At this point, I didn't really know the
difference between like Sunni and Shia.
The the masjid that I went to was a Shia
masid.
I'm getting more knowledge. Why are they
doing this?
[Music]
Islamophobes. They'll go ahead and use
this. Say, look, look, these are this is
what you're bringing to our country.
Exactly.
[Applause]
Yes. Some of the gospels are attributed
to Jesus's disciples, but scholars agree
that they didn't write them. I never
heard the claim before that Paul didn't
even claim to have seen Jesus on his
road to Damascus. The Bible, you have
some of the word of God. You have the
word of of prophets in there. You have
the word of historians in the Bible. You
have anonymous books. We don't even know
who these authors are. It's a hodge.
It's all mixed together. None of the
Bible was composed by people who had met
Jesus. what you've been told about Islam
is is false by the media, you know, like
just you need to everybody needs to do
their own investigation of
Salam allayikum. Incredible story here
with Ethan. Let's get into this video
because it relates to the background
that you came from and the journey that
you took and then we'll get right into
it. All right, I've got my Bible here
and I'm ready to read to you absolutely
every book of the Bible that was written
by someone who had met Jesus. We can go
ahead and skip the Hebrew Bible since
Jesus wasn't alive when that was written
and go straight to the New Testament.
You ready?
Not a single word. There is not one book
of the Bible that was written by someone
who had met Jesus. Yes, some of the
gospels are attributed to Jesus's
disciples, but scholars agree that they
didn't write them. They were written
decades after Jesus's death. The
earliest gospel that we have in the New
Testament is the Gospel of Mark and it
was probably written around 70 of the
common era. The attribution of those
gospels to disciples didn't happen for
many years. They also don't read like
eyewitness accounts and don't even claim
to have been written by the disciples.
Paul's letters weren't written by
someone who had met Jesus. Paul by his
own admission had never met Jesus. And
even that great narrative we have about
Saul encountering the risen Christ on
the road to Damascus is something that
the author of Luke Acts, the same author
wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the
book of Acts. It's something that he
invented for the narrative. Paul never
makes a mention of that. And surely if
he had encountered the risen Christ, he
would have mentioned it. All of the
other epistles in the Bible are later
and the book of Revelation is later.
None of those authors had ever met
Jesus. Now, some people argue that since
Jesus is the word of God, Jesus was
involved in the creation of the entire
Bible, but that's a theological argument
that there doesn't seem to be much
evidence for. And certainly
historically, we can prove that none of
the Bible was composed by people who had
met Jesus. So I think that that means we
need to approach the biblical text with
a bit of humility. And we also need to
approach the sayings of Jesus with some
humility too because it means that not
every saying attributed to
Jesus originated with him. Ethan, your
thoughts? Uh first thing I started to
think is like that. Wait, that's not a
Muslim speaking. Yes. Subhan
Allah. Who was that? Do you know? Uh I
don't know who it is. I I don't know if
he's um what form denomination of
Christianity is, but this is nothing new
to to me. I don't know if it was new.
Did you know this? Because as a as a
Christian, your mother father was a
Catholic, your mother was Baptist, and
at that time, did you know these things?
No, I they didn't talk about it much in
the church growing up. Yeah. But I've
come to know about it more recently.
Subhan Allah. You just started knowing
this now? Like Yeah. Uh maybe like after
I reverted, actually. What were your
thoughts when you when you hear that?
Like why would I put my uh salvation in
that? Mhm. You know, like
uh and also
um about uh
Paul I never heard the claim before that
uh the Paul didn't even claim to have
seen Jesus on his road to Damascus, but
that uh the author of Luke wrote it. But
even if um even if Paul did say
that, why would I believe him? You know,
like he it said that there were
witnesses, but we don't have any
accounts from from the
witnesses. And
um yeah, like if I'm going to if I'm
going to put my faith into something
that like with with the New Testament
being like the majority of the New
Testament being made up of Paul's
letters
and Paul Having never met Jesus and only
claiming to have had a vision from Jesus
and to be inspired by Jesus, why would I
take my entire religion from him? Mhm.
If I if I don't have any evidence. Yeah.
Like that that he's an actual a like
disciple or apostle of uh Jesus. How was
it grow growing up in a home where you
had your father, he's Catholic, mother's
Baptist. These are two different uh
theologies here, right? Yeah. Um, it was
mostly my mom raised us as as Baptists.
