this is the dean the
Dean this is the dean
show alhamdulillah Alum peace be unto
you welcome to another episode of the
dean show my next guest his life was
like an actionpack
Thriller you don't have to turn on Tony
Montana
Scarface we got everything here from his
life we're going to try to uncover why
this man left that life that life of
chasing in desires and passions in the
whole material world and be being a
slave to that to being a slave to
something
else all this and more here on the dean
show with my next guest mujahid Fletcher
here on the dean show we'll be right
back this is the dean
the this is
the this is the D this is the
D this is the D
this is
the this is the
the
the this is the
the is
the this is
the this is the show salam alaikum peace
be unto youkum Salam peace be unto you
how are you H good great Hae Hae yes Mr
Jay yes that's what they used to call
you
right how are you alhamdulillah I'm
great all Praises be to Allah I am great
yeah you you're doing some wonderful
work out there by the blessings of God I
mean you know I'm just thankful to be
able to even be alive and you know do
whatever good I can now now you just
said something interesting you're
thankful to be alive because you've had
some situations that you almost didn't
make it out alive is this right right
yeah so this what we want to talk about
we want to talk about your life before
you accepted this way of life way of
life of all the messengers of God that
way of total and complete submission to
the one God doing God's thing not your
own thing doing God's will not your
desires so you are a person like many in
a state of confusion lost out there in
darkness and now you're someone who has
peace and you're a slave not to your
passion desires but you're a slave to
the one who created you and you can
identify with a lot of the other the
youth and other individuals adults too
who are still stuck in that lifestyle of
chasing the passions desires working
from Monday to Friday party party work
work and you know gangs drugs throwing
up this hand gesture shooting here
shooting there and your life like I
mentioned was like the life of Tony
Montana He was Colombian too right he
was Cuban actually Cuban okay so same
difference yeah so but you're Colombian
right Colombian well talk to us a little
bit open up tell us how was your life
before Islam uh um I came to
America uh when I was 8 years old and my
parents came from Colombia and and I
have to start by saying my parents you
know I I never known of them to drink or
smoke uh in their life uh my father was
an agriculture engineer and you know
educated and the background from from
Colombia is very strong family oriented
so when we came to America we thought
all these good values that we had from
our culture would amplify and obviously
many people come to America and migrate
because of better
opportunities um when I was eight
obviously I didn't even know English so
I came as many of the Immigrant uh you
know kids that that come went through
ESL English is a second language and
trying to identify and understand the
culture here of all the different
cultures together um was challenging I
mean I had a you know a culture shock uh
things were done more individualistic
here uh in America you're kind of on
your own and you know you you basically
handle what you have to handle on your
own but in Colombia everything was done
collectively um even in school you know
in elementary school so when I grew up
and was about the age of 12 13 certain
movies started coming out um like New
Jack City boys in the hood Minister
society and for anyone who knows about
these films I mean they're in an urban
setting basically in in some of them in
LA or New York and it was um basically
the lifestyle of gangster lifestyle um
it was all about drug dealing and being
close to your friends to the point that
if somebody had a problem with them you
would protect one another so you're
being in an environment where you are uh
majority either africanamerican or
Latino which is the public school that I
was going to uh this movie New Jack City
Wesley Snipes being
African-American uh you know portrayed
the life of a drug dealer and made some
sort of gang and in front of my eyes in
school I saw a gang form and they named
it off of the uh film so it was called
new Jack Hustlers new Jack Hustlers yeah
and so the movies called New Jack City
they called The new jack Hustlers at the
beginning it was just like you know
anything you know I'm 13 years old and
uh before we knew it though Latinos when
they used to go to the restroom we would
hear stories that you know five
African-Americans beat him up for no
reason just cuz he's Latino so it became
really hostile the whole environment and
uh a lot of these people from this gang
actually lived in my apartment complex
and we used to have to walk to school
you know we didn't have a bus going to
school so these people were either
behind us or in front of us every day so
as more Latinos uh began uh being
disrespected you know some some some day
somebody walked up to Lino and just spit
on his face mhm and uh somebody else
went and slapped a guy and I was like
you you know what's this about you know
so I mean my father father always taught
me to respect people but also make
myself respected and so I used to always
think I mean I hope they don't come my
Direction I mean my dad taught me how to
box when I was young were you were you
in a gang at this time no no this is the
forming of the environment of a gang and
it's funny because I never thought that
