that was my reaction and and there were
times that I when I would read the Quran
I would cry literally based on that
Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic
group I saw the Muslims bowing and
prostrating on their faces immediately
cleared up the light bulb in my head and
I said man I love this but two years
into my journey I'm learning that Latino
and Latino Muslims like me are not as
uncommon as I once especially you guys
up there in the back referring to the
Arab guys as in John 17 3 and this is
life eternal so they may know you the
only true God
and your teacher gives you a book on
salahuddin that is right tell us about
that now is a Muslim Eddie
I can understand that what the words of
Jesus even much better than when I was a
Catholic
are Islam assalamic brothers and sisters
as you can see alhamdulillah we've
gotten the property we're getting right
to work we're not officially open that's
where you guys come in to help us to
officially open to accomplish the goal
of opening the first mega dawa Center in
Masjid phase two
here go ahead and do your part donate
right now so we can accomplish this goal
assalamu alaikum assalamualaikum welcome
to the dean's show I'm at your host did
you know that Latinos continued to be
the fastest minority group coming to
Islam and I have one of those Latinos
here with me today from Honduras
he was born in the Catholic Family went
on to study many with many different
Christian denominations even sat with uh
in many study circles with the Jehovah's
Witnesses played a
in a play the role of Jesus was so dear
to his heart
he also went on to join the Navy ROTC
somewhere in the midst of all this
he got to hate in Islam
and later on he ended up meeting some
Muslims what happened from there that
he's on the D show to share his
wonderful story on how he went from
being someone who hated Islam and
Muslims to being here on the dean Shore
[Applause]
and his final messages
[Music]
show
[Music]
us
Fernando Castro correct yes but you go
by Abdul Rahman which means the the
servant of the most merciful beautiful
and uh you're from Honduras that is
correct and this is a Central America
yes what are there we have surrounding
what like Guatemala and uh El Salvador
Nicaragua Nicaragua yes and uh you were
telling me that this area here is a very
small population of Muslims that is
correct that is uh until this day
probably about one percent still of the
entire population let's get into this
news clip because I opened up and I said
amongst the Latinos Islam is the fastest
growing religion
and I want to get your take on this sure
when I first heard the call to Islam as
a Chicano I thought I was alone but two
years into my journey I'm learning that
Latino and Latino Muslims like me are
not as uncommon as I once thought based
on that uh Latinos are the fastest
growing ethnic group embracing Islam in
America Jaime mujahid Fletcher is a
Colombian American who embraced Islam 21
years ago soon his father also wanted to
learn about the religion and Jaime had a
hard time finding educational material
that was written in Spanish that effort
grew into Islam in Spanish an Islamic
Center that doesn't convert Latinos and
Latinas but provides educational
information about the religion in
Spanish hymas says they've seen an
explosion of Latino and Latina converts
people just show up and they say hey
we're coming here to embrace Islam so
what did you think about this report
here
it's uh do you see that happening yeah
yeah yeah do you think do you see these
numbers this morning this is more in
America or are you seeing this also in
your home country where you're
originally from Honduras and these other
in Central America
um I see this mostly here in the United
States
is that why because there's more
exposure to Islam yes yeah yes because
uh here in this country you know there's
more uh liberalism there's more freedom
uh and so the people
they have the freedom you know to
basically to to choose and get exposed
to many different types of you know isms
and religions how about Honduras how is
that it's primarily Catholic the
majority is Catholic and then is divided
into subgroups of Christianity such as
protestantism yeah and uh other
subgroups
um Islam is considered one of the
minority groups recognized
uh amongst uh you know
a few
so but your your background is also from
your your parents both uh practicing
Christians Catholicism that's correct
yeah you're also practicing practicing
yes yeah can you kind of outline some of
the daily rituals we know in Islam we
have the five pillars we pray
five times a day minimum fasting Ramadan
Hajj you know so you know the breakdown
what's kind of a breakdown if for a
Christian Living in
um
in Central America who's practicing
Christianity what does it look like is
it for everyone it's kind of different
or is the same for Muslim it's pretty
straight straight forward it's pretty
straight it's the same right right uh
but how is it in Central America with uh
the Catholics well mainly for Catholics
since I was a practicing one
uh Catholics will uh basically go to
church yeah mainly on Sunday mass yeah
in the morning and in the night
apart from the uh those other rituals
such as Easter when it would come at the
in the month of March or so I would
partake in Easter in the past what is
called The Passion of Christ the
dramatization of the crucifixion of
Christ and the death and all of these
