alhamdulillah Alum peace be unto you
welcome to another episode of the dean
show today we have a special guest in
the
studio Imam kasim Khan sit tight we're
going to be talking about his road from
Christianity to the Nation of Islam to
the real thing Islam so sit tight we'll
be right back on the dean show
[Music]
salace how are you I feel almost as good
as you
look thank you for being with us today
at the dean show before we start and I
start asking you some very important
questions the viewers sometimes because
we try to reach out to a lot of the
non-muslims so some people might see
what's on your head and I'll be able to
get past that right can you just explain
what is the the turban yes yeah Hama
actually really my my reason for wearing
the turban is very personal it has
little to do with uh very little to do
with my with Islam or My Religion um
even though that I learned to wear the
turban from some other Muslims their
reason for wear the turbine might be a
little different for mine
um it's ironic too that even some people
who think that I wear to copy the Arabs
it's ironic that I've never ever in my
life met an Arab that wears a turban
never even when I was in Saudi Arabia I
didn't meet not one single Arab with a
turban the only person people I met with
a turban were the Muslims from Sudan and
they didn't even wear it like this I
started wearing a turban because I like
the way it looked and then one day tried
a turban on and my wife told me she made
the terrible mistake of telling me how
handsome I look with a turban on and
that was that was it and and plus I like
the way it feels on my head it feels
like someone's massaging my head looks
nice yeah thank you so now I have a
turban um to match I have different
color turbin to match whatever outfit my
wife makes for me she makes most of my
clothes you know so I wear a turbine
because I like the way it feels and
because my wife says I look handsome in
a turb well that's good enough reason
even though
that when people in public see me with a
turban they identifi with Islam and so I
so now I use that as as a DA opportunity
to answer questions about Islam because
when people in the public and I travel a
lot see me with a turban on it makes
some want to ask me questions about
Islam and so I utilize that Imam saraj
wahaj told me once he said never miss a
DA moment and so when someone even if I
catch them staring at me I try to do
something that will make them curious
enough to ask me a question and it opens
the door for daa I can explain a little
bit about Islam and alhamdulillah some
people have even taken shahada just from
asking questions about my turban well I
hope now you can get past the turban if
you had something against that let's get
right down to the issue we're going to
talk about Islam this beautiful way of
life that's embraced by over 1.5 billion
people in the world today and you are
one of those that went from bringing a
Christian to the Nation of Islam which
has nothing do with Islam just wanted to
make a note of that to the Real Islam
let's talk about let's go in the past
and tell us a little bit about your
story from the this point when you were
a Christian oh actually before I start
right there I'm going to spend just a
couple seconds to clarify one small
point the Nation of Islam has something
to do with Islam but not enough to to to
bring us to that would have brought us
to the reality of pure Islam during that
time so there is something about Islam
that's directly connected to the Nation
of Islam you know but it wasn't it
wasn't the pure Islam and I'll explain
that transition while we while we goow
through this go through this
chronology as a Christian I was born
into an environment in into a Christian
household um that my my it were my
family was very active mostly because of
the excitement and the entertainment
aspect of it um my my father was a
singer my
mother uh she was she was she prayed a
lot you know and was very active in
going to church my grandfather who also
helped to raise me was a professional
gospel singer uh and and so in that
household we we found ourselves going
sometimes we went to the Methodist
Church sometimes we went to the Baptist
Church but when we went there when I
went there the only thing that really
kept me going was the entertainment
because I love singing in the choir I
love the activities and I loved for the
opportunities I always love the
opportunity to try to stand in front of
people and do something whether it was
preaching or singing or whatever it was
and so as I got older um just around
about the time I was reaching puberty
that's when my parents um Unfortunately
they got separated and divorced but it
was during that time that I began to get
exposed to another denomination of
Christianity called Jehovah's
Witnesses um and I'm and I learned a lot
from the Jehovah's Witnesses and that's
really where I got my first introduction
to public speaking because I was a young
student Minister uh but the but the
Christian faith for some reason uh
whether I was in the Baptist Church or
the Methodist Church or the Kingdom Hall
for some reason I I didn't feel
fulfilled because there was questions
that I had that I was that I wasn't
getting answers for but I was being
cooperative because I was one of those
good boys I was a good little boy you
know at least my parents thought I was a
good boy but but there were basic