we would be anywhere close to a gang but
what happened was when more Latinos
began um you know being violated you
know and assaulted uh a lot of Latinos
came together and they said well we have
to protect one another and um and it
made sense you know and uh we kind of
started getting together and whenever we
were like 10 or 20 then these guys
wouldn't do anything and uh all of a
sudden I realized that it was it was
dangerous being by yourself because then
if they caught you by yourself uh it was
something called caught being caught
slipping meaning that they could just
Lynch you out of 5 10 people so then it
had to become official that you actually
had each other's backs or protected each
other so we came with a name called La
Familia or the family because you know
as Latinos you're from Mexico Colombia
Puerto Rico Cuba and you're all
different as Latinos so we had to get
together on commonalities and so we
called this La Familia and before we
knew it it became a gang itself and um
because of my determination of having
some justice let's say of people not
violating one another and me being stern
about that they asked me to be the
leader of this gang and uh started
initiating people I mean you know
beating people down to come into the
gang making people be able to be upright
with what they said don't get me wrong
it's a lot of good values right loyalty
uh keeping to your word you know uh you
know Brotherhood a lot of things that
that tied us together is just basic
human values that everybody cherishes
give us an example when you said
violated in when you get violated in is
that what it is what what happens now
somebody comes to you and says look I
want to be a part of this uh Familia can
you say kostra
is that same thing
family like that so I want to be a part
of this love famia I want to be a part
of this click this organization what do
what do I got to do to get in well you
know usually people would do it for
protection for protection at the
beginning it was like a necessity but
then at that age you know 13 14 15 year
old kids you know being in a middle
school it starts becoming like a fad
yeah who are you with right and so
whenever we know that we can be
respected where ever we walk um then
people want to be that way yeah and so
they would come and they said you know
we want to uh be be down basically we
want to be part of the gang so you make
them do a few jumping jacks or what do
you make them do the the issue is
there's a weeding out process because if
they just want to come in because they
want to act cool then those need to be
weeded out this is not about being cool
it's about you know having loyalty and
respect and all these principles so in
order for them to prove themselves then
they're initiated an initiation is
basically about two uh 2 minutes two
minutes you know of three of us
basically beating him up yeah and people
actually go through that and now you
feel part of this family this is your
family this is now your part of
something you got the protection you got
your brothers and pretty much I mean
this is a you know a false uh you know
false sense of a false sense of false
sense of security everything based based
on false sense of security but that's
what happens in that realm and uh I mean
I remember uh you know being chased by
10 guys right running in my house and my
parents sitting there like what's wrong
with you and I'm like there's 10 guys
outside want to beat me up right and uh
and you know my father couldn't even
understand this and it's funny because
from Colombia he walk out in front of
the 10 guys and be like oh it's 10 of
y'all just one one yall want to fight
him is just one and he used to say well
you know make them respect you because
he knew the sort of environment we were
living in I mean people were you know
began dealing with guns there was uh
gunshots I mean one of my friends's
houses you know they drove by and they
did a drive by in his house almost shot
his you know little uh sister you know
and uh many things were were crucial I
mean it was it was life and death um you
know having guns at you know at the age
of 13 and 14 is something that was a
sense of security even to protect
yourself and your family so we got guns
involved now knives guns guns you know
knives Knuckles uh that that that popped
up here and there but it wasn't even
respected really it was about you know
the majority of it was about being real
and being yourself okay and that's
attractive for a lot of people cuz a lot
of people act like someone who they're
not especially at that age so whenever
you know who you who you are and you can
you know try make yourself respected and
if somebody wants to violate you and you
have enough uh what can I say strength
you know to to tell them we'll step
outside and we'll handle it and all that
it's that sort of environment but it's
funny because it all started from the
films and the music I mean gangsta rap
music Gangster Rap gangsta rap NWA I
mean you know back in the days and you
know Ice Cube I mean e Dr Dre Snoop all
of these names that later on became uh
you know entrepreneurs I mean
multi-millionaires you know uh they
basically began around the time that we
were growing up so this whole hip-hop
culture formed and we were part of that
beginning phase basically did you have a
certain hand sign signal that you guys
would do you know what's funny I never I
didn't like that stuff yeah you know I I
didn't like I didn't like people kind of
hyping things up as if it was a game I
