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So we drove to New York
and in New York I remember going to the ATM to get some money
and in New York they have these ATMs where we have to go in double glass room
to get the money from ATM
I don't if they have that here
or if anyone of you have been to New York
Now,Allhamdulilah,you have to put your bank card in to go in there
but in '97 it was not like this
You went it,and it was almost like the game mouse-trap
Because you go in,take out your money,criminal comes right behind you
there's nowhere for you to go
you know,there's nowhere to run
So I went in,I took my money out of the ATM
and I heard the door open behind me
you know,so I turned around
you know,I thought someone was coming behind me
and there was a man who'd put the gun on my face
and..he must have really really really really needed this money
because he didn't ask me anything
he didn't say a single word
I just remember looking at the gun on my face
and him pulling the trigger
And it was a revolver
and..
to this day I'll never forget that image of my head seeing that little spindle turn
and hearing that very distinct click
of a revolver and..
it probably could've been like a 32 snub nose gun like this
but when it was on my face,it looked like one of those canons that you see on the movies
and I remember when he pulled the trigger
I didn't think anything
You don't think anything,you're just blank
You just go into this shock of blankness
and then,a couple of seconds later
thankfully I had been doing martial arts
that might have helped me overcome the flight or fright syndrome
because all I could think was "Go!'
You know,like myself kicking myself like,"What you doing,go!"
So I bum rushed him,we were flying,he went flying,money was flying,
And I took off and went to the hotel
I didn't say anything until we went back to South Carolina the next day
and I didn't say anything cuz we were not supposed to be in New York
My grandfather would've killed me
If that guy didn't kill me,my grandfather would've took care of it
So..I didn't say anything
until about a month or two later
you know,I kept having nightmares about this same incident
I kept having night terrors
from this incident
So I told my grandmother about it
and she told me the same thing that the officer had told me
She said,you know..you have to realise that God has a purpose for your life
You're here for a reason
People don't go through the things that you've been through
and still walking on this earth without a reason
and you're pushing the limit
This is what she told me
You're pushing the limit,really
God has something for you
and He wants you to get it
but you're pushing it
and..
she didn't tell me to go back to Christianity and study my Bible
The only thing she told me was,that God hasn't gone anywhere
you just have not looked in the right place yet
And so..I decided to put myself back together
You know..the car wreck,the gun thing,getting arrested for fighting
All of that..like..really made me stop really quick and think
You know..I need to get my stuff together
So I became an agnostic
Someone who believes..I believed in God but no form of religion
I prayed to God..on the floor on my hands and knees
because this is how all the books of God..this is how the Bible,
the Torah,the New Testament,the Bhagawad Gita..
all of these scriptures that I ever read
they said that this is how the men of God pray
and..
It was during this time that I did read one book about Islam
in the public library
because I'd never of Islam..ever
But I remember I was look at the religious section in the library
at school
and there was a book about Islam
and..
I was in the library..the public library and I remember it was some title like,
'Why I'm not a muslim' or one of these titles
that was a propoganda against islam
but I had no idea
So I just took the book and read it
and I remember it said that Muslims (Moslems),
and any of you know in Arabic that's a very derogatory word
a 'Mozlem' is someone who oppresses someone else
That's a very quick slight of the pen that was used in the past
for a very real purpose
It said that Moslems were people who worshipped a moon-god named Allah,
who lived in a box in a desert in Saudi Arabia
and they were oppressive to women
There's whole chapter about how they can have four wives and as many as they want actually
cuz they can marry two,divorce one,get three more
you know this whole..
and it said..I remember the one thing that really caught my attention
was the whole chapter on Jihad
were it said that Muslims were allowed to kill non-muslims at any time at any place
without disgression and it was an honourable act
and not only would they go to Heaven for it,but they would get 70 virgins on the way
you know..so I closed the book on Islam
put it back on the shelf
and marked off Islam off my little list of religions
and said thanks but no thanks
and if I ever see a Muslim,I am out
and I said I'm pretty safe in Greenville South Carolina
I've never seen a Muslim ever
So I said i didn't have to worry about running into Muslims,thank God
So..
