aldah peace be with you thank you for
tuning in to this week's show we got
Christopher pavlovich in the studio uh
this is a brother who accepted Islam
from a cretian background and
alhamdulillah he's here to tell us his
story fell off for some time and that's
what makes it unique where many people
they come to the realization that there
is a purpose to life they F find it out
in Islam and they start living it and
then the desires take over you know
friends and family difficulties and
sometimes people fall back to their
routines that they develop bad habits
for for years and now he came back
alhamdulillah so we're going to share
his story with you and benefit from his
story and see how he actually drifted
away and how he came back it's a really
really incredible show don't go anywhere
we'll be right right back
the this is the
the
the this is
the this is the is
the is
the this is
the is the D is
the this is
the peace be with you Christopher pavet
yes how are you doing brother
alhamdulillah I'm good I'm good I'm I'm
good I'm glad to be here glad to have
you here and we uh uh pavet check so
this is uh Croatian your mother's
croation and your father is from my
father on my father's side we're
Bohemian so that's where the pav comes
from but on the mother's side yeah we're
Croatian now that's uh you know really
um unique you we have um so many people
we know Islam is the fastest growing way
of life in the world and so many people
are realizing that there's more to life
than just party and play and you know
making money and you actually realize
that at a young age at the age of 15 is
that right yeah that's right I uh I
first got interested in Islam in uh mid
mid 99s early 90s uh you know in in
hip-hop music the media and the movies
uh Islam was portrayed in a in a good
light at those times so I kept hearing
about it I got interested in it uh few
things in my life made me really think
you know I should search for a true path
mhm so the more I I I looked into Islam
the concept of of one God it was it was
like everything I was looking for the
idea that you know we all of our worship
goes to one Lord and there's not you
know three in one or you know a
different type types of gods different
you know ways to worship that there's
there's one true path that uh that
brought a certain degree of peace to my
life even at a young age yeah let's uh
talk about I want to talk about
something that you know stands out
especially in in the European community
and uh and some other communities people
aren't used to um here you know we have
a Melting Pot in the United States and
uh people don't really focus too much on
these things but back in the European
community bosan community crean
community when they see such a nice
beard like yourself they they it stands
out so people want to know like usually
if you we mentioned that
creation uh background but now some
people think okay why does he have a
beard you know did he become an Arab
what have you ever had someone question
you about your beard yeah even uh the
beard and and then just becoming Muslim
in general people will say to you like
oh you're becoming an Arab now or you're
becoming an Indian but in my case you
know I I started growing the beard
because I found that that's one of the
attributes of the Prophet Muhammad s
peace be upon him and then the other
prophets as well anytime you look in you
know Christian or Jewish theology you
see the portraits that they have of of
the prophets are always with beards you
know it's a it's a sign of masculinity
so even without knowing all all the uh
scientific benefits which are being you
know brought to us now you know I I did
it to look like a Muslim to resemble
those prophets knowing that you know
they're the best of mankind yeah the
world Observer talking about science
this is really interesting I mean we
don't actually grow it because of
science but we see a lot of the things
that the creators told us to do it's a
benefit for us and there are so many big
things small things and now let's say
for the beard I just want to bring this
point the world Observer they actually
published an article talking about this
is from a study done at the University
of Southern Queens Len it was published
in the radiation protection protection
de symmetry Journal now they found this
this is them speaking now they found in
this study that the beard one that
you're the beautiful one you're you're
you're you're wearing mashallah they
said that the beard it blocks 90 to 90%
of UV
rays it's a cancer fighting I mean
protecting you from the UV rays
obviously that caused cancer and and and
it goes on to say that the uh beard also
along with slowing down the Aging
problem process reducing the risk of
skin cancer all from the beard talks
about you got uh asthma you know the
pollins and dust simply get stuck in the
facial uh hair of the beard so also
protecting you and keeping you looking
young and fresh so this is uh from a
scientific uh perspective that's really
unique to hear something like that isn't
it it's great to know it's great to know
huh it's great to know I think maybe
that's encouragement for some of our
brothers who uh might not be
at the beard level yet now it doesn't
stop there it talks about you know
continuing on it talks about you know uh
the study the researchers also they uh
mention that shaving usually causes
ingrown
hairs and the bacteria infections that
lead to acne so now for the people
shaving it talks about shaving usually
causes ingrown hairs and which leads to
bacteria and infections leading to to to
the to the acne so it's actually in the
study the the Shaving is actually bad
for you okay so so so so so hopefully
for the people that got just stuck on
the beard now you know we can kind of
you know uh Move Along yeah uh from
there we can move on from my beard look
