beginning with the bah this is the dean
show radio show my brother my
[Music]
brother and you've tuned in to another
episode of the dean show radio show and
we're going to get right to it with my
next guest all the way from UK used to
be ste's Irish was born in the UK but he
used to be a practicing Catholic if I'm
correct or uh used to belong to
confused.com and now he's passed all the
confusion and he's going to tell us his
story on how he came to Islam my
brother how are you may the per peace
and mercy and blessings of the creator
of the heavens and earth Allah be upon
you may also the per the peace and mercy
uh of Allah subhana T be upon you as
well Eddie thank you for finding a time
to be with us on the deanan show radio
show yeah that's no problem it's a
pleasure now should we start with
confused.com first or should we start
with you being born into a Catholic
Family where do you want to
start well I mean I was born into the
Catholic Family so we should start there
all right uh I mean when I was very
young I was uh the age of four my Irish
father uh he r ran out of the house well
uh courtesy of my mother's boot really
to be honest yes uh so unfortunately
what had happened there was that mother
and father didn't really get on my my
father used to uh drink very heavily uh
so he was almost an
alcoholic um so at the age of four they
separated um so that was my first sort
of uh key memory I can only remember one
thing about my father uh in fact they
reminded me of it later on my father
reminded me of it when I met him 20
years later and I told him uh you know
uh that um you know my mom doesn't
really like you so you better leave at
the age of four that was the last time
that was the actually that was the last
time I spoke to him at the age of four
MH you know yes so there I was I was uh
a member of this family my father had
gone my mother took over single parent
family with my other um two sisters
then she
remarried um actually she remarried uh
my stepfather and my stepfather and I
didn't get on very well and he used to
give me good beatings and stuff like
that so U that wasn't so pleasant um
anyway um basically in this family there
was no real spiritual guide guidance
whatsoever my mother hated Roman
Catholicism as a result of her the fact
that she'd been a a member of a Convent
and she'd been beaten up by the um and
harassed by the by the the sisters there
when you say a Convent what do you mean
right a Convent is basically a a
Catholic School
MH so she was she was in the Catholic
School what what age what age was this
well she would have been uh when I was
uh of course I wasn't um even thought of
at that that time when she was at school
um she was uh she she was about 12 to 16
she went to the Catholic School okay
yeah so anyway I mean this this uh you
know it it went on I I remember going to
school one of the things that you know
the first sort of thing which became
obvious to me was I felt different I
just felt different I saw all these kids
doing stuff without asking questions but
I always ask so many questions even in
the primary school that's the first
school that's when you were about from 4
until about 11 uh I was in the infant
school and I remember I was the only kid
who'd never read a book and didn't want
to read a book and there were some kids
who had read the whole bookshelf and I I
took the great Accolade of having read
none of the books and they'd read all of
them one of them had read all of them so
yes I always felt a little bit different
I felt a bit left out um um but I always
remember not wanting to do something I
didn't understand so they'd ask me read
this junk you know Peter and Jane books
uh you know Jack went up the hill and
Jane F followed Afters and stuff like
that and and and to be honest it just
did not make a great deal of sense to me
why I was being asked to read this book
when there was no purpose behind reading
this book was this conect was this was
this connected with religion at all
these kind of
books no no um you know most of the
stuff is just completely secular and uh
although there was a a
Christian message given out in the
school
assemblies um you know we used to I
remember they used to talk about Moses
and they used to talk about Abraham and
Jesus but there was no real belief s
system as such it was a um you know sort
of irreligious or non-religious school
yes yeah so anyway I mean you know I
spent a long time trying to find myself
even as a young kid
and uh I remember they put me in um they
put me in uh the uh kids with a def
deficiency class so they what we used to
call the um the well they they used to
call me the dce you know to the dce of
the school and uh we used to be in this
class where we had to get extra tuition
and and extra
support yes anyway um what I did was uh
some one thing that really happened to
me which is really important is that
towards the end of the last year uh a
guy called David um said to me why don't
you learn chess because you could see
that I wasn't doing anything I wasn't
really interested in anything anyway so
he taught me this game
chess and um you know you got to