You know..I started..you know..just worshipping
I tried to just be a good person
pray to God,ask Him for guidance
try to be a generally good person
and I remember when I met a Muslim
I met a Muslim who I had met a couple of times at school
we were at the school together
and I knew him
but I never knew that he was a Muslim
and there's a couple of reasons why I never knew he was a Muslim
because he was an African-american,no.1
and the book said that Muslims were Arabs
and..no.2..I didn't know..
You know..I thought Muslims went around marrying as many women as they want,killing Non-muslims..
I didn't know that they could also be part-time drug dealers
So I didn't know..I never knew this guy was a Muslim
I didn't put two and two together
So..
We were at his house one day
and me and my other friend,the one I got into trouble with
I'm trying to keep him out of trouble now
We were at his house..and we were debating something about religion
I forgot what even the topic was
But you know we were just thinking we knew everything
and I was trying to explain him something about the Bible
and..
that guy came in and was listening
He said..have you ever heard of Islam?
I said,Yes..I've heard ALL about Islam
He was like..okay,so what do you think of it?
I said..what do you mean what I think of it?
That's probably the worst religion I've seen on the face of the planet!
He's like,why?
And he's like,I'm a Muslim!
I was like,Man,Just stop playing me!
you know..You're an African-american
He's like..So?
and the book says that all the Muslims are Arabs
He was like what else did you read in the book
and I told him and he was like..Man what in the..you know..what have you been reading!?
He's like..you need to go to the Mosque for Jum'uah
He told me..he's like I'm not a good Muslim..this is what he said to me
I'm not a good Muslim,I'm not even going to try to front and say I'm a good Muslim
He said but I can guide you to some people that can tell you the real truth about Islam
Because he knew about my story about how I wanted to find religion
And he said you need to go to the mosque for Jum'uah
And I said what's Jum'uah?
He said it's just like church with no chairs
I said I can do church with no chairs because
in church the chairs were the worst part anyway
because they had these hard benches that you sit on that are like this
and they're so hard
I said that's good you sit on carpet,wow
every church should be like that
And..I said where's the mosque?
He said it's on Wade Hampton Boulevard
I said where on Wade Hampton Boulevard?
I lived on Wade Hampton Boulevard..I lived right off on Wade Hampton Boulevard
He said you know where Lee road intersects on Wade Hampton?
I said yeah,I live on the other side of the intersection
He said it's right there
No,it's not! There's nothing,there's a gas station and a church
Yeah,you know that church,the Evangelical Missionary Training?
I said yeah I used to take missionary classes there
He said you know that building in the parking lot with a gold thing on top?
I said..yeah,the gym?
He said..no that's the mosque!
cuz I had always thought it was the gym
because it was in the same parking lot and it was just rectangular with two glass doors in the front
and you could literally walk in between the Church and the Masjid(mosque)and touch them like this
anyone doesn't believe me,go to Greenville South Carolina and look at the masjid
You can almost touch both of them just like this
He said it's right there
I said I've never..
you know first I was shocked like I've been living across the street with all these crazy Muslims all my life!
You know..I said I never knew!
You know..and..
He told me to go to Ju'muah and I asked him what time
He said he'll meet me there at 1 o'clock in the afternoon on Friday
So I said ok..I went on Friday
And I'm waiting outside for him
you know..I'm not going inside,that's not happening
You know..I'm seeing all these people going in
and at this time it was a predominantly Indo-***-arab Masjid
Anyone who went in was not American,period.
And I did not see even one African-american going there
and..I did see one..and when he went in,I heard him talking in a dialect that I realised that he's probably from Africa
And I said he's not American
So I'm not going
I'm waiting and I'm standing outside sitting on the church steps
and the Imam pulls up to park in front of me
I had no idea that he was the Imam
But he got out,he asked me am I waiting for someone
and I explained to him..he said oh yeah we know this brother
We don't see him that much but we know who he is
you know..he said I'm glad you came..
He was a very very nice gentle young man
and..he invited me into the mosque
and I kind of wanted to wait for my friend
You know..but I didn't want..at the same time I didn't want to tell this man I didn't want to go in
So I went in and they put me in the back..
and gave me a chair anyway
I said..I came to sit on the floor!