up here not here yeah anyway so continue
on so now you're you're a young man
you're around is that right at 15 years
of age you accepted Islam yeah about uh
well I grew up on the north side of
Chicago and we wound up
uh inheriting my grandmother's house in
naille and when we moved to
naille the community was totally
different than Rogers Park where I grew
up you know Rogers Park is a very
diverse part of Chicago it's like the
United Nations naville was not like that
at that time it was very uh you know one
type of people out there so it was kind
of difficult for me to fit in it first
and I found myself uh doing things that
I didn't like to do I was doing uh some
bad stuff if you I was being the bad kid
because coming from Chicago all the kids
looked at me as like oh you're you know
Chicago's dangerous and you're going to
get into trouble and all that so uh I I
bought into it to be cool with everybody
to be popular so I played you know the
bad guy role and uh just to make friends
but that wasn't me I'm not I don't have
that makeup I'm not a bad guy so I was
just pretending to be somebody for them
and this is that a young young young age
this is like 8th grade freshman year at
high school so it wasn't me I didn't
feel comfortable so I started
searching and uh while I'm making that
search uh schools going over the Middle
East schools going over Africa the news
like I said before news is talking about
a few Wars that are like hit close to
home cuz at that time was the Bosnian
Wars I'm sure you know and uh bosnians
and croatians are essentially the same
people just the different side of the
border so there's that and there was a
war in Chia which is close to my other
side so Islam just kept coming into my
life everywhere I would you know look at
the news if I listen to the music I
listen to they would be you know saying
asalam alaykum
later and stuff to that
extent so it just kept coming at me
schools going over it I decided to study
more and the more I studied about
sociology and and history Islam just
kept coming at Me So eventually I came
to the conclusion that I'm going to
become Muslim because it just it seems
right worship one God what could be more
simpler than that mhm it's me and my
Creator so uh we had a nice uh high
school student that decided to talk
about Islam for the class and they gave
a little presentation these are the
pillars of Islam this is IM man this is
what the Muslims believe and by that by
that time I had already decided I'm
going to become Muslim so I wrote the
question down like how do I become
Muslim and uh next thing I know I get a
phone call from the local Imam that
let's hold right there you get a a phone
call from the local Imam they're sign we
got to go to break so don't lose your
place we're going to hear the rest of
the story also we're going to be talking
about a former fighter with the UFC who
also accepted Islam uh all of that and
more here on the dean show we'll be
right back so say he Allah is one God is
one the maker of mankind exactly Allah
Allah is self-sufficient he doesn't need
food or drink he doesn't need to rest on
the seventh day okay I really had a
problem with that even before I knew
anything about Islam God resting sounds
like a weak god um he begets not he
doesn't have any children nor is he a
child or born of anything or
anyone and there is nothing coal or
comparable unto him at all nobody
nothing anything can IM nobody nobody's
comparable to the Creator nothing yeah
and that right there was in its Essence
what I believe
naturally back here on the dean show
with
Christopher pich pav pavich you know my
f my friends and uh guests who become my
friends they know many people been on
the DEA usually mess up some names in
the first time so please forgive me uh
now let's continue on so Islam is
hitting you from all over the place okay
it's like signs are coming to you and
you're you're at that point are you are
you starting to get a little more like
serious in Life or were you thinking
about what's the purpose of life were
you what was your state at that time in
life when these signs are coming to you
like right so so these things are coming
at me from every angle from from visual
from the television from audio from the
music I'm listening to and then it's
hitting me into now you're in class
right and now you you have someone doing
a presentation and what happens from
there continue on right they they as you
could imagine the speaker takes
questions so I wrote down the question
how does one you know become Muslim yeah
so uh what she did is she turned the
information over to the local Imam of
the Masjid uh there's a nice Masjid
there in neille actually there's a few
now but I'm dating myself at that time
there was one he calls me up he says you
know I understand that you would like to
become Muslim and at this point you know
I've made the decision really based on
the the most basic simple explanation of
Islam that they worship one God and not
much else so he he talks to me over the
phone and he says do you believe you
know that there's only one God do you
believe that Muhammad is the messenger
and he runs down the list of the beliefs
that a Muslim should
have I just agree to everything because
my heart is already telling me you're
going to become Muslim that's it I'm not
I'm young I'm not doing the Deep
research that somebody that might be in
their 20s or 30s is going to do I'm I'm
barely a
teenager but something inside of me is
just driving me that this is you know
this is the right path this is what you
got to do and I had that uh moment that
a lot of people that Embrace Islam will
talk about I sat you know by myself at
one point and I just said you know
whoever is above whoever is the one that
controls all this if it's Jesus if it's
Allah guide me send me send me in the