questions that that um that I that
didn't give me the answers I was looking
for some answers like some of the basic
things like you know if if if Jesus
peace be upon Him Jesus was so good and
he was such a revered person in in
Christianity and every and even I was
taught to even worship Him and pray to
him if he was so good then why um do
they call the day that they said that he
was murdered why do they call it good
Friday and and and and and I and I
wasn't even allowed to ask that question
I was told don't question God you know
if Jesus peace be upon him was equal to
God and he had all of this power uh then
and he knew that this was something he
was supposed to do according to what we
were taught and he was on Calvary on a
cross then why did he complain about
being there he said
Eli oh my Lord my Lord why did you
forsake me you know if he knew he's
supposed to be there so there was little
simple things and and then on on some of
the most holiest holidays in
Christianity such as Easter um I'm
trying to think why even in the church
that we had a bunny rabbit sitting in
the middle of a nest of eggs you know
when rabbits bear live young you know
and then if that's the case then why did
we boil the eggs before we ate them you
know so they were a lot of these little
things that came up why did they connect
Santa Claus coming down the chimney with
the birth of Jesus you know and and if
it was his birthday then how come that
birthday isn't recorded in the Bible if
it's supposed to be December 25th so
these are things as I grew up I would
asking these questions and I was and the
only thing I was told was don't question
God and then as I got older and still
looked into the Bible and I noticed
things in the Bible like for ex for
example in Leviticus 11th chapter the
7th verse when the Bible says eat don't
eat the Flesh of the swine don't even
touch his dead carcass but yet we were
serving pork in the basement of the
churches
we were serving pork in the basement of
the
churches check this
[Music]
out welcome to this portion of the dean
show called The mailbag and I'm your
host Yousef estess want to talk today
about the subject of some of the mail
that's coming in here they're asking
some pretty good questions I peaked at
this one minute ago and I wanted to read
it to you and uh this one is saying
something that I've heard from a lot of
folks I've heard this uh even right here
in Chicago someone said if I take
palaski which is the road here in the
Chicago area or ciso Road either one I
still wind up going
downtown so isn't it the same way really
in religion I mean I'm a Christian and
uh another person is a Jew somebody else
is a Hindu and you guys are Muslims but
you know basically we all believe in God
and really we're all saying the same
thing there's one God you have to be
nice you have to be kind you have to you
know and what if somebody would even
like to give up on organized religion
all the way around look I don't want to
go with this organized stuff let me make
my own way to get to the Lord as long as
we're all kind we're all nice good
people believe in God that ought to work
it kind of reminds you the old saying of
all roads lead to Rome doesn't it and
another one that came up to me the same
way in same manner was a Hindu who said
that he considers God to be like a wheel
at the center of a wheel like the Hub
and then all the spokes of the wheel
really are just going toward this one
God and and all these spokes are what
these spokes are the religions the
different religions well that's his
opinion but this would mean essentially
then there could be any number of
religions and really any number of gods
because at the same time people are
defining how to get to God they're also
defining who God is if they're saying
you know well I believe God is a man or
God is a a spirit or God is a father or
God's all three and one the Hindu says
that all of the animals and things that
he worships are also gods or a way to
get to God a Christian will say no you
can't do that a Muslim will say you
can't do any of those and uh the Jew
have their way so how could you imagine
that all these things could be right and
still be opposing in beliefs Concepts
and actions all at the same time how
would that be this actually would be
what's called chaos or confusion now
according to the Bible itself it says
that the devil is the author of
confusion at the same time we look to
the Quran and see what does the Quran
tell us about this topic Allah says in
Chapter 2 it's called Surah bakar
oh you who
believe enter into the dean of Allah
perfectly enter into the religion of
Islam the way of Islam submitting to God
on his terms perfectly and do not follow
in the footsteps of the shatan don't
follow the way of the devil because
verily he is an avowed enemy to you now
we understand from this verse
immediately that the devil made a big
mistake and don't follow his way don't
go the way he went and besides that he's
your enemy stay away from this guy now
if you take what the Bible says and you
take what the Quran says you can see
immediately that they are agreeing that
other religions aren't going to work
they're not going to work it only has to
be the way of God now the devil being
one who's going to tempt you and put
stuff in your mind mind will come up
with stuff like this but if you want to
talk about all roads lead to Rome we see
the fall of the Roman Empire don't we so