remember the backdrop is that I'm in
this uh Mrs Dilly's class which is the
the the the guys who've got um maybe
some mental problems or whatever it is
yes and uh and then he's teaching me in
this game of chess anyway cut a long
story short um he taught me and I
managed to get to the the the final of
the championship the championship final
in the school so then um I I was
actually playing him in the final so I
let him win so yeah so I'm remember the
Headmaster trying to give me this med
medal on stage and he did a double take
on me and and fainted when so wow why
the hell is this guy you know this as my
name was then Tim Tim Chambers you know
able to win chest but he can't read a
book and stuff like that so I mean that
was the first time that really it
started uh I thought myself as being
very different um I didn't want to do
anything without any particular reason
if somebody told me a reason and taught
me a reason I think I would have done
those things you know because if I was
taught that education is important
because when you educated you can read
about you know your purpose yes then I
probably would have read those books but
didn't make much sense to me at the time
you know so were you doing things you
mentioned that your your mother had
hated because she had a bad experience
with the Catholic school so in your
house nothing about religion about Jesus
about God about Mary any of these things
even though she hated the Catholic uh
school or the church did she teach
anything about
religion no uh not really in fact God
was never mentioned in the house from
the time I was born until the time I
left at the age of 15 I God or Allah or
spirituality or Jesus or Mary none of
that stuff was ever ever mentioned how
about nationalism are are Irish really
they hold down to the roots you know uh
when the Irish Day Parade comes you put
the green on and you had the flute and
or what's that the uh the big uh what's
that thing
called the the uh well they got the
flute the flute yeah the flute that's
what it is yeah flute and violins and
they got the whole instrumentation out
there and the the the green um outfits
are are are Irish really heavy
drinkers to be honest uh the the the
Irish the new upand cominging Irish
maybe they're not but uh the ones that
came over to the UK
um in search of some they were economic
migrants obviously from Ireland yes like
my father they came and they they
reconstructed Britain after the world
second world war so uh they they had a
pretty tough life um they were just out
on the roads digging roads up building
building and building more and uh you
know the only way that I think that they
could really uh you know continue doing
that was to lose themselves every night
and just wake up in the morning and and
continue their work so that was a bit
like what my father was he was
completely illiterate uh he couldn't
read or right and he was uh basically he
he had a fight with his father at the
age of 15 yes and I remember him telling
me that afterwards that my father you
know he broke broke up my new racing
bike and I had a fight with him and I
left that was the age of 15 that's when
he came to
England he and my mother they married
very early you know they married very
early and uh at the age of 17 that's
when they had their first child so you
can imagine at the age of 17 my mother
was uh you know so it was a very it was
a turbulent time you know the the the
old immigrant coming to the UK and and
with with my mother she was um brought
up in a middle class you know English
you know white uh you know uh family and
uh what she did was was almost
disgraceful for the family you know she
she married this Irish illiterate
immigrant you know so it was uh you know
alhamdulillah you know Allah has put us
you know given us some hiah after all of
that he's he's he's he's enabled us to
to see the truth and see the purpose
after all of that tell us now is it
primarily in Ireland amongst the Irish
Community is that the primary Way of
Life religion Catholic
ISM yeah I mean it is Roman Catholicism
although uh there's a massive influx now
of American New Age churches coming into
places like Dublin and and and and and
and putting setting out their stalls um
so that that is actually becoming very
popular now I don't know what the
statistics are but it must be it must be
in favor of Catholicism still because
that's the main staple religion if you
like of the country but um certainly the
the that are changes of foot now tell us
we got past the early stages of your
life not much religion not much God In
the Mix now you're coming to a point in
your life you're getting older did you
just start doing the normal thing what
young boys do maybe chasing the girls
maybe going to the nightclubs maybe
hanging around at different social
events trying to you know not look for
trouble but you end up in
trouble yeah I mean uh obviously you
know p pressure is on you and you know
you're you're you're sort of led to do
certain things that even though you you
don't want to do those things peer
pressure huh just peer pressure yeah and
uh I remember you know meeting people
