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Subtitles by @Dawahtweet, make Dua for me!!
How the Bible Led Me to Islam: The Story of a Former Christian Youth Minister By Br. Joshua Evans February 6, 2009
Assalamualaikum warehmatullahI wabarakatuhu
Dua
I'm going to tell you tonight
About my journey
From why once was I a former Christian Youth Minister
To how I got to where I'm now
There are a lot of bumps on the road
You know, it seems pretty clear
Yeah, you were a minister
And now you're Muslim
There's a little more to it, inshaAllah
So just bear with me
And hopefully you'll get something out of it
Because the point is,
At the end...
I want you to get the message behind this story
Because if I was travelling around the country
Just to tell my story
Then I would be wasting time
It's on YouTube anyone can go and get it
From anywhere in the world
So inshAllah
We are going to begin at the beginning
I was born and raised in South Carolina
*repeat*I was born and raised in Greenville South Carolina.
And I was raised by my grandparents
Because at a very early age my mother had stepped out
And my father was working two jobs
So it was me and my grandparents
And my grandparents were
The traditional conservative southern Christian folk as the say
They were very very conservative
In their ideals and their ideologies
In their ways
As you here about people
Being set in their ways
That was my grandparents
This is the way they did it
And you did the way every single day and that was it
Umm
We were very religious in the sense that
we went to church on sundays
sunday evenings
We went to church wensday
And in Christianity that is considered very religious
It wasn't hard for us to go to church,
and it wasn't difficult for my grandmother to drag me to church
every sunday
This as a kid is what they had to do
because the church was two houses
down from our house
there were two houses and then there was the church
It wasn't hard for them to drag me every sunday
I hated church as kid
because of the simple reason
that we were bought up as United Methodist
And methodist is,for any of you who know
is very traditional
Its not like you think about screaming and shouting in church
and all that
you listen to the preacher
stand up and you sing
you sit back down
you listen to the preacher
you stand up and sing
you sit back down
and listen to the preacher
and that is it
that's all that happens
The pews as they call them, the chairs
Are made out of wood
They are hard
You are tired of sittting there You are fumbling around
Playing with the money that my grandmother
Gave me to put in the offering plate
That's what I remember from church
As a very small boy
The thing that I do remember enjoying
About church
Was umm
Sunday school
Sunday school was from what I got my enjoyment from
Because I went to Sunday school
You are painting pictures
Of Noah
Building the ark
All these pictures
Of Moses splitting the red sea
You learned stories of Moses freeing the children of Israel
From Egypt
You learn the story about him splitting the red sea
U learn the story of Noah and the ark
You learn the story of David and goliath
You learn all these beautiful stories
Is in Sunday school
This was basically as coming up
This is what I knew about Christianity
Were the stories that learned at Sunday school
Because I never listened to the preacher
During regular service
So that was the only thing I knew about Christianity
So coming up this was how it was
This was the norm
And the conservatism in my house
Just to give you an example
And about the level of conservatism
Is
Umm
Let's talk about gender issues
Let's say when I became
12, 13, 14...yrs
And I started to actually notice females
And I actually didn't think that they had diseases
And didn't want to run away from them every time is saw them
Let's say I wanted to have a girl over, or something of this nature
It was so serious to my grandmother
That I had to make an appointment with her
Let her know that this girl was coming to my house
We had to sit in the formal living room
Which in the south don't know how is it here
But you have the dining room; you have the formal living room
With all the nice stuff
That you don't go unless you have company over
And my grandmother had to sit IN the room with us, or in the kitchen
Where she could see directly in the room
I mean this just how it was
In my house
This is how my grandmother and grandfather were
They were very stern
They were very loving
But there were rules, and the rules were as they were
And they did not change
So this was my upbringing
And I would say that about the age of 12, 13
14
More along the age of 13, 14
I started going to the Saturday
Evening youth services
At my church
They were for 12 and up
The youth services were held in the gym
And they were totally different than church
At the youth services you went
We played basketball
Played volleyball
We played dodge ball
We played every kind of sport
And we ate pizza
And cake
And candy and all of
The stuff that kids like to do
And at the end
The youth minister
Who happened?
To be my catty corner neighbour
Across the street
When I was fourteen
He was 17
Umm
He was the youth minister
So he would sit us down
And give us a thirty minute lecture
About Christianity
About something about God
You know he would give us a thirty minute sermon
And that is how the youth services were
And going to these youth services
I met some other people who went to other youth services
They invited me to Young men for Christ
And other things that were going on inside
Of South Carolina
And so I started to go to these different retreats
And camping trips with them
And so that is why I would say that
I started to become a Christian
Out of will
I became a Christian because I wanted to
Not because it was something that I was dragged to
I started to actually want to be Christian
That was something wanted to do
My own choice
My own decision
So when I turned 15
I started to go to high school
And when I was a freshman in high school
My best friend who was a youth minister
Was a senior in high school?