it's clear that that really was a saying
that didn't work did it and likewise we
can look to these kind of teachings and
realize that this isn't what was being
taught anyway this is not the message
that came with any of the prophets of
Islam and we go back to Adam and Abraham
and Moses and David and Suliman we look
at Jonah we look at Noah and we consider
what they had we come to Jesus peace be
upon him and all of them and we see that
that's not the message he had they were
all saying to believe in one God and
follow the Commandments believe in one
God and follow the Commandments the same
teaching we find in the New Testament
believe in one God pray to him follow
the Commandments is the same teaching we
find in the Quran and the teachings of
Muhammad sallallah Al wasallam peace be
upon him there's only one God and
there's only one
way one God one way now I know you would
like to get more information on this
subject let us consider what's Islam and
take Islam on the textual evidences that
we have with us today we have the Quran
exactly as it was revealed 1400 years
ago you don't have to make up versions
of it or consider some lost manuscripts
that are found in a cave no we know it
exactly how it was and how you can find
out for yourself is go to our Internet
website that explains Islam in detail
and at the same time very
easily understood it has picture
representation along with audio and you
can just follow along with it it's
called what's Islam what's
Islam make it don't say what is say
what's whats islam.com and check that
out while you're at it don't forget our
other website the Deans show.com CU you
want to watch these and other great
programs we're going to take a break and
get back to the show in progress more
later about the mail
bag for example in Leviticus 11th
chapter the 7th
verse when the Bible says eat don't eat
the Flesh of the swine don't even touch
his dead carcass but yet we were sering
pork in the basement of the churches you
know so I said wow this is I don't
understand you know but I was then again
told don't question God so this in in
addition to many other examples um for
when we had the Bible if that's supposed
to be God's word and God is beautiful
and perfect and holy and sacred then why
was I taught that it's okay to sit in
the bathroom and read the Bible you know
so after a while I just got you know I
begin to Rebel even through my my moral
ethics you know I was in a street gang
as a Christian you know I was a
womanizer or girl iser you know cuz I
was a teenager as a Christian I used
drugs as a Christian I drank alcohol as
a Christian smoked you know played with
the ladies you know all these things I
did as a Christian not that I'm blaming
Christianity for my actions because
there's a lot of Christians that have
very good morals I must add that but the
fact that for my own internal um growth
I was not nothing was given to me that
that made me feel a strong sense of
self-worth and a responsibility to
uphold strong basic human ethics let me
ask you tell me what if someone says
well you didn't know your Bible well
were you very familiar with the Bible
had you read it through were you really
familiar with his teachings is this
maybe why you
lacked I I wouldn't say even though that
I admit that I didn't study the Bible
very carefully I relied on people who I
respected who did study the Bible and so
as I mentioned I asked questions about
things in the Bible that gave me a
problem and many of the things um some
of the people or or the older people the
elders that I asked such questions too
they took my questions as a challenge
rather than as an inquisitive young man
who really just wanted to know so I was
being I was a repeatedly being accused
of challenging the Bible and challenging
God rather than to be inquisitive so
that I can improve myself tell me give
us a couple more examples so you grew up
believing that Jesus was God that he
died for your sins and that he was one
in the Trinity right now when you'd go
up to your higher ups and were these
some of the things that you'd question
the Trinity him dying for for your sins
are these some and did you get answers
for these question if you did go ask
well that type that question there I
never asked anybody you know I was
pretty well I I I was I was prepared to
accept that without explanation I was
prepared to accept Jesus died on the
cross you know regardless even though I
disagreed with him dying there I I was
prepared to accept Okay he died on the
cross I even had a crucifix award
sometimes myself I was prepared to
accept that I was supposed to pray to
Jesus and I did that every night you
know before I went to bed I was prepared
to accept that the the the the
scientific things that didn't make sense
to me there was connected to those
beliefs is is the questions that I asked
so uh and it's and it's and it's kind of
fortunate for me because the fact that
they didn't answer my questions is one
of the things that brought me to Islam
had they answered my questions I
probably right now will probably be
still preaching Christianity somewhere
but but because if I if I would have
Eddie if I would have um carried my
questions to those particular
theological questions rather than the
scientific questions my theological
issues if I if my questions had have
been centered around theological issues
um then uh they probably would have
satisfied Me by by just saying just have
