[Music]
alhamdulillah alayum peace be with you
I'm Eddie your host and you're watching
the dean show my next guest who's going
to be with us in a second to talk about
why when he accepted the truth he ended
up losing not only his wife but his
house his guest house and much more he's
going to be sharing his experiences with
us so you all can take the good from it
and it can help you endure some of the
tests and trials that you might be going
through you don't want to go nowhere
we'll be right back to talk with our
brother Dr Lawrence Brown be right back
on the dean
show
Allah there's only one muham is his
messenger Allah
[Music]
there's only one God Jesus
Hiser I don't know why I did that maybe
maybe it's just to break the ice asalam
Alum how are you Dr
Brown uh very good thank you
alhamdulillah oh slow down you said
something Arabic now what' you say uh
alhamdulillah all praise be to Allah Dr
Brown our audience really enjoyed we got
some positive feedback on your show that
we did on how you accepted this
wonderful beautiful way of life the
truth that is ordained from the creator
of the heavens and earth that's
practiced by over 1.5 billion people
from all around the globe the fastest
growing way of life in the world today
people got to benefit from your story
how have you been since the last time
we've seen
you uh again alhamdulillah no every
things are good things are good I'm
keeping busy I'm still writing I'm still
working uh I guess in these days that's
a good thing we really want to thank you
and I'm sure the audience wants to thank
you also for coming back again here on
Dean show I'm happy to be here okay Dr
Brown the world now knows that you
former military major Doctor Surgeon at
that has accepted this way of life the
truth that all the messengers of God
lived Noah Abraham Moses Jesus Christ
and the last and final messenger sent to
mankind the prophet Muhammad peace be
upon them they all live this way the way
that calls you to surrender your entire
self to the Creator the one God in
Arabic we call him Allah to surrender
yourself to his will to strive to be the
best human being that you can be to be
in a constant state of self-development
self-improvement doing all the good that
he's called you to do you've accepted
that truth but now there have been some
some hardships talk to us about some of
these hardships that you had to go to
through and endure well uh actually
yesterday I was just at a conference
where I was asked this question uh I I
told my conversion story and in the
question and answer period somebody
asked what what happened after you
converted was it easy was it hard what
happened and uh so I kind of went down
this long laundry list of
difficulties because uh I think it's the
typical experience when a person becomes
Muslim they face some
difficulties after I became Muslim uh
within a period of one year uh my now
ex-wife divorced me took uh took my
children into her
custody uh took my house
wealth and uh I dare I say certain
amount of my happiness um and uh then at
the same
time there there was just
a a difficulty in the transition so my
my parents took it very hard uh they
they basically severed communication
with with me and uh disinherited me and
uh I I remember one particular
communication where they just they just
told me by a letter they didn't want to
see me they didn't want to hear from me
they didn't want a phone call they
didn't want a letter they they they they
basically just didn't
want anything from me any communication
at the same
time the the people who I had hung out
with before my friends basically
deserted me I was no longer the the fun
person in their
minds that uh that I had been before uh
obviously being Muslim I wasn't into
what they were into uh I wasn't I wasn't
into the the uh the drinking the dancing
the partying Etc um and that was a
change for me and so so basically they
deserted me um my job was no longer
compatible with my faith in the end I uh
I had to leave I was in the military I I
was uh I had been in the Air Force for
um well let's now it would have been 12
years at that point uh I just signed up
for another 4 years and U and uh
so I found out during that period that
really I I didn't feel that my faith was
compatible with being in the
military I I I effectively became a
little bit of a of a pacifist and here I
was in this in this war machine that um
that I I simply could not
uh reconcile with uh with my
faith so to make a long story short
within a period of one year I lost my
parents my friends my wife my children
my house my wealth uh I went from being
a successful doctor to still being a
doctor but in uh in pretty straightened
circumstances Dr Brown should people who
accept Islam expect these hardships
someone might say well I'm coming to the
truth why all the
hardships um yeah first of all I think
you should accept expect some hardship
whenever anybody comes to Islam they
need to expect some hardship and I think
that is the price of sincerity it's the
price and the proof of sincerity look if
it were a party everybody would be doing
it it's just like any of the other tests
of sincerity in religion prayer fasting
paying charity making pilgrimage all of
these things are things where you take
from your time from your wealth from
your energy from other things you you
can be doing to get down get down on
your knees and into prostration and pray
five times a day to to take time off
from eating and drinking to fast for the