And I remember we had a very close bond
I didn't have my license yet, so I used to ride with him
To school every day
And it was a big deal for me to ride to school with a senior
Especially since he had a brand new....a. a...
I don't know if it was brand new
But he had '67
Mustang
Which I have always been a fan of course
When I was kid
So we had a very close bond
And we were very good friends
Because both of our parents
They didn't let us do much
So we spent a lot of time with each other
And when I became a sophomore (Second year in High school)
He graduated
And started to attend Bob Jones University
I don't know if that rings a bell with anyone
But
Bob Jones university is a very
Prestigious conservative
Christian college
In Greenville, South Carolina
It's probably the most conservative
College I have ever
Seen
Because the Moody institute is known as one the most famous in this country
It's in Chicago
But Bob Jones is conservative to the point where
When it comes to men and women
Men and women are not allowed to get caught talking to each other,in the room alone
If they are not married
Holding hands
On campus
The men had to wear button up shirts
Or polo shirts
Tucked in with slacks
Or jeans
And the women had to wear skirts
No jeans
Skirts that came down to the ankle
And a shirt that came to the wrists
And this was the part of the guidelines
For Bob Jones university
You didn't party
You didn't drink
There was none of this to happen
At Bob Jones university
Um
And he started going
There
And his major was textual criticism
And textual criticism is probably
Doesn't ring a bell with anyone
And to explain it in detail
Will probably take
An another entire lecture
But just to give you a brief
Synopsis
Of what is textual criticism?
Textual critic takes the ancient manuscripts
Of the bible
The pieces of parchment that were found all over the world
And he has to learn Hebrew
Greek
Aramaic
Latin
These languages
In which these parchments have been found
And he has to take these scriptures
And try to find out
Where they came from
Why there are variations in the many different versions of the
same parchment
let's say you have Mathew chapter 1 from the bible
there might be 5000 variant different readings
of Mathew chapter 1
in 6 languages
and he has to take all these and sift through them
try to find out why there are so many variations in the readings
and then determine which one is the original
um
and that's not as easy a task as it seems
which one is the oldest is probably the more original
which is not the case
since there are no originals
you might have one parchment which is the oldest parchment
of the group
but it might be a copy of the copy of the copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. which is laden with mistakes
and then you might have the newest parchment
in the series that might be once over copied from the original
or twice over of a second copy of the original
therefore making the newer parchment making more original than the older one
so it's not a very easy field
to go into
and he started studying textual criticism
and being that I was his best friend
I also started studying textual criticism
whenever he was doing his homework
his research papers
I was right there with him
whenever he did his homework
he would always let me read it
when he finished his papers
he would give them to me
he would pass down all those papers to me
every textbook when he was done with it
he would give it to me
I started to learn a little bit of Greek
little bit of Hebrew
um
so I became a laymen textual critic
and I applied to Bob Jones university
in my sophomore year
because there was a 3 year waiting process
for Bob Jones
and when I turned sixteen
almost 17
My friend came to me one day and
he asked me a question
that I had never even really pondered upon
he asked me and said
have you read the bible?
and I said uh no, in church, we have all read the bible in church
you know your parents make you open it up
and look at it
and for bible studies I went to young men to Christ
we did have
bible studies
and we read a few passages
and talked for 2 hrs
about those few passages
but he is like
No have you ever read it
you know like you read a book
beginning to end
I said No, I don't know anybody, and nobody that I know may have ever read it
beginning Genesis 1:1 to the end
he said so
this is the inerrant word of God as we are taught
but he said that this our instruction
on earth
why haven't we read it?
you know why we haven't read this book
And I said you know that is a very good question
and he gave me a challenge
basically the challenge was for us both
he said
let us start with
genesis 1:1
and let's read the bible and let's see what God says to us
because this is the
the inerrant word of God
inspired to men
for instructions for us
so let us see what God
says to us
if God can talk to the preacher
through this book why can't he talk to me?