right direction somewhere and all of
this took place right then like it was a
miracle like Islam just became exposed
to me in in a place where there's hardly
any Muslims to begin with yeah so now
you coming from a Christian background
someone says hold on you keep stressing
the belief in one God but if a Christian
watching says no no we what did you do
how did you do anything different
because we as Christians we believe in
one God also right and and that's
something that a lot of people are
confused about because they say no we
only worship one God but at the same
time then who what is Jesus role in your
religion that's what Jesus Is God no
that that's where that's where the
confusion hit me and that's why I
couldn't accept it cuz Jesus is either
the Son of God or he's a part of God or
he's a separate entity and we pray to
God and uh that confusion that that uh
ambiguity if you will that that just
didn't make sense to me and I could
never accept that that Jesus was
actually a part of God right and what
what what do you believe as a Muslim now
and and obviously a Muslim is simply One
Like Jesus and Abraham and Moses Jesus
wasn't a Christian he was one uh who
submitted to the the will of God Jesus
submitted to the will of God Abraham all
the prophets including Muhammad being
the last they all submitted to the
Creator so that's what a Muslim is but
what what what um what do you say now to
the person who who um is stuck between
okay do I worship Jesus do I worship and
that's what the problem you had right
with the whole Trinity thing right but
what what was it now about Islam it's
just the belief just worship the crater
yeah in in Islam it's as simple as you
can be and and as Muslims We Believe
even the Revelation that came to Noah
and Abraham and Moses and Jesus was
basically the same Revelation to worship
one God and even in the Old Testament
and the New Testament now you see that
Jesus is praying to God Moses is praying
to God Abraham is praying to God so why
now am I going to pray to Jesus rather
than do what Jesus did which is pray to
God I couldn't get past that point and
that that's another aspect of Islam is
that we love all of these prophets to a
level that they're human beings but
they're not Godlike they're the best of
mankind and they came with the
revelations for us you know they're the
example to be followed hence you know
our beards that's one aspect that we're
following them and but to raise them to
a level that they never even Rose
themselves to it it never sat well with
me mhm and that tradition obviously the
greatest thing that we do in following
them is worshiping like Jesus worshiped
like Abraham they didn't worship Jesus
they worshiped the creator of Jesus
correct right uh in the greetings we
greet each other with peace peace be
unto you that's right this is also uh
mentioned in the Bible that Jesus
greeted his followers with peace and the
way he prayed he fasted he went to uh
they did the pilgrimage to the Bible is
called Becca which is Mecca is that
right so that's the Five Pillars that's
Islam submission to the will of God uh
so now in Islam it's just worshiping the
Creator not the creation it's clear it's
simple one and you move out any any
divinity next to God so there's no holy
son or Holy Holy Ghost it's just God
right one God that's it no Trinity
that's it no no no need for any
additives or preservatives that's it uh
we mentioned now a former UFC uh a
fighter and he's actually um a really
incredible individual his name is uh Gan
Relic Relic and he's actually one of my
uh black belts black belt under me and
thank God that he also he's catian and I
thought about mentioning him because uh
your mother's cretian I believe u his
mother is also cretian he recently you
met him down at um where you guys I we
were in New Jersey at the time New
Jersey well he actually after that um
meeting with him in New Jersey he
actually accepted Islam and I wanted to
also talk about before we go into the
rest of your story many people that are
they don't understand that you can still
remain Croatian Serbian you know
whatever your nationality is you still
remain Greek but now if you become a
Muslim that doesn't change any of that
can you can you talk about because you
you you didn't you didn't stop being
Croatian no no and that that's a common
misconception is that you know Islam as
it is in America there's a great wave of
immigrants that have come here from the
Middle East from Africa and whatnot so
so that's what the people see but they
don't realize that it's a faith it's not
a cultural thing so for a person from
Nigeria to be a Muslim is no different
than our brother that you mentioned from
Croatia being a Muslim because it's the
faith it's what you believe on the
inside uh so now for someone like Goran
yourself you know you you accept Islam
did you have a lot of uh resistance from
family from Old
Friends the resistance that I
experienced was was from a lack of
knowledge you know it wasn't like hatred
but uh yeah my father thought you know
now you're going to become an Arab
that's he literally told me that and uh
it's just because people don't know they
don't they don't have the the knowledge
to separate the religion from the
culture that a lot of people have MH
we're going to take a break and we'll
continue on and wrap things up here with
Christopher Story on how he came to
Islam and then we're also going to get
in how you kind of drifted away and then
end up coming back this is very common
also today we're going to also benefit
from his experiences here on the dean
[Music]
show when I embraced Islam from that day
on I knew I never wanted to drink
another drink in my life I never wanted
to smoke I never wanted to hn my
body because I realized that it was a
blessing you know to be able to see life
