peace be with you welcome to the Dean
show and we know that God Almighty has
given us eyes to see with and he's given
us a heart now what we see God Almighty
is talking about people going blind but
blindness of the hearts people can see
with their eyes but the hearts have
become blind but we have an
extraordinary individual here in the
Deen show studio who's legally blind but
he's not really blind because he can see
with his heart and he has an incredible
story to tell here on the Dean show
don't go anywhere we'll be right back
this is the how are you sir and peace be
with you too sir how are you doing I'm
doing great absolutely great - now
you're legally blind from a young age
you were diagnosed as being legally
blind is that what it's called well
totally blind in my case I cannot see a
thing
you cannot see a thing not even light
and this is when was it determined this
was I believe shortly determined after I
was born and that was due to as many
kids in my generation at that time that
were born too much oxygen in the
incubator of course at that time they
had no way of monitoring it so that's
what often times happened and in my case
it was blindness now you're also a Cubs
fan we see I am a Cubs fan I am a White
Sox fan I'm a Bulls fan I'm a Blackhawks
fan and well I think I just said it all
yeah I'm a sports fan you're a sports
fan tell us now I'm hoping up to show
and I talk about the heart and how many
people they can see with their eyes but
their hearts have become blind and this
is a verse from the verbatim Word of God
that I'll God Almighty talks about in
the Quran it's the hearts that have gone
blind but there's something unique and
special about your heart and that's why
we're here today because your journey
started over how many years ago you you
tell us about 10 15 years ago that you
were used you got your first exposure to
Islam actually
my journey as far as my interest in
Islam has been roughly about 10 to 15
years it could have been longer it's
only that for so long I along with many
of us as Americans have had heard so
much negative media concerning Islam and
and Muslims but there comes a time in
one's life and I said this a moment ago
when we were just sitting here talking
that there come there comes a point in
time where one should say look you know
what I'm gonna check this out for myself
I don't believe what I'm hearing I can't
believe all that I'm hearing there's
something that I am not hearing and what
I'm not hearing is what is the truth and
so it's only been recently that I was
able to actually check it out for myself
I have a cousin who well her husband
comes from Iraq and his side of the
family I don't know if they're still
practicing Muslims or not but when he
came to the United States he he married
my cousin back in 1979 and I must say
she has learned to or she had learned to
prepare a lot of good delicious food
they have a lot of good delicious food I
can tell you that much and while he's
not been practicing his faith as such
here I believe he still does follow some
of the basics and was that kind of your
first exposure he was him he was
actually my first open exposure where I
had actually met somebody or got to know
somebody and they became part of our
family
and well it was a slow process but my
interest began to grow very very very
slow now he did adopt the ideas and
customs of what most of us in the United
States believe but even at that time I
along with many of you out there were
still hearing about well that Saddam
Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini and all
that and we were being told by the media
that well this is what Islam is
ayatollah khomeini he he is what Islam
is all about Saddam Hussein he is what
Islam is all about but yet to to these
two countries were at war with each
other from 1979 until 1989 and then all
of a sudden and and this is the
interesting but rather disturbing thing
about all of this all of a sudden in
1991 Saddam Hussein becomes our enemy he
becomes our enemy and then everything
just kind of turns around and I'm
thinking what you know what what is this
you know what is this all about first of
all we're saying he was our friend then
now all of a sudden he is our enemy and
yet at the same time we're being told by
the media this is what Islam is all
about so your mind your mind is on even
though you can't see your heart is open
your mind is working right you're
listening and you're putting the pieces
together we're gonna take a break and
we're gonna right back with more of your
story here on the Deen show don't go
anywhere
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welcome back to the D show with our
special guests David and I am David
David tell us so most people they hear
many of they've heard many of these
negative things being associated with
Islam a lot of the false media hype the
propaganda and they run from it but you
rut you ran towards it is that right
yes I think I was running towards it
rather than away from it although there
I I must say I think there there there
is a time when we all run from it and we
don't want to really find out the truth
there's there's so much to my story and
we only have a limited about a time my
story could probably take several hours
but since as we do have a limited amount
of time I'm going to tell you as much of
the basics as I can tell you and that
was and that is that I began to run
toward what I was hearing
and what ran me toward it was towards
Islam yes what what what ran me toward
Islam more so to find out what what it
really is was the negative stuff I was
hearing on on the the media now that may
sound crazy to some people it may sound
strange to some people but I think it's
like anything else if you become blind
in the heart as well as blind in the
mind and unfortunately there's a lot of
people who have become blind in the mind
as well and one of my biggest hobbies
has always been listening to talk radio
now you can learn a lot of things on
talk radio and talk TV such as we're
doing now
but oftentimes what you learn is the
negative as well as the positive well
even though I was learning the negative
aspects of what I was hearing I still
had a desire to run toward what I would
have otherwise been running away from
and so for a short time maybe I was
blind in in the mind but yet I was still