Uh, I went to mass with my father a
couple times um, growing up, but he mo
he mostly just kept it to him like the
the I didn't really know a whole lot
about the differences between the
theologies growing up. I just kind of
knew that we were He really wasn't. They
were they practicing? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
they were practicing. Um, my dad uh he
goes he goes to mass quite a bit, but he
he he he never um he never took us uh
like he took me a couple times like I
said, but like he would he would go to
to mass and to um into the Baptist
church with us. Yeah. So I I guess uh
yeah, like they agreed just to like have
have us raised as Baptists. How did you
end up becoming agnostic when you have
two parents who are obviously one's
Catholic, one's Christian? You think,
okay, I'm going to go to one of them's
got to be the truth. Is it? Yeah. Or
they're just you figured out no, neither
one is. Yeah. Um I just have I just
started having doubts in in Christianity
when I was like 14, 15, somewhere around
there. just like, you know, looking
back, I believe it was like my Fitzra,
but
um like like just questions like I I
would bring I like in my
um in my
uh my youth group at Sunday Sunday
school, I would bring up like, okay,
well, if if Jesus is God, why do you
have to pray and stuff like that? And
like, what's the tr like it says God is
it says God is one in the Old Testament.
Why? What is a trinity? You know, like
what's the Holy Spirit and stuff like
that?
And along with like just
[Music]
um like prophecies from the Old
Testament and it it didn't really like
it didn't really make a whole lot of
sense to me at the time. So I I became
agnostic at about 14 15. That was it.
You were like, "I had enough." And
agnostic for people that don't know,
that's kind of like borderline atheist
almost. Yeah. I don't think anybody can
be truly atheist because you you can't
prove that God doesn't exist. So I would
I would I would have said that I was an
agnostic back then. Mhm. You you would
what? You would have said I'm agnostic.
Yeah. Yeah. And what does that mean to
you? Agnostic. Just I don't know. You're
just confused. Yeah. I was confused.
Okay. And how long did that last? Eight
years. Eight years. M and then at what
point were you you were you were telling
me that you started to um really
question like okay this this world is
not conceivable that it just came by
chance. Yeah. Like I started just
reflecting upon like the creation of
Allah, you know, the like looking at the
world around me like if if everything is
like a random occurrence, why are things
beautiful? Like why why do I when I look
at myself in the mirror, why am I like
symmetric down the middle and like have
like these like perfectly designed
bodily functions? like that I can live
without
uh without like sustaining myself. All
of these all of these things just happen
within me without like without me having
to think about it. Mhm. And uh it makes
me think of the ayah in the beginning of
Bakar.
Um when Allah says like how could you
disbelieve in your Lord when when you
were when you were created from nothing.
male. Forgive me if I if I butchered
that verse, but um like when I when I
like reflect upon it now, like it's as
if like yesterday I wasn't I didn't
exist. Yeah. You know, and then now I
just popped into existence and then some
guy someday I'm going to die and and it
just doesn't mean anything. Mhm. You
know, that that didn't that doesn't make
sense. So I kind of like there there
must be a reason that I'm alive, you
know. Mhm. So, how did you did you start
to experiment with other religions? You
have uh um all these different man-made
religions out there, Buddhism, you have
um uh Sikism, you have Hinduism, you
have all these rock worship now, the
energies, you know, the crystals, it
just, you know, or some people believe
in God, but they say, "Look, I'm
spiritual, right? So, it's easy cop out,
you know, I'll just do my own thing and
say, okay, I believe in God, but I'm a
good person. I'm a good person." Yeah.
So, did you go through that phase? What
was next? I kind of just kept I kind of
just kept it to the monotheistic
religions because
like it doesn't make sense that like
okay gods
like there there there's multiple gods
and then there's like one that is kind
of like the governor over all of them.
Like if if there's a god then there has
to be like a an origin like everything
has to have an origin in one place you
know like it doesn't make sense that
like
like Zeus or Hermes had existed for
eternity or something like that or like
like uh like God became like Vishnu or
something like like a blue guy or like a
monkey or something like that.
So yeah, I just kind of looked into the
Abrahamic faiths and
um the way I kind of like boiled it down
from there is like
um with Judaism like it's like different
opinions on if you can actually join in
or not. And uh like why would I believe
in a religion where like
God only like a few chosen people are
going to be um sent to heaven and then
the rest of the people are just kind of
like the servants. Mh. And uh with
Christianity like the what I mentioned
earlier like the concept of God having
his son and God being like three in one.