and and them saying come down to the pub
let's let's uh let's get drunk and stuff
like that oh not looking for trouble but
you find up yourself in trouble huh
that's the
call right that's it so I wasn't looking
for trouble and I I didn't think that
was a natural way but I guess everybody
else is doing it PR think well peer
pressure and and and but to break away
from that is the big challenge you know
yeah and uh I
remember saying to uh saying to the guys
that were taking me look I'm not going
to drink tonight you drink I'll just
drink orange juices and sit by and watch
you guys yes and I remember you know
thinking how dumb these people looked
after when I was drinking orangee juice
and sitting amongst them some of the
rubbish they were talking the way they
were acting I used to feel ashamed
actually to be in the presence of the
people to be honest uh you know and I
used to think my God if that I look like
that I should just be really I should
just be ashamed of myself you wow so you
saw both both effects the before and the
after yeah yeah I saw before and after a
lot and um you know uh don't forget I'd
left school I'd left home when I was 15
as well so I even though I'd never met
my father well it was only until about I
was about 24 when I met my father the
second time 20 years after he left yes
but I'd done exactly the same thing you
know it was cyclical I'd left my home at
the age of 15 as
well um yeah but uh you know Subhan
Allah I mean going back to uh the story
you know um and and and looking at the
the situation with the the guys I was
hanging out with um I did I I spent a
lot of time with one particular guy over
eight years and he saw the way I would
change I would go through fluxes I mean
I would come back uh you know and and
I'd be practicing Buddhism one day and
then the next day I'd be reading dooi
and the next day Gandhi um you know so
he he saw me coming back on a weekend
basis um and he would be just chasing
the girls and getting drunk and listen
to music loud music and I I used to go
back and I used to be in a different
frame of mind every day so he he once he
got up and towards the end you know he
said to me you know I I can really try
and help you and I can uh recommend a
good psychiatric uh psych psychiatric
doctor for you to go and see because you
there's something not right about you
you're not you're not you're different
but if you would have been go ahead I'm
sorry yeah go on
I answered him I just said
well maybe you guys are different and
I'm not you know maybe I'm thinking and
you guys are not what was his main
ambition and goal in life what was he
trying to
accomplish well he considered that he
was young and that he had the whole
world in front of him and that he just
wanted to get off with as many girls and
score as many uh drugs and and and
listen to music that's kind of that's
kind of that's kind of normal in in
today's society among the
youth excuse
me now yes it is now since that's normal
and many people fall for as we said the
peer pressure what were your Ambitions
and goals and did you feel like an
outcast because you weren't going it
seems like you weren't peer pressured
into some of these
things yeah well uh I tried to find
people that were like me that wanted to
question that wanted to delve into the
mysteries of the world of the universe
Etc I couldn't find any people I really
really tried and my my ambition was to
find out what in Earth I was doing in
the planet first and foremost if I
wasn't going to find out where why why
I'd been put in this planet then I
wasn't content just to waste time
getting drunk and and and sitting with
girls that I didn't really even want to
sit with you know I mean at the end of
the day I just wanted to find out who is
this Yousef Chambers who is Tim Chambers
as I was Alias Tim Chambers uh before I
embarked on a mission to sit with people
you know I needed to have a meaning I
remember feeling very frustrated you
know I'd walk in the streets and I'd
meet people and and you could see the
real them was dying to get out you know
and that was me I was being the real me
and they didn't like what they saw
because that Disturbed their enjoyment
you know that the pattern of enjoyment
their so-called enjoyment because you
know as people know you know when you
get drunk the enjoyment is fleeting it
might be for 30 seconds you feel a high
and then you know you meet a girl and
maybe you're with her for 30 seconds you
feel a high you know but at the end of
the day I wasn't content I said if that
is what the world is about this world is
a joke you know I said for 30 seconds I
can out of 24 hours I can have fun no
way there can't there must be more to it
than that you know so then I started
reading a lot of
astronomy uh I was reading a lot about
astronomy and it was only after I read
the Quran a long time afterward I
realized the significance of what I was
doing I was looking into the night sky
gazing into the night sky and and I
would look at the distances I was
reading about the distances between the
heavenly bodies between the nearest star
and planet Earth you know four light