pleasure of our creator
to uh to pay from your wealth to benefit
other people who who need it more um to
make pilgrimage taking taking your
vacation time and your money to go and
do something uh for the pleasure of our
creator instead of going and hanging out
on the French Riviera or some other kind
of vacation all of these all of these
things are things that you take from
yourself as a testimony of your
faith uh like I said if it was a party
everybody would be doing it but for
those who are seeking seeking Allah's
reward in the meaning the
Hereafter uh there's a
there's how can I put it a price to pay
uh some something something that you
have to you have to expect to put
forward for for the uh for the Hereafter
and when you become when you become
Muslim it can be easy for most people
but one thing I've noticed is that in
general in general converts to the faith
find themselves tested in the beginning
my own impression is that that is a test
of
sincerity because I've seen people I've
seen people pass that and I've seen
people fail that I I have seen converts
to the religion go back to
disbelief because the tests they faced
after they became Muslim were greater
than they felt they could bear and it
was really sad I mean I've seen people
go back from faith for for ply little
things that you you would just you would
just think I mean how could a person
throw their faith away for that very sad
but so bottom line yes when you become
Muslim expect to be
tested expect expect to have to show
some some strength show some
patience and and endure this test
because because truly anything that you
leave for the pleasure of Allah he will
replace with something better and and
Allah tells us in the Holy Quran
in after hardship comes
ease uh I just described my hardship or
a part of it uh there was a lot more to
it than that because uh after I got over
that hump there there were other
hardships that came along but as I said
I lost my wife Allah gave me another
wife I remarried and I have to say I am
happier with my second wife than I ever
was with my first alhamdulillah
alhamdulillah alhamdulillah I uh you
know I lost my children from my
household not from my heart they're in
my heart and I hope that I'm in theirs
we we still get together for vacation
every year we still see each other but
Allah gave me another child by by my new
wife I lost my house in America I now
live in in uh you know a better
situation in the holy city of Medina
alhamdulillah I lost my friends some of
my family alhamdulillah Allah gave me
the family of Islam which is worldwide
and which I mean I can honestly say you
never feel a Brotherhood you never you
never really know what Brotherhood is
until you're in the Brotherhood of Islam
I have one brother no sisters just one
brother he also became
Muslim what I can tell you is he and I
are constantly reminding each other of
the fact that we were never Brothers we
were never Brothers until we became
Brothers in Islam you know we were
fighting we were at each other's throats
we saw each one we saw the other one as
somebody who kind of blocked our desires
or I mean we were just at each other's
throats until we became Brothers in
Islam when we became Brothers in Islam
then we knew what Brotherhood really was
um I told you I I lost my wealth when I
when I became Muslim I used to live in a
u country I don't know if you could
really call it in a state but I mean it
was a house on acreage out in the
country um I used to tell people I
didn't have a guest room in my house if
I had people visiting I didn't have a
guest room I had a guest house I had a
second house on on the property that was
for guests that's that's how nice the
layout was and that's what I lost I went
from living in that circumstance to
living in a pay by week studio apartment
in just I mean a really bad area of
town uh you get you know you you would
you you didn't want to go into the
elevator to go up to to the floor cuz
you know people were urinating in the
elevator but the stairs weren't any
better you you take the stairs and you
practically had to hold your nose
because PE you know people were
urinating in the stairwells as well it
was that bad as I said you know look pay
by the week I mean you know what pay by
the week means in America I mean where
do you where do you find uh where do you
find a rental apartment that's paid by
the week all right we're going to hold
it right there we're going to take a
break and we'll be right back for more
with Dr Lawrence Brown here on the dean
show no speech is better than to do that
to call people to Allah and to do the
work no speech is better no nothing is
better than that is it true that if one
person on the Allah giving you the
ability to guide someone with Allah's
permission the Creator's permission that
is better than everything in this world
better than the whole world and
everything that's in it in in another
narration it's better than the best of
wealth but if we really felt that Eddie
Would we not be out giving da and this
is something that we encourage all the
msas all the da organizations the mids
to get this we want to print more we
give these to the non-muslims for free
for free for free we want our brothers
in humanity become our brothers
in so even yourself being in such a
respected field as a doctor you also
endured a lot huh yeah you know I mean
it's easy to look at somebody who is in
a respected field like as a doctor who
has a respected income and so on and you