things
and the resurrection I will be part of
those things
as well
as uh you know
study uh
uh groups and worship groups that we
would hold because I grew up very close
you know through my female relatives my
aunts
uh my grandmother my great-grandmother
these were you know they were religious
people at that time and their days yeah
and so by watching them that's how I
grew very close to Catholicism and
practice okay so then at what age you
actually did you come to America
when I first came to America I was uh
about probably
between eight and ten years old yeah was
that role that you played as Jesus was
that back in in Honduras yes but that
was uh when I was about 13 years old
okay
so you really had an affinity a really a
connection with your at that time with
your religion yes and even playing the
role of Jesus and
um so you you would go to church you
would go through the the communion the
communion you were baptized what at I
was six years old I was baptized six
years old six years old wow
all right so then you come here to
America
and at what you even were at some time
you were going to different
denominations at the same time sitting
with evangelicals and even sat with some
some Jehovah's knocking on your door one
time that is correct yeah especially
because they were Latin and Latin
Americans and Spanish speaking so
um at that time I was living with I was
still living with my parents in their
home and uh I would invite them
and I will sit down with them read the
Bible and study with them there with you
know with their uh their magazines and
stuff which in English is called
Watchtower
uh in Spanish it's called atalaya and so
I would I spent a good amount of time
with them
reading and then trying to understand
but uh I never you know they never tried
to convince me to become a Jehovah
Witness even though I was still a
Catholic and they knew it
and what what was it uh when you would
sit with other denominations and whatnot
what what was everything what was the
your what were you inspiring to
to learn more did you have doubts at
that time that you had to go and sit
with other other denominations or other
sects of Christianity was there
something missing No in fact that's a
very good question that you ask because
uh
is
Prior Way prior to my Islam to ever
finding Islam
I never
encountered any doubts I never
questioned the Trinity or never
questioned whether Jesus why Jesus Is
God or why people think so or why the
Virgin Mary is considered the mother of
God or this sorts of things yeah I never
had any doubts concerning it
no not at all not at all oh
so then
you're going on through life you're here
and then how did uh you end up with this
because you didn't know anything about
Islam that is correct yeah but then you
somehow and then you ended up hating it
you didn't know anything like most
people they end up when you talk to them
they know nothing except what the media
usually tells them or some hate preacher
or some person who poisons their minds
yeah and then you fell into that uh into
that trap now you ended up hating Islam
but you didn't know nothing about it
exactly out of ignorance out of
ignorance because I saw
like you say you know the media Outlets
portraying hatred towards these people
towards this religion that are
associated with terrorism
yeah so tell me this uh went on for some
time you had a an incident where you
gave up you got in front of the class
your class is that correct that is
correct tell us about that uh this was
right right after
um After High School yeah After High
School yeah and then you were saying
that that's kind of when the hatred
really it uh can slip into my heart yeah
yeah that happened in 2001
right when 9 11 actually happened yeah I
was in in Community College
and uh
I entered in the morning right
into the cafeteria always that was my
routine go to the cafeteria grab a snack
grab a soda to drink
and then go to class to my first class
so as soon as I enter I see a television
and the first thing I see is breaking
news America under terrorist attack
the Twin Towers were burning
I stood there
just paying attention looking at it
and I said
went to grab my things to the machines
went to my class
later that day
I mean afternoon I went to English class
my English teacher is the one who broke
the news everybody you know
if are you aware you know what's going
on right now in New York
in Washington DC
you know two airplanes crash into New
York City
and there's a terrorist attack
if any one of you knows anyone
on those Towers or have any family
members or friends
and if you would like to come up and say
something you can please do so
that's how that was a very emotional
shaking day
girls in the class they were very
emotional very you know they were with
tears crying and everything
at that time
right after you know because I've
graduated high school
I have that patriotism in my heart
because I was in the Navy ROTC in high
school four years and I loved it and I
wanted to join the real name
so when everybody had finished doing you
know their their expressing their
emotions you know and their feelings my
teacher says anybody else would like to
come up and say something I raised my
hand
Neil
do you have any relatives do you know
anybody on the Twin Towers I said no
we like to come up and I said yes I went
up in the front
and before I was about to make my
impromptu speech
four guys for Muslim guys