open in the heart now I know for a lot
of you folks out there that's you might
be wondering how can there be you know
how how can you do that how can you do
both well you can you can because your
mind can play tricks on you your mind
can can try to convince you of a lot of
things that in this case aren't true now
what was your background well you you
are former your Christian background
Pentecostal is that right well not of
the Pentecostal type no I
I've come from a lot of different church
backgrounds
most of them Protestant well all of them
pretty much you could say or or
Protestant I had gone to and/or attended
a lot of different what wasn't sinking
in with you now that you had to go
explore something else a new alternative
a way of life what what didn't resonate
with you from the different churches
that you are part of well my question
always was this in Protestantism
especially you have someone that I'm not
going to say all of them but in
Protestantism there's a few that will
tell you that we are the one and only
true denomination we're the one and only
true church of course the Roman Catholic
Church tells you that tells people that
- were we're the one true church and all
other churches are
false and that was something that
totally turned me off from even my early
adulthood there was a time when I
thought I could believe something like
that that that it was possible I was
even asking well is what is the one true
church is there a true Church and if
there is where how and where would I
find such a church and what would be the
indication or the indicate or indicators
that that would be the case and the only
answer I was able to come up with then
as I was later as all of the
denominations we have in our country and
in our world today because some of them
are worldwide it's that many of these
folks have their own understanding and
interpretations of what you know the
Bible teaching is or teachings it's
based on all of what some buddies
understanding in many cases a church
leader who might have started it a
particular church his understanding and
then that understanding becomes the
truth to many of that church or
denominations followers and yet at the
same time we have the Bible which
contradicts itself so much and in so
many places that you really begin to
wonder what is the truth so before we go
to break tell us now did you have a
problem also because you know as Muslims
we believe in the pure monotheism that
God is God Jesus is Jesus that Jesus was
sent by God to call people to worship
God did you have a problem in your heart
accepting that Jesus was one in a
Trinity that he that he was God part of
God as a literal son of God did you
always question this
I always had a question of the concept
or doctrine if you will of the Trinity I
believed it but I did not have the
concept of of why when I would ask the
question of many of many Christians why
do we believe in the Trinity I the
answer I was always given was well it's
it's a mystery it's a mystery and at the
time I thought well you know maybe it's
possible that what God teaches could
very well be a mystery so I I didn't
question it at first however let me just
say having said all of that let me just
say that there are a few Christian
groups that do not believe in the
Trinity there are a few that do not
believe in the Trinity but the vast
majority of mainline Christendom
believes in that concept they believe in
the concept of of the Trinity and let's
hold on right there they're signaling we
got to go to break I don't mean to cut
you off we're gonna be right back with
more of your story please subscribe to
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making a donation in the link below back
here with our special guest David David
it's honor to have you with us here on
the Deen show thank you for being with
us I was told about your unique story
from the people at the mosque you asked
how did you end up in the mosque now how
did I end up in the mosque well it was
just a decision of finding out where a
mosque would be I live on the north side
of Chicago so every place I go
everything I might want to attend has to
be on the north side due to limited
transportation capabilities and
abilities so I
also meet in my travels a lot of taxi
cab drivers who here in Chicago are of
the Muslim faith and I think one of the
real real real honest-to-goodness
turning points was being able to talk to
some of those cab drivers and having
them tell me about their faith and what
it means to them and I think that was
the the biggest turning point in having
been able to talk to these folks you
know that is the that was a turning
point you got you got to spend a lot of
time with the cab drivers who are Muslim
and they started to share with you the
message of Islam I started asking them a
lot of questions and they well there was
one or two in particular that really
shared with me their their faith and
their understanding and their their love
for Islam their love for the faith so I
decided to make the final move and that
was to find a mosque there are several
I'm sure on the north side and that was
the community center over there on
Elston yes so I decided to check out
that one and well Here I am here here we
are yes so many people are not
courageous enough or maybe tied up with
many of the material things and they
forget about the heart and that's what
the Deen show is about encouraging
people to think about their purpose the
purpose of light because we're gonna
leave this transitory life really soon
it's only temporary everything that we
do now here is going to reflect where we
are in the next life and that message
now of Islam did it start to resonate
with your heart you know the the call to
only worship the Creator not to worship
Jesus not to worship Muhammad nothing in
Christian but only the one who created
you did that did that connect with your
innate disposition your heart I believe
that was in my heart for quite some time
I don't know specifically how long it
was because I think it was so deep in my
heart
it was so deep in my heart that I I
didn't really know when or how it got
there but that it had been there for
some time I mean I knew it was there
but it took some time for it to resonate
with me yes it did it took some time I
can't tell you how much specifically but
