is strong many people now
they get test and they go back to the
club they go back to the lifestyle
whatever it doesn't necessarily have to
be the club but they go back to whatever
they were doing following their desires
absolutely do you see that that is and
and that all ties in with emotions
because desires emotions all these
things are related and um just to make a
comment on what you said earlier about
people who practice these things in the
name of Islam like um female genal
mutilation and so many other things H
honor killings a lot of these things are
cultural practices that have thrown dirt
on Islam that really have nothing to do
that have nothing to do with the
religion of Islam it's just people have
brought their cultures and ideas and try
to you know insert them in wherever uh
they see fit uh one of the things for me
for example was you know growing up as a
as an Indian um one of the basic things
is um you know you don't get married
until you have your degree and do all
these things and and then sometimes
people go until the age of 30 before
they can even find a spouse and uh you
know and and I I see that as a cultural
norm that's perpetuated on people that
really causes people to go to those
extremes of clubbing or doing this or
that and committing sins um but culture
can be a very beautiful thing it can you
know be an amazing thing but at the same
time can be a very destructive thing
when it's implemented in the wrong way M
uh and I've seen that firsthand yeah so
what was it now have your parents how
have they come around it's been it's
been how many years now since okay 2002
it's been some time now correct right so
you got your feet alhamdulillah firmly
planted in the dean how is your
relationship now because Islam calls you
still to be the best son right towards
your parents to really honor and respect
your parents right like your mother was
saying that she wanted some help in in
certain in in as she was expressing
herself Islam doesn't take that away it
actually takes her to a whole another
level have they gotten to see that and
has their heart softened at all you know
if I had stayed a Christian and I know
it's not good to deal in hypotheticals
but if that were the case I don't know
if I would have been a good of son as I
am now that I'm Muslim not that I'm the
best son I have my flaws and I have my
mistakes but one of the things that is
Islam um compels people to do is to be
good to their parents um and in in every
manner except if your parents ask you to
associate any Partners to Allah to the
creator of the heavens and the Earth so
aside from that you know I've been as I
mentioned not trying to talk so much
about Islam but to show them Islam to
show them the good of Islam um you know
really anything that they ask that I be
there for them um because you know I
deeply cherish and love them for
everything that they have done you know
the amount of uh love and respect that
one has for their parents this is
explained thoroughly in Islam thoroughly
in the Quran uh we're not even supposed
to say speak loudly towards our parents
in Islam it's mentioned in the Quran so
you can imagine that um it this is the
the level of respect we have to show and
uh I feel like since I've become Muslim
I've been able to show them more respect
more care and uh you know know and
they're human beings and uh they're a
product of their parents raising them a
certain way in Christianity so I I I
recognize all of that and I try to
approach them um you know with with the
most care that I can possibly have so
how's uh Ramadan now this is uh you've
been implementing another part again
Jesus he called people to worship the
Creator not the creation not himself
there's nowhere anywhere and this is
with all due respect with all due
respect and
sincerity that this is not to put down
you know any religion or anybody but we
when you critically think and you look
at the evidence it's clear that Jesus
called people you know just look at the
Lord's Prayer correct or our father we
say or our Lord who who are in heaven
Hallowed be thy name and if you just did
that you called on the one Jesus called
and ask for guidance God will facilitate
a way and guide you to submission to the
will of God Islam so you're not doing
anything different you took the shahad
that that's what Jesus would called what
he called people to do to testify
there's nothing worthy of worship except
the Creator Jesus fell on his face and
prayed to God you're doing the same
thing right and Jesus right he called
people to give charity that's the zakat
again sounds interesting huh that's what
we're doing the same way of life as all
the messengers nothing different and he
fasted Ramadan he did he fasted same
thing so you're fasting now how's the uh
how's Ramadan going ramadan's been going
very well alhamdulillah um in in when I
first became Muslim Ramadan was a bit of
a challenge
not from the fasting perspective but
from the perspective that um Ramadan is
usually a time for families to get
together uh for people to mend
relationships and to really to get
together and you know um celebrate that
uh the Quran was given during the month
of Ramadan but then also to recognize
that there are less fortunate people in
the community and to also give back to
the community but overall to to increase
Us in faith which is the main message of
Ramadan and uh when I was first Muslim
um I would you know it's different when
you're the only one in your family doing
something and everybody else is doing
something else and then when you see you
know I would go to my friends houses for
Ramadan for Eid they would invite me
over uh to break fast with them and
their families and uh although I was
very grateful and appreciative of of the
opportunity to break fast it inside I