don't think that they can fall too far
uh you know but there's this old saying
that what counts is not how far you fall
but how high you bounce but uh but that
doesn't mean you don't fall I mean uh at
that time I I was saddled with very he
heavy lawyer expenses because of the
divorce uh you know I had just received
a restraining order from my wife telling
me I couldn't go within I forget but it
was something like a 100 yards or 500
yards of of her of my children of my
house and so on and so forth and this
all because you know I all just for a no
contest divorce she had just gone in and
said she wanted a divorce and they said
what for is he beating you is he
mistreating you and they said no or or
she said no she said uh no I just want
out and they said well what's he doing
and she said nothing nothing I just I
just want a divorce that's all so it
wasn't it wasn't like I had any history
of being a violent person or or doing
anything bad she just she just went to
the court and got a restraining order on
me uh I had to to to see my children the
court made me hire a security officer to
protect my children from
me for me to see my children when the
court started to allow me to see my
children even though by my wife's own
admission I was a peaceful person I
never I never did anything to to Warrant
a divorce just she wanted out she was
Catholic I had become Muslim she just
she wanted out that was enough you
weren't the cool guy anymore to take
around to the Social Wine tasting
parties huh what could I say I was no
longer the the fun guy uh I I used to uh
I used to brew my own beer before I
became Muslim okay look I'm sorry to say
but yeah I used to brew my own beer one
of the things after I became Muslim that
my father complained about was that he
missed my
beer not me my beer didn't say he missed
me said he missed my beer now you know
it was a hard time it was a bit of a
crazy time and and you know I wasn't the
best example of a Muslim at that time I
don't I don't blame my parents for for
their reaction because because they saw
me go from the person they knew to a
person they really did not know or
understand and at the same time with the
media representation of Islam in the
west it creates a lot of fear and
uncertainty in people's hearts and when
you see this happen to a loved one
whether it's your son as was the case
with my parents or your husband as was
the case with my wife it you know it
bends people's
minds and it takes it takes time for
them to come to realize that you may
have changed your religion but you
yourself may not have changed that much
now did you grow your hair in a funky
Way start listen listening to rap music
get tattoos would you dress different I
mean what made you such an outcast to
them uh no I I I didn't really dress
differently but but it was just a a
series of things you know when you
become Muslim you clean up your act you
you you you know you stop going to uh
you know you you stop going to dances
parties you stop associating with uh you
know with alcohol I'm not saying you
stop drinking I'm saying you avoid
places even where alcohol is drunk okay
but fruit juice apple juice pineapple
nonspiked is okay huh well of course I
mean you you know there so many other
things that you know are are good for
you and and but but alcohol is out so uh
you know you you stop going to Social
Circles where alcohol is served uh you
um you know you're no longer that hug
your neighbor kind of a guy you because
you don't you don't even shake hands
with women anymore you don't shake hands
with your neighbor's wife how about a
kiss on the cheek
baby look you know I know this is a
shock to a predominantly Christian West
where you know you go to a wedding
ceremony and you dance with the bride
and you kiss the bride and you and uh
and all other I mean the Garder belt
scene and all this stuff but look look
the bottom line is we're talking
Christian West Christian what does
Christian mean follow the example of
Christ show me anywhere in the Bible
where Jesus Christ touched a member of
the opposite sex outside of his family
please show me that it didn't happen he
was an orthodox Jew Orthodox Jews to
this day do not uh do not touch women
outside of their family or if you're a
woman they don't touch men outside of
their family I mean we know this was his
code of contact conduct because when we
say Jesus what do we sometimes say Rabbi
Jesus he was an orthodox Jew this was a
code of conduct that was respected
through out the abrahamic faiths it's
only in modern times that our customs
have bent it out of shape according to
the desires of the people just one more
note on that Dr Brown isn't this a high
sense of respect given to the women when
in today's society men are trying to do
whatever they can to grope up on a woman
and get a cheap feel here and
there where in Islam we don't have a
right to touch what's not ours
someone get offended some people get
offended if you touch their car I
mean women are more precious to us than
our cars or any material Goods so isn't
this a respect towards the woman and her
husband actually is it is it an article
of respect not to touch a woman yeah
it's an article of respect to her it's
an article of respect to her husband to
respect that this woman is for this man
and you don't you don't
uh you know you don't uh interject
yourself into that in the least little
bit but look don't ask me this question
ask a woman this question Islam is the