from the perspective of Islam because
it's like a lens that clarifies life for
you and so I started seeing the clarity
of life and I said this is what I've
been looking for all my life now all I
have to do is live up to
it Jihad often mistranslated as holy war
the word Jihad means to struggle Islam
does not preach violence it does not
preach vicious holy war it certainly
does not condone Terror and suicide
bombing Islam preaches compassion
tolerance and Justice find the truth
about Islam call tollfree 877 why Islam
order your free copy of the Quran today
back here on the dean show and tell us
now okay so you you you accepted the
Imam he calls you you accept Islam what
do you have to do to accept Islam I have
to bear witness that there's no God but
Allah and that Muhammad is his last and
final messenger so that was easy for me
to do I did it over the phone as a
matter of fact that that's it that's it
I did some hearing Allah for the first
time they think okay this is you know
some some some God of the Arabs right
what do you say just because it's an
Arabic word but uh no this is just the
name for like the supreme god the
almighty God you know you could
translate it in different ways but we're
basically talking about the one who
created everything is in control of all
the Affairs yeah so we say Allah you
could you could find people that would
say different than that but we say Allah
is Muslim Jews and Christians who are
arabic speaking they also who are
Christians that's right but they're from
the Arab um area they speak uh they say
Allah don't they yes they do okay so now
you witness that there's nothing wor
there's nothing worthy of worship except
the Creator Arabic Allah and Muhammad is
the last and final messenger now this
would obviously include all as soon as
you make this statement how does Jesus
Moses AB how do they all fit in they're
also Messengers so you you believe in
all of them also absolutely yeah
absolutely you can't be a Muslim without
accepting them yeah that's deep so now
you accept you accept Islam now the rest
of the story you kind of drifted off
there are so many people this is in your
nature to worship the Creator not the
creation to bear witness to this to
acknowledge you know that hey this
creation is not purposeless there's a
purpose behind it and if I'm going to
worship anything it's not going to be
money sticks stones or bones it's going
to be the one who created mankind so now
you bear witness to that but you kind of
drifted off tell us about that yeah well
as I explained you know the concept of
worshiping one God that's I think that's
an innate quality you know I think the
majority of mankind they have that built
into them so they're going to do that
and I accepted that easily uh but what
happened to me after that is I'm 15 I'm
16 years old I'm in high school uh I
wound up moving back towards the city
cuz things things got a little uh
difficult with my family so it was
easier for me to live with my
grandparents on the southwest side once
I got there uh just the average high
school life you know a teenager's life
you know uh dating partying I was
overwhelmed by it so knowing that it's
wrong to do it and actually like
believing it's wrong to do it are two
different things so yeah I fell into I
fell into the clubs and I fell into uh
gangs and and everything you know that
comes with that the uh quest for money
the quest for power all of that you know
that became real exciting you know you
see somebody with a fancy car you want
to be like them and if you're if you're
in an environment where that's kind of
looked at is like the top level that
that's the best you can do then you
pursue it mhm and you pursue it and
that's what I did I went and U got
involved in that lifestyle and you know
a lot of people that I met in that
lifestyle I look back now sadly and uh
this is why I'm active in da now because
there's a lot of people that are like
second third fourth generation gang
bangers in the city of Chicago you know
it's kind of a unique thing that we have
that other cities don't have and uh
you'll just find people like a good
honest person but they're born into it
so I was exposed to a lot of people
people like that and I met some people
that I swear were like the smartest
people I've ever met but they're born
into that lifestyle and for them to get
out of it they have to be exposed to
Islam or exposed to a better way of life
to know that that's not everything there
is so Islam provides that alternative
definitely now yeah I'm sorry it
provides you with that peace MH it it
provides you with the ability to just
sit down and relax and not be looking
over your shoulder and every time you
know you hear a siren wor if that's your
door that they're coming to so Islam
gives you that peace and that s and and
as others before me and as I'm sure
there's some people out there now you
know you you're coming close to Rock
Bottom and in my case Rock Bottom was uh
you know getting detained and uh going
through circumstances that could have
you know put me behind bars for a very
long time but at that point uh just like
a lot of people you find God I found
Allah again I came back to Islam again
because I knew I had no Alternatives I
had nothing to help me I'm I'm in bars
yeah and I know I don't have anybody
that's going to look out for me except
Allah mhm so that dramatic experience
will bring you back to Islam and uh it
happened to me before it was too late
yeah I have other friends that they
didn't get that opportunity and Allah
took them back earlier yeah so they took
him back by by them dying death caught
up to him and that's the reality we
don't know when we're going to die death
can come at any time so alhamdulillah
thank God that you actually you came
back and you tamed your desires H and
you start doing living life the right