They gave me a chair anyway
You know..and all of these people are piled up in front of me
and there's no American and I'm starting to wonder..you know..if this is a set-up
cuz it started to smell like set-up to me
cuz in my mind I'm like..
You've been set-up before and this seems kind of like this
So..and I'm starting to thinking in my head,you know..scenarios
You know,a young mind at play
I said this other guy my friend..he probably was in the same situation like me..
and he probably made a deal with them
to get out as long as he brought other Americans and tricked them into coming to the mosque
So that they can do their Jihad after Jum'uah and get their 70 virgins
So..I'm sitting here
and there's all these people in front of me
and there's a curtain with all these people behind me making noise
and I have no idea who's back here
So I'm stuck in the middle of this..I hear that there's some women..
But I don't..there's a curtain I have no idea
So I'm like there's something very odd about what's going on in here
I'm like..I'm starting to look for the exit..I'm like..you know
calculating how many people are between me and the exit
You know..I know some martial arts..so I said I might hit a couple of them and I'm out
and then the Imam came and I just now realised that he was Imam cuz he got up on the Mimbar
you know..and they started to call the Adhan
and..you know..I said ok..that man seemed nice..he seemed generally nice
So i felt a little more comfort
and then he got up..
after the Adhan and he started his Khutba.."Innal Hamdulillah Nahmaduhu.."
I said..o-M-y G-o-d!
I said I bet he's talking about me
You know..and he's being forceful..you know..
he was getting loud and banging on the Mimbar,pointing in my direction
You know..I'm like Oh man,I gotta get out of here really quick..you know..
I said well I'm gonna my chance with the women behind me and going to the curtain
and..
then he started to..
when he got done with his Arabic tirade
He started to explain it
You know..that verily all praise belongs to Allah alone or God alone
and Him do we worship and Him do we seek help and assistance..we seek refuge with Him
from the evil that lies..you know..he explained what he said in Arabic
and it sounded to me so beautiful
It was very very beautiful prose what he said
And I wanted to know where he got that..you know..I said where did he get that?
because it was only about God and about the nature of ourselves
All of us should know the beginning of the Khutba
and he quoted the 3 verses from the Qur'an..
'O you who believe,fear God as He should be feared and do not die except in a state of submission to Islam'
He was a vey wise man because he translated everything
It was almost as if he knew I was there and translated everything for me
you know..and he..I remember to this day what the Khutba was about
and I don't if he did because I was there or if that was his already planned Khutba
but it was almost as if it was meant for me
The Khutba was..
..the title of it was that the forgiveness of Allah is open to anyone at anytime at any place
no matter what unless they have committed Shirk
and..
the prose of the Khutba was a very long hadith
A very long hadith that some of you will know..
and just to make it short,it was the hadith where RasulAllah Salallahu Alaihi wasallam
met angel Gabriel or angel Jibreel
and angel Jibreel was telling them
to tell him that if the Muslims commit this certain sin
to tell them that Allah will forgive them
and everytime he would tell the Muslims,they would say,ok what about this sin?
and he would go back and meet with angel Jibreel
and he would go back and come back and say to them that Allah will forgive them for that
and this course happened for many different sins
and finally angel Jibreel Alaihis Salam said
to tell them that Allah had said
that no matter what they do
even if their sins were compiled you know..like the oceans from the east to the west
as long as they have not associated partners with Allah..
tell them that Allah will forgive them
and I remember he told me that..he said that..you know
that the door of repentance to God is open as long as you have not seen the angel of death
or the sun hasn't risen from the west
I really didn't understand the sun risen from the west thing at that time
But..and he said that..you know..
God's forgiveness has to come from God alone
and this was the whole premise of his Khutba
was on forgiveness
and tauba (repentance)
and I was saying to myself
these are the same concepts that I had formulated through reading the religious sriptures myself
and I'm asking myself..where did he get this stuff from?
You know..where did he get all this..and he started using names like..