fastest growing religion in the United
States is the fastest growing religion
in the world and most of the converts to
relig to Islam the majority of the
converts to Islam are women not men
so you know we we hear these popular
sayings that Islam is a man's religion
if Islam is a man's religion why are
most of the people converting women not
men it's because it's because they see
that the rules of Islam instead instead
of uh constraining them the rules set
them free now that's that's difficult
for people to understand and it's best
explained by a woman but it is the fact
after hearing this Jihad struggle
because Jihad is what it means is to
struggle after hearing about this
struggle that you went through should
people be worried about scared about
accepting this truth you know what I can
tell you is I don't I don't regret
anything I wouldn't change anything um
I've been Muslim now for about 15 years
I can honestly say I never gave up
anything for the pleasure of Allah
except that he gave me what was better
and you know an important point is that
with all of what I describ that I went
through despite going through the
divorce
losing my kids and my family Los losing
my friends my and my parents and so on
uh the problems at work the the problems
with the Prejudice and everything else
the one thing I haven't told you is that
during that period of time when I was
facing all those trials and tests I
remember that time as some of the best
days in my
life all I can tell you is that Allah
filled my heart with peace and
satisfaction
and showed me what was really of value
showed me that this Duna meaning the
material aspects of this life this dun
is is nothing it's nothing compared to
living upon the path of Truth living
upon the path of the religion of our
Creator's design when you when you
submit to Allah and you submit all of
your actions to his pleasure you find
that he gives you a level of
satisfaction that makes everything else
seem insignificant and over time step by
step you find that things just come back
to you um as I said I don't blame my my
ex-wife and my
parents not completely in any case for
what happened because they saw the
change in me they were suffering the
concerns that they had from how how the
media portrays the most Muslims um and
uh and it they couldn't think straight
they couldn't think straight in their
circumstances my wife was worried that
you know I would abscond with the
children my my parents thought were
thinking the same thing etc etc but you
know with time they came to know me
again uh my parents and I are back on
good terms uh my ex-wife and I are you
know able to to communicate in a in a
polite respectful way
uh my children as I said they've always
been U uh you know we've we've always
been together by telephone and vacations
every year and and uh and my life
circumstance improved in so many
different ways one one thing I can just
say from this experience is anybody out
there anybody out there who perceives
the truth of Islam and wants to embrace
Islam do not be afraid for a second do
not be afraid of what you will lose do
not be be afraid of what you will face
do not be afraid of the trials and the
hardship just pray to Allah to make it
easy for you to give you patience to
give you strength to Bear it not to not
to test you beyond your ability to bear
and to bless you with abundance therein
because I can just I can guarantee you
from my experience from the experience
of other converts I have known I can
just guarantee you that after you become
Muslim
Allah will will fill you with such a
sense of internal richness that you will
realize that everything that you valued
before Islam was for nothing can you in
short Define for our non-muslim audience
for our brothers in humanity who we want
to become our brothers in faith use some
Arabic words can you define for them
Islam Muslims Allah what this means
let's start with Allah Allah is the name
of the
Creator um if you go to the Holy Land
you will find that the Arab Jews the
Arab Christians the Arab Muslims they
all refer to God as
Allah um this is the name that they knew
our creator by in the holy land and
remember these are the people who who
are the descendants of the the lineage
of the prophets okay they are the ones
whose forefathers
walked the
Earth in the company of the prophets
they should know uh you look in the
Bible and you find in the Old Testament
that God is referred to as eloh e l o
AOH now does that sound more like God or
does that sound more like Allah
iloh um he's also referred to as Elohim
which is the plural not the plural of
numbers but the plural of respect plural
of respect being a literary device a way
of showing respect uh through uh through
words okay so in any case in the Bible
you find God called eloh I think it's
128 times and 2,500 times 2,500 times
called
Elohim with an I am at the end again
what does that sound more like God or
Allah so that's
Allah um Muslim is Mo Islam a person of
Islam Islam being to submit to uh to
Allah so a Muslim is a person who
submits to to Allah before we part can
you please tell us about some of the
books that you've
authored well there are five of them out
right out there right now uh the uh the
the main one ones I recommend are a
trilogy The eth Scroll the eth scroll is
an action adventure uh it's been
described as Indi Indiana Jones meets uh
the D Vinci
Code uh and that's pretty much what it
is it's an action adventure set in