always thought it was it was serious you
know um it was it was not about flashing
and you know acting like someone who you
were who you weren't so I used to
realize like when friends of mine had a
problem sometimes they were like
somewhere in public and they used to
call me and say man look you know so and
so is over here and they had a problem
with somebody's like five 10 guys and
he's by himself so I used to be the sort
of person that used to go and uh and
walk him out of a public place mhm you
know for protection sort of deal no time
for all these you know signs and
everything but yeah some of them you
know they're like artists yeah they draw
things and you know start giving you
know signals and signs which actually
for me I thought it was just uh leaving
traces you know of evidence yeah for
later on for them to coin you and Signal
you out you know which eventually became
that they had a book of us with a sort
of you know outline of who was who and
the sort of signals that that were uh
you know attached to who we were and so
on we're just getting started we got a
lot more so stay tuned we'll be right
back with more with majah Fletcher here
on the dean
show and if we're going to worship
something I figured I might as well
worship the Creator instead of any of
the
Creations now in upon investigating all
the religions I remember finding out the
meaning of what Islam is what a Muslim
is those who surrender theel to God is a
Muslim those who surrender submit to God
God's will that is it Islam was pure it
was just you just pray to God your
creator
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
I Lies by side I am not afraid to stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone
I am not afraid of stand
[Music]
alone back here on the dean show with
mujahid Fletcher talking about the past
so hopefully people in the present can
benefit and change for the better so
along with this lifestyle this tough
lifestyle
you got parting oh yeah drug paring yeah
you know substance abuse substance abuse
right so you know is there is there any
happiness there is there anything
because we we really want to connect
with those who are still in this type of
Lifestyle they say you know what these
people they don't identify this is my
family man these are people these are my
homeboys and you know this is all I got
and that like you said that false sense
of belonging or false sense of security
so when you come across someone because
you've been there you've done that and
you you deal with someone who's still
chasing that that false sense of
security how do you deal with
them first and foremost I think um you
know as human beings were a product of
our environment I never really thought
of one day like oh I want to you know
start a gang it even happened without us
even considering or understanding it
right it was a reaction to our
environment that's first and foremost um
whenever whenever movies come out uh
even though people think think it's art
it can become reality okay so a lot of
people and nowadays when I'm dealing
with people you know they have a sense
of being like someone else because
they're scared of be themselves because
they don't they have an identity issue
and that's just because of the
environment that's stimulating them to
be all kinds of other things okay so um
nowadays when I deal with someone first
and foremost I like to respect where
they're at instead of downplaying where
they're at that's the first thing
especially for someone and gang culture
or even youth in general or someone who
has a false sense of security of who
they are because the worst thing to do
and you know we fail to do this as
parents many times is consider that even
though we may want you know our youth or
or someone to be in a certain point we
don't talk to them as if they're there
already we have to talk to them based on
where they're at so whenever I deal with
uh people and I'm dealing with a youth
right now he's 15 years old and he's
part of a gang you know here in Houston
uh first and foremost I have to respect
the fact that he's made a choice
uh but then for him to consciously
understand the repercussions and all I
can offer is some advice based on you
know experience and certain people who
took that path and where it leads them
now it's on to them you know who they
want to follow and what they want to do
but giving people choices and options
based on experience I think is very
valuable before when we were growing up
we didn't have people that were older
than us that could actually connect to
us you know with our reality and be able
to speak to us at That level so it was
always down playing it's like y'all
shouldn't do this what do y'all do that
and whenever you're young and you hear
that you're like yeah yeah you don't
understand me you don't understand where
I'm coming from which makes you isolate
yourself and the only people who
understand you are your friends so that
becomes your family basically you know
sadly enough tell us now did you see
anybody living that lifestyle or you
living that lifestyle was there always
something missing in the back of your
mind say you know what I got to change I
got to get out was was there something
eating away at your conscience most
definite everything single one of us uh
felt that uh because no matter what you
do uh you know you you feel as if you're
living this almost like surreal
lifestyle and uh it seems cool and when
the culture is there you kind of get
many things you know that that that
you're supposed to attract you know