He used the name Ibraheem (Alaihis Salam)
He used the name Musa..
and I'm like..he translated them to Abraham and Moses
and I'm like..where did he..you know,where is he..
these are names from the Bible,I know these people
and so after this..the Khutba
they started lining up for the prayer
and..
I got apprehensive because everyone is getting up in front of me
and blocking my exit through the door
and so i guess one guy in the back saw me and he..cuz I had to move back,he said we're about to pray
and I said..pray to who?
He said..to God
I said which one?
and he said..the One that created the heavens and the earth
You know..the same One that's in the Bible
the Only Creator of the heavens and the earth,the Only God
I said..yes..I know Him
and..
So the Imam started to pray and when he recited the Qur'an,it sounded very intriguing..I had no idea what it was
But when I saw the Muslims bow and prostrate on the floor,
verses and verses of every religious book that I had ever read started ringing off in my head
that this is the way men of God pray
and the first thing that I could think of in my mind was this is worship
That's what I said to myself..
This is not prayer..because prayer is asking God for something
These people are 'worshipping' God
So I said to myself..
that you've ridden this religion off way too easily
I thought I was a much more open-minded person than that and I was ashamed of myself
that I had ridden off for just one little book
you know..I had put all these studies into the other religions
I read this one thing about Islam and I was done
So I went to the Imam after Jum'uah..he talked to me
and..
I would have to say that I was probably a little bit rude with him
And I'd asked him to forgive me..when I saw him a few years later
I said you gotta forgive me for the first time you saw me
because he started telling me..you know..
would you like to know..he had a very heavy accent,he was an Egyptian brother
Would you like to know a little bit more about Islam
He tried to give me some pamphlets
I said no,no..I don't want any of these
I said..do you have a book?
This is what I wanted to know
Do you have a book..can you give me?
He said,yes we have a Book
He said it's called the Qur'an
I said can I read it?
Is it in English,can I read it?
He said,sure you can read it
and he tried to explain to me a little bit..how it came
I said..Nah,just give me the Book
Because the Book should speak for itself
So I took the Qur'an home
and on Friday night I started to read it
cuz this is a Book I had never seen before
And I was very interested
So I went home and opened the Qur'an
and..I read the Fatiha(Opening chapter)
It seemed to me kind of the Lord's prayer
you know..it was a little similar to what I found in the Bible
But then I started to read
Surah Baqarah (second chapter)
I started to read some of the Ale-Imran (third chapter)
and I started to see names that I had seen before
I started to see names like Abraham
Moses,David,Jesus,Yahya-John the Baptist
Zakariyya-Zachariah,Mary..
and..I said I know all of these names
but there was something different
about these people in this Book
The Prophets that I had found in the Bible
were people that were deplorble of not very good character
These same men in the Qur'an were someone who were at the highest echelon of moral character
and moral fiber
they were someone that was an example to be followed because they lived the message that they preached
therefore they were able to be followed and emulated
So..
I read all of these chapters and I read the story of Jesus(peace be upon him)
Cuz when I saw the name Jesus,it really intruiged me
I wanted to see what does this Book have to say about Jesus
and I read the story in Ale-Imran (chapter 3)
and I read the story in Surah Maryam (chapter 19)
and it was so..it was..
It was more beautiful than anything I had ever read in the New Testament
or any nativety story that I had ever heard
it was more beautiful than that X 10
I remember the only thing that I could capture in my mind
was the miracle of how..
because in the Bible you never really figure out the conflict of how Mary gets over this..
this finger pointing at her about her coming with a baby when she's not married
There's no real end to that
There's no real defence for her
from this in the New Testament
But the Qur'an is so explicit and it's so clear
that Jesus' first miracle was to speak as a baby
and defend the honor of his mother
something you 'cannot' deny
Something that you 'cannot' deny about who Mary was
when you have this baby speaking on her behalf
So..