He's three but he's one at the same
time. Mhm. He's three when you want him
to be three, but one when you want him
to be one.
And when I kind of like looked into the
evidences of Islam,
like the with the with the miracles of
the Quran and stuff
like like if I couldn't disprove them,
it then it had to be true, you know? So
that's that's kind of what led me to
Islam. Yeah. um unpackaging in that from
when I think about that there just so
many things that are just on point when
you look at the life of prophet Muhammad
peace and blessings be upon him when
he's uh offered you know to be the king
of the Arabs when he's offered money
women power status why what's the motive
like for what reason why what motivation
would he have to do this to suffer for
10 years and and be like he was well off
and to have rocks thrown at him by by
kids exactly I mean you just look at his
life and you see it's all it's totally
dedicated ated to calling people to pure
absolute monotheism and then all these
other thing prophecies you know certain
things like you know check he's got this
right check oh he took it from the
Greeks oh he took it from I mean come on
I mean all right let's say one thing but
another thing and that's when I started
to look at I said come on how this is
accurate the next thing is accurate this
prophet it on point you know uh from the
Quran to the sid to his his life you
know there's just miracles that you had
um uh abundant of uh abundance of people
who miracles done and you had so many
groups of people who were there
witnessing it. You had it's like they'd
have to be conspiring all because we
often talk about the miracles of Jesus
that because of these miracles because
of the Quran we believe these miracles
of Jesus but then also the Quran is a
miracle but proph Muhammad he also did
miracles that were witnessed by you know
so many people hundreds of people so
they're all lying they're all conspiring
it just doesn't make any sense and then
like when you bring this up to people
they're like okay well I don't believe
in I don't believe what these people say
around him because they were just on his
They were just trying to they were just
trying to like promote their religion.
Like but if you're if you're going to if
you're going to not believe the the
people of the society that somebody like
is born into Yeah. then you're not going
to believe like what the companions of
Jesus said about Jesus. Exactly. End of
most of history. And the message it it
goes right in line with what Jesus
taught. There's only one God. He didn't
say worship him. worship uh anyone other
than the one who created the universe
and everything. It's the same same thing
as Moses here. O Israel, the Lord thy
God is one. Same thing with Jesus and
Prophet Muhammad, worship no God but the
one God. That's simple. Simple and be
morally upright. That's it. And that
that connected with uh the concept of
the fra that you were telling me about.
Talk about that a little bit. The it's
like when when I heard about it is it
just resonate it it resonated with me so
well like like um just like
every person the the concept of the fra
is like every person is born with these
innate beliefs um that they're not
taught but that they're they're they're
given by God like the like just being a
like for example knowing something that
like the law of non-contradiction
like knowing that okay I have a glass
here and it's full of water I know that
it's it is full of water and it can't
not be full of water. That's something
that we're that we're given by God like
to have this this logic and and another
one of those things is is that Allah is
one that God is one and it just it it
makes sense logically and it's just it
makes sense like when you when you tell
somebody that God is one they never are
taken it back you know like they never
um they're never opposed to it but
they'll often try to argue like why God
is one in this religion or why God is
one in this other religion but
like it's just an is an example of like
how
uh how how it's an innate belief in all
people. So it took you around two months
of investigate. How did you come to the
point because to investigating Islam?
How did you even get to looking because
there's so much negative press media?
Yeah. Uh there's there's a whole
industry not revolved around bashing
Hinduism or Judaism or any other um
religion, but Islam. You literally have
people who are career Islam haters,
Islamophobes. They make a living off of
this. So there's so so much false
information out there. How did you even
get to the point where you're like,
okay, that's like the last thing. And
you got people actually people out there
who are like begging that I hope they're
looking for the truth like, God, please
may it not be Islam. Why? Because okay,
they're it's going to be a challenge
now. Yeah. To to uphold the truth with
all of the the the people who have all
these misconceptions, but at the end
they're sincere and they see no, it is
the truth. And it then if they're
they're tested with it, then they end up
they end up if they're sincere, genuine,
then they go ahead and follow it, right?
If you're not, then you're going to be
led to wherever your desires take you,
wherever you want to go. Opposite of
truth. So, what was it? How did you get
to the point where you're like, "Okay, I
got to look into Islam." just like what
you said like about the misinformation.