people from the opposite sex right
that's attractive you know uh you
attract a lot of things that is supposed
to be cool but whenever that happen
happens there's a sense of something's
wrong about what we're doing and um I
don't really know how to change but I
want to change but nobody would actually
Express that because if you express that
that means you're actually getting soft
you know what I mean you're you're
considering something that you can't
even figure out and nobody's figure it
out right so when you feel that you kind
of suppress it and you hide it and it's
interesting because in Islam uh you know
to cover up that true nature is is
actually comes from the Arabic word kaf
you know to to hide basically uh and you
know this is what we attribute to a
person who is not connected to God right
who doesn't know their true nature so we
may have the nature of wanting to
connect with something we don't know if
it's a higher power or if it's actually
religion or philosophy because the way
religion is expressed to us it it
doesn't go according to our environment
many times you know uh so even being
Catholic from a Catholic background you
know I respected always God and uh and I
knew that he was basically watching and
he could protect me but you know
whenever you're dealing with situations
uh you kind of just deal with your
environment you know and and you go with
what's happening and day to day you do
certain things that you regret the next
day but it's like oh well that's life
you know you live to die basically
there's no real sense of purpose and so
that does eat away and I think I talked
to a psychiatrist friend of mine you
know I asked him why do people take
drugs and you know alcohol for me to
understand why we did that in the past
even he said it's because you have an
illness or something you want to cure
and you
self-medicate so I would say that you
know taking drugs and all of that is
kind of self-medicating you know an
illness that you have from within and uh
and that's what was happening before and
uh many people who are dealing with that
I mean they could attest to that anybody
who drinks and wakes up the next day
they know they're just not happy about
what they did you know many times
turning point now what was the turning
point in your life that you found out
what the purpose of life is why you're
here in this world when did that happen
um there was a there was a point in time
uh that was drastic for me in change and
that was the fact that my parents sent
me back to Colombia to South America
when I was 16 years old uh I was coming
down from a party one night and uh some
individuals literally tried to take my
life and uh I had to defend myself and I
didn't know if in the altercation people
had gotten hurt um and and I I could
possibly even you know go to jail or
something so uh um I I came home
bleeding and details left aside uh you
know I told my parents what had happened
and it was going to scale up from there
I mean either they were you know next
time they were truly going going to kill
me or the opposite was true so they sent
me to Colombia and uh in that period of
time it let me to think and ponder about
life and it's funny because people think
Colombia is about cocaine and it's so uh
uh you know dangerous I saw my life
change in Colombia because it was so
natural and the people were so good and
welcoming and education was highlighted
I began to do very good in my grades I
was top of my class uh I became an
English teacher at the age of 16 which
was unheard of you know uh I had a very
good job I was making my own money and
going to school and and being very
independent I learned Independence in
Colombia when I came back I wanted that
sort of Lifestyle uh but it was tough in
this environment you know eventually I
kind of got sucked back into the
environment went back to partying went
back to doing certain certain things not
gangs cuz that was like played out
already I was older but I began to look
into religion for answers and uh I was
going to different temples I went to the
Buddhist temple Hindu temple um I I I
went to uh different churches you know
start analyzing why why are there
different Bibles um and alhamdulillah I
mean in the midst of all that search you
know I found Islam and uh Islam came to
me at a point in time where I really
felt like you know I may die and I
didn't I didn't even know where I was
going and I used to eat away at me and I
used to think to myself you know why are
we even here I mean just we live and die
a mass some you know material gain and
just leave it you know so
alhamdulillah uh after leaving a club uh
with an individual that really wasn't
practic in Islam that I grew up with um
he was looking at the at the liquor that
he was drinking and he said he couldn't
believe he was doing that after having
gone to Mecca and I didn't even know
what Mecca was and when he explained to
me uh I became very curious and he said
you can speak to my mother she was a
Christian nun and she became Muslim and
uh from there on I just went spoke to
her she gave me a Quran I started
analyzing and reading and then I started
seeing myself leaving habits I didn't
even want to go out anymore I started um
stopping my relationship with friends
that I had that I knew were no good and
eventually when I embraced Islam from
that day on I knew I never wanted to
drink another drink in my life I never
wanted to smoke I never wanted to H in
my body because I realized that it was a
blessing you know to be able to see life