I would say I read the Qur'an entirely in three days
But that first night after I had made it through Surah Ale-Imran,
my heart was already given to this Book
I didn't know what it meant to be a Muslim
I didn't know how to be a Muslim,I didn't even know what that meant
But I knew that whoever it was that followed this Book
I wanted to be like these people
I wanted to be like the people that I had read about in this Book
These are people I could follow..these are the Prophets
This was a Book of guidance
and this was something that the Book is calling and appealing to me
that if you don't believe in this Book
I've never seen this in any other scripture
The direct challenges that are in the Qur'an
that if you believe this Book is true,put it to the test
Put it to the test
and this was something that was so astounding to me
That God is telling you over and over again
that if you don't believe this is the truth,test it
bring Me something else like it
Test it,put it to test
if it was written..I mean all of the analogies about God
everything was so logical,so rational,so reasonable in my mind
that it was like 2+2=4 and that was it
There was no 1+1+1=3..egg,yolk,water..there was none of that foolishness
the Qur'an was very direct and very straight forward in its teachings
So I gave my heart to Islam
that night in my living room reading the Qur'an
and..you know..I cried and cried
you know..that I had been looking for the truth all this time
had searched all this way
and it was right across the street
right across the street from my house
and..so I went back on monday
to accept Islam
and ask these Muslims..where in the world they've been all this time
and I go..ready to go in there and do my thing
and I go and the Masjid is locked
and..because they only came on Fridays and for Isha during that time
and I didn't know
So I said ok,I guess i'll have to come back on Friday
because everytime I passed by the Masjid after that it was always locked
So I came back on Friday and I took my Shahadah
you know..as they say the rest is history
But I don't travel around the world..and this was in december 1998
I don't travel around the country and the world,telling my story
you know..just for the entertainment value
even though I've been told it does have some entertainment value
I don't tell it for that purpose for sure,if that was the only reason then you can just get it off on Youtube
and it's the same exact story
I'm gonna finish with this and I hope you can give me 10 more mins inshaAllah
to tell you why I go around telling my story
I tell my story to let everyone realise
that there are millions and millions and millions of people just like me
Just like me in 1998
searching for the truth,can't find a way out
there are millions of people
there are probably millions of people in California
Hundreds of thousands if not millions right here in Orange County
and Los Angeles and Southern california area
that want to know the truth
that are tired of hearing the same garbage preached to them over and over again
tired of this Shaitan-box (televsion) telling to them the same thing over and over again
tired of the world being in the condition it's in
tired of their life being in the condition it's in
and we have as Muslims have the solution to every single one of their problems
and guess where we keep it at
right here inside the Masjid
Right here inside the Masjid we have all of this truth
We have the solution to every problem in the world
You want to solve the world hunger?
the problem of world hunger
Islam has that solution
You want to solve the problem of world poverty?
Islam has the answer
you wanna fix the economic situation of this country?
Islam could fix it tomorrow!
and this was an..a piece in The Washington Post
in The Washington Post there was a piece that
the two markets that are falling apart in this country are
investments and housing
and there are two people in this market
the rest are bottoming down and this market is steadily climbing
it's not assuring getting rich overnight
like people want to but it's continually going up
and that is Islamic financing and Islamic housing markets
These two things are so steady and so strong
that economists in DC are trying to figure out
how they can take some of these Islamic principles from these investings
and housing firms and plug them into this system to give it some stabilty
because they realised that you won't get rich overnight in the Islamic system
but it will be stable
and it will be something that will give stability
So..
They are starting to find out that Islam has the answer and solution to their problems
but we already know this
we already know this that we can solve every world problem with Islam..will put an end to it
but the problem is..
we're hiding it from the people
unfortunately..willingly or unwillingly,knowingly or unknowingly
we are hiding this from the people
and..there's a statement in the Qur'an
that Allah warns the Jews about what they did with their religion
and there's a statement that's left in the Qur'an for us
that verily those who conceal the evidences and the clear proofs
after We have made it clear to them in the Book
they are those who are cursed by Allah and cursed by those who curse
until and unless they repent
and reveal that which they have been concealing
those I will accept their repentance because I am the One who accepts it,the most Merciful
We have become guilty just the same way the Jews had been hiding the truth about their religion
When they saw the Prophet Muhammad Salallahu alaihi wasallam,
they knew the truth and wanted to hide it
People,we know the truth about Islam
and we're hiding it
We as Muslims are running around
begging Allah for dignity and honour and help
when He has already given it to us in this Deen
everything that a Muslim could ever want has already been given to him in this Deen of Islam
Anything that you ask Allah for
there is an account set up for you to go take it out of
you just gotta find where it's at
And any of you..I'm not go through the aayahs cuz it's too long
But if wanna know the solutions to every one of your problems in this world and the Hereafter
just go read Surah Saff (61),aayah 10-13
very very easy solution,if I had the time I would read them to you inshaAllah
But..