years away traveling at the speed of
light for four years that's how long it
takes light to get from your eye to the
nearest star and I was shocked in fact I
was frightened I was really petrified by
this I said there's no way that we can
be here and have those big distances and
we're talking about the Milky Way being
billions and billions of light years
away the nearest star is only four light
years away so I was thinking and I was
frightened I was so petrified and I was
looking for people to explain it to me
uh so then I remember looking out the
night sky often times after I'd read all
the the astronomical figures and I would
just cry I would just be crying you know
I I feel all alone
isolated and I'm sure there's many
people out there like that Eddie right
now as as as we're conducting the show
there's so many people doing the same
stuff yes yes so now now is this where
you were in the point of your life where
it was confused Tim where you were just
confused you you you mentioned Buddhism
at that point did you see that this
wasn't the way then did you go through
some of these other ways and at what
point how How Deeply did you get rooted
in them before you saw like you know
what something's missing here here I
need to move on to the
next yeah well I mean I started off
reading an awful lot um reading and
reading and reading and consider that
I've been a guy for 15 years I didn't
read anything you know I didn't read
anything at all but then when I wanted
to find out who I
was I knew that I had to read because
there was a purpose to the reading so I
read and read and read anything anyone
would give me and I started off with the
Astron ason omal books and then I
started off with dooi and Tolstoy you
know these famous Russian authors and I
was reading War and Peace I was reading
books that people probably never read
and with the even after they got phds
and and God knows what and you know so
I've done a full swing you know and I
got so much into this uh the reading uh
that um I started to read the the I mean
the basically I suppose tolto was the
person who influenced me to start
looking at organized religions because
he's got one piece called um critique of
dogmatic theology yes a critique of
dogmatic theology so he's talking about
these organized religions are just
religion that they're for religious
purposes they're just for the religion
that you're following they're not for
for you to benefit you they don't
benefit you you know so I started
reading the Jerusalem bible I pick
picked up the Jerusalem bible started
reading through it I saw some glimpses
of what I thought were the truth in that
you saw then I saw other you you saw
some glimpses let's hold right there we
got to take a break we're talking to
Yousef Chambers formerly Tim Chambers
here on the Deans show radio show you
don't want to go know we'll be right
back with the rest of this exciting
story sit
tight he created the
universe to him belong the heavens and
the
Earth the ever living He is the
first he's the only
[Music]
Mercy he sent his
Messengers to all his
creatures of the Grave
dangers of
worshiping
other than
Allah there is none
greater than the
Creator
Allah
Allah there is none
greater than the
Creator
Allah you have to pray as if everything
depends on Allah and it does but you
must work as if everything depends on
you and it doesn't that's my point you
see what I'm saying and I don't like
that I don't like us sitting here what
are you waiting for what are we waiting
for right now what are you waiting for
all these people to come to Islam what
are we waiting for what are we waiting
for right now when they going to come
they're going to come Allah going to
bring these people Allah put in our hand
the ability to do it now do your job
[Music]
and we are back again with Tim no it's
Yousef Chambers here on the dean show
radio show you picked up the Jerusalem
bible and you saw some truth in there or
what appeared to be what you agreed with
and what happened from there talk to us
please well you know Eddie you know at
that point I I started to say that look
if if I'm going to get the truth from
anyone then because I was living in a
Christian country a Christian white
country most of the people who profess
to a religion they tried they they they
expressed themselves through the Bible
so I picked up the Jerusalem bible I
bought it home I started reading and I
just went back to it a couple of times
here and there but I remembered you know
being um you know uh you know interested
in the The Lord's Prayer because I
remember we used to say the Lord's
Prayer in the school and that was a
Christian uh you know prayer as it were
so that was what I CAU on to or or got
really interested from the Jerusalem
bible but there was so many uh you know
uh uh collections of um you know uh
thoughts and uh anecdotes in that book
which I didn't seem it didn't make sense
to me you know they didn't really make
sense to me so I put that down for a
while but I just kept it on my bookshelf
and I went
searching and I decided look I've read
enough books now I'd
read I'd read the uh the Gita I'd read