from the perspective of Islam because
it's like a lens that clarifies life for
you and so I started seeing the clarity
of life and I said this is what I've
been looking for all my life now all I
have to do is live up to it and
alhamdulillah you know all prais is due
to Allah when my parents saw the change
my father became Muslim three months
later your father also accepted his yeah
he became Muslim at the age of 57 uh
they thought nothing could change me you
know in life uh my girlfriend that
looked into Islam with me at that point
in time also became Muslim a week after
uh we got married a month after uh my
mother accepted Islam uh about 3 years
after my mother-in-law accepted Islam
the day my first daughter was born uh my
little brother-in-law at the age of 16
years old accepted Islam a lot of my
gang rival you know people who I had
problems with accepted Islam Rivals the
ones fighting with yeah yeah you know so
gangst I mean you know September 11th
hit 3 once after I became Muslim I was
asked to speak in front of the news in
Spanish specifically and then in English
and we saw throes of people becoming
Muslim just because we're able to be
straightforward about the information
like this many people don't know about
Islam you know and it's beautiful that a
show like this can be able to you know
give this message you know to people I
mean it's not it's not a gimmick you
know this is not a uh it's like a get
quick uh get rich quick scheme you know
uh religion sort of deal this is real
gradual change and and it really builds
character yeah yeah definitely
definitely and we're going to be back
and we're going to take some questions
from our live studio audience here on
the dean show we'll be right back I am
not afid stand
alone I am not afid to stand alone if Li
by I am not afraid to stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
Li by I am not afraid stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
Li by I am not afraid to stand
alone I would go to my room lock the
door prostrate and cry saying God you
know me better than myself show me the
right way and I will not look back I
will leave everything
behind Allah is our creator and he
creates everything and he gives
intelligence to
people as Muhammad peace be upon
Muhammad is one of the last Messengers
in from
[Music]
God back here on the dean show we take
some questions from our live studio
audience here
uh your question is please for Mah
Fletcher go ahead salum um brother M
you've done a lot of Da to people face
to face and uh can you talk a little bit
about the difference between doing dawa
face to face and doing it like
electronically you know on something
like the dean show Islam in
Spanish so appreciate it so the question
um is about da dawa in in the Arabic
language means to call someone or invite
someone to Islam so um I in in dealing
or engaging with people and um speaking
to them face to face there's a lot of
qualities that exist in regards to the
people the people's reaction regarding
how you deliver the information
right if I can see real quick excellent
yeah so how they're they're wanting to
see if you're anxious about what it is
that you're saying are you like trying
to sell them pin them down uh defeat
their arguments you know people really
want to see if you're legitimate really
care about them if you're true and
sincere of the fact that you want some
good for them it'll impact them Way
Beyond any word that you even say and
that's not something that can even be
expressed it's only something that's
felt and when when understanding that
there's another human being and he has a
soul and that Soul was created by the
same creator that created you and that
soul is going to have to go back and
answer in regards to what he or she did
then now there's a higher respect for
that individual it's not even what he
does or who he is is what color he is is
Way Beyond that so I think that deeper
sense of of dealing with each other as
humans really helps on the on the
personal note now when dealing with
media and uh you know I've been
fortunate enough to to study media and
we we utilize audio and video uh
multimedia my field interestingly enough
it's multiple ways of sending messages
that's what multimedia means uh media is
a way to communicate with people uh
sometimes people have an easier time
sitting in front of YouTube for example
or watching a video because it's less uh
uh what can I say it's not going to hold
them to account based on what they hear
right so their guard is down and also
they can't really argue based on
emotions that they have so if you say
something about someone's way of life or
someone's religion they may actually
feel that you're talking about their
mother or their grandmother who taught
them this it's like how dare you you
know how dare you say my mother taught
me what was was wrong that's the feeling
but you know when someone watches a
video they can't really argue about that
so they may be more susceptible to
listening analyzing and if there's an
email if they email all these emotions
are out of the way because you know how
much emotion can you put into an email
and that sort of thing so I think for
different mediums there are different
styles of communication and
understanding those Styles and
understanding how to deliver the medium
uh the message is very powerful because
now you have so many multiple ways of
doing something and uh it's it's
beautiful I mean I think it all has it
it's each perspective within within
wisdom basically how to utilize it and