we have the cure to every disease in the world
and we're not giving it to the people
and I want to use this as a parable cuz I really want this to hit home with you
Let's say,what's your name brother?
Abdullah..mashaAllah
Let's say me and Abdullah are best friends,we're brothers in Deen,we're roommates
and we've been roommates for years and years and years
and let's say Br.Abdullah has..contracts an illness,a disease
That is one of the most painful diseases that any humanbeing can ever ever go through in his life
and it's not something that's going to kill him quick
Let's say this disease is going to suffer and infest Abdullah
and make him not able to eat,sleep,nothing..he's just miserable all the time
when I come home..he's rolling around on floor in pain
and let's say I know him in this condition
and let's say one day I come across the cure for his disease
someone tells me that if you give this to Abdullah or anyone like him,
he would be instantly cured and he will never suffer again
and let's say I take that and put it in my pocket
and I don't give it to Abdullah
why..why don't I give it to Abdullah?
no.1..I'm way too busy..I have two jobs,going to school
you know I have a long commune back and forth
you know I gotta drive up and down everyday
I don't have time to give Abdullah this medicine man
If he wants the medicine,he'll have to go get it himself
I don't have time,I'm really busy
No.2..I'm not a doctor
I should not be prescribing Abdullah medicine and I'm not knowledgable in Medicine
If he needs help,he should go see a doctor..I'm not a doctor
No.3..Abdullah's..please forgive me..but Abdullah's kind of stubborn
He doesn't really listen very well
He probably..you know..he's kind of set in his way
So even if I tell this medicine is good for him and will cure him,he probably wouldn't even take it anyway
so why waste my time?
Do any of these excuses sound familiar?
And let's say i don't give this medicine to Abdullah..
and he dies
and let's say he dies the most painful death that you can ever imagine
I wanna ask you a kind of a rhetorical question
Do you think on the Day of Judgement that..
Allah is going to call me and Abdullah
and ask him about this incident between me and him
because I've oppressed him
I have oppressed him..I've allowed him to suffer knowing that i could ease his suffering
I'm sure Allah is going to ask us about this
But you know the beauty about Islam
is that..if Abdullah was a good Muslim,
bore this disease patiently and died
he dies as a Shaheed (martyr)
inshaAllah
and on the Day of Judgement..this is how beautiful Islam is
that he could very well become before and Allah asks us about this and Br.Abdullah says
you know what..Allah,I forgive him..so You forgive him
This is the beauty of our religion
and Allah will forgive me
but the disease that I want to tell you about
is the disease that every single non-muslim walks around with
every single day
and they don't even know it
It has no real physical symptoms
and that's the disease of Shirk
the disease of being Jahl,being ignorant about Allah SWT
Allah gives them life..
and they worship someone else
Allah feeds them..
and they thank someone else
He created them and fashioned them in the womb of their mother
and knows them better than they know themselves
and they have NO idea who He is
They don't even know who He is
If that doesn't pain your heart to see a a person in this condition,
then for sure the hearts have become hardened
because when I see non-muslims especially when I sit in places like airports
I see this disease,I see it on them
I see them walking around with it
and there are so many of them passing me
I think to myself there's noway I can talk to all of them
There's nothing I can do
And this disease is something that not only is it not going to show up as physical symptoms,
it is going to leave them ignorant about Allah SWT
but when the day they die..
they will die the most physically painful death that anyone can ever suffer
RasulAllah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that when the angel of death comes to the disbeliever,
it doesn't come kindly,he yanks the soul through and it's as if his flesh is torn from his bones
it's as if they take Br.Abdullah and turn him upside down and stuff him in a human paper shredder
This is a death that's waiting for those who do not know Allah SWT
and you know the unfortunate thing..?