Arab guys
coming into the class they go sit to the
back of the classroom they started
talking to each other you know in their
language
and so I said
basically I know that you know I had no
idea that this is going on I saw it on
the TV but I had no idea what's going on
but not until you know our teacher
exposes the news to us now I have an
understanding what's what's happening to
us so I said whatever I am going to say
is not to offend anybody especially you
guys up there in the back referring to
the Arab guys yeah
and so my impromptu speech was
whoever did this to us
is going to pay
that was my impromptu speech my short
words to the point whoever did this to
us is going to pay
because I felt the patriotism and the
love for you know for America
and from that moment on this one you
know the hatred for these people these
terrorists or this religion they're
associated with
entered into my heart yeah I felt like I
became an enemy to this religion yeah
out of ignorance out of ignorance yeah
wow
uh even though um obviously Islam has
nothing to do with such evil actions nor
does anyone who's practicing Islam is a
Muslim yeah and it's uh it's amazing
that so many people
they ended up from this sad and tragic
event that happened you had so many
people
fall into this hate yeah like you fell
into yeah but then what's interesting
you end up in a humanities class
and your teacher gives you a book on
salahuddin that is right tell us about
that book so basically that was the
novel that she gave us my teacher was
from Chile I remember her but I forgot
her name
and she was a very intelligent woman so
this is the book that she gives us all
every student in the class so this is
the novel that we're gonna read and I
see the titles by tariqa Ramadan
Professor Tariq Ramadan everybody is
aware of him
I believe he you interview them as well
I think he recites either in France
or in the UK
and so we went through this novel you
know
written by him and uh
very interesting you know it was a novel
of course but of the details that I
really you know can remember you know
it's not much but
and remember she will give us a chapter
and and and we were supposed to you know
explain what we read and everything
I actually embarrassed myself in that
day because I I forgot to do my reading
and uh but anyways it was uh other than
that it was just enjoyable it was an
enjoyable thing and I got exposed to
Islam through this and as I mentioned
you know
I came to Islam through stages yeah
and Allah I didn't know Allah Was
preparing me and was showing me the way
that this thing had to do with Islam
these particular people had to do with
Islam
in the back of my mind in my
subconscious I had no idea
that anything of this has to do with
this religion called Islam
so then you be I mean this is a very
historic figure
and you see him there's actually
Hollywood they even made a movie right
what was it uh called again it's called
the Kingdom of Heaven Kingdom of Heaven
did you see that movie yes I did that
was interesting they actually portrayed
it properly yeah somewhat where he
actually uh do you remember you want to
share what what happened in that movie
do you remember the so basically uh in
the movie
salahuddin is the one who mobilized the
Muslims to open Jerusalem again and to
retake it from the Christians
who basically have established you know
their kings and and the kingdom of
Jerusalem
uh
and so salahuddin is basically
considered the hero one of the greatest
heroes after
I would say
the companion of the Prophet Khalid IBN
al-walid who was called The Sword of
Allah who is considered even by the
non-muslims the most one of the most
successful Generals in history they
study his life yeah yes never
he never failed he never he never lost a
battle as far as I'm concerned
throughout his life
so then salahuddin he ends up retaking
that was what was the uh the magnanimous
thing about this Conquest now that he
when he came in he could have just
destroyed everybody right yeah that is
correct and then what happened so so
when salahuddin basically he all finally
opened Jerusalem and the Christian
Defenders of Jerusalem
they basically agreed to a truce a pact
of peace with salahuddin
that they will give up the city
at the exchange of them letting them
live
the soldiers that were there and the
Christians living in the city
and salahudina of his you know greatness
and magnanimity as a ruler as a
Warrior he agreed that he would give
safety and safe passage to all the
Christians that wanted to leave the city
into the Christian lands yeah and this
is following the example of prophet
Muhammed peace and blessing be upon him
who at that time when the pagans they
had tortured they had done all sorts of
evil towards the the Muslims and those
who were worshiping one and only one God
when he came and conquered in Mecca over
ten thousand strong this also was a
chance for him to take revenge but he
didn't take revenge he spread the peace
spread the food and then following that
same example of prophet Muhammad peace
and blessings upon him correct yeah so
nobody was terrorizing the people but
actually they were the ones terrorized
but when they had a chance now to come
back and inflict suffering and torment
and terrorize people because they were
terrorized and they were oppressed and
all sorts of evil was done to them they
chose the way of Mercy right forgiveness
