this is the dean the dean show this is
the dean
show alhamdulillah Alum peace be unto
you I'm your host and you are watching
the dean show thank you for tuning in to
another episode of the dean show we have
another person's story so many people
this is a phenomenon so many people are
coming to Islam they're realizing you
know what this life is going to end soon
I better get with
I better figure out what the purpose of
life is and my next guest figured out
what the purpose of life is and what he
needs to be doing while he's here and
this Earth and we're going to hear his
story
story coming up next Shake Abdul quick
here on the dean show you don't want to
go nowhere
[Music]
thean this is thean
this is the D this is the
D this is
the this is the
D this is the
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the this is
the this is the
the this is
the this is the show this is the de show
Abdullah hakeim quick on The Dean show
back again yes sir now you have your own
private section you know that at the
Deens show.com people can go there they
can read your bio and they can see the
other program that we did with yourself
talking about the holidays where they
originated from but today we're going to
be talking about your unique journey to
Islam you used to be a Christian now
you're a Muslim one who's chosen to
conscious submit to the one God
worshiping him alone and not what he
created let's talk about your life
before how did this all start you grew
up in uh Canada America
okay I was born in Boston Massachusetts
right northeast corner of the United
States and alhamdulillah um my family
was a good hardworking family my father
was a welder used to go high up in
buildings and my mother was uh very
religious person in the Christian church
MH so I was raised um with good values
and I would attend the church and um we
were episcopalians so that's very close
to Catholic MH so we had communion and
uh you know different U rituals that are
very similar to the Catholic church but
uh as a as a young man and we were
living at that time in Cambridge which
the section of Boston where Harvard and
MIT is there was sort of a class
stratification within the church itself
and I could feel the pressure of um you
know being part of a society where I was
being I was left out um and um I started
to question things and this was the 60s
and the' 60s was as you know a turbulent
time in America um it was the age of
Aquarius as they said and people were
questioning their identity questioning
religion and as a young person uh I I
believe strongly in the Creator and I
used to pray the Lord's Prayer
constantly and um you know I had a solid
belief in God but I couldn't accept um
the image of Christ the way they uh
depicted it because I used to study
history a lot yes and I knew that the
people living in the Middle East you
know had a different um appearance than
than Jesus and they were saying that
this is God or the Son of God and then
putting an appearance upon him that was
not Middle Eastern uh then in the
communion itself they they they had
rituals where we were eating the body of
Christ and drinking his blood and things
like that and these are some of the
rituals that go yeah this is in the
communion where they give you the the
wafer and they say eat this this is the
body of Christ that has been shed for
you and then you drink the little bit of
wine they say drink this this is the
blood of Christ that has been shed for
you so when the thin wafer and the blood
um come together it's almost um it's
like skin it tastes like a piece of skin
with blood on it so you're eating human
flesh yeah so so you you get this
Sensation that that you have human flesh
um in your mouth and blood and I said
this is not um the religion I mean I
read about vampires and you know this
type of culture and and I couldn't
associate that with the um the law of
Moses what je uh Jewish people were
doing because you know within the Jewish
tradition there's nothing like this yes
and so I I I was having a problem and
then uh you know even the rituals of the
Easter celebration and Christmas and you
know the connection you know with uh
nature-based things and so I I was
confused you know at a young age and I
left the church and so what age were you
when you left the church at that time I
was about 17 years old so you were doing
you a young man doing your homework yes
I was doing my homework and I was uh
studying and I was fortunate you know we
lived in a uh uh you know three-story
you know housing tenament you know uh
which was in Cambridge in between big
universities but in our community sent
of the students used to come and tutor
us so we had access to knowledge and so
I used to you know do a lot of
questioning uh reading National
Geographic reading history books you
know to try to find out what was outside
of the United States and this really you
know I think gave me that you know broad
look you know that that that you know
spurred me on you know to look Beyond
you know the narrow teachings that I was
Finding within the church see we hear
that today a
17-year-old to be discussing or looking
into religion the way you were at 17
were was this prevalent at that time
were more youth more inquisitive about
wanting to know about God and religion I
wouldn't say it was prevalent but you
know within this particular Community
Center there were a number of uh very
enlightened students who wanted to pass
off information you know to the children
of the ghetto so to speak and so you
know our minds met and I was wide open
and so um we had access to um
International affairs
and also to history books we could