that while you've been sitting here listening to me,
thousands of people have died
Thousands of people have lost their life not knowing Allah while I'm talking to you right now
People in this city have lost their life
and there's nothing we can do about them
They're gone..it's too late for them
We can't save them even if we want to
And it's a deplorable,deplorable,sad,sad fact
That we can't save them
But there are many many many many who we can save
And that all of that takes is us taking this light of Islam we have
and showing it to the world
There's a statement in the Bible
and I finish with this
Whether Jesus (Peace be upon him) said this or not doesn't matter
because this statement is one of the most profound statements
that has been somewhat of a focus for me
in my mission of Da'wah
It is said that no one would bring a candle
into his home and then place place a bucket on top of it
because then no one would benefit from the light
If someone would bring a candle to home,they would set it on the table in the middle of the room
so that everyone can benefit from this light
And unfortunately,the Muslims of this generation
we are a bunch of candles with buckets on top of it
No one can see our light
No one can see the beauty of Islam
and believe me,if you don't see it..
believe me..take it from someone who was once standing on the outside
looking through the window at that light
It is one of the most beautiful things you can ever lay your eyes on
It is a treasure to be found of treasures
and everyone else can see this and they will see this
if we show it to them
If we allow Islam to be Islam
If we start becoming 'Muslims'
meaning that we..
the best form of Da'wah that you can do to this world
is very very simple
it's not complex..it doesn't take a 10-hour workshop even though some of the details do
But if you wanna know the way,
the best way to do Da'wah is for Muslims to be Muslims
That's it
Study our history
Study the history of Islam
Why was the world conquered by Islam?
Not through military campaigns and wars
but through Muslims being Muslims
The most populated Muslim country Indonesia
was because of Muslims being Muslims
A few Muslims decided to give up all behind and go to another country
and live their life as Muslims
not shaving off their Deen to be pleasing to those people
But being Muslims
and when the people asked them and enquired them
What is it about you,you backward Arabs that we've all these crazy things about
now you come out of the desert with pristine moral and character
and you have better ethics and morals than we do
What is it that's happened to you people
and the answer was 'La ilaaha ilallah Muhammadur-Rasoolullah'
That we believe in Allah and that He has sent us a man named Muhammad
and we emulate his lifestyle
that's why we're like this
This is what conquered the world for Islam
This is what conquered people's hearts for Islam
Was the truth and the beauty of it,and the simplicity of its message
This is what the world needs
With all of this foolishness going on in the world,
this is what it needs..the simplicity of Islam
whether they want to hear it or not
They know it in the bottom of their heart when you show them the truth
even if they turn away from it
They know it's the right thing..they know it's the truth
And on the Day of Judgement you can stand before Allah SWT
having washed your hands and saying that I did my job
and I finish with this one more thing
I finish with this..
If you don't believe that this is important
If you don't believe that this is one of the most important things you can do as a Muslim,
then..the last statement of Prophet Muhammad Sallahu Alaihi Wasallam to the Muslims as a whole
he gave his farewell sermon
and we know what his farewell sermon was
it was a summary,or a synopsis of what Islam is in its general principles
And he knew this was the last he was going to say to the Muslims as a whole
and how did he end this sermon
"Those who are here,pass this on to those that are not here..
for verily it may be that the last one that hears my message may understand it
than those right here among us"
He gave a command to those Muslims
to pass it on
and for those Muslims to pass it on
until there was no one left to hear this message
This was the command he gave
The last command he gave to this Ummah as a whole
And then what happened
he pointed his finger towards the Heavens and said
O Allah,bear witness that I have indeed conveyed Your message
and upon saying this what happened?
