Um the why I suppose um it was as I was
was mentioning um I was searching for
the truth. I was searching for the
meaning of life. I was searching for the
the answers to the question of uh you
know what is it all for? What is uh the
purpose of our existence? Why am I here?
What is this life all about? and um
having searched through various
different religions and read many books
and having been brought up in a uh
fairly yes definitely a strict uh
Christian background
um I came across the Quran a translation
of the Quran and in reading this
translation of the Quran I found within
it
something so unique something so special
that I decided by the time I had nearly
accomplished reading it that um if I had
ever read a book that was from God, this
was the one. Mhm. So that was the thing
that really uh really changed me around.
Uh although I was had an association
with Muslims for a long time. I mean I
my father worked in Egypt and so I used
to spend my holidays there and I knew
Muslims and so on and so forth. But it
was not until I really read this
translation of the Quran and this is the
thing that really convinced me that it
must be
from God from the creator. I've I've
never actually heard myself of anyone
becoming a Muslim because of such an
experience. I mean maybe there have been
um but uh yes I think this is something
that um you will find common uh amongst
people who have chosen Islam. I think
it's worth mentioning I had it in my
mind to mention this as well that
everybody has to choose Islam. You chose
Islam at some time as well Shabir. I
mean a lot of people think uh the new
Muslim, the white Muslim, the uh you
know the black Muslim, the you know we
chose this everyone at some stage in
their life has to make a choice to be a
Muslim. You Shabir although you were
brought up in a Muslim family probably
and and so on and so forth. You made a
choice a conscious decision at some
stage in your life to choose Islam.
There's lots of people brought up in
Muslim families who don't make that
conscious decision to choose Islam. They
make a conscious decision to go in the
opposite direction. So I don't really
know why we are thought to be so special
but but alhamdulillah
um so uh this this choosing of Islam
as I was mentioning has come from uh
came from reading the Quran
contemplating thinking and that is
something that I find generally that is
one of the things that has impressed me
about Islam until today and I used to
say Islam is the religion of reason and
maybe that's not quite an accurate way
or a you know proper thing to say but I
have never found a religion and uh I
don't think anyone and I am sure 100% no
one could ever find a religion that is
reasonable like Islam is reasonable and
I say it in the sense that you will not
find a single belief a single thing that
Islam is teaching you or Islam is
telling you to believe except that it is
compatible with sound reasoning and that
is one of the beautiful things about
Islam and that's why I think you find
that thinking people become Muslims not
people who rely on some sort of mystical
sort of uh emotional experience
okay uh because really how can truth be
something that is manifest through some
emotional mystical strange experience I
mean if that's the case then you know
David Ces the son of Sam and and and so
many other extraordinary crazy mass
murderers and people who do all sorts of
extraordinary things. If you look in
their psychology and their accounts of
their life, a lot of them have these
type of extraordinary experiences like
the son of Sam a dog talked to him and
he thought this dog was a messenger of
God. I mean you know so I mean this is
sort of extraordinary things but Islam
no Islam is a is a religion. It asks you
to use your mind. You find the Quran
again is is saying in this are signs for
those who think in in this as signs for
those who have understanding and this is
signs for those who are wise. When the
angels uh uh greet the people or rather
not greet them but when the angels who
are guarding the gates of hellfire they
say to the people who are going to the
hellfire didn't someone come to you
didn't someone warn you and the people
who are going to the hellfire say they
said yes and if only we had used our if
we only used our intelligence we
wouldn't now be in the fire. It's an
indication that Islam is something that
you're going to come at and arrive at