I said your right
I said that is very good
I had a lot of time on my hand
wasn't really allowed to do much anyway
So after school I said why not the bible read
I was somewhat nerdy as for a 16yr old
so we started to read the bible
and we decide to go from genesis 1:1
and what we tried to do is
this was the attempt that we made was to
not think of anything that we had ever heard about Christianity
but to open the bible...
let's say I just found this book in the desert
and really see what it says to me
let it talk to us
so we started from genesis 1:1
and we started reading though the bible
we did some of it together
most of it I did it by my self
because I'm a very very
quick reader
so I sat and read a lot on my own
and as I was reading
through the bible
um
I started to notice the story
that I had heard in Sunday school
u know u started reading genesis
and we read about Adam and eve
you know we all know that story
we started to read about Deuteronomy, exodus you know stories
of Moses
story of Noah
the story of Lot and Abraham
and all these stories that I know
but I was surprisingly and astonish shocked
by some of the stories that I read
about the same people
that I learned about in Sunday school
just for instance
and this is a big testament
to why Allah kept send us prophets
and why was Islam sent as a completed perfected
Deen with the Quran
if you read about Noah
in the bible
there is the story of Noah saving the
humanity from the flood
with an ark and all of that
there is this in the bible
there is another aspect to this story
of Noah
that many people know about and not many people take the actual time
to open the bible
this story will not be taught from any pulpit
anywhere
is that the bible says that
Noah was an alcoholic
this is the bibles portrayal of Noah
or Nuh alayhis salaam
that he was an alcoholic
that he was a drunkard
this the word used in the bible
that he was the man given
to alcohol
and I'm a Psychology major
and my... my... my field of specialty
is mental illnesses and alcoholism is one of those
mental illness
and I know from seeing
alcoholism's effect on one of my
close
friend''s parents
I know that
someone who is truly addicted to alcohol
and if Noah lived for so long
addicted to alcohol
he was seriously addicted to alcohol
um
it is hard for someone addicted to alcohol
to hold down a 9-5 job at McDonalds flipping hamburgers
much less construct an ark
to save humanity
from a flood
that has never happened
so that stopped me for a moment
in my tracks
and I said Noah was an alcoholic
you know and
it bothered me because I said
things started to pop in my mind
if Noah was a drunkard
how did he know that God was talking to him?
you know I've seen some people
alcoholics
*laughs*
You were just asleep in my dog's food bowl the other night
drooling
and now you are telling me that you were talking to God last night
to rationally
that did not make sense to me
that's like an alcoholic
like on the street coming up to you and saying God's talking to him
you know
this man has no validity
with anyone
I didn't pay it too much attention.
It caught me
but I said you know what I'm going to keep going
because there is one thing that you don't do in Christianity
and I will tell you what it is
in a minute.....when I started doing it
then I came across
the story of lot
or Lut alayhis salaam
and we all know the story
of *** and Gomorrha
and these stories
but there is another very
twisted story in the bible
about lot and his daughters
there is a story
in the bible
that says that his daughters got him drunk one night
and seduced him and committed *** with him
audhubillah
this is one of the bible portrayals of the prophets of God
the person who saved his family from
*** and Gomorrha
this is the story that is in the bible
so I'm catching myself again like
how it is becoming a really bad
bad habit
this is becoming a bad recurrence that I am seeing
over and over again
in this bible
so after that I started speeding through
the other mumbo jumbo
to get more of these prophet stories
and I got to the story
there are others
and there are some stories in the bible that are
not PG rated
period.
they are not rated for talking anywhere
you would need an
18+ id card
to be able for me to even tell you these stories
the one that intrigued me the most
that caught my attention
the most
was of my most beloved story in the bible
and that was of David and goliath
that was my most intriguing story
to me
because not only did it say in the bible
that David was a very small man,
and goliath
was a very big man
and that was very appealing to me
because I have always been very short
as a kid I was really short
so...
you know I said this was a very beautiful story for me
in its prose
in its concept
of overcoming
so I started to read about David
and there are very beautiful stories about David
in the bible
they are indeed (beautiful).
but there is one story about David in the bible
that shocked me to my core
and it's a story about 3 people
in this drama
david, Bathsheba and Uriah
and it says that David saw this woman named Bathsheba
and she was one of the most beautiful women of her time
and she happened to be married to one of his commanders in the army
, named Uriah
but David on this day decided
that he was not able to resist his temptation
to be with this women Bathsheba
so he did
and he committed adultery with her
and knowing that he did this
the way he decided to cover up
he sent a letter to the generals of his army
saying that when the battle was fierce
for everyone to pull back and abandon Uriah
so that he would be killed
and when he dies
he could have Bathsheba
no harm no foul
David went from being
the slayer of goliath
the hero of man
to an adulterer
a plotter and a murderer
and so this is when I really caught myself and said
hold on now
something's is wrong in here
I said because
to me God's prophet in my mind were people
with examples
people who I could follow as an example
someone who was supposed
to be the best of us
so that we could follow them and emulate them
and they are turning out to be some of the worst people
that you see on Americas most wanted
David was somebody...