right exactly and this is what I read as
well when in in my uh my two one and a
half year or so between 2003 and 2004
and my learning before becoming a Muslim
yeah when I I read about you know
Islamic history particularly
and this has to do also with my name
Abdul Rahman that I chose that you know
salahuddin
according to the historians of his time
he loved
to follow the prophet in two things
and blessings of Allah be upon the
prophet Muhammad and his family and
companions one of those things was
salahuddin
he would spend his wealth in charity
and number two
he would also
seek knowledge be around the scholars
and number three this is the third point
two that I have to add
he loved to follow the prophet in Jihad
for those who do not know the word Jihad
doesn't mean holy war
Jihad simply means in English
to strive and to struggle for this for
the sake of Allah in the path of Allah
and what is good and so salahuddin he
used to do these three things and follow
the prophet very kindly on these three
things so you started to get to know all
these things you sat with a Muslim
at one point so you came to Islamic
stages things were just brought to you
here there and then you had the salahi
Deen book that was one stage and now you
end up meeting a Muslim and he's
actually going over the six articles of
Faith he's explaining the fight he's
explaining Islam removing some of the
misconceptions that you had tell us
about this stage okay that happened uh
further down into uh somewhere in 2003
when I began doing uh wallet parking in
Downtown Chicago
and so uh the brother's name is damir
and until this day I I'm communication
with him
and I will always greet him so anyways
uh when I the
I was acquainted with him through a
period of time
so at this time I really didn't reach to
you know the point where hey I'm
interested in Islam what is Islam yes
no at that time 2003 I mean 2000 yeah
2003
um I don't want to accumulate myself
the terrorism the topic of terrorism and
Islam and anything that had to be
related with so-called terrorism was
still a Hot Topic in the minds of people
unfortunately yeah and
how I came to that point was that
I heard another co-worker of my two
co-workers of mine one Muslim who joined
us later on
and he was talking to another guy a
Mexican guy
who look like Jay Leno
and so the guy Mexican guy was
against you know this Muslims this
terrorists and all of this and all of
that
and the thing that stuck in my mind was
the word terrorism
so one point of time I was with you know
with the other the other Muslim guy
who's his name was Khan and I asked him
Han I overheard you speak with Javier
and he was mentioning the word terrorism
so I overheard you and Javier and he was
saying this Muslim this terrorist
terrorism and this is the only word
that's stuck in my mind
I said Khan can you please explain to me
what is Terrorism because I don't know
so the guy unfortunately as smart as he
was he couldn't give me
a clear definition of what terrorism is
so I said no let's go to the mirror when
we go back and so we did
we went to damir so at that time all
three of us were very acquainted now and
so he said damir hears this young man
Neil he has a question for you
and Amir being the nice guy that he is
he says Neil what is your question
I said damir and I told him the story
and so I said
can you please tell me what is Terrorism
I don't know
and so he said sure
so he brought the definition by Nico
peleva who is a
Israeli Pro Palestinian activist
advocating Palestinians
and so he gave me the definition as
terrorism is the weapon of the weak
I said how
he said
when powerful Nations
enter
the the other nations weaker Nations and
they attacked them and they destroy
everything
and they take
you know whatever they have
the people in order to fight back
they only take the means that they have
what is available to them and so they
use that as a weapon
to fight back and this is how terrorism
is the weapon of the weak
I said okay
I guess it makes sense to me
and sodomir said Neil are you interested
what do you know about Islam are you
interested in learning about Islam I
said yeah
because I was an open-minded person
now that he has given me this
explanation
and so from there my journey with him
started
yeah so I mean that's an interesting
point because obviously anyone who now
studies Islam sees that you know the
killing of innocent human beings this is
something that is against Islam so even
if somebody's in a situation that now
they are weak it doesn't justify because
some people some people will do that
it doesn't justify for someone to go
ahead and take innocent life right not
combatants and whatnot right right but
in combat you have the just War Theory
this is something that even before this
term even came about just for a theory
you had it in Islam right right where
Prophet Muhammad he would send out his
uh his leads and others and they would
have a list of what the do's and don'ts
how to engage exactly in combat right
and you were to leave the innocent
non-combatants people into places of
worship
houses of worship all these things were
were safeguarded exactly exactly it's
amazing that you're pointing that out
because these things that the prophet
instituted to his companions to his
armies
came 14
00 years
even way before the so-called Geneva
Convention yeah uh Norms ever came into
existence Islam through the prophet they
were already instituted