It kind of got me curious in Islam
because um like I would I would hear all
of this stuff like like bashing Islam
and stuff and then I would see Muslims
and how they act and it's like polar
opposite. So that that got me curious
like what somebody's lying. I I need to
figure out I need to figure out what's
up here. And uh just like the more I
researched into Islam, the more I found
that the what the media was saying was
false. And I was I was like, well, you
know, there must be a reason why they uh
why they're why they're lying about
this. So 100%. Many people exact same
thing. They see like hold when they
actually But most people don't stop,
pick up the Quran, go to a a Muslim
scholar, ask the questions. Most people
don't do that. So they they just hook
line and sinker. They just take in what
the the lies that are put out there. But
you're a mean. So, but you did the
opposite. You're like, hold on, let me
look into it myself. I did the same
thing. And then you start you're seeing
it is promoting opposite to what is
being said. Islam is. And you know, it
it kind of made sense like uh when you
look back at the stories of the prophets
like with for example Musa Alisam like
the the people of like they they they
hated him you know like the majority of
the people at the time they they wanted
to persecute like uh the the believers
and like what's going like where where
where do you see an example of that
today is this the Muslims same yeah same
thing if you want to give an example
those who truly follow Jesus peace be
upon them who are monotheist
And they were persecuted. They were also
they were people who are on the truth.
You just mentioned the people who
followed Moses. They were believers.
They were Muslims, submitters to one
God. The followers of Jesus, the true
followers at that time who were
submitters to only one God, not Trinity,
God dying for all these all these uh
things that were introduced later. Um
but you'll you'll see that they were
persecuted. They were fed in the arenas.
Yeah. to the to the the lions and they
were the games were done and f you know
show you know torture of these people
who are on the truth. Subhan Allah. And
now you have Muslims who are trying to
follow the same way uh that they were
upon that all the prophets were upon one
God worship him alone Islam submission
to his will and you see the same thing
where you have misinformation and
they're looked oh these are terrorists
you're going to be a part of a terrorist
religion all this other nonsense but you
were intelligent enough sincere enough
to see through all that and then you end
up taking your shahada but this is a
this is a very interesting twist now you
you took your shahada twice. Yeah. Uh
tell us about that. So you end up in a
in a in a masid and then and something
didn't jive. Yeah. Um like when I didn't
nobody really told me about Islam. I
kind of like came to it through my own
research. So I only knew one Muslim at
the time and um like so I told him that
I want to be Muslim. And he was like,
"Are you sure?" Like he was kind of
taking him back. He was like, "You you
need to pray five times a day and stuff
like that." And I was like, "Yeah, I'm
I'm sure. Like I'm kind of I'm convinced
at this point.
And then he took me to his masid. And um
at this point I didn't really know the
difference between like Sunni and Shia.
Uh Islam. I kind of was
like, you know, it's it's probably the
same thing. Like what's the big deal?
Mhm. And then um like it was it was kind
of different than what I saw
like like in my research like the way
that they prayed and stuff and
um so
so like they would they would pray with
the so the the masid that I went to was
a Shia masid.
So I was like okay well let let me let
me see what this is about. I don't
really know the whole the difference
between um like them like I said but uh
you know it just it felt kind of off
like the they they brought up the
difference like like really early. They
were like okay like
it started with the shahada. You said
something about when you when you took
the shahada. Yeah I took the shahada
like probably my second day there. Yeah.
When I first went there like I I prayed
with them and they they prayed with like
they only put their head on a rock. Why
do you see a prostrate on the earth of
carbala? People pray with this kind of
stones. Oh wow. So many people don't
even see this. They are very surprised
when I tell them where you walk inside
you will find these baskets and have
many of these things like they did the
uh I don't know what it's called but um
they beat their chest.
and they call upon Ali and Hussein.
Hussein and
um it just like it
felt it felt a little off to me, you
know, like I just I just came out of I
come from like a Christian family and
I'm I'm like, "All right, I'm not I'm
not worshiping a man anymore. I'm only
worshiping." No more man worship. Yeah.
Yes. So, and like that that just
um
like it gave me a bad feeling. And then
I took the shahada with them. And then
they had me say the the normal shahada
like and then I forget in Arabic, but
they also had me say after that Ali is
the divinely appointed successor.