If I only knew this about him from the bible
I see him coming down the streets
I will go the other way and call 911
because he has to have a warrant out on him
for something
this is what I am thinking about in my mind
this man an honourable man at all
he he...ok he killed goliath
but he killed this other guy named Uriah
to be able to commit adultery
with his wife
so I committed sin in Christianity
I started asking questions
this is one thing that you do not do in Christianity
is that you don't ask questions
especially not about issues like this
so I went to my pastor
and I started asking questions
what's going on here?
Pastor there is this very bad recurring habit about these men in the bible
what is the deal here?
and I remember he told me the same thing that I
almost every pastor or every evangelist
or anyone I talked to about...
same answer
they are almost like he was programmed
they would put the hand on my shoulder
and say
brother Joshua
don't let a little bit of knowledge wreak your faith
because you are not justified by knowledge
you are justified by faith
and they would quote me verses like "lean not on understanding
you know Pauls way justified by faith in Jesus Christ
this they would quote this whole line
like it was already pre-programmed
they like programmed the pastors
when people ask you questions and here is the answer
*laughs*
so I said to myself
you know I don't know pastor
this seems kind of odd
he said let me tell you something
what you are reading is the old testament
referring to the covenant of God with the children of Israel
and they were a different people
people who were very stubborn
crazy people
so why don't you move on to the new testament
in the new testament
you will find the new covenant
underwent with Jesus Christ
and I promise you things will change
and be better
I said ok perfect
so I read all in one hit and finished then got to Malachi
then started with the new testament
so I opened the book and said here we go
let's start of over again
But there were a few things that I had
learnt from the old testament
that I wanted to keep in mind
when I started to read the new testament
I learned No.1 That God was one in a unique sense
this is what I learned from the old testament
that God was one in a singular unique sense
this is over and over and over and over
very clearly in the bible
God's nature is one
this is so clear through the old testament
and that He was very jealous about His worship
and every single time the children of Israel
would turn to something else other than Him
He would punish them and restrict their lifestyles
this is something that I learned
and it kind off. similitude to me of how God dealt with the children of Israel
I hate to use this stark contrast
but it's almost as if one of us went out
God forbid *audhubillah* I hope not
and let's say we went out here
and robbed the bank
u rob a bank u go in jail for a long time
and every dad when you wake up
Do you think that the jail is going to look like the Hilton at LAX
No I doubt it
it's probably dark, cold
bad food
orange jumpsuits
not nice people
the whole 9 yards
and the reason why this is
and I study psychology I know that this
is supposed to be a stark reminder every single day
this person wakes up that you are in jail
this is supposed to remind them every single day
you are in jail because you committed a crime
and we run this not you
this is the message that is being portrayed to the person in jail
So the children of Israel kept rebelling
against God
He restricted their lifestyle
If you study Judaic law now
it is one of the strictest
religious law you can find
all of the good things that we enjoy as Muslims
even when it comes to dietary laws
like the good parts of the meat
that we are allowed to ear
they can't have these things
these are the things that are restricted from them
Why? because God. Allah wanted to remind them
everyday
That I am Allah
I am your God and you will worship me
I RUN this(emphasis)
Not you
and I understood this from reading the OT
this is a concept that I have come across
So I started with the NT
Mathew mark Luke and john
and one other thing that I did when I started to read the bible
was that if you go to Barnes and noble
let's say you go to Barnes and nobles and
you take a book of the shelf
what is usually the first thing you look at?
the title
then the next thing, the author
you want to know the title and the author
what is the name of the book?
and who wrote it
and if you do this test with every single
book of the bible
you get a title
and no author
or author unknown
or author is appears to be so and so
or we derived this so and so has possibly written this
you know like, just say like for exodus
they say that Moses wrote the exodus
which if you read some of exodus
he couldn't have written all of this
because the last part of exodus
is Moses's death burial
and Joshua taking over the children of Israel
and now unless Moses was
a sure indeed prophet that was able to write things
after he died
then he did not write these things
so when you go to Mathew mark Luke and john
I wanted to know Mathew who?
mark who?