we're going to go ahead and grab another
question here from this young man here
how are you doing young man aldah how
are you go ahead now brother mujah we're
glad that you're here um my question is
uh I understand that you probably looked
at your past as Allah subh saved you
from that past however I can see that
you probably see some positive things in
your past that really benefited you
right now being a Muslim what are these
things that you can pinpoint for us
that's a good question because um we
understand in Islam that basically there
is a concept of Destiny in Islam and the
concept of Destiny is the fact that God
the creator of the heavens and the Earth
he basically chooses for us only what is
best if we really understand uh who he
is his decree has wisdom in it so who
knows maybe a lot of what I lived in the
past
led me to want
to uh connect myself more to him now no
telling if I wouldn't have live the sort
of experiences that I lived in the past
if I would have that sort of you know a
a desire to do some good because some
people ask me after I became Muslim you
know you know I started an organization
called Islam in Spanish uh you know
started not only telling people about
Islam but trying to live Islam where
some people have said where's that
energy come from you know where do I get
inspiration from sort of thing and I I
would say that it's it's like a catchup
game I'm catching up because I you know
I lost so many years of my life doing
certain things but then considering I
don't think it's a loss it was it was
something that happened then that led me
to want to know the truth I wanted to
know something that was straightforward
I I didn't like people telling me things
that they didn't even you know people
just Give opinions about life right like
everybody knows what's best for you I I
started not liking to follow human
beings
but if you don't follow human beings how
are you going to live right and so I was
like I push that out of the way but why
did I know that because of so many
experiences that that I had uh loyalty
Brotherhood all of these things that we
were talking about in gain culture when
looking at Islam and becoming a Muslim
you gain true Brotherhood now you love
one another for the sake of you know the
one who created you Brotherhood now in
the Muslim Community with the Affinity
that we worship one God and in society
in general is a sense of Brotherhood
because of you know we're humans so it's
a sense of Brotherhood in humanity so
now these Notions that I learned you
know and and the sort of difficulties or
obstacles I faced the things that urged
me to to to want to kind of obtain a
higher sense of living I found it in
Islam so I mean loyalty truthfulness uh
you know a sense of of family like like
a human family I mean we F Muslims come
from all over the world and I don't
think I would have known so many people
from so many different backgrounds and
colors and Lang languages if I wasn't a
Muslim because when you're not Muslim
you only kind of hold to your own so
there there's so much I mean that I
benefited from in not being Muslim and
living the lifestyle that I live that um
that that encourag me now more and more
to be able to uh you know seek out those
things as a human being that I found in
Islam on the outside everything looks
good you see the $100,000 caruse you see
a lot of diamond you see a lot of
females and they think that this is you
know this is the life this is this is
you know Paradise right here on
Earth it's not anyone's job to go into
someone's heart and change their heart
your job is to tell people what the
truth is and the reality of it is while
we're sitting here while I'm sitting
here constantly paying for the disease
The Cure was
[Music]
free for the people out there because we
love our brothers in humanity and
everybody has the potential to submit to
the Creator alone without any Associates
without any Partners this is what Islam
is calling you to do it's calling you to
submit to the one God and to do good to
do
righteousness but some people have many
misconceptions so just in short how do
you deal with it because you're out
there you're inviting people to purpose
to reflect about the purpose of life
you're giving them the invitation but
some people they feel look Islam is
barbaric Islam is about oppressing women
Islam is backwards what do you say to
them you know with with anything in life
uh if you want to judge uh you have to
go to the source of what you're trying
to judge and uh I was keen on wanting to
know about Islam based on the sources of
Islam so anyone who is saying anything
about Islam they need to check their
sources first and foremost and whenever
people say something about Islam and
they say something like it's barbaric or
is this or is that I always question and
ask them how do you know where did you
get that information from and the
majority of the times they'll say from
the news and So based on the news if it
was true always then uh I should be
selling drugs because I'm Colombian yeah
right that's who I'm supposed to be
right uh and and all that and there's
stereotypes for every sort of you know
demographic and people but it's so
superficial you know when people want to
be real about something they need to
research and they need to study and they
need to ask people who are qualified in
whatever it is right if you want to uh
fix your car you know you don't don't
just go and you know follow someone's
advice who doesn't even understand the
principle of that concept you go to a