And I was like, okay, this is what this
isn't this how do I know? Yeah. So I
like
I ended up going to a um a Sunni masid
after that and took my shahada like
eventually after that but there there
was a couple steps in between. You got
many people probably in that same
predicament. They don't know the
difference and then they end up so this
is a good example. I want to show a
video here if we can find one that
you'll I remember in my journey I had my
old partner actually he was um his
family was Muslim wasn't practicing and
then as I started practicing he was
asking me why are these Muslims so he's
Muslim he was actually Shi he didn't
even know the difference also so we
can't like generalize and put a general
blanket statement on everyone um this is
a a really um profound example here he's
my partner we're both you know
background Muslim he's Shi uh and he's
like why are Eddie, as I'm getting more
knowledge, why are they doing this?
[Music]
Doing what? They're beating themselves
because that also goes against the He
was asking that. He was asking that and
I was like, what are you talking about?
So, I'm at a point like, okay, I don't
want to just deny something if it's a
part of the religion. Uh, let me look
into it. But, but usually if you'll find
strange weird things
These are this is something that man has
introduced into the religion. So if we
can find a clip and you can see these
practices that have nothing to do with
Islam
beating of oneself and you see this this
and they get extreme sometimes very
extreme. Yeah. So this is And then
you'll have non-Muslims, Islamophobes,
they'll go ahead and use this. Say,
"Look, look, these are what you're
bringing to our country." Exactly.
Yes. Right. Has nothing to do with
Islam. Yeah. Um so then, so now what
happens? So you go through this and then
you end up uh you're like, "Okay, this
doesn't jive. This is not it." Um and
yeah where do you go from there? After
that uh yeah like I said I went to a
Sunni masid. Well before that like
so at the same time I had uh like told
my parents that I wanted like I was I
was Muslim now. I try to like subh like
uh after I had accepted Islam, the truth
was so clear to me
like like I my man was really high, you
know, like like I saw these evidences
and like I don't like how like how could
anybody deny this, you know? I tried to
show it to my like I was like, "Okay, so
everybody's going to believe me now."
And that ended up not being the case.
Yeah. So I like when I showed it to my
family, there was like some push back
and stuff like that.
And then my mom ended up um like having
me on a call with Christian apologists
to bring me back to Christianity.
So your your own mother now she's trying
to pull you and sway sway you away from
from Islam and she's she connects you
with career Islamophobes. Yeah. Yeah.
Wow. And subhan Allah like uh I I find
it interesting how she didn't do this
like like when I was agnostic. Mhm. You
know, but uh side point, but like that's
a good point. Like, okay, so now you're
borderline almost atheist. You're going
away totally from God. Yeah. And you're
question, you're in doubt. Why not at
that point try to, you know, persuade
you that there is a God away from But
now that you're Muslim going towards
Islam, she's gets like these are the
biggest devils, man. These guys are I
mean, not going to lie, she did try to
she did she did try to get me back into
Christianity when I was younger, but
like there was a long period of time
where like yeah, there was really
nothing. But don't don't give up. I
mean, how is she? Because we I mean,
I've seen this happen over and over when
they start to see because of the
misinformation your mother and maybe
she'll watch this and she has nothing to
fear. Um because now she's going to see
that probably you are I just had um
recently a brother I don't know if you
met uh Adrian, you know Adrian, he's
from that same St. Pete community. I
think so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He talks
about that his parents are now curious
about Islam. Why? because they're seeing
that in Islam this is what they wanted
him to be while but now they couldn't
get that alhamdulillah but now they have
it now it's in a different packaging so
you're respectful to your mother you're
kind to her and you're you're just
you're um showing through your your
character that hey there's nothing to
fear but you're actually gain something
you found the way of of truth that
hopefully she can come to also may Allah
make me a a better example of Islam I
mean all of us all of Yeah, we're all
works in progress. Yeah. So, what
happens now? So, you go and um and this
is just touching upon this. Usually, we
end up and I went through this so people
can learn from my experiences, yours,
you end up wanting everyone now to see
to be on your spiritual time clock to
see like, okay, this is it. And
sometimes we we we won't act right and
then that gives we have to be patient.
We have to, you know, show Islam through
our behavior and whatnot. And then we
we're human beings. We make mistakes.
And I and I kind of turned some people
off in the beginning. Exactly. So yeah,
I kind of had to learn the hard way too
like um Allah says that you don't guide
who you want, Allah guides whom he
wills. Yeah. You know, and uh like cuz
you know like there's a consequence at
the end of the day like people are going
to be in Jenna or Jannam. Yep. you know,
so like you you don't want you don't
like you don't want especially these
close people around you, you want to
like kind of like get them to see the
truth because you know like if if
they're going to stay on the path that
they are now where they're going to end
up. But
um you know just you have to be you have
to be you have to be patient with them
like you said. This is interesting. We
don't have to mention any names but this
is this is the top
Islamophobe in probably in the world.