way so that's something my next question
what advice do you give for people like
let's say uh the former UFC fighter gon
reic you know after explaining the
purpose of life to him Islam just makes
sense like it did to you and you know
all the millions of people that are
accepting it's the fastest going Way of
Life Worship the Creator not the
creation do good live a good life and at
the end you you got Paradise you're not
just living for this material world and
it gives you the blueprint on how to
live from A to Z everything's laid out
and there's no monkey business there
it's not something that you have to do a
whole buch a bunch of mental gymnastics
to make it fit it goes with the human
soul with the mind so he accepted it
right and so many other people are
accepting it but now the challenges you
know family culture um the desires what
advice do you give to someone like
himself and other peoples who also
they've come to Islam but you see them
kind of drifting off what advice do you
have for them I think some of the the
best advice you can get is that that you
know the concept of worshiping Allah
alone that's something that's easy to do
but when it comes to how do you apply it
you know how do you apply it following
following the rules that at first might
look a little strange to you like
growing the beard like other aspects you
know Allah commanded us to do certain
things and sometimes they might not look
natural to us but we find out later
14400 years later scientifically it's
proven you know growing the beard is now
healthy for you we're finding this out
finding out about sleeping on a your
right side as opposed to your left side
that that has a benefit to your heart
nobody knew that back then but these are
things that Allah and his messenger
wasam brought to our attention things
that can guide you throughout your life
when they can preserve you and also they
combine with your existing culture they
fix the problems you had you know things
like drinking and falling into
fornication and stuff like that
they they complement the good qualities
of your culture and you can build that
all together and you can you know you
purify yourself and for the other in the
last minute we have a lot of the other
let's say serbians or croatians let's
say you know the D show now reaches that
part of the world and they're like yeah
it makes sense I I I want I want to live
my purpose you know worship the Creator
not the creation and and and live this
good holistic life this life of PE that
brings you peace and happiness in this
life in Paradise in the next but now
they're stuck to that like okay uh it's
separating religion from my
nationality so now it's like I'm Greek
and Greek Orthodox Christian and you
can't separate the two and if I become a
Muslim it's like uh you know I'm going
to be outcast what what what would you
say to them I would say to them and
that's extremely common because a vast
majority of the people their faith is
tied into their culture so holidays you
know everything in their family is tied
into their previous religion when you
become Muslim you still show respect
respect to your family you still have
the best of manners with your neighbors
and and you should actually go above and
beyond what you did before it's the
concept of Who You worship now and
following the religion of Islam that
shouldn't cut you off from them that
should make your relationships better MH
and just like the prophets themselves
had many many hardships from their
families your example is in the Quran
your example is from the prophet
Muhammad and Noah and Abraham all of
them had difficulties with direct family
members yeah so so all these things
happened to the prophets before us yeah
and that's the test of life that's right
to see who we love the most if we love
our creator we're going to obey him and
do all the wonderful things that he's
told us to do we started with peace we
end with peace time flies when you're
having fun thank you so much for being
with us here on oh yeah peace be with
you wonderful story here with
Christopher sharing it with us someone
who accepted what's in everybody's
nature to give birth what's inside it's
inside of you you just have to bring it
out and that's the realization that I
have to acknowledge that look someone
created me it wasn't an accident that I
just popped up in this world and the one
who created me that's the one who I want
to worship along without any Partners or
Associates and what really I think
helped me and so many people when you
really Ponder and think about the
Destroyers the destroyer of all
pleasures and that's de and I'll leave
you with something to really think about
it's a an interesting story where life
as death you know why do people love me
but hate you and DEA responded because
you are a beautiful lie and I'm the
painful truth
and when you really think about it you
know the human flesh that comes from the
dirt from the clay and it's of the
essence of this world and when we just
feed it with things of the material
existence we see that we at the end you
know we don't end up feeding the soul
and then we just give give the flesh
what it needs we we become like an
animal but the soul inside every human
being it desires to be given back to
connect back with its maker and then
when it's connected back with its maker
that is when you truly feel this
contentment the satisfaction because a
person can have
mountains billions of dollars of money
in houses and cars but when you're just
satisfying the flesh you're still empty
inside and Islam gives you its been sent
to feed your soul to bring you that
satisfaction that you need in life to be
happy to be contempt to be satisfied
look into Islam continue to view us here
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peace be with you