was a bit sad because I couldn't do this
with my own family and one of the things
that I frequently prayed for is it for
one day for me to have my own family
that I could celebrate the joy and
happiness of Ramadan with and that
eventually one day inshallah even my
parents would be celebrating Ramadan
with us as Muslims so yeah I mean and I
make that Dua all the time um so that
was something that I I I I wished for
the longest time and Subhan Allah now I
have a wife and three children a family
of my own and and Ramadan is is is a
wonderful time for us and and and I
reflect back on those days when I was by
myself you know eating cereal at home
and then I think and I say Subhan Allah
if somebody had told me back then that
you know what be patient one day not
only will you have your own family but
you will be amazingly happy I would have
said that that could be possible because
I couldn't see that happening MH I
didn't know how I was going to get out
of my tough situation but alhamdulillah
Allah has a plan for everyone and uh you
know I'm grateful for Ramadan I'm
grateful for the ability to fast and the
great thing is now at the end of the
month we all get together even with my
parents so uh it's it's a wonderful time
for me guys it's very important I mean
we take some benefit much benefit from
this people who are really in a
situation where they don't have to
struggle like you did you follow me with
their family and having all hell break
loose like this you follow me they are
brought up in a Muslim family you know
breaking ifar have if they are together
but many people they're taking it for
granted correct you follow me correct
and I'm sure that touches your heart
also when you see the struggle that you
had to go through what advice do you
have for for Muslims who are taking the
dean for granted uh please don't that's
the first and foremost advice I mean
it's easier said than done uh the dean
has to come from your heart it has to
come from after understanding the dean
and and really wanting to change your
life and and Allah says in the Quran if
somebody's sincere about the dean that
Allah will guide them to the dean so
just getting rid of all the superficial
things you know getting rid of the
cultural biases you know if you have uh
if you know of people who are um newly
reverted Muslims or people anyone who's
uh who is going through some tough times
you know invite them to your house to
eat you know give them a smile this is
one of the sunnas of the Prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him one of the
things that he used to love to do and he
encouraged us to do which can really
brighten someone's day so that's my
advice is you know don't take Ramadan
for granted don't take being Islam for
granted um one of the prayers I always
make for myself and I and I I also pray
for my family is that we we take this
understanding of Islam with us all the
way up until the moment we die MH that
this is something that we don't ever
take for granted not even for a second
yes that's deep and for everybody
watching in many of the not yet Muslims
people are tuning in and and the message
makes sense worship the Creator not the
creation there's some homework I want to
leave you with there is a had where
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon Him is
relating to to us that the Creator Allah
is saying that all of my slaves are
misguided every one of us is misguided
unless I guide them right unless God
guides you you're lost you're misguided
so ask me God is saying ask me of my
guidance that is something so simple as
profound and there's Brilliance and
simplicity something you could do right
now you can be that person watching and
maybe your family is of the KKK right
and you're like man I I'm not with that
this makes sense I want to be a Muslim I
want to be like Jesus was one who
submits to the will of God you can do it
right now you can call 1800 662 Islam
you could be someone who was coming from
the strip club you can be someone who is
from the worst of background done the
worst of things there's always Mercy
there's always forgiveness because God
is the the all merciful the all
forgiving you just got to have a sincere
heart ask God ask the Creator for
guidance ask him for forgiveness and if
you have any more questions call us 1800
662 Islam and and take benefit from this
wonderful story it's that simple it's
that easy worship the Creator not the
creation I want to thank you
tremendously for sharing taking the time
to share this story and inshallah other
people can benefit from your experiences
and take eternalize this and you know
really um recharge them El cuz that's
what we need this month we need to
recharge absolutely absolutely we're
like batteries and we need to be
recharged but it was a pleasure being
here thank you for the
opportunity and I hope there's benefit
from this inshallah if I made if I said
anything right it's from Allah and if I
made any mistakes it's from myself so
thank you my thank you my brother
apprciate the bless Ramadan take care
and thank you guys for tuning in
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said do the homework that I told you to
do and call us if you have any questions
and we hope to see you every week here
on the dean show until next time peace
be with youum let us follow in the
footsteps of the greatest men whoever
walk this Earth The Messengers that God
Almighty sent like Abraham Moses Jesus
and Muhammad peace be upon them all who
all called people to worship the Creator
Al own and not his creation take a
moment now and fulfill one of those
qualities and that's of giving towards
the daah something all these great
Giants did and called people to do help
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