parts of the Gita parts of the Bible the
Old Testament the New Testament I'd read
uh you know lots and lots of
philosophical books of Rene dear and and
you know tol sto dooi I read a lot about
Gandhi I read virtually every book that
Gandhi ever wrote and any anything that
anybody wrote about him wow so but did
you believe at this whole time did you
have a feeling that there was a higher
power did you believe in a god did you
believe in a Creator while you were
doing this yeah I yeah I started to
realize that obviously all of these
different ways were talking about one
end and that was God that was God and
then I was in search of somebody who
could explain and describe God to me in
a way which I understood in my heart you
know uh so all of these books they they
had bits and pieces of what I considered
to be the truth from my soul I I looking
into my soul and reading that I think
that's the truth but that stuff doesn't
make sense and that's the truth and that
doesn't make sense so what I uh did was
picking out from all of them I decided
then to go and try and meet these people
right so I'd read the books but I needed
now some practice if you like yes so the
first group of people that I I stumbled
upon was when first of all I started I
got really involved in the the whole
concept of uh animals you know are
suffering I used to think animals are
suffering so I stopped eating animals
and I became vegetarian wow yeah and I I
just because I just felt and I'd read a
few things i' read about Gandhi as well
Gandhi was very influential yes to me
that he was trying to you know be
peaceful and that he was peaceful to the
animals and the plants and everything
you know and so I tried this way out and
uh and I got some pleasure out of it I
got some benefits out of it but then
somebody came to me and said look if
you're a vegetarian but you really
should be a vegan because you you got to
protect the plants and the plants they
Pro to me that plants have a soul as
well they they they they they they feel
pain so I became a vegan as well which
means you can't eat anything from the
animal you can't wear anything from the
animal as well that was quite tough yes
but unfortunately that experiment you
know ended me in having severe
constipation for about three months wow
so um I uh I I left that way because I
realized that you know it wasn't
benefiting me and it was painful and I
thought if it was painful it can't be a
way of God so I left that and uh then I
stumbled into a lot of
Buddhists and one day I was just walking
uh through and I was talking to a guy
and he said you know you should come to
our our house he pointed out we went
there and he taught us um uh meditation
Buddhist Meditation mhm for about three
months I kept going back because it was
very peaceful it made it was some
benefits in it you see yes so we were
always looking for something that would
benefit the human soul benefit the body
and you know I was I was a very I was a
health freak at that point so I not only
I turned from all forms of alcohol and
and and drugs I mean they just didn't
turn me on at all i' now got into this
this really hyper state of uh you know
naturalism and and and and and and and
looking after the body yes like treating
the body as the temple you know yes so
after
um uh going through this Buddhist pH I
remember I sat with the guru you know
and he was actually an English guy like
me Guru that's the head head head
Hao yeah the head hatcho that's right
you know the Imam if you like so um I
sat down with him
and I said to him look you know I really
like to thank you because you know you
benefited me at least physiologically
and spiritually with this beautiful
meditation you taught me but I need to
ask you a question and the question
really it's it's paining me because no
one's really tried to EXP explain this
to me and all we've been doing is just
falling asleep together but we need to
wake up together now you know so I said
well why don't we why don't you try and
answer this question this is the
question what is the purpose of
life and who am I and who is God
brilliant
questions well because you know this is
what I was out there for I mean I at
that point I
was I would just applied to do um
politics with third world development
studies in the the school of African and
Asian studies in in in Sussex University
in
Brighton and I made the
vow that I'm going to
University because I want to find out
who I am and what how I can be effective
in this world yes I didn't go there for
a piece of paper mhm and I didn't go
there for a job afterwards you know uh
so I
remember with this guy anyway and and
and and I asked him I po the question
and he said to me after some
contemplation he said the purpose of
life is to
contemplate the
Supreme
nothingness and that was what exactly
the way you've taken that phrase is the
way I took it with complete silence
this obviously didn't hit home with you
again with you guys yeah so you you had
a good time falling asleep together now
it was time to move
on I had to move on because as far as I
was concerned if I didn't move on then I
wouldn't have been true to myself tell