question you know we could put it
together um and and so this is what gave
me this world view from an early age and
and and as I was studying I ran into the
image of um sulan
Salah he is the famous Muslim leader of
the Crusades yes and um even the
Christians when they looked at salahadin
they looked at him you know as a very
kind and merciful person a noble person
a dignified person make a movie it's
like in Hollywood they made some kind of
movie about yeah they they were making
movies I mean it's only recently that um
they came up with a you know a very
important movie on salahadin um the
Kingdom of Heaven you know and that one
is got you know shows him but I was
really looking at it from a historical
point of view you know you know and what
they were talking about the Holy Land
you know and I was anxious to travel to
the Holy Land and you know to see this
uh uh you know this this image of this
person and the people he represented
because because the the Islamic world
you know was not clear to us we were
never given an image I it was exotic it
was Alibaba and the 40 thieves and
Aladdin and the lamp you know open
sesame and thousand one Arabian Knights
but uh we didn't have access to what it
was so I I was yearning to find out um
you know plus the fact that I you know I
I am an African-American and I'm
searching for my roots you know and I
see in West Africa also great Heroes
great leaders she man denodo
of sokoto Mansa Musa the great emperor
of Mali and uh and all this at this
young age of 17 at this young age 17 18
you know I was I was a good student in
school this should be inspiration to the
to the kids at that age who are just
stuck on the Xbox and the TV and and all
these other things you were at 17 if you
were able to do it they can do it too
that's right because even with the
internet itself internet is you know not
just for for sport and play but within
internet you know you have a lot of
information so so you know these uh
different forms of technology are only
tools that we can use to benefit ourself
when I was young we only had National
Geographic and you know things like that
and you know some sort of documentaries
and uh films and you know so we had to
go to film libraries and you know read
you know special books in order to get
this information so let's back up just a
little bit before we move forward so you
believe that Jesus you said you believed
in God but now there was some of these
rituals you weren't identifying with you
were studying history things weren't
adding up wasn't making sense but did
you believe before that that Jesus was
God that he died for your sins this was
a problem for me um you know I I believe
that people were sinful but but for me
the most powerful uh image of creation
was the creator and when you read The
Lord's Prayer you are saying Our Father
who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name
so you're speaking to the father to the
Creator the one God the one God so for
me um because in my area it was mixed
area there was black Spanish white we
were living together you know and so um
there's a one God who's above all of us
and and you can't take a face of of a
certain image of a certain race and say
that's God because all of us are the
children of God so to speak so I
couldn't accept you know the image of a
man and I was searching for you know a a
bigger concept you know of God and I I
was making my Lord's Prayer and and and
then searching and you know so I left
the church you know and and I started to
search making the Lord's Prayer and
we're going to end with that until we
come back with more we're going to take
a break we'll right back on the D I am
not afraid to stand
alone I am not afid to stand alone if Li
by I am not afraid of stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
Li I am not afraid of stand alone
I am not afraid to stand alone Li I am
not afraid stand
alone back here on the dean show with
Abdullah quick and we left off with it
it just wasn't fitting it didn't make
sense you're saying the Lord's Prayer
praying to the one guy this is something
that it it just goes with what's
intrinsically inside of you isn't it
that's don't do you find that most
people they have a problem with this but
some people just Overlook it and they
just you know sliding in on Sunday just
going with the flow don't even question
it you were questioning it yeah most
people accept you know the Dogma the the
the rituals that this is just the church
you have to do it whenever you question
we were told it's a mystery and so we're
not sure what this mystery is but I said
no that there's got to be an answer to
the mystery Sherlock Holmes you know was
solving all kinds of mysteries man so
why can't I solve a mystery yeah you
know and so this this is really what the
search uh you know led me you know to
and then I traveled uh you know in
University I was in Pennsylvania first
and I went to Reed College in Portland
Oregon so I was on the west coast in the
60s yeah and that was a real turbulent
place things were going off and we
formed a black student union you know we
wanted um you know to have African
studies and in the University we
struggled for it and we were actually
given you know a black studies program
um but this you know I was still not
satisfied with what I was getting and um
I left the university were your parents
concerned did your parents try to have
you or did you go to try to talk to
someone of knowledge and to have a
dialogue and ask these tough questions
yes I mean I was you know going to
different religious leaders Buddhism
Hinduism uh forms of Christianity I even
ran into into people from the Nation of