He's he's out there. Um who is making a
career of bashing Islam. Yeah. You have
a meet two meetings with him and another
another career Islam hater. Yeah. And
then he ends up at the end it doesn't go
his way. So he insults your mother.
Well, something like that. Well,
something like that that she's the one
actually set it up, but then at the end
he start to be really obnoxious. Well,
yeah. like um so I I had uh like like 3
weeks into me being Muslim like uh my
mom had set up these like meetings with
these people like I didn't know who they
were at the time and I don't think she
knew either but um like uh yeah I had
the meetings with them and they started
bringing like doubt after doubt like
trying to like get me to denounce Islam
and I remember one of the things that
they said that stuck with me like you're
not going to be they were like you're
not going to be able to ask any
questions. You know, they're going to
try they're going to try they're going
to try to teach you to like that you're
going to just have to be quiet and uh
like accept what they and they try to
bring like an ayah that that like
supports their belief and stuff like
that. But like when I went to the masid
after that, I was like this is the
complete opposite of what they're
saying. So they're saying they're going
to just shut you up and you can't
question. But then you go to the mosque
masid, I ask all the questions. You're
asking all the questions. Are you
getting answers? Yeah. Someone is
someone telling you shut up. Be quiet.
No.
Subhan Allah. Yeah, I had uh two me with
them. Obviously, I didn't really have
all the answers to the doubts because I
was three weeks into being a Muslim.
Yeah. And then
um Subhan Allah, like
uh I had found that this same person, I
was doing like research online. I found
that this same person was um had a like
a like not a debate, but like a dialogue
with this guy I ended up later knowing
to be Shakultman. May Allah ward him.
He's answered a lot of doubts. Amen. And
um so like before that like I had
uh so they like brought brought all
these doubts and I remember they also
brought like some manuscript of like an
old Quran. Mhm. Or something like that
had like a law written above the margins
or something and they were like look uh
it wasn't always preserved because like
they added this in. They added a law in
here. Yeah. You know what I mean? And uh
I I ended up later later learning like
that like this was uh I think it was um
one of the son manuscripts and that
that's a that's a a proof for the
preservation of the Quran if people want
to look into that. Mhm. But
um I I had sent to them like okay if you
guys are upon the truth and you have
the like you have the evidences to for
Islam to be false why why don't you like
talk to the actual like knowledgeable
people that on this subject and and get
this debate settled you know and um they
were basically like yeah well you know
nobody wants to debate with us like they
all they all turn us down and then I I
found this this video with man and he
said in the video like
um yeah if you ever want to come to my
like talking to this specific guy that I
was on the call with you should just
come over to my house and we'll have a
discussion you know. Mhm. So I I kind of
like I te I texted him over Zoom or
something and I kind of like called him
out on and I was like hey like like you
said that nobody is wanting to debate
you like well here you go like what do
you what do you want to do this and he
was like he just kind of insulted me and
I I kind of like me and my mother. Mhm.
And I kind of like found out that that
was a a reoccurring thing that comes
from this person. Yeah. But did they um
these it was two of them? Yeah. Did they
at all how much time did they spend
bashing Islam versus trying to show you
the teachings of of Christianity of what
they were upon? How much what kind of
balance was it? They probably spent like
2% of the time talking about
Christianity. Uhhuh. The whole time was
just bashing trying to poke holes in
Yeah. Islam, you know, half truths and
some deliberate lies mixing things up
that if you sit with a scholar, you sit
with someone, it's like, okay. Yeah. And
I end up getting the answers to my
doubts. ended up alhamdulillah. Amazing.
And that Okay. So then you uh
alhamdulillah now you're here. You so
you ended up taking shahada again. Yes.
Alhamdulillah. Actually I think three
times cuz uh the first one the Shia
masid and then the second one I called
the OMF foundation was mine because I
was like all right this guy's got the
answers. Yeah. So um like I think
somebody that worked there answered the
phone and we ended up having like a
two-hour conversation. He show he like
answered the doubts and showed me some
of the miracles of Islam. Alhamdulillah.