us we're all about tell tell us uh
brother Yousef we're almost out of time
we want to Glimpse through some of the
other ways before everyone is excited to
know how you came to the true way of
life the way of all the messengers of
God tell us that now okay did you go
back to your to your roots now that you
were your family was kind of born in did
you go and if you can talk about that
just briefly did you because you
mentioned the Bible did you go back to
Christianity at
all yeah well I I mean I what one day I
was just uh one night I decided look
I've seen a church across the road from
where I lived I said I'm going to go in
and pop the question to the guy in there
so I knocked on the door and he said
look I'm a bit busy at the moment come
back on Monday I said I was only going
to ask him about the purpose of life
that was all yes but anyway I mean I
came back Monday morning he was busy he
was running around and he said to me I
said what's the purpose of life he
said have you ever thought about doing a
theology degree I said well if I did a
theology degree it's going to take me
three years to find out the purpose of
life is that what you want me to do and
he said look to be honest I'll be
absolutely Frank with you I cannot help
you in other words he didn't really know
the purpose of life himself but he was
actually a member of the cloth he was a
guy who was opening the church and
closing it and he told me he said you
see the building over across the road
yeah he said I open it in the morning I
let the people in and then in the
evening I close it I let the people out
and I close it that's my job I can't
really help you I'm really sorry so I
went out and that was uh one um aspect
to the Christian with me trying to find
out what Christianity was about and
believing there might be you know a way
to God the second uh uh happening I know
we haven't got much time so I'm going to
go through it very quickly second time I
was invited to another Christian worship
place and uh but those are the guys who
have the the the you know guitars and
drums and start singing and was the and
I the dance party at the uh the after
party yeah well I I mean you know
basically what I did was I went in and I
I I first of all I thought they were
very nice people and then the guy came
out strutting and and and playing the
guitar and then he started pointing to
people and people started falling
prostrate on the floor shaking and it
freaked me out so I ran out of the
building I never saw those guys again
and uh many other things have happened
i' I've visited the uh uh also I visited
the Hindu temple and that really freaked
me out there were things that didn't
make sense and then one day I was in
suas university and I had a
girlfriend and she said to me tomorrow
please don't come
here and I said well what's this all
about she said it's my religion and I
said you know what your religion must be
wrong or you're not practicing your
religion properly yeah so she happened
to be a Muslim so I went to the Islamic
Society the morning after I picked up a
load of books to cut a long story short
I picked up loads and loads of books and
I read the books I read the books of uh
the Quran some of the extracts from the
Quran uh the the the the teachings of
the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings
be upon him and I I I read some of the
history books of Islam I read lots and
lots of things about two weeks I went
back to her and I said look I'm sorry if
I said your religion was wrong your
religion seems to be very good but
you're just not practicing it properly
wow and then I said why did you let me
know why didn't you let me know we could
have got married at least you see so wow
you're telling a Muslim on this what
she's supposed to be telling he the
opposite yeah yeah exactly so I said to
her that you know if if you if you're
interested in contining this
relationship you can get married she was
freaked out she said what are you
talking about you think I would ever
marry someone like you get out of here
so she basically kicked me out and I
remember thinking I've got to get this
girl back because it was the first time
I'd ever fallen in love with a with a
girl yes you know and I never really had
girlfriends and tell that that that girl
and then she she was just I was boted by
her you know but it was like unrequited
love you know she didn't love me I loved
her and then towards the end you know of
of the it was of course that month the
day that she started to worship was of
course the first day of Ramadan Ramadan
that was what it was she was fasting and
that day after I went to the Masjid on
the first of Ramadan when the
the devil is locked up the big shaan is
locked up yes and I'd gone and i' Allah
had guided me to go to that place
through this
girl to find all of these books of
knowledge and i' I've been reading and
meeting people for 10 years 10 years
I've been seeking a path to God and as
we know God says in the in the Glorious
Quran the book of mankind that if you
seek a path unto me you will find me you
know and it was was through this girl
even though I loved her even for two