I believe it was well quite a quite a
long time quite a quite a while tell us
we're almost out of time now you got to
spend a little bit of time with the
brothers there at the the mustard the
mosque many of the cab drivers are the
Muslims and obviously you know by now
Muslim is simply one who submits to the
will of God that's what it is Jesus was
a Muslim Abraham was a Muslim all the
prophets we're Muslims were called
people to submit to the Creator not the
creation that's Islam so dr. Seville
who's a very close friend of mine he
told me he also got to spend a few
minutes with you I'd like to before we
conclude they told me that they actually
invited you to become a Muslim in accept
Islam and you had responded what did you
respond I responded that I would very
much like to I think it was the
invitation by dr. Seville is that how
you pronounce his name a Sabeel Seville
Sabeel yes a Biel
yes it was that in invitation
specifically that sort of put the top on
everything it's it sort of finalised
everything that what I as as far as my
interest so now we're here and before
you conclude I think many people who are
tuning in they would also I mean love to
actually see this good news I mean it's
a wonderful thing when somebody comes to
the realization that aid there is a
purpose to life and be the best one to
give me that purpose is the one who
created life to tell me how I need to
live and Islam tells us all of the
things that we need to do in this life
to be success
and the one main thing is to declare
that what is in our very nature to give
that gratitude and thankfulness to the
one who created us alone and that starts
with that declaration of faith you know
we know that Islam and sure they
explained this to you there's six
articles of faith one is to believe in
one and only one God is that pure
monotheism to believe in the angels to
believe in these messengers that God
sent to deliver this message to us with
to believe in the books that were
revealed this all probably has gone over
with you to believe in the day of
judgment and this is all the destiny of
God and then there's the five pillars
one of which is the declaration that
there's nothing worthy of worship except
the creator of the heavens and earth and
then Muhammad is the last and final
messenger and this was obviously David
include not exclude all the messages
that came before him that would include
Jesus Moses Abraham and and all the
other messengers now would you like to
do you agree that there is nothing
worthy of worship except the one who
created you the one who created Jesus
the one Jesus worship the one that Jesus
called people to worship the one God
I do sir do you believe that Muhammad
peace be upon him was a messenger just
like Jesus was a messenger just like
Abraham and all the other messages that
God sent out of his love he sent them to
guide humanity what do you believe that
Muhammad is the last and final messenger
sent to mankind yes sir
beautiful now repeat after me this is
how one enters into Islamic ash hadu
ash-hadu anla and la ilaha illa allah la
ilaha what a shadow a shadow and in the
muhammaden-rasul allah rasool
allah what you said I bear witness I
bear witness that there's nothing worthy
of worship that there's nothing worthy
of worship except the Creator except the
Creator Allah Allah and I bear witness
and I bear witness that Muhammad that
Muhammad peace be upon him peace be upon
him is is the final Messenger of God the
final Messenger of Allah
that's it you are officially a Muslim
this is
very simple it was already in your heart
as soon as you said that this is
something I accepted my heart you've
already accepted it but now for all of
your brothers to be able to know you and
for the community that when they see you
now they're gonna see you on TV that
they can come and give you the greetings
of peace Salam alaikum is there anything
else that you want to say before we
conclude to all those people who were in
your situation hearing the news and the
negativities and now they end up
associating all these bad things with
Islam when in actuality islam teaches
the opposite what advice do you have for
the people who are seeking the truth
okay well sir there is absolutely so
much I would love to say and maybe I'll
have the opportunity to do that amongst
the the community or various communities
but here on this program I would I will
invite all of you folks listening when
you hear something I don't care what it
is whether it's about Islam go and check
it out for yourself I would encourage
you to go and meet the folks who belong
to and who are a part of a community
that you are supposedly hearing about on
the media because the media will not
always tell you the truth in fact the
vast majority of time it does not tell
you the truth open your hearts and your
minds and if you do believe in God let
him guide your heart let him guide your
mind because God or Allah is the
Almighty he is all-powerful and He will
guide you and I want to thank my friends
here my newfound friends for the
opportunity to be on this show thank you
your brothers now not just friends your
brothers in Islam thank you so much
thank you so much brothers and
sisters yes yes thank you please be with
you sometime Lincoln so as we know God
Almighty tells us it's not the eyes that
go blind but the hearts if the heart is
open if it hasn't been corrupted and a
person is truly seeking to know the
truth the heart will be open to accept
it but are you seeking because seek and
you shall find and our brother here is a
testimony to that he cannot physically
see but he saw the truth when it came to
him and he was here on the Deen show
with all of you and myself to accept it
continue to tune in and take this
wonderful advice don't believe all the
hype check into it for yourself and
asked the one who created you the one
who Jesus called you to worship because
Jesus never called people to worship
himself or his mother is a God or
anything in creation but to worship the
one who created creation and asked the
creator alone to guide you and then
start to do some of the legwork and
investigate and god almighty will
facilitate a way tune in here every week
to the Deen show subscribe if you
haven't already and we'll see you next
time until then peace be with you please
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