To emerge from the darkness into the light,
to be born anew with the past forgiven, to
feel God in your heart casting guidance—
this is beyond description and feeling.
O God, I called upon You and strove, I sought Your guidance and You guided me with the
Quran.
You illuminated my path,
O God.
My name is Edov. I host the TV talk
show called the Dean Show. I grew up in
Chicago. I was born in New York and
all the
sheikhs knew you and your family's religion before your guidance.
Because that
follows
what you want to do your l and desires
about getting all you can
aboutiringalthiring
money that becigion a way of life upon
itself
technically if i was to put something on
paper you be a musl but you have to also
make a conscious decision the family
wasn't practicing is and we know is
means submission to the creator
grandit
Buffalo
him with us and short
this and that had a really great
impact on me. But then when I would go
back home to Chicago
that would be forgotten. Ramadan would
come around as I got older, and it was
kind of a tradition in the Ban community
that maybe you give up alcohol, but you would fast from alcohol.
But then when Ramadan was over, my
idol was Elvis.
The way I really think Eddie was
following his mindset,
also
he wasn't a singer, but you know, a
young man living the usual youthful recklessness that might afflict
most of the nation's youth, but he woke up after his
uncle's visit for physical therapy.
Well, Eddie used to come here for
treatments, and during those times we
were talking about different things, and
he was very young and inexperienced and
had a lot of knowledge about our fa.
After the stage of sins and
the life you lived that was wrong,
how was the beginning of guidance for you, my brother?
Who came to the toy
and
finished? He left. He had his wallet and his
papers. The only logical thing was that
as I was bending over, the documents
fell into the grave. To his
surprise, after he got to dig up the
grave, he had found he had seen a sight
that had scared him so much. And from
there when I heard this story to me
logically I was like, look, that is an
irrefutable fact that we are also going to
be in that grave.
I went back and I was telling him, you know
what my sister told me, this story,
and you're always telling me about it. And
then what he thought was interesting?
He went back to his shop and
he picked up this book, and the book was about life, death, and the afterlife.
I thought
that would be good for him to read, and I didn't really think he'd read it. You know, read it. You know, look,
Uncle, you know, the book you said, are you? So
he came back and he
told me this really scared me. You know, that's
when I thought it was like a
turning point in his life. At one point, I was in
an elevator and we got stuck for a little while, and
you feel
claustrophobic.
Personally, I was affected by the situation where they yelled at us. Honestly,
Youssef, I was very affected. I
expect that anyone who enters an elevator after what
we heard from our brother will remember the grave and its loneliness. I don't
know if you agree with me or not. Yes, by
God, after your fear of death, your reading of
many books and your reading of the Quran, and after you came across
many verses... It is the verse that shook your heart. The Surah says, "
And the life of this world is but fleeting pleasure, and the home of the Hereafter is better for
those who believe. So will you not eat of God?" And I was
trying to
understand. I was like, look at this life, you know and experience these things, but not bringing that peace
and contentment. And I'm seeing exactly what he's talking about. All these people are trying to do is cut the next
man out to get to the top.
You can see that with celebrities; many
people look up to them. And that's all.
It really was about material things, showing off,
boasting, and at the end, you might have
all the money but be bankrupt. I
was a prisoner of confusion, carrying a complete heart.
Silence was frightening before God's words.
Then the Most Merciful was near, asking the confused one, and he answered, "I bear
witness that there is no Lord or deity worthy of worship except God."
When God, the Exalted, guided him to Islam,
I ask God, the Exalted, for steadfastness. He didn't abandon
himself and say, "God has guided me, so I'll leave my family." He
went to his mother, his father, his brothers, his sisters, and
his family, calling them to Islam. And to guidance,
look at this kind-hearted man, his father used to own a
nightclub, imagine, glory be to God, look now, God
willing, his beard and his kindness, and after them, look now, his
children's hands, he is keen to memorize the Qur'an
and teach them the Qur'an, so all the good deeds of this family,
from prayer, fasting and zakat, I ask God
Almighty to put them in his balance.
I something happened, you know, let's
go for
and there was a mosque right next
door. I don't know. We ended up
going to MCC. It was a bigger
community. He said we go MCC, it's
more reward,
you know, it's a couple of miles almost.