three years afterwards I couldn't get
over her I'd found the purpose I found
the purpose of what I was doing here and
I'd found Allah I'd found also the
teachings of all the prophets the great
prophets as you mentioned Abraham Moses
John the Baptist Jesus Christ yes may
Allah have mercy upon them and of course
we found the the Seal of the Prophet
seal of the prophets the prophet
Muhammed IB Abdullah peace and blessings
be upon him and towards the end of
Ramadan I felt incomplete I would I was
worshiping I I studied to pray on my own
I I was just saying it in English with a
little bit of Arabic and then I I I
studied to fast now the fasting for me
was the thing which took the blindfold
off and allowed me to see the world as
it really really is because when you do
away with your food you do away with
your needs you do away with speaking
rubbish on your tongue and you're just
doing it for the sake purely for the
sake of of gods you know which is
fasting is always for God as we know yes
yeah then you see the world for what it
is and this is what happened to me I I'd
seen the world all the people I was
sitting with I was shocked while while I
was sitting with them when they didn't
know anything themselves and I I I
really it was just like an Awakening
and in the last few days of Ramadan I I
just found a mosque um I was with some
really people that were doing some bad
stuff and I wanted to get away from them
so I said look let me seek the path to
the mosque let me go and find a
mosque so I I went out and I found the
mosque and I found a Congregation of
about 3 to 500 people in there I can't
remember the exact number and I said
look I just need to take I need to take
the step I need to get away from this
evil out there and I need to get in
involved in the good where show me how
to do that and then they said you well
if you had a bath and are you clean are
you ready to do this and I said of
course I wouldn't have walked in here
otherwise what do you think I'm in here
for yes so they said to
me
say
sh and of course I did I repeated that
and I testified there was only one God
worthy of worship and God is on his own
he doesn't have any Partners or Sons
daughters or any any comparison with his
creation and that the Muhammad is the
last messenger and we yeah and and that
was the key in the door tell us we we
only I have a couple more points I want
to get these in before we come to a
close for our non-muslim audience who
just saw you go almost around the world
looking at all the world religions and
you dipped into this you dipped into
that so that person doesn't have to go
through the whole journey or they might
say you know what you just found
something that suits you but basically
Bally all religions are the same what
was it about Islam that was so logical
rational because you were using your
brain you weren't just blindly jumping
into something that we can see from your
story what was it about Islam that had
you jump in and why is it unique
uniquely different from all these
different
ways okay I mean most of the other world
religions I uh you know come into
contact with left you to be the decision
maker and the judge yes they you know
you know they just let you do what you
want to do what I liked about Islam
there was a direction and there was a
way and there was there was there were
rules for everything you do there is a
rule or a direction and it's all you
know sealed in in in many books that we
know which are authentic and I I I'd
read about the the history of Islam that
it had changed and ruled the world for
over around about 800 to a, years which
is the biggest period of time that any
world religion has ever ruled the world
which which is a big thing in itself so
when I read this and I saw also that
there was a purpose and it was clearly
detailed in the Quran that uh Mankind
and Jin has not been created for any
other purpose to but to worship the
Creator that is God and that from
this they will attain success and peace
in this world and in the Hereafter and
by by you know sticking to the rules and
sticking to the the laws and the
judgments of
gods then that gave me a sense of uh
comfort and a sense of peace knowing
that there was a God and that that all
those distances I were looking at from
the stars and and the Milky Way and and
and and being you know also uh you know
looking around the world and seeing all
the different things I'd see in front of
me suddenly There Was an explanation for
all of it everything now the other
religions y go ahead in the other
religions in the other religions I
didn't find that unfortunately I found
bits and pieces but it was very
fragmented but this it gave me a
holistic picture of the life and the
world and the the world to come which
was even more important that's what I
was frightened about because I was
saying we we know there's only one
certainty and that is death death the
only certainty was death and I was
thinking if I get to that death and I
haven't found the purpose I've failed in
the mission and this Islam gave me you
know the the direction it gave me the
certainty it gave me all the books of