Islam mhm you know and you know I I I I
attended the nation of Islam's you know
cent of there you know in um uh uh
Portland Oregon but but that was not
satisfying to me either because um I was
raised in a mixed area so I couldn't
accept the supremacy of one group over
another whether it's white over black or
black over white so this the nation now
that was the Nation of Islam so even
that did not satisfy me yeah cuz aren't
they now worshiping another man yeah so
they're worshiping a man and then
they're also talking Supremacy yeah you
know and so that didn't satisfy me
either which which Islam is totally IR
of course no racism whatever that's
right the Real Islam is something
different but I hadn't found that yet
yeah so I left the university went back
home and I was drafted you were drafted
because this was the Vietnam War yeah
and again I was I had access to
information and so I checked out the
history of that part of the world and I
had you know uh you know some
information about what was really going
on and I said no I mean I'm not going to
go over there and then fight people you
know who have never done anything to me
I mean I don't understand this when we
were still still suffering with civil
rights you know the struggle was going
on people were being you know murdered
uh great leaders assassinated you know
why should I you know get involved in
this so I was drafted and I decided that
you know instead of being involved in
the confusion at the time I would just
leave in search of knowledge so I left
United States and I went to Canada yes
you know as a war resistor M and um I
you know was welcomed here uh in Canada
and um but I so I was more moving away
from confusion and War and I ran into
Islam yeah so back back it up so you
just you didn't want to go hurting
people you wanted to live your life seek
truth be a good human being and you just
didn't feel like hey this is the right
thing I'm not going to go kill somebody
poor people going to kill poor people
that's right I mean why you know get
involved in something like this you know
it doesn't make sense wasn't explained
properly and again I had access to
people from Harvard University and from
MIT you know the anti-war movement was
very powerful in Cambridge yeah at the
time so I had access to you know
information that many of the the youth
coming out of the you know black
community you know did not have access
to weren't like Muhammad Ali and Martha
Luther King they were kind of doing the
same thing yes they were so so there was
a certain level within the society now
generally on the lower level where I was
coming from you know people submitted
because nobody even thought about
leaving home because the United States
was the world we would call it this is
the world you know you know we don't
speak another language you know we don't
have access to other information except
you know Superman and Superfly and the
things that are given to us you know so
now um I decided to move because I was
reading National Geographic going to the
documentary film you know programs you
know so I left the United States went to
Canada and started a new life yeah and
it was here in Canada you know that I
you know ran into the teachings of Islam
I went to a library and I picked up a
copy of the Quran and then began to read
it in the life of the Prophet Muhammad
peace be him I said no this was the
person that I was looking for now no now
hold on before you before we go down and
right tell us you also okay we we
covered Christianity but you mentioned
some other religions you also did you
you looked into Buddhism and Hinduism
some of these other world religions
right so at the time you know on Reed
College campus this was one of the
experimental uh colleges like swth Moore
and Overland and Antioch you know so so
on that campus there's a lot of like um
you know uh different you know new age
religions and whatnot so I was reading
into them and trying yoga and meditation
and whatnot and but it didn't really
satisfy me because it wasn't giving me a
world view it wasn't connecting me to
the Creator CU I'm coming out of a
judeo-christian background yeah so these
religions didn't really satisfy what I
was looking for so you had checked up
looked into investigated all the
different major religions and it just
didn't provide the logical rational
scientific evidence
now we come to Islam what happened now
when I came to Islam and I realized that
this is an extension and the completion
of the of the great religions of
monotheism this was answering you know
my my questions you weren't blindly
obviously from your investigations a
17-year-old you were analytically
scientifically logically you're an
intellectual you were looking at this
from an intellectual uh uh uh
perspective that's right yeah so now did
Islam capture you in that way so then
then you know this is where the interest
came but it was that the example of the
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him I
mean how he lived and how he treated
other people he had all different
nations around him you know that the
concepts it was it made sense to me I
had stopped eating pork um I wasn't
drinking alcohol um you I was trying to
live a decent life although I wasn't a
Muslim yeah you know and so I was
looking for something that would you
know give me that worldview would um you
know talk about my own Roots you know
connect me to the creat data uh and then
give me a lifestyle and so I found all
of these things in Islam I had a
lifestyle I had a dietary plan I had a
way to conduct my marriage everything
was there a way to raise I was a package