through using your intelligence, not
merely some act of faith. I accepted
Islam and I went to the mosque for a bit
and so on and so forth. But um the truth
is the moment I encountered the first
bit of difficulty um you know that was
it. I sort of uh I didn't ever say that
I'm not a Muslim. I always used to tell
people uh over a glass of wine and uh
you know, yes, I'm Muslim. Is this Islam
is fantastic. I mean, I'm I I remember
once I was at a at a party and I was
completely um intoxicated, I think would
be the polite way of putting it. And I
was sitting there telling a group of
people about how fantastic Islam was and
I was saying, "Well, if I wasn't so
drunk, I could tell you a bit more." And
and uh and this is really the case. Um,
so I didn't actually I mean the thing
was I believed it and and I I I never
denied that this is what I held to be
the truth, but in reality I was not any
different. In reality I was I was still
eating bacon buties, bacon butties and
bacon sandwiches, right? And drinking
alcohol and all the rest of it and
everything like that. So it took two
years of real mental, spiritual
torment, I could say, because that's
what it was. It was the worst two years
of my life. And I always tell people
that
the person who is the worst off is the
person who knows the truth and doesn't
act upon the truth. The worst one is the
one who knows the truth and doesn't
follow it. There's a time when you're
they call it blissfully ignorant. But
when you know the truth and you don't
follow that truth, that is this that is
if there's hell on earth, that's what it
is. If there's hell on earth, that's
what it is. And that's what I went
through. But alhamdulillah I mean I look
back on it and and I I it was ultimately
through Allah's mercy only through
Allah's mercy a strengthening experience
and when I did come to Islam
alhamdulillah I think because of that
experience I came to Islam much stronger
and and uh and much more uh with
complete determination not to repeat
that sort of error again but it is a
problem and I'm sure that lots of
brothers and sisters out there in
different ways who become Muslim and who
choose Islam um encounter that same type
of problem uh to change their life
around to and it is it is a very very
very major change. It's not like you
know you just change a few things right
now I believe in Jesus and that you know
everything goes on right no I mean your
life changes round almost completely and
that is difficult but it's easy for who
whomsoever Allah makes it easy and uh I
always think that the best answer to
that is how Allah describes it in the
Quran and it is exactly the way Allah
describes it is really the truth and I
would say that Islam
to be a Muslim, to be in Islam and out
of Islam, the difference between being a
Muslim and being an unbeliever is the
difference between life and death. It's
that that's how extreme it is. And it
really is that different. It's like
before I was dead and now I'm alive. It
is that different. It's like before and
I this is how I think of it. Before I
was in a room, a vast huge room which is
totally pitch dark. And this room is
surrounded by obstacles. So you're
trying to find your way around this
room. And as you're trying to find your
way, you keep hitting these things and
injuring yourself.
And you, this is how you are stumbling
around in the darkness, crawling around,
stumbling around, injuring yourself,
battering yourself. Islam is like you
open the door and you stepped out into
the daylight. Mhm. That's how it is.
That's how the difference between being
a Muslim and not being a Muslim. It's
that different.
I think the first thing is that you have
to be very sincere and you have to be
very honest
about yourself. That's very difficult to
do that.
And uh that's very important to be
sincere. If you're sincere and you're
really sincere, I'm sure that Allah will
guide you to the truth. But it's not
like you have to find the door really
because it's there. You know, if
anyone's watching this video, well,
we're telling you about Islam. There's
the light for you. Okay? If you deserve
it, Allah will guide you to that light.
That's the reality. If you're deserving
of it, Allah will guide you to that
light. Because we have to understand
that Allah chooses who he wants for his
guidance. And he chooses people who are
deserving of it. This is the reality.