in in the commands in the constitution
of the prophet of the do's and don'ts
that Muslims should and should not do so
then now you're learning these things
and you're saying what that they make
sense like so you were telling me that
finally like okay after these things are
explained to you you're thinking like
okay it's uh
it's time should I accept Islam should I
take my shahada when am I going to take
it because pretty much everything that
was explained to you you already
believed it anyway exactly exactly
when damir was explaining to me about
the pillars of Islam about the articles
of Faith particularly and especially
when he told me about the belief in one
God Allah the belief in the Angels the
belief in the scriptures the belief in
the prophets and Messengers that day of
judgment
and the decree of the good and the bad
I said to the Mir damir I already
believe in all of these things I believe
in it already exactly automatically from
my Catholic upbringing I already had it
in me yeah and I already believed in
these articles so that itself made my
entry to Islam even much faster and
easier
but what about now in Catholicism you
have all the saints a lot of saints
worship worship of Jesus Trinity
crucifixion what about those things
yeah those those things you know
um
they are still there very commonly until
this very day unfortunately
and it's very sad that
the people Unfortunately they are being
led
like ignorant lamps blindfolded
as as in the gospels dumb deaf and blind
and it is the reality sadly but
alhamdulillah opened an opportunity for
me to
learn about Islam and get my all my
misunderstandings cleared out but did
you at that point did you believe Jesus
was God
I will still be living it but when the
Mir clarified all of these points that
Jesus is not there is no Trinity of God
is only one
Jesus is not God or the son of God
or the holy spirit is not God yeah but
rather you know is the Angel Gabriel a
messenger that administered all the
prophets in the Old Testament that Mary
herself also the mother of Jesus is not
the mother of a God or a goddess herself
yeah or if they call her the goddess of
the universe
when all these things were cleared out
you know it made sense
I always I've always believed as a
Catholic that there is one gov only but
however it was mixed with the trinity
yeah and Jesus was a prophet as well as
is in the gospels very clearly I already
believed that because I used to read the
Bible and I could understand it very
clearly in my language it clearly says
it is the gospel that this is a prophet
exactly Jesus of Nazareth yes a prophet
yes in the gospel of Matthew
particularly yeah it is all over the
place that the people believed that this
was a new Prophet being sent to the to
the people of Israel yeah
so then now Prophet Muhammad comes with
the Quran to set things right because
now people even the earlier Christians
then believe that he he was a part of a
trinity or many of the things that I had
developed over time that we have today
because and other Council and all these
things people you know trying to figure
out is he Divine isn't he and then the
Schism and all these things happening so
now here comes the last and final Master
problem Muhammad peace of Muslim upon
him who didn't call people to worship
himself he called people to worship the
god that Jesus worshiped exactly and to
clear things up about Jesus exactly so
now that message is coming to you there
had to be some confusion at that time
because now this is made clear and
you're like that makes sense I'm with
this exactly and you know what I'm glad
that you're mentioning that because when
damir gave me the Quran in English and I
began reading it
it began making sense immediately to me
it's as if the book was speaking to me
directly and connecting with me and
remember I mentioned to you that
Jesus what is
and his mother
are two of the most important pillars of
faith in Catholicism for every Catholic
yeah
and so when I Found Jesus and his mother
peace be upon them both in the Quran
it was like
a a a an explosion in my mind wow that
wow this book mentions what I believe
already
Jesus being a prophet his blessed mother
being a righteous virgin who gave birth
and he was born miraculously and he did
all the Miracles wow I said I recognized
that this was the truth
that was my reaction and and there were
times that I when I would read the Quran
I would cry literally
I would cry because my heart and my
senses
he recognized the truth in this book
and that made me
make the Quran part of myself
part of my being
even more
Justice the Bible it you know was part
of me as well as well as the teachings
of Jesus and this is very digestible
this is very because it goes with what
we call the fitra you know the fitra yes
that's the innate human disposition it's
just when something comes now it just
makes sense with your heart mind body
with your with every limb your DNA
everything that in you the truth comes
it just connects with it's that's why
it's no coincidence that you have
amongst Latinos
those who are exposed to Islam yeah it
is the fastest growing way of life yeah
it's connecting with their fitras so do
you believe do you believe if more
people in Honduras Central America if
now they got to get exposure to Islam
they would also because there's these
commonalities and now yes they would
also uh yes I strongly believe it
because I have seen it in my travels