Luke who?
john who?
because it's called a gospel according to Mathew
the bad thing is that no one know
No one knows because no one
penned their name down
to these things
No bible scholar in his right mind
will tell you that "we know for sure that Mathew
so and so wrote this mark so and so wrote this Luke so and so wrote this
john so and so wrote this
its factual information
that we do not know who write these
So I was intrigued
I am like
why would somebody write this book that is?
supposed to be passed down to generations
and people are supposed to (believe) this is the inspired word of God
to guide mankind and nobody
decided to pin down who wrote it
but anyway
I started to read it
and I started to notice things about the teachings of Jesus
Christ
and they were not what I had learned in Church
when Jesus spoke
he spoke of the nature of God
and when he spoke of the nature of God
it was the same nature of God that I found in the old testament
Jesus said many times that God is one?
God is unique
he would even quote
from the
Hebrew scriptures
hear o Israel the lord your God is but one
when he was asked
what is the greatest commandment?
he said that the greatest commandment
and every Muslim should understand these two concepts
this should be nothing new to you
the greatest commandment
is to love your lord the God, with all your heart
with all your might
with all your strength
and to love your neighbour as you love yourself
he said the rest hang on these two
in Islam we have rights of the creator
and rights of the creation
so this was the concept that he was teaching
and he even said in first john 5 and 17
and this was clearer to me than anything else can be
This is life eternal
that they may know you
the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent
and when you look at that in the Greek and the Aramaic
it is almost exactly like
of la ilaha illalah muhamadur rasullalah (There is no God except Allah and Muhammad is his messenger)
Now that I know Arabic and I have understood it
very same similar same statements
yes indeed there were some implicit statements
about ...that if you took them and separate everything else.
you could derive that Jesus was trying to claim some divinity
or something for himself
but...
but I also know from doing psychology
and I did a little bit of Law
implicit statement cannot overwrite an explicit statement
an explicit statement always takes precedence
so if Jesus said God is one
and he may have allegoricaly alluded to God being more than one
Then the clear statement overwrites that each and every single time
so this is what I found through the new testament
and I also found that Jesus taught salvation
but his salvation that he taught was
obeying God
and following the commandments
this was his mode of salvation
one man asked him good master tell me how can I inherit the eternal life
he said follow the commandments
follow the commandments (emphasis)
so even Mathew
was so sincere about this, he said that whosoever shall follow
the least of these
commandments
and teach men to do so
shall be called the greatest in the kingdom of heaven
but whosever shall break the least of the commandments
and teach men to do so
called the least in the kingdom of heaven
So this I understood clearly
that Jesus taught the same nature of God that was in the OT
he taught that salvation lied in the worshipping God and following the commandments
this I understood
Mathew mark Luke and john very clear about this
you know there were other things the only begotten son
but these things were not in red letter
so I did not give them as much weight
like I did to the actual word
that Jesus Christ was saying from his own mouth
so I read Mathew mark Luke and john
all of it was sounding the same to me
but I was thinking to myself
this is not what I was taught
about Christianity
you know you are taught that God is one
and one in three
1+1+1 = 3
farther son holy spirit
Jesus died on the cross to forgive of your sins
you know...
and there was another thing that I noticed
from the OT and then this is a beautiful lesson to Muslims
because you are asked this all the time
especially when it comes to dawah
and I never put 2 and 2 together
until I learned Islam
and read the bible one more time
is I wanted to know why
did the Jews wanted to crucify Jesus
so bad
.why... so bad
they could have just mobbed him anywhere
and killed him on the street
he is not like he had clans like the Arabs
that they would have come in and back him up
I said why didn't they just kill him
you know why were they so strict and sincere
to tell pointis Pilate that you gotta
kill him and you need to sanction it
we can do it but you need to sanction it
to kill him
and I now I understand it
it was that
Jesus had a mission
and..and
that mission was to share God with the world
and Paul even kind off tells on himself
in his book of galatians
as to why
Jesus was meant to be crucified
why the Jews wanted to crucify him
Paul said that
the crucifixion is the stumbling block
for the Jew's
and he explained
in Galatians
that Jesus Christ
this is how he tried to round about it explaining
was cursed for us, to remove us from the curse of Allah
by taking this curse upon us
for it is Witten
and he quoted the old testament
everything that hangeth on a tree
is cursed
so I went back and studied the old testament
in Judaic law
and I realised that
people who were crucified
that was considered a curse upon them
you had to do something pretty serious to get crucifixion
cause it was considered a curse from God
it was part of their law
that someone is crucified, that person is cursed
so wherever they buried these criminals
like in the graveyards
in Israel in Jerusalem
in Palestine
where they buried these criminals
that were crucified
this was considered curse ground
this was considered ground that you didn't go on
you did nothing here
because these people are cursed
by God
so I started to put 2 and 2 together
that it's not that they wanted to kill Jesus
because they could have just killed him
they wanted to disprove who he was
this was there point
to disprove who this man was
he said he is the messiah
they wanted to disprove it
and they knew
if you can crucify Jesus
, then he can't be the messiah
he cannot be our messiah
if you can crucify him
and even if he is...