specialist you know in Islam we have
people who are qualified they have
people of knowledge basically and I
remember going to a mosque and asking
questions the same way I went to a
Buddhist monk you know and and all that
I think people need to be more uh open
to dealing with people who are different
than them and uh if people want to
embrace a sense of of of change within
themselves they have to begin by
expanding in the realm of of of research
you know if if some people are always
like whatever I think is is right for
those sort of people I mean what can you
do they can read possibly but if people
read and then go and find out who the
Muslims are anybody who finds a Muslim
and understands who a Muslim is based on
his attitude his character we understand
that I mean we're human beings we all
make mistakes right not not going to say
that you know there's not Muslims that
are uh you know doing things that are
wrong I mean there's Christians that are
doing things that are wrong and and
Buddhists because you know that's human
beings but we don't blame religion on
that we blame the individual possibly
for having some shortcomings so uh
people should research about Islam and
when they find what Islam has to offer
based on the two sour which is the book
the Quran which is a final Revelation
sent from the creator of the heavens and
the Earth confirming the Bible the Old
Testament the Psalms of David the Psalms
of uh you know so many you know Abraham
it's a com from of all the scriptures
and then when they want to know how to
implement that book we look at the
example of the Prophet Muhammad peace be
upon him which is you know Brothers with
Jesus and Moses and Abraham and isma and
all of them they're Brothers in faith in
the same Faith none of them came to tell
people other than there's only one God
and none has the right to be worshiped
except him alone follow me every single
one of them are to be followed and if we
follow them we'll find that they never
pray to anything other than the Creator
and so I think for sinc people that
really question about life Islam is um
by far I mean you know the best option
but they'll have to discover that on
their own because nobody can do that for
them and uh it's only through God's
guidance and I'd recommend people to
really and sincerely be true to
themselves and ask the Creator to guide
them to whatever is the truth regardless
of what it's called regardless of what
color it comes in and who practices it
and if a person is sincere in that way
we have total confidence that you know
whoever uh the creator of the heavens
and the Earth guides nobody can lead
them astray and whoever is Led astray
none can guide other than him so they
have to entrust in him first and
foremost we're getting a signal that
we're almost out of time I just got to
get one more in the person says you know
what I I'm a good person and I believe
in God but I just don't want to follow
any organized religion I'm a person of
science what do you have to say have you
heard this yes for sure most definitely
a lot of times there's blanket
statements like that because the person
is possibly avoiding something that they
saw that they didn't like from a
religion right uh so I remember um
looking at the aspect for example in
Catholicism right it doesn't make sense
to me for example if I say if
Catholicism is an organized religion the
the very thought that the most purest of
women become nuns those are the good
women they become nuns meaning they
can't marry okay because they're pure
they gave their life to God then you
have the purest of men they become
priest right right the best men and they
can't marry so logically you analyze and
you say well the only people reproducing
are the bad
people how does that make sense I don't
like organized religion then you
understand I rather just like at random
good people and bad people mix better
than just you know bad people not mix
yes you so if people see this sort of
thing from a religion then obviously but
whenever you look at Islam it has so
much order that any human being will
feel like I'm glad I finally found order
uh science can give you facts about the
creation but that creation has a Creator
and the Creator can explain in context
from his perspective what the creation
is not only scientific facts of the
material realm but things that are
deeper and signs so that people can
ponder about another life that is beyond
this one and when you know there's so
many parables about creation uh you know
the grass basically we all see it die
and then we see that it comes back up
you know when it has water and
everything these are signs of like a
human being who dies and then he goes on
to live again you know afterwards in
another life and so when we look at
Islam we look at the creation and we see
the signs you know and Allah mentions
many times in verses uh and basically
The Men Who Ponder you know men this is
clear signs of for men who uh you know
who Ponder who men of understanding you
know men who contemplate so this sort of
reasoning uh you know has to be
instilled in a human being voluntarily
many people have this involuntarily and
they just hide it and they don't want to
seek answers for the person who wants to
seek answers Islam is is by far I mean
you know the best choice and I tried
looking everywhere and try I try to
negate Islam as much as I try to negate
every other religion and I had to
literally after like one year of
researching about Islam trying to find
the negative side or the problem with it