back to back home yeah the people
already they believe that there is one
God yes they love Jesus they love the
Bible they love the the Virgin Mary they
love it all they express it very clearly
it is natural to them
unfortunately more dawa work
more you know more of that work is is
really needed in in Central American
countries yeah in comparison to other
countries in South America which is well
diminished Islam is growing fast over
there as well as in Mexico as well but
Islam is I believe that Islam is really
really needed
for my people because I strongly believe
that Islam is the only way
for people to truly to be guided to a to
the right course the right direction to
truly worship the one true God that
Jesus worshiped and he believed and he
praised and he glorified as in John 17 3
and this is life eternal so they may
know you the only true God
and Jesus whom you have sent that in
itself you know Eddie just this powerful
verse in job 73 and in many other
instances in throughout the Gospels
made me realize that now as a Muslim
Eddie
I can understand the what the words of
Jesus even much better than when I was a
Catholic
and I believe that every river to Islam
particularly that whether it be Latino
or English speaking or and other than
that I believe that they they will all
share something similar to what I am
saying that we understand the Bible
better than the Christians themselves
and this is a fact
wow this is powerful yeah so then John
17 3 this is life eternal that they may
know you the only true God and Jesus who
you sent exactly meaning Jesus
is the messenger the one who was sent by
the one true God yeah and Jesus very
clearly exemplified this idea that he
was sent that he didn't do things out of
his own will but rather he did by what
he heard from above what he was
commanded to do
he did the will of the one true God the
sender is the one sending so the asunder
and the one cent are not the same
exactly there are two complete different
different individuals and then this
always this verse from the Bible reminds
me of the shahada exactly right because
this is what you had to say to to accept
Islam yes so let's move on to that so
now this is very very similar to John 17
3 that you bear witness that there's no
nothing worthy of worship except the one
true God and Jesus is saying here there
is that you are the only true God and
shahada that you're testifying that
there's no nothing worthy worship except
the one true God and Muhammad is the
final messenger at Jesus time you would
have declared that Jesus is the best he
is the messenger that makes sense yeah
it makes total sense yeah so then what
did it finally you said it was like
Christmas Eve or something yeah so uh in
2004 yeah throughout that time for 2003
when I started reading with damir and he
started teaching me and I I was
educating myself and through the Quran
as well and he invited me to the Masjid
as well and I love the experience of it
it reminded me
how Jesus worshiped as well and as I
told you I saw the Muslims bowing and
prostrating on their faces immediately
it lit up the light bulb in my head and
I said man I love this because it gave
me so much peace when you saw the
muslims praying exactly they reminded
you of how Jesus prayed from what you
read in the Bible exactly how he
prostrated himself on his face on the
ground calling to the to his Lord the
one he worshiped so
all of many things happened and so when
this time came in December
I already had enough sufficient
understanding
that this Quran is the truth
that there is only one God but Allah and
I believe that in reality Muhammad is
the messenger of Allah stated in the
Quran very loud and clear
it couldn't be no more ambiguous than
that just as Jesus said that God there
is only one God and he is the messenger
of God so one week before Christmas Eve
I was sitting in bed and I was I began
to reflect and brainstorm when should I
become a Muslim
and I kept on thinking
and I I'd remember oh you know the 24 is
going to be Christmas Eve midnight we
celebrate the Catholics also make mass
at midnight celebrating Christmas on at
the turn of the clock
at midnight
and so I said
I'm gonna become I'm gonna take my
shahada in this day and I looked at the
calendar and it came to be that on 2004
December the 24th fell on a Friday
and immediately I made my decision when
I went back to work I met damir and I
told him damir
I want to take my shahada
damir was a
perplexed and surprise he said Neil are
you okay are you sure you don't want to
take more time to study and think about
it I said no
I'm sure this is the truth I said to him
I want to take my shahada and I want to
do it on the on the 24th on Friday on
Juma
he said okay
so let's meet on Friday he said and we
met when Friday came
and when we went to the Masjid anyways
I'll cut it short
we went for the Friday prayer
and uh
I enjoyed it
and the Imam was about to leave
I remember that when we came before the
the hudba we went to the fourth floor
and I tell we tell the brother in
sitting in the office this brother wants
to take shahada pointing at me
in the Bible said okay okay I'll tell
him anyways when we were done the mom
was about to walk away
from the member and everybody was ready
to walk down
and let me realized Neil come on let's
go
this guy forgot to tell Imam what did I
tell you come on let's go and we stopped
the Imam before he left and we told him