Allah revealed the Surah..'This day I have perfected for you your Deen..
and completed My favour upon you and chose for you Islam as your religion'
And the last statement that Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam gave to us
before this was revealed was that we must pass this message on
He gave us that duty
he took that duty that was only reserved for Prophets
no one else,no other..if you don't believe me,go and read Surah Bayyinah
about what was commanded of the other nations
No other nation was given this opportunity and blessing
to pass on this Deen except us
because there are no more Prophets coming
So the job falls on our shoulders
Qur'an's not gonna fall out of the sky and hit people when they're walking on the street
This job has now become ours
and just like if Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam had not done his mission,
he would've been accountable before Allah,
we,if we do not do our job of spreading this message of Islam,
we will stand before Allah on the Day of Judgement
Don't be the person standing before Allah on the Day of Judgement
and your neighbor that you've known,
your co-worker that you've known 10,15,20 years come and find you and telling you
You knew this Day was coming
You knew this Day was coming..and what was gonna happen to me
and you did not say anything to me
And those people will complain to Allah about us
They will complain to Allah about us
because we have the truth right amongst them
and we're not giving it to them
We need to stop hiding it in our Masjids,and our homes and our hearts
and we need to give it to the people
It's beautiful,trust me
Just hand it to them
I promise you they'll take it
because it's is so pure and pristine
And forgive me for probably going over my time
and if we have time,I wanna leave some time for questions and answers
And I will be outside to take any questions and answers
the only last thing that I want to announce to let you brothers and sisters know is that
One of my biggest Da'wah projects is the DVD project that I do
and my goal is to put a DVD about Islam in the hands of every single person in the USA
Right now we're working in Florida and I have other brothers working in other places
because people will watch a DVD,we did studies on this
and people will watch media..before they read a book or before they listen to audio CD
and Alhamdulilah,through these DVDs we've got..I would say an average of about 2 shahadas a month
because my personal contact info's on the DVDs and people watched them and they called me
and I conversed with them and..
usually they..most of them accepted Islam
I just had a shahadah the day before yesterday from Irving,Texas
from someone who had bought the DVD,a Muslim had bought and given it to his friend
his friend hated it..or he didn't want it..so he gave it to another person
and that person gave it to a co-worker,who watched it and accepted Islam
So..
this is one of my biggest projects
and the way this projects works is that I make a 100 DVDs
and I brought 2 of them with me today I'm gonna explain what they are
The way this project works is that I make a 100 DVDs
and 75 of them go out to different Da'wah arenas
and the other 25,I make available for Muslims to purchase, for two reasons
so that they can be..so that I can buy another 100 to make
and so that you can share in this ajar (reward) along with me
because when you purchase a DVD that makes another DVD or you give it to your friend
then you share in this ajar with me
and everyone knows that Da'wah is the biggest pyramid system
because of the Hadith of RasulAllah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam that
one who calls to guidance gets the same reward as the one guided without that reward being lost from him
So..I make these DVDs available to the Muslims
so that you can put a little effort in Da'wah
and make another 100 inshaAllah
So I brought 2 today and they're outside
One of them is called 'Islam and the Bible'
which is basically what I just told you,in a powerpoint format
so that you can see all of these verses that I saw
all these things that I read that allowed me to see the truth of Islam very clearly when I saw
and I coincided them with the Qur'an
so that you can see them
And there's another one called
the other one's called 'The true Gospel of Jesus Christ'
where I go through the New Testament..the first part is I think an interview about me
and my story to Islam and some other Q&As on other DVDs
about nature of God and all these different things
It's a power point presentation about the New Testament and Jesus Christ
and how you can prove to someone that Jesus Christ taught Islam from the New Testament,
from their own book that they have to agree
They either have it believe or reject it
If you believe it,then you have to believe what I'm saying is true about Islam
If you reject it,then ths is your book not my
So..I try to use these two teaching methods
and they also can be given to Non-muslims cuz they're in a power point format
they're in a very educated format
and they're available outside for 10$ each
So if you could please,don't make me take any of them back home
because they always have something about taking two other DVDs on aeroplane anyway
So please come and get them and if you have any questions,my contact info is on there..everything
if you have any more questions for me and my website
and I thank-you for your time
and if anything has been of benefit,know that truly all good comes from Allah SWT
and if anything that I've said is incorrect,or hurtful or shameful
know that indeed that comes from my own nafs (self) and my own lack of understanding
Assalamu alaikum warehmatullahi wabarakatuhu