in Islam it was a way of life from A to
Z from A to Z so guess word so so this
that that that was what I wanted wow and
fortunately um you know I met um I was
taken by some uh friends from Pakistan I
asked them about Islam they said no go
to the center and there was a very uh
well-known person Dr Ahmed Saka uh who's
famous Lebanese um you know doctor from
America who was up with the Muslim
Student Association and um so I sat with
him and he convinced me and he gave me
shahada so alhamdulillah I became so
what did you go get dipped in the back
of a pool what happened they what you do
something weird what was it that you you
became a Muslim and you said some you
know Arabic terms now you said you took
a shahada you became a Muslim can you
define these what what was the procedure
yeah basically U the procedure is I mean
one
you know the person um sees where you're
coming from and you know he saw that um
I believed in one God I was searching
for the one God was this a moon God an
Arab God no this is not the moon God
this is the creator the the the the god
of Abraham Moses Jesus you know Adam all
of the prophets from the beginning of
time that's the god that Jesus prayed to
that's the God Jesus prayed to Moses
prayed to Abraham prayed to uh Adam the
first man prayed to that all of the the
prophets
and that I had I was familiar with the
example and life of the Prophet Muhammad
Abdullah peace be upon him from Arabia
and I could see that he was the
Fulfillment yeah he was the comforter he
was the one that Jesus was speaking
about that Moses was speaking about and
so I I had these two aspects and
basically uh Dr Saka you know showed me
then that means you are a Muslim you are
a Muslim and we're going to be right
back to find out more of this exciting
story on the de right right
back there will always be someone that
will be there to say something negative
but at the same time there'll be someone
there to say something positive also
just hold on to the Rope of Allah
everything in this universe rely and
need Allah the Quran says don't kill
women don't kill children don't kill the
old people don't attack the civilians
this is what the prophet Muhammad told
us said that the prophet never ever
start a war against anybody
you're a Muslim now and continue on what
happened from there so from there um
basically without any major ritualistic
uh process you know I entered into Islam
and it was about knowledge and uh uh you
know gaining this lifestyle now
fortunately for me it was right before
Ramadan and this is a test but I was
serious you know it was 2 days before
Ramadan so I went back to you know my
apartment and I I learned to read uh the
opening chapter of the Quran Al fa um
you know I I got my basic uh you know
movements together and I went to the
Masid you know on the first day of
Ramadan I started fasting right away M
so I fasted and I went to to the Masid
and they took me to the Jami mosque and
they prayed 20 rats now I used to play
basketball right and I used to wear like
leg weights on my legs and you know so
my knees right so after about the 20th
rat I said like if this is Islam I don't
know if I can make it man I don't know
if I can handle this if this is what you
know these people do right now you're
thinking maybe I got to do this every
night yeah cuz this is
fanatical this is they said no brother
this is Ramadan you you have your choice
so this is now Ramadan this is can you
explain for our viewers why it was so
many this is just yeah this is now a
special prayer in the evenings of
Ramadan and this is the prayer that the
prophet Muhammad peace be upon him
because it was a special month he used
to make special prayers in the the Jami
musk with his followers and and of
course it was you know a prayer of
relaxation this is what T is giving us
from raah so it's a prayer of relaxation
so the idea of that many rats you know
is that you're read reading the Quran
and you're living with the verses you
know not something that you know makes
you tired yeah uh and so the brothers
explained to me that no you don't have
to do the 20 take your time you do what
you can do and um this is a special
prayer in this month so once I realized
that then I got a balanced view of of
Ramadan alhamdulillah I fasted the whole
month I was very serious you know by the
end of the month I had learned to make
my prayers understood the basic
foundations you know and then I was you
know ready to go like a horse you know
you you let him out man you feeling it
it was the Tranquility I was feeling it
you know the change had come over my
life the world view was there um and now
I was ready to see the world and to
travel you know with this new um uh
understanding and this new Brotherhood I
I had latched onto you know really open
up the door for me to be able to travel
to other parts of the world now you know
what the purpose of life was question
was answered in this verba and word of
God the Quran clear yeah what you were
doing in this life from A to Z your
blueprint instruction on how to live
everything was clear no ambiguity okay
you know when you're coming into any new
way of life there are some things that
are not totally clear and so this is
where um knowledge comes in okay so
really you know a person coming into
Islam it's about seeking knowledge and
it's about um learning this lifestyle
because when we used to pray you know as
Christians um we didn't do a complete
physical prayer we prayed uh spiritually
and mentally you know so now there's a
physical prayer there's a movement you
know it's it's a complete prayer of the
prophets you know when we used to fast
you know you'd only fast for eating meat