rules even though I wasn't a good Muslim
for the first three years the first I'm
not even a good Muslim now but I just
wish that I can be amongst those who get
raised with Allah and you know as as a
good person and and and I wish also that
all all of humanity will realize that
the Quran is their book it's the book of
instruction the Criterion between right
and wrong and it's for them it's it's
not for bengalis and pakistanis and
Africans it is for everyone it's for
every human being and that's what I
realized about Islam what advice do you
have for those sincere truth
Seekers give them a formula what they
can do to acquire the peace that you
have acquired through a long journey to
know that this is indeed a way of life
from the Creator and not some organized
religion organized by man but organized
by the one who created
them I would advise them to look at all
the world religions and see that the
difference between Islam which means to
submit to the will of your Creator and
the others like Christianity Buddhism
Hindus Etc all of the others are named
after a name of a place or a person
because the re reality is that people
worship places and they worship people
reality is that Islam is to worship your
Creator and that's why it's called Islam
and that we are Muslims because we do
that worship Mo Islam we do the
submission to God and from that we get
peace I would ask all of the brothers
and sisters in humanity and all the
brothers and sisters in Islam who' left
Islam and who are confused and a state
like I was confused.com yes for so many
years I would ask them to cry tonight go
to bed before you go to bed wash
yourself prepare yourself be sincere be
so sincere and the only way you can show
sincerity to God is you got to cry if
you cry to God in the last third of the
night and ask God guide me guide me to
success guide me to righteousness guide
me to the true path of all the prophets
that you sent guide me to the truth the
hak as we call it in Arabic then this is
the best thing that I can advise because
I didn't do that because I didn't know
how to do that and no one advised me but
I was crying to the Stars I was crying
to people I was crying to things but if
IID had cried to God I think I might
Allah may have guided me quicker and I
think if you brothers and sisters are
out there and you you wish to to to to
attain to success in this world and the
Hereafter
don't make this 10 years suffering that
I made for myself I want you to make it
easier for
yourself and we all love each other for
the sake of God and I hope that you you
do the same and and you find truth in
your heart beautiful advice don't pray
for guidance to the stars or crying to
the human beings or anything in creation
cry and ask guidance from the one who
created the creation beautiful advice
tell us brother now you're doing some
wonderful work tell us about your
organization and some of the things that
you're doing and how people can get
hooked up with you there in the UK and
around the world in the last uh minute
that we have the last minute is iera is
i era.org that's
i.org that's the da organization we set
up to train hundreds of thousands of
people to take on the challenge and
calling the world back to Allah calling
the world back to Allah if you want to
get involved go to aa.org do.uk we can
train we're doing research about
perceptions about Islam from non-muslims
you know in the UK we've already set up
with our partners in Islam net in Norway
that's Islam net. there are Partners
there in Norway we're going to
be setting up during the Journey of
Faith there in Canada as well and we're
going to be setting up all over the
world to try and call the world back to
Allah train the people to become Muslim
Muslim callers the callers to back to
God which we we you know that's what
we're doing and the prophet muhammmad
sallallah alai wasam the prophet peace
be upon Him spent 23 years engaged in
calling the world he didn't do anything
else if he didn't call the world he he
wasn't content and he didn't leave
anyone around him that didn't hear about
the message and we know after 30 40
years most of the world most of the
Civilized World they at least had
received the message and this is our
duty this is being a Muslim is being a
caller and being a caller is being a
Muslim if we can't do that and we're not
going
to attain to success and we're never
going to feel happy in our hearts and we
know it's an obligation upon every
Muslim anyone who calls himself a Muslim
who loves the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam who loves
Allah who loves the people for the sake
of God then he should be calling
them absolutely beautiful advice and
that's where they can hook up with you
brother may the Creator
of the heavens and the Earth in Arabic
we say Allah Jesus in Aramaic he said
allaha that's the one that we turn to
for guidance and may He reward you for
being with us and doing all the
wonderful work that you're
doing peace and blessings be upon
you we hope to see you again soon live
next time on the dean show take care my
brother peace
FR you holy
[Music]
FR feel holy peace