And then like I started talking about
like
uh I forget the name but like the I was
asking questions like all right so are
are jin like dead people? And he was
like no like I was like what what is
what is the grave? given you was like
you started explaining like the barak
and like how like people are in this
other other world for a lack of a better
word like when they die it's not like
actual in they're not literally in their
grave like their soul and like I was
like all right well is that like the how
the cabba there's like a cabba in the
heavens like how's there there's a cabba
on earth and he was like well you're
talking to me about this like why why
haven't you taken your shahada yet and
so I ended up taking my shahada on the
on the phone there and then I ended up
taking it again at at a masid Mhm. And
for the the people who are hearing this
word for the first time, shahada, that's
the same declaration of faith that you
would have said during the time of
Jesus. You would have just
said Jesus is the messenger. During
Moses's time, you would have said the
same
thing. There's nothing worthy of worship
except the creator Allah. Moses is the
messenger. And today, if you want to be
upon that truth, salvation, get to
paradise, avoid the hellfire, it's what
you did. You took
the you can say it now. I bear witness
that there's nothing worthy of worship
except the one creator, God Almighty,
Allah, and Muhammad is the final
messenger sent for all of mankind for
for Trump, for these Islamophobes. He is
the messenger till the end of time. No
more messengers to come. Subhan Allah.
And we don't make a distinction between
any of the messengers. It's very
straightforward. What would you say to
um to people who are out there now?
They're seeing you former Christian.
you come from um father, mother,
Catholic, Baptist, and now they're also
struggling with this whole trinity, God
being a man, God having a son. Uh but
then they look at Islam, they tuning in
now, and they're like, "Okay, I'm I have
a void in my heart, but there's all of
these negative things associated with
Islam." What advice do you have for
them? just what you've been told about
Islam is is false by the media, you
know, like just you need to everybody
needs to do their own investigation of
because this is the most important
um venture that you could delve into in
in your life. Like if
um like the analogy of the train, I'm
sure you've heard it before, like if
somebody put a bag over your head and
like brought you to this random location
and they took it they took the bag off
your head and you uh you you ended up
being on a train and there's all these
people around you and there's people
enjoying themselves like having drinks,
eating food, like having a good time
and you're just sitting there like where
am I? like why am I here and where am I
going? And this is this is the this is
the situation that you're in like in
your life. Like one day you're not going
to be like one day you're going to get
to your destination. You're not going to
be on the train anymore. So like at at
that time
like you're what what you what you did
in your life is going to be an evidence
for you or against you when you when you
stand before God. So, you know, like
these these things like
um like I know some people have probably
have they're interest they're interested
in Islam, but they they're scared of
like what what their family's going to
say like repercussions. Yeah. Yeah.
But
that like on the on the day of judgment,
you know, when when when everything's
like real, like this is like
everything's actually happening now,
like it's not going to matter. like
you're you're going to wish you're going
to wish that you you weren't um like
fooled back then that you weren't like
scared of accepting the truth
because
it's the
the I don't know how to put it like the
the it's always been
the the majority has been against the
believers for for for the for all of
history, you know.
Yeah, that's uh really great advice and
it's I'm always amazed. I've interviewed
so many people and hear the story and
when a person is genuine, sincere,
they're looking for the truth and at any
time were you ever praying to other than
God? Did you ever ask God me? Did you
ever make a prayer like just guide me? I
want to know like in what words did you
put it if you did? Yeah. But like you
know
um after I had done some research into
Islam like I was still upon some
jahalyah which would means like uh like
ignorance you know I was doing actions
of ignorance you know like
um and I was kind of just
like not depressed but you know like not
liking the way my life was going. Mhm.
And
um I at that point I kind of knew in the
back of my mind like Islam was the
truth. So you like I knew I knew like
Muslims made sjud. So I that's the
prostration. Yeah. Yeah. Where you
submit yourself to to God and when
you're when you're in the prostration,
you say
um glory be to my Lord the most high.
Yeah. And uh when you're when you're in
the lowest point and you know you
realize that God is in the highest
point, you you're submitted. It's it's
just beautiful like as a as a side
point. But um so I made sajjud and I
don't really like to use like personal
experiences as an evidence for Islam but
um I had like a personal
experience that kind of like affirmed
that Islam was the truth in my heart.
Like I kind of like asked a question in
my in my mind and then God Allah like
answered me like immediately you know
alhamdulillah. But
um yeah, everybody has their personal
experience, but just um my advice would
just be, you know,
like don't
[Music]
um if we all know that we end up we have
we have a we have a God. We have one
God. We have one thing. We something
created
us. If you call upon that thing that
created you alone, look there. What's
wrong in that? There's nothing there's
nothing that you can you can go wrong
with there. Mhm. So if if you if you
call upon whatever created you, whatever
put you here, um if you call upon that
alone
sincerely, God will God will guide you
to the truth. Like I swear to God. Mhm.