America England the Holy Land uh it
concerns the theme of the Dead Sea
Scrolls and missing scroll which uh is
so controversial that it threatens to
upset the religious power base of the
world and uh it's all I can say is it's
a fast- based action thriller and I
think people will like it that's the
eighth
scroll uh for those who are more
academically
inclined I have uh misg godded and
godded and these These are books of uh
comparative religion misg godded is
entitled um a road map of guidance and
misguidance within the abrahamic
religions what that means means is it
basically tells which religions went
right which religions went wrong why and
how and shows how throughout time there
has been a continuity in the chain of
Revelation so the truth of the message
was never
lost that leads to goded which argues
the case for Islam as the completion of
Revelation so for those who are
interested I would say start with start
with the E scroll if you want a
fast-paced three driller and
action-packed read uh something fun to
kick back with and and uh and sort of
enter this discussion lightly start with
moted if you want to if you want to
seriously engage the uh the issues of
analyze analyzing the Jewish Christian
and and uh Islamic religions and then
move on to goded all of these are
available through
Amazon.com uh and also through my
websites brother Brown Dr Dr Brown thank
you very much may Allah the creator of
the heavens and earth reward you for
being with us and and you and thank you
for for inviting me once again to the
dean
show and that was our brother do
Lawrence Brown thank you brother for
being with us and everyone who has taken
the time to watch this now I hope you
got to benefit from his experiences
we're all going through tests this life
is a test but what's 10 20 30 40 50
years or maybe a day or two days after
you watch this or maybe you can go
outside right now you might get hit by a
car you don't know death can sneak upon
you at any time so is it worth it that
you live according to your whims and
desires and you chase the dollar that
man that woman and you make that your
main priority you forget about your
purpose in life nor do you even ask and
I'm not talking about
asking Joe the kacanic or Trisha the
hair stylist I'm talking about asking
the one who created you the one who
created this whole universe and
everything in it the one who Jesus
Christ called
upon the one who submitted himself as
all the prophets submitted themselves to
God including the last and final
messenger sent them mankind of prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him they all
called upon the one who is all knowing
all merciful all loving they called upon
him for guidance and Direction the
Creator the one God in Arabic Allah so
we call upon him and we ask him to help
us and to guide us and to help us
through the hard times and the struggles
we want to show that we're sincere so we
don't want to because you know we had a
bad day or maybe something came long
that we had to implement the prayer
might be getting in your way no no no no
no no no we revolve revolve our life
around Islam we don't try to plug Islam
in so whoever you are out there it's
tough It's Not Easy Life is a challenge
with or without Islam you're going to be
going through hard times but with Islam
being on the right direction you got
your Creator's help and for every
hardship that you go through
God Almighty will recompense you he will
take care of you he will reward you and
you'll have that peace and Tranquility
as Dr Brown did you see for someone else
that might have went through
this people lose their houses and wives
all the time for other things but he
went through this for his creator and
Allah replaced it with something better
and gave him the strength to endure and
the patience and at the end
we have nothing less than Paradise if we
stick to this way but what do you got if
you go to the grave and you didn't live
life according to how your created
wanted you to live you lived it
according to the society or culture that
you live in that might not be calling
you to good it might be calling you to
evil so we have to be striving to be the
best that we can be according to God's
will not our desires and take from this
story and try to stick straight and
strong to the right way the right
direction this life is short it's a test
all right ain't nothing to it but to do
it and we'll see you next time here on
the dean show until then asalam alaikum
peace be unto
you he created the
universe to him belong the heavens and
the
Earth the ever living He is the
first he's the owner of
[Music]
Mercy he sent his
Messengers to all his
creatures of the Grave
dangers of worship in
other than
Allah there is none
greater than the Creator
[Music]
no speech is better than to do that to
call people to Allah and to do the work
no speech is better no nothing is better
than that is it true that if one person
and the Allah giving you the ability to
guide someone with Allah's permission
the Creator's permission that is better
than everything in this world better
than the whole world and everything
that's in it in in another narration
it's better than the best of wealth but
if we really felt that Would we not be
out giving da and this is something that
we encourage all the msas all the da
organizations the mids to get this we
want to print more we give these to the
non-muslims for free for free for free
we want our brothers in humanity to
become our brothers in