Okay. So really one needs to seek that
guidance. One needs to pray for that
guidance and you need to seek it with
your mind, with your heart, with your
soul. This is the way to go forward. But
if we're talking about how does someone
who's now found the truth, they've
discovered Islam. Maybe someone and it
happens. Some people for years have been
reading the Quran and reading books
about Islam. I think maybe after the you
know second month they'd already knew
that Islam was the truth but somehow
they kept telling themselves I have to
read more I have to read read more. A
lot of people are afraid to make that
you know that step you know that final
step. So I mean you know there's nothing
to do it except you have to do it you
know you have to take that step you know
once you know that Islam is the truth
you need to embrace Islam you need to
enter into the fold of Islam. And for
those who have done that how do you
proceed? Simple thing simple thing very
simple if you hold on to it God willing
you will never go astray and you will be
guided on the right path and that is to
guard the prayers those five prayers
those prayers five times a day if you
guard them and it doesn't m if you do
anything if you can't do anything except
that if you guard those prayers and you
make sure you say those prayers you will
find that this will be one of the shest
ways to change your life
Without a doubt, as I was saying, Allah
guides who he wants to guide. In this
noble religion, we have been ordered to
take into account the process of cause
and effect. This is something that God
has put in the creation. This is
something that we are ordered to deal
with. So the cause and effect is that if
you call people to Islam, the effect is
that normally you will expect people to
embrace Islam. The prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam did not
receive revelation and then just sit in
his home. He went and told people about
it. Now primarily and fundamentally we
need to do that as Muslims because that
is our absolute obligation. No one
should think that this is something
recommended or I can do it if I want to
or you know no everybody is obliged an
obligation upon them to call others to
Islam. The prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam he said call people to
my message or pass on my message even if
it is one verse of the Quran. If you
know one verse of the Quran and you
understand it, it is your obligation to
pass it on. And Allah subhana t he took
a vote an oath. He took an oath.
Allah swore by time that all of mankind
are in a state of loss
except those who believe
and those who do righteous actions
and they join together in the mutual
teaching of truth and they join together
in the mutual teaching of patience. So
if you do not involve yourself in
teaching the truth and being patient
upon teaching that truth cuz you will
never succeed in calling people to Islam
except with patience. If you don't do
that you are still amongst those who are
lost. Even if you believe and even if
you do righteous actions, if you don't
participate in one way or another in da
in calling people to Islam, in calling
to the truth, in enduring the right and
forbidding the evil and patient upon it,
then you're going to be of those people
who are lost.
Can you share with us some methods, some
ways in which individuals can
participate in in da'a? Well, there's
lots of ways. I mean from
the the first way that one can
participate in in giving daer is that
you you equip yourself with the
knowledge and the information that you
need in order to be able to convince
others that Islam is the truth and that
their religion is false. It's not only
by the way of convincing someone that
Islam is true. There's always a a how
can we say a a a double method. We we
convince people that Islam is true, but
we also need to show them that they are
upon falsehood. In fact, it usually
comes the other way around. You have to
show them that what they're upon is
falsehood. And then after that, you
illustrate to them how Islam is true.
This is essential. This is implicit even
in the actual shahada,
the negation and the affirmation that
there is nothing worthy of worship
except Allah. the negation nothing no
god worthy of worship Illah except Allah
so there's the affirmation and sorry the
negation and the affirmation so
you need to get the knowledge you need
to get the information and you can do
that you can participate even either on
an individual level or on a wider level
like those people who give lectures and
talks and so on and so forth like
yourself and myself this is one way you
can do it uh you should start generally
anyway with your family. This is the
first people you should start with. They
have the most obligation upon you and
then after that your friends and then
the people nearest to you and so on and
so on and so forth. So this is the
method inshallah calling them first and
foremost to the oneness of Allah not to
what are really side issues you know
like uh I don't know why do we chop the
hand off a thief or trying to explain to
people this and that. These are really
side issues. The most important thing is
to explain them why Allahh alone should
be worshiped. And if you feel that you
can't do that, okay, you should still
strive to, but there's other ways you
can uh you can distribute literature.
You could you can maybe Allah has gifted
you with the ability to make money. Then
you can give your money to people who
are giving da you can help those
organizations. You can help those
institutions that are concerned with
propagating Islam. Maybe Allah has not
given you the gift of the gab. Maybe you
have good organizational talents. Then
you could get involved in organizing or
helping to organize some activities and
so on and so forth. One doesn't have to
think that the only way to give da is by
sitting there like, you know, I do on
the soap box and speaker's corner, you
know, telling people about Islam or so.
There's lots of different ways that you
can get involved.