Uh and then you when you made that
prostration and there is in in Matthew
26:39 it says that he Jesus went a
little further and he fell on his face
and prayed to who? Himself? No, he
prayed to God. Yep. So you did that. You
put up you made suda. You made
prostration and in there you were asking
for guidance. Mhm. Yeah. That's that's
the homework right there. That's it for
everybody. I mean I I tell people this I
tell people this often. I say look it's
very straightforward. It's simple. Go
ahead and ask. If you're lost somewhere,
you need directions, you ask for help.
You'd ask for guidance. Ask for
guidance. What's the purpose of life?
Why am I here? Why have I been created?
And then you look into the Quran. And
like we opened up in the beginning with
this video from this Christian, not
Muslim, who's telling us that Jesus's
words or this is we don't know if it's
Jesus words. We don't we don't know uh
who wrote these books and anonymous
authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
That's according to they didn't write
these books. But is the Quran like that?
Absolutely not. What's the difference?
The Quran, the Quran is the word of
Allah, the words of Allah, literally
spoken by Allah. And the Christians will
say that the the Bible is the word of
God. But when you bring to them
contradictions, they'll say, "Okay,
well, not all of it's the word of God,
but only these certain passages." And
that has contradictions, but no
contradictions that affect our um faith,
you know. Yeah. See, see, many people
don't know. See, we agree in the Bible,
you have some of the word of God. Hero,
O Israel, the Lord thy God is one. We
say this, the Quran would confirm this
one God. You have the word of of
prophets in there. You have the word of
historians in the Bible. You have
anonymous books. We don't even know who
these authors are. It's a hodge. It's
all mixed together. See the Quran, word
of God. Then you have the statements,
authentic statements of Prophet
Muhammad.
Then you have historical books. They're
all separate. So the Quran is the only
book out there compiled over 23 years
that is making the claim and you can
test it. It's literally the verbatim
words of the creator of the heavens and
the earth. Subhan Allah. That's very
powerful. Subhan Allah. Yeah. It is
something that like really it was very
like uh profound to me when I first read
the Quran because like
um especially the New Testament when you
read it it's telling a story about Isaam
Jesus um and it's not really like it's
almost like a biography but when you
read the Quran it's like Allah is
talking to you directly like verses will
say, "Oh you who all you who believe,
fear Allah, etc." And because Allah is
the one that created all of us and Allah
wrote the
Quran, the Quran is a
is written for you. You know, Allah
intended for you to read these words,
you know. Mhm. And I I can I can give uh
because we often for those that have
never heard this before, the Quran is
also a living miracle because of its
preservation, authenticity. And you're
not an Arab. I'm not an Arab, but every
Muslim is inspiring to memorize. That's
how it's been preserved some of the
Quran. And I bet you if I ask you right
now to recite some of the Quran, you can
recite something for me. Inshallah. Go
ahead.
The opening chapter. Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Go ahead.
[Music]
Alhamdulillah.
[Music]
Mashallah. So this is the opening
chapter of the
Quran calling upon God alone saying all
praises to God. Uh you alone we worship
you alone
we Allah the most gracious the most
merciful master of the day of judgment.
You alone we worship you alone we seek
for help. Guide us on the straight path
right there. That's where I'm going to
stop it. guide us on the straight path.
That's the formula to get guidance,
asking for guidance. And this hopefully
story can be a help for so many people
who are struggling right now. They don't
know the purpose of life. They want to
they need the blueprint for life. And
you're upon that right now, living
Islam. You got through all of the you
you you had meetings with the the top
Islam haters in the world. Literally.
Literally. Right. And you you were
sincere. You made sagda. You prostrated
like Jesus did. You asked God almighty
Allah to guide you and you're here.
Alhamdulillah. And that's that's the
formula. It's not complicated. It's not.
You just got to be sincere and ask. Just
be sincere. Yeah.
Thank you, brother.
And thank you guys. And I want to give
you a gift free on me to you. Go to the
deanshow.com and get yourself a copy of
this book, The Meaning of the Book, the
Quran, at the deanshow.com. Subscribe if
you haven't already. We will see you
next time. Until then, peace be with
you.