Unbelievable. And really,
if we could say the miracle, but I don't
believe the miracle will come to me, to
the prophets, but you know, to me,
I see Allah's mercy. [Music]
I see now, today, I have my [
Music],
more
thankful,
and
how
Allah is,
that's the best, the best. And
I think when my father looks back, I mean, I want.
Now I see my children
coming up, and you want them to be blessed with goodness, and
you can't go. I call upon you, and I strive, I seek your
guidance, and you guide me with the Quran. You illuminated my path. [Music] Oh God, what God wills, Sheikh. God Almighty has bestowed guidance upon you. After your guidance, did you make sure to
teach your children the Quran? Prayer encompasses Islam. Are
you keen on this?
Absolutely, we know that when we leave,
we will depart from this world,
and we have been told that when we do this,
three things will follow us to the
grave: your family, your health, and your good deeds. Two will remain behind,
but the good deeds will come with you.
One of those great good deeds that also works for you
in this life is: In the name of
God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. About what are
they asking one another? About the great news, concerning which they are in
disagreement. They will soon know.
Then I went with Eddie to the Jiu-Jitsu club that he established
with his brothers in Chicago.
[Music] God
willing, may God bless it. I expected the place to be
smaller than this, but it turned out to be a
large club. God willing. My brother Eddie, why did you insist
on establishing this club, especially this sport?
Growing up, I used to like to fight, and
I had to channel my efforts into something
positive, and I got to experience this
style of martial art. I was really taken
away and I got really addicted to it and
I kept training and train became the top
student started to fly out to Brazil and
train and then I thought man why not do
what I love. I'm one of the head
instructors here in
Chicago.
These young people, both young and old, are the participants. I'm keen
on teaching them and conveying the teachings and
morals of Islam.
I'm negative with you. This game... (unintelligible sounds). And the
life of this world is
but play. And that's why
peace be upon you. God willing, God willing, may God
bless you. I'm
filming Sheikh Eddie, and he's
filming us at the same time. God willing, he has a
very famous program called Daddin
Show. He's filmed about 500 episodes. Since we're here
with you, Sheikh, here in Chicago, we have to come to the
studio with you and see your filming. Okay, studio ready. Okay, okay. God
willing, my brother Eddie, how did the idea for this
program start?
Over by my place, we put
together. We had a discussion. The question was me and a few other
brothers who were going to come with me to the studio. And
from here, we made it kind of like a talk show. We sat down, set up, and asked the viewers about it. We recorded it, and it was
nice and sweet, short. And then
from there, the viewers really liked it.
And it's been over 10 years now. 500
plus episodes alhamdulillah. And from
there we started off putting it out on
the internet and we got involved with
Can TV here in Chicago. They've been
great. I'm Eddie host of the show and
to everyone all over the globe. Thank
you for supporting the show. Thank
you for sharing our programs. Is in the
hands of the creator Allah we cannot
guide people but Allah has instructed
all of us to go ahad little that we know
to pass it along.
Masha'Allah, Tabarak Allah, our brother
Eddie's program is very beautiful, but what I liked most and what's even more
beautiful is that his program is broadcast weekly on
this channel, a non-Islamic channel here in
America. If he had broadcast his program on an Islamic channel,
only Muslims would have watched it. But he was careful,
and this is the wisdom in da'wah (invitation to Islam), to broadcast his program
on a non-Islamic channel so that non-Muslims
could see what Islam is and what its teachings are, so that, God willing, they might be guided
to the religion of
God Almighty. I ask God Almighty to grant
him steadfastness and success
in the Book of God. My heart has become alive, and my life
with those I've met here has become a light in the
darkness, in the distress.
[Music]
Snapchat has consumed their minds. The two of them, the two of them,
guys, I don't know how to work, honestly. Since I met them,
my days here have become a light in the darkness. God willing, God willing, God willing. Thank you.
Peace be upon you.
I invite you to nominate the best da'wah projects in
the service of Islam from your point of view, whether it is a person, a
website, a book, or a da'wah center. What
is the project that you think You said he benefited
Islam and convinced many non-Muslims to
embrace Islam. What project would you
nominate to be honored by
Noon.com? Send your nomination.
[Music]