or something like that and lent and you
know certain we didn't do the complete
fast now it's the complete fast when we
used to give charity you know we would
give to the poor but it wasn't an
institutionalized form of of zakat or
charity or or poor do you know which
really you know is is is is changing
your whole attitude towards your money
yeah uh toed the Oneness of God now you
know I had to learn what it really meant
all the aspects of the toed pilgrimage I
had to prepare myself to to travel you
know you know to the east you know to
really go to the holy lands so now um
this is a change that you have to go
through and um but for me you know I was
open I was ready um you know I was I was
willing to you know investigate things
my you know you know my mind was Set uh
and so it was easy for me to to make the
change you know into Islam we're excited
hearing this the viewers are excited
we're going to take a break we'll be
right back with more I am not afid stand
alone
I am not afraid to stand alone if Li by
I am not afraid to stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
Li by my side I am not afraid to stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
a li I am not afraid to stand
[Music]
so your journey is getting excited as
you go along it's getting more exciting
you're learning and you're starting to
implement the way of life of all the
prophets Islam what goes on from here so
from here um I run into Muslims who who
are involved in the Sunnah they say it's
the Sunnah so I say what is the Sunnah
they say okay there's a different
lifestyle in the sense that you you can
eat so you learn to eat sitting down
with your hands you you wash yourself
and you know you're wearing loose
clothing you know and um you know the
way that you relate to people um you
know a humble way but strong way you
know so I'm learning this Sunnah which
is the lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad
Salli wasallam can you translate how do
you trans the way yes you can say that
the methodology and the lifestyle and
the way of the Prophet can you if you
link this back to Jesus's time Moses's
time those people following them were
they on the Sunnah of their Prophet at
that time the way exactly because really
the prophet uh is the one who um he's
the example M and so his life
exemplifies the book itself and and
that's what the Sunnah is it is Bayan it
is the clear evidence of the book so the
prophet Muhammad peace be upon him as
described by his wife Aisha may Allah be
pleased with her he was the Quran
walking and talking MH so he was the
living book and so this now when you
start to implement the Sunnah uh in
terms of you know your lifestyle now
it's changing your lifestyle you know
and and so this um is important because
by changing your lifestyle how you move
you're able to leave the boxed in
American culture and then travel to
other cultures because the one thing
consistent you know for Muslims all
throughout the world you know is this
practice of the lifestyle based on the
Quran and the Sunnah so you can go to
China you can go to India South America
Africa Europe wherever and you'll find
somebody who's on the same lifestyle you
pray together
there's nothing like you go to this
mosque or this place of worship and
they're reciting something totally
different everything is Unified the same
praying in the same direction that's
right the Arabic language being used you
know and and and you know even the way
that people relate to each other I mean
you can tell that a person you know is a
Muslim because you know they they they
they they're humble with you and they
give you your limits you know they know
the limits you know whatnot and you know
so there's a certain Heir about a Muslim
who's practicing it and that's something
you know that that you can find all over
the world so so I was adapting coming
out of a rough Street type of life you
know and and now being refined because
being Muslim is is really like what we
would call it's it's being Noble yeah
it's really noble man it's it's High
character so it's worshiping the one God
and developing your character to be the
best human being that you can be exactly
yeah so so so this really uh was a stage
of development for me which was very
important um and and I went through this
fortunately in Toronto at the time had a
very large immigrant population so there
were people from different parts of the
Muslim world who were here and I
interacted with them and um I began to
learn this lifestyle you know and
started looking towards you know the
East and a sense to go to the Holy Land
and you know to learn Arabic and to
learn more about my faith this is
amazing cuz you went on from being a
Christian experimenting looking at all
the other world religions you came to
know that this was the true from the
creator of the heavens and earth and you
became an Islamic scholar and there's so
much more we need to talk about would
you agree to continue in another program
the rest of your story definitely all
right so God willing we're going to do
another episode next week join us where
we continue sharing the shik experience
on how he came to Islam thank you may
God Almighty Allah reward you and thank
you for tuning in to another episode of
the dean show same time same channel
next week for the rest of this exciting
story we'll see you then Salam peace be
unto
[Music]
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
Mercy he sent his
Messengers to all his creatures
of the great
danger of worshiping of the than
Allah there is none
greater than the
[Music]
Creator
Allah
Allah there is none greater
then the
Creator Allah