this brother wants to take shahada okay
Imam called everybody back on the fifth
floor he said Brothers brothers please
stop come back there's a brother who
wants to take shahada everybody came
back
and so the Imam
he told me you know you're taking a
great step you're making a big decision
in your life of becoming a Muslim but I
want to ask you
did anybody
con you know convinced you or
brainwashed you to become a Muslim I
said no
did anybody offer you money
I said no
are you doing this out of your own will
I said yes because I believe it's true
okay then we're going to say it in
Arabic he said and then we will say it
in English at the head of ahead of the
Imam I told him
laughed at me and he said okay you know
it you already had practiced and
memorized uh
yes yes wow yes I already know
testimonial Faith already and so we went
through it both of us in Arabic and then
we went in English through it and
someone in the audience in the floor
they shot it talk very very loud and the
whole floor shook with one Allahu Akbar
three times
but it was so powerful God is the
greatest exactly to testify that God is
the greatest indeed and that's a
powerful call in reality
and so at that moment
I felt
that I had reached the peak of a
mountain
that's the feeling that I had
immediately after I do that testimonial
faith
and I feel that I was Victorious
that was that feeling and in my heart I
felt like a flame
was burning inside of my hair
ferociously
I told Amir after that damir I feel like
I live in Islam I feel like I walk in
Islam I feel like I sleep in Islam like
I sleep in Islam everything in Islam
and that was my my shahada right there
and then and that was 18 years ago huh
yes 18 years ago yeah wow amazing you
gave it thank you for sharing that with
us inshallah this can be a benefit for
so many other Latinos and just people in
general who are searching to know the
purpose of life why they've been created
why they're here clear up some of these
misconceptions especially around Jesus
those who love Jesus and they find out
we as Muslims we have a deep profound
love for him and his mother and this
whole all the misconceptions that
revolve around him is cleared up in
Islam who he really was his mission of
calling people to worship the Creator
not the creation not himself but the one
who he prostrated to as Muslims do
all of that's in Islam yeah they can
have it just like you found it
and hopefully what your story can
Inspire more people to read the Quran
yeah what advice would you give for
someone out there from Honduras Central
America they're tuning in and they want
to know why they've been created their
their life is in shambles and they're on
you know the cervezas or whatever the
case and it's just like upside down
they're searching for more what would
you tell them okay I will say it in
Spanish because you're referring to my
people yes my Spanish-speaking people
the first thing that I will tell them is
Honduras
Islam
the investigation Islam
Islam remember
yes
Latinos
is Muhammad
so basically what I said in in summary
to my people is that I essay man from
from their folk from Honduras I am a
Muslim and I am calling them
inviting them to Islam to research about
Islam find out about Islam because Islam
indeed
is the true way
it is the true religion and this is what
will guide them and what will give them
safety and salvation in the next life by
worshiping and submitting to the one
true God Allah and to testify and
believe that Muhammad is the messenger
of Allah
and this is any Spanish-speaking people
it can be Puerto Rican be Mexican he
could be Guatemalan or they all
understand what you just said exactly
they all understand because we
one beautiful thing adding about all of
us Latin Americans whether it be from
Mexico from the Caribbean from Central
America from South America
is that we all
consider ourselves Brothers
because we speak the same language
because we relate yeah because we
understand each other that's deep wow
inshallah they take heed to your
beautiful message and for those watching
if you'd like a copy of
the verbatim word of God Almighty Allah
this is in English we might have one in
Spanish go to the dean show.com we'll
get this sent to you as a gift from me
to you and if you have any questions
don't be shy call
tell them that Eddie sent me at
1-800-662 Islam call the number right
now
and ask your questions
before you get caught up in all the
other worldly things out there there's a
deep desire your heart is yearning and
what he's talked about the story you
know it makes sense it connects with
your fit that are also your innate
disposition
so
before the time what time comes the time
of death when you depart this life then
it's too late you can't go back to
retake the test no you're being tested
right now what are you gonna do
so go ahead and take the opportunity get
yourself a free copy of the Quran and
call us ask your questions tell them
that he sent you we'll see you next time
until then subscribe if you haven't
already hit that notification Bell peace
be with you assalamu alaikum
Allah
[Music]
give it a tour of the D Center yeah so
we transforming this from
people worshiping the creation to
worshiping the Creator Allah bless your
efforts Eddie
how are you doing brother
all right so as you can see we're
getting to work and we need your support
so go ahead and help us to get this
where it's top-notch inshallah