if we can still force our crucifixion on him
then that will determent his message
so they understood this
and knew this
and this is why they wanted to crucify him
and this is exactly why Allah saved him from him from it
because everyone is asking why Allah saved him from crucifixion
because ... you cannot...that was part of his law
that he came to fulfil
that he could not be cursed according to this law
he said I have come to fulfil the law
to fulfil it
therefore he couldn't be cursed according to it
and this why he went to the garden to get
thimony and asks God to remove him from this
because he knew how detrimental to his message
of crucifixion
so
I began to see all of these things
and I started to read, I got to the book of acts
and started to read the writing of
Paul the apostle
and things went from this >action< to this >action<
I went from one way to another way
it completely flipped
turned around
the entire teachings
went from obeying God
worshipping God, following God, obeying the law
to...
worshipping Jesus Christ and abolishing the law completely
Paul even wrote to the Galatians
o you foolish Galatians
why are you still following this cursed law?
Jesus Christ came as a curse
to remove us from the affliction of this curse
umm...
so I said to myself
but Jesus just said
a few books before this
that whosoever shall break these men the commandments and teach men to do so
shall be the least in the kingdom of heaven
and here you go, Paul teaching this gospel
to abolish the law
so I even asked what is going on here
So
so I started asking my pastor and my pastor said
Now you are getting into deep water
Now you are starting to question the new testament
you really have some issues
they even though I might even be possessed
and all kind of things
umm
so
I had a very big conflict going on
inside of me
and my friend took me too his
textual critic
his textual critic teacher
his professor
and what this man told me
probable wrecked my faith in Christianity
but I always say I doubt he would be very happy
me travelling around the world
telling people that a Christian professor from
Bob Jones university
wrecked my faith in Christianity
but he did
cause what I asked him
was happened to all these contradictions
No in the old testament there are many contradictions
if you study Hebrew language
you will understand that when you read some of the old testament
or the torah
that there are some parts of the torah
that you can see is the most beautiful Hebrew you can see
just like
when you read the Quran
it's very beautiful, Hebrew
And 2 chapters later
you will see Hebrew that looks like a broken
3 year old who is trying to
scribble some Hebrew down
looks very dialectic
you can tell it's not the same person speaking
I went and asked him about all this stuff I saw
and he told me, and he said
what you have is a book written by men
over centuries and centuries and eon and eons
and he said
that this book started as an original
then it was copied
and copied and copied and copied
and then somebody added a mistake
and somebody came behind him
and corrected that mistake
and added 2 of his own
someone came and copied and skipped
a line and added a line where
it wasn't supposed to be
and someone else came and copied and took
it to his country
and in order for it to fit well in the doctrine that
they were teaching
he would cross out a dot here
or cross out a word hear
or change a word here
so that it would fit the theological ideas of this
part of the world
and he said that after all these years
you have a book now that has been compiled from all of this
written by the hands of men
that still have men's fingerprints
left on it
and that what you have
you have an imperfect book
that is only perfected through faith
this is exactly what he told me
this book is perfected
through faith
you cannot
perfect it textually
it not a textually perfect book
those who believe in it, believe in it by faith
and so I said here we go again
with this faith thing
you know I said that God gave me a brain
for a reason
and if he did not want me to use it
he would have removed this reason and logic part
out of my brain and replaced it with more faith
>laughs<
and I was of the opinion
you know
as the saying goes
my grandmother didn't raise a fool
I'm no fool
you know I said I can't believe in this
this book I have been taught is the inerrant word of God
and you are just telling me that it's a book
of errors
that is only perfect through faith
that is like me taking
a 1982 car
and I will say that if you BELIEVE it's, really can be a Mercedes
>Audience Laughs<
if you believe
you know that would make no sense
you can't take a car to the car dealer and say that
No if you really believe it
if you look at it right
it's a Mercedes
so I said no
this is a
a book full of errors
and God's religion is perfect
if God has a religion
it's perfect
if he has a book it has to be perfect
because he is perfect
so I left Christianity
completely
and I...um
decided
that
I had learned some concepts from the bible
That God was one
you couldn't fool me of that
I had also concepted that
there should be nobody standing between me and God
because he created me without permission
from anyone
therefore I don't need to be taking permission
from someone
to go to him
if I had to be forgiven of something
that should come from Him
because on the day of judgment
it's going to be me and Him alone
umm
and I didn't know about God's prophets yet
I had my
doubts and persuasions about that
So I decided to start
searching other religions
I went back to Judaism
I studied Judaism
I found the same thing that Jesus taught about
two spiritual Jews
that leave the law
and Jews that were so caught up in the law that they left over spirituality
I studied Budhisim
hinduism
taoism
confusicim
winkin
bushido
everything I can get my hands on
any type of ism or religon
I studied it
but there was one litmus test that I used for
every religion
and whenever I met them
or the people or whatever
about this religion
I asked them
I always asked them
do you have a book?