faith if I have said oh Jesus he died he
died for our sins I never questioned
that part what I question was was that
during the time that he supposedly died
for our sins why did he uh complain
about it it was things like that you
know I never questioned why God told us
not to eat pork I said well if he told
us to eat pork then why are we eating it
those are the type of question that I
asked and so uh I didn't ask theological
questions because you have to understand
a learned scholar of Christianity is
prepared to deal with theological
questions they're prepared for that they
study for years to to to deal with
theological issues but they never
prepared themselves to deal with basic
Common Sense questions and so that's
what drove me to to start paying
attention to other things that that came
my way and that opened the door for my
curiosity that that brought me to my
next
stage check this out
well we're back and you're watching the
mailbag here on the dean show I'm e
fesus we were talking about original sin
the original sin as far as we know in
Islam is when the devil refused to obey
because of his arrogance and he said I'm
better than Adam created from a better
substance that he was created from a
smokeless fire whereas Adam is Created
from mud so that's the beginning of the
original sin but now where does it go
now in Judaism and Christianity you'll
find in what's remains of the Bible
today today in the English language
something that they refer to as original
sin and they're talking about the sin of
Adam what happened was that in the
paradise where Adam was residing along
with his wife Eve they were ordered by
Allah to enjoy and take part of anything
that they wanted except for one tree
don't eat the fruit of this specific
tree in the paradise it was the devil
according to the story that we have in
Islam as well that came to them and got
them to partake of this now according to
the Bible it was the devil talking to
the woman and then she did it and then
she got the husband to do the same thing
according to Islam the devil went to
both of them and they both did it so
there's no blame in Islam on Eve over
Adam they're both guilty they both did
it and there's not any special
punishment for her versus him they were
both guilty and all of them including
the devil were put down out of the
paradise onto the Earth begin their
lives because this was always intended
by Allah from the beginning he always
intended for them to come to the Earth
and he already knew what was going to
happen this is a test that's the belief
in Islam and now let's understand
something about the original sin
according to Islam how does this work
well if you said that all of the
children are going to inherit this sin
because of what the parents did
according to Islam this is not logical
Allah says in the Quran that he doesn't
task any soul for more than they can
bear nor does he put the burden of one
onto another that's not in the way in
Islam Allah says in the
Quran so we understand right away that
each and every person will be
responsible for what they do and Allah
says that in the Quran too that on the
day of judgment even somebody did a
small weight of good they'll see it then
and whoever did a small weight of evil
they'll see it then so how about this
idea that a child is born into sin Islam
refuses this notion altogether and
categorically denies that that's even
possible because the old saying which
says innocent as a newborn babe may have
originated in Islam itself because it
was the prophet Muhammad who said that
every child is born in the natural fitra
of all Islam every child is born
innocent Islam is to be innocent and
sincere and submissive and totally at
peace with Almighty Allah and this is
the condition of a baby and this is the
condition of what the true Muslim should
be the same way and this is what was
told to us by Muhammad and it's not
different from the teaching of Jesus if
you really look to scripture have you
look to scripture what they have today
anyway it says that Jesus told them
suffer the children to come unto me
which mean allow it didn't mean force
them punish them or whatever it meant
allow the children to come cuz they were
driving the children back there was
crowded and they died no room for kids
but no he said let them come to me for
such is the kingdom of heaven and
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon Him
confirms this by saying that when a
child dies they go to heaven regardless
of the religion of the
parents regardless of the religion the
parents let's go back and revisit this
statement again he said that every child
is born on the fitra the natural
inclination of Islam to submit to God
but it's the parents who graze them up
to become a Christian or a Jew or a fire
worshipper but Islam is showing us when
a child dies regardless of the religion
of the parents the child is going to
paradise and the child will be in
Paradise calling oh God please let my
parents come be with me let my parents
be with
me this is the teaching Islam Original
Sin
I think we better relook at that one
again let's go back to Dean show and see
what's happening over there and we'll be
right
here let's go on to the next stage you
didn't go straight into Islam you went
into What's called the Nation of Islam
yes now can you educate us on what the
Nation of Islam is and how you came to
this before you came to True Islam
[Music]