uh you know I just gave up and that's
what Islam means it means to surrender
it's like when you give up M it's like
you I give up I can't you know it's like
you try to throw stones and you can't
hit it and so you know that's when you
submit and you say you know Allah is the
only one worthy of worship Muhammad is a
messenger and this way of life basically
is the way of life for all human beings
uh that is pleasing to God on the day
that we stand in front of him basically
after our death uh to be able to be
given either uh another life which is
way better than this one which is
Paradise or uh be punished for the fact
that we didn't do what we were supposed
to do which is the Hellfire and we
always we seek refuge in God basically
from uh this notion of ending up in the
ladder in the Hellfire because it's a
place nobody wants to go and if people
deny that they may do it now but it will
come a time where it be it'll be a
reality and so all these books that were
sent down and all these Messengers that
were sent throughout time was to inform
people and there will be people who will
accept and there will be others that
don't so we also have to have tolerance
basically for you know every human being
and their choices but we can all only
give the the the information basically
and we're untrusted with that uh due to
the fact that after the prophet Muhammad
we understand peace be upon him there
will be no other messenger sent to
humanity so it's onto people like
yourself myself and many of of the
people who have understood their message
to share it with humanity and um after
that you know Allah will guide wh soever
he Wills in the last minute that we have
tell us a little bit about your
organization how people get in contact
with you to learn more to get involved
excellent um alhamdulillah I was
fortunate to F uh to be the founder of
an organization called Islam in Spanish
Islam in Spanish yes and the website is
islamin spanish. RG uh this is for
Latinos or people who speak the Spanish
language because I saw that there was a
void uh there wasn't even material when
we embraced Islam alhamdulillah we have
the Quran now in 26 CS that we've
produced uh much of the information that
exists in the Arabic language and even
in English We have basically now in
Spanish worldwide so we we dedicated
that for a group of individuals that
didn't really have the message and we've
seen hundreds of people Mah Embrace
Islam because of that but then now also
that led on to being able to um
establish a place locally here in the
Houston area called the Andalusia social
and educational media center and the
website for that is Andalusia center.org
and this Center uh is kind of a hub for
us to be able to deal with a lot of the
people who we've been dealing with over
a period of years which is the youth uh
people who are new to Islam who are
making the transition into Islam uh
Latino communities we do a television
show there now for Islam in Spanish um
we benefit people through workshops and
so on and uh and and basically people
who are not Muslim you know they need a
place that is not necessarily A Mosk or
a place that is a religious setting uh
they need a social setting you know so
that they can go be themselves but at
the same time interact with people uh
like ourselves who who are Muslim and we
can dialogue and you know we have film
screenings uh there was a PlayStation 3
tournament happening today with the
youth uh and many things that are social
but always within the context of the
good and a positive message always
involved so alhamdulillah this is you
know a new project uh that we hope
basically to do shows like this
alhamdulillah we had you uh today and I
interviewed you alhamdulillah there at
the andalia center uh you know and we we
hope to be able to produce films uh
short films right now this is kind of a
next project for myself as an individual
I love to produce meaningful films that
show uh lifechanging moments and turning
points so that people can be inspired uh
to be able to reason and question about
life sometimes leading them to look into
Islam look into themselves you know a
lot deeper and so on so now we have a
whole Production Studio Hakim elijuan is
one of our supporters uh and and and
many others I mean the Muslim Community
in Houston has been great and people all
over the world youf Estes as you know
and and and many others you mentioned
Muhammad ADI there's many good people
who have done work that really their
prayers and their support and networks
and everything I mean have really helped
us and we're working with the city of
Houston as well Interfaith Ministries uh
dealing with people of different
religions I mean there's a lot going on
and uh this project literally has just
kicked off maybe about two months ago so
you know we hope um you know that Allah
blesses it to to be a source of good you
know for Humanity in general and may you
continue with the wonderful work you're
doing may God Almighty Allah reward you
thank you so much for being us thank you
so much for having me I really
appreciate it and may Allah bless you
for your work am mean you too thank you
so much thank you and thank you out
there I hope you got to benefit from
mujahid story and I hope that you
continue to tune in here to the dean
show and if you want to learn more about
Islam call the number on the screen 1800
662 Islam pick up a Verbatim the
verbatim word of God the Quran read it
today and we will see you next time we
started with peace we end with peace
until next time peace be unto
you