do you have a book
because another thing
I had come to the conclusion
is that
if your religion is true
you should tangibly hand me something
and show me
that this religion is true
give me something that I can see
I don't wanna hear any faith stuff anymore
I heard that all my life
and look where it got me
it got me thinking I am drving a mercedes
running around in a 1982 car
>audience laughs<
I said
that no you will have to show me
and so I read the bhagvad gita
I read the torah
I read the scrolls of tao
I read the code of the bushido
I read the winken book of
spirits and spells and all the other magic stuff they had
and I read all of these things
and I found something very congruent with all of them
was that they were very same philosophy
and teachings
and all of these
major religion book
they all talked about God and his nature
most of them alluded to the fact that God is one
and that God sends messengers and prophets
to teach us
but they were filled with a whole bunch of
garbage to be honest with you
I couldn't logically rationally believe
so
at about that age
of 17
about 17 and a half
I gave my search for a
God
and I became kinda angry with God
because here I am
looking for you
I can't find you
and he doesn't like to give me the help
and I don't know how many of you know
but when 17yr old is frustrated with God in the world
there is a lot of trouble
he can get into
there are a lot of things he can do
to put himself in predicaments
when he is frustrated with the world
and he comes to the conception
you know if there is a God that exists then he really doesn't care about me
you know that kind off a dangerous young man
So I started doing the whole partying thing
going to parties
drinking underage
all of this stuff I started doing
I am a perfectionist at heart
so I was a Christian
I tried to be the best one I could be
if I was going to switch to being any other religion
then I was going to that a 100%
so you better believe that when I went after the dunya (worldy life)
I did it a 100%
umm..
and I was a martial artist
since I was 15 years old
and even though it was only 2 yrs
so I got into a lot of fights
got kicked out of school
had to go to another school
got in one fight, got arrested for a fight
there were a couple of incidents
that stopped this downward spiral
because
I was on a very very quick downward spiral
I believe if I were to continue that downward spiral
I would probably end up
hurting someone
killing someone
or them hurting and killing me
and there were two incidents
that bought that back to an abrupt stop
like pulling the emergency break
and the first one
was a car accident
that I was in
my friend and I
were all the way back from university
from a party
and we were driving up pretty fast
in south Carolina
and we were both highly intoxicated
I decided...he was driving
I decided to put my seat belt on
for the only reason
I kept falling over when I fell asleep
without a seatbelt on
because I didn't really believe in the seat belt thing
I said that if I am gonna die
I am gonna die
you know that is the conception
I had come up with
you know if its time for me to die
its time for me to die
so I put up my seat belt
and I fell asleep
and the next thing I remember waking up with the car shaking
and I woke up
to grab my friend
because I thought maybe he had fallen asleep
but when I woke up
the only thing I saw was the tree line
and then the pavement coming right up my face
and the window smashing and the car flipping
and the whole nine yards
and us landing in a ditch
and I remember getting out of the car
that was the first thing I thought
no.1 I couldn't believe that
you don't really think about "Oh you are alive"... you know you just move
I jumped out of the car
and realised that I had jumped out of the back of the car
that wasn't there anymore
it was still on the median on the other side of the highway
and the front part of the car was over I the ditch
and I drew up my friend out
who was not conscious
and pulled him over to the side of the road
I had no injuries
I looked up myself trying to find what's missing
and there was nothing but a piece of glass stuck in my arm
that I pulled out
and it just so happened
that a state trooper was passing
the other way
because he turned around
and came back
and when he came back
he
he had asked
what had happened
the first thing he asked me
was
did you see what happened
because there were other people
pulling over
so I guess
he thought that I was a bystander
he is like "did you see what happened
I said ya I really saw what happened
I was in the car
and he was like you know
as they say the color drained out of his face
cause he was shocked
no
how were you in that car
you knoe... and umm
Of course they took us to the hospital
my friend got arrested
but before he put us in the ambulance
he was a man of God
because he looked at men and he told
me
young man
you should better realise that
you are on this earth tonight for a purpose
the only reason you are still alive
is that God has a purpose
for you
if not
you don't live though things like that
people without purpose
if you didn't have a purpose
then this night would have been
your night
so you need to realise that
I said this old man is out of his mind
>audience laughs<
you know..
if God had been looking for me
he had the opportunity
to get me a long time ago
so don't tell me
about that God stuff
umm
so I paid no attention
and about a month later
3-4 weeks later
my friend and I
same too
he is still on crutches,
we decide to go to new york city
we decided to just take off
drive to NY city
we didn't tell our parents where we were going
I said I was sleeping (at his house )
and he said he was sleeping in my house for the weekend
so we drove to NY
and in NY I remember
going to the ATM
to get some money
and in new york they have these
ATMs where you have to into a little glass room
and take your money out of the ATM
I don't know if they had that here
if any of you have been to NY
now alhamdulilah
you have to put your bank card in to go in there
but in 97 it was not like this
you went in
and it was almost like the game mouse trap
because you go in take out your money
criminal comes right behind you
there is nowhere for you to go
because there is no where to run
so I went in the ATM
and I heard the door open
behind me
you know so I turned around
I thought someone was behind me
and there was a man
who put a gun to my face
and he must have really reallly 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 at my face
and him pulling the trigger
and it was a revolver
and to this day I will never forget that
image in my head
of seeing that liitle
spindle turn
and hearing that very distinct click
of a revolver
it probably could have been a 32 stun nose gun like this>action<
but when it was in my face
it looked like one of the cannons that you see in the movie
>audience laughs<
and I remember when he
pulled the trigger
I didn't think anything
you don't think anything
you just blink
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 fight of blank syndrome
because I was like thinking Go!!
like myself kicking myself
what are you doing
Go!!
I rushed him we went flying
he went flying
and I took off and went to the hotel And didn't say anything to anybody
and went back to south Carolina next day
umm
I didn't say anything
because we were supposed to be near
and my grandfather would have killed me
if that guy didn't kill me my grandfather would have taken care of me
>laughs<
so I didn't say anything
until about a month or two later
I kept having having nightmare
of the same incident
I kept having night terrorists
from this incident
and so I told my grandmother
about it
and she told me the same thing
the officer had told me
she said
you know you have to realise that God has a purpose for your life
you are here for a reason
people don't go through the things that you have been through
and still walking on this earth without a reason
and you are pushing the limit
That is what she told me
you are pushing the limits
really
God has something for you
and he wants you to get it
but you are pushing it
and
she didn't tell me to
go back to Christianity
and study my bible
only one thing she told me was
God has not gone anywhere
you haven't just looked in the right place yet
umm
and so I decided to put myself back together
you the car wreck
the gun thing
the getting arrested for fighting
like all of that
made me stop really quick
and think
that I need to get my
my stuff together
so I became an agnostic
I believed in God with no formal religion
I pray to God
on the floor on my hands and knees
this is how all the books of God
this is how the bible
the torah
the new testament
the bhagvad gita
all of these scriptures that I read
they said 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 had never heard of Islam
ever
but I remember I was looking in the religious section
in the library
at school
and there was a book about Islam
And I remember I was in the public library
and I remember it was some title like
"Why I am not a Muslim"
or you know one of these titles
that was against Islam
but I had no idea
so I just took the book and I just read it
and I remember it said that Muslims
M-O-S-L-E-M-s
and if anyone of you know Arabic you would know that that is a very derogatory term
A M-O-S-L-E-M is someone who oppresses someone else
that was a very quick slight of the pen
that was used in the past
for a very real purpose
umm
it said that Muslims
were people who
worshipped a moon God named Allah
who lived in a box in the desert
in Saudi Arabia
>audience laughs<
and
and they were oppressive to women
I I remember there was a whole chapter of about how they could have
4 wives
as many as they want
Cause they can marry 2 and divorce one
get 3 more
and it said that
I remember
that one thing that really caught my attention
was the whole chapter on jihad
where it said that Muslims were allowed to kill non Muslims
non Muslims
at any time at any place
without discretion
and it was an honourable act
not only would they go to heaven before
but they would get 70 virgins on the way
>Audience laughs<
you know I closed
the book on Islam
put it back on the shelf
and marked of Islam on my little list of religions
>audience laughs<
and said thanks and no thanks
but if I ever see a Muslim im out
>audience laughs<
and I pretty safe in south Carolina
I have never seen a Muslim ever
so I said naaa I don't have to worry about
running from Muslims
thank God
so
you know I started worshipping
I just tried to be a good person
pray to God
ask him for guidance
try to be generally a good person
umm
and I remember the changes when I met a Muslim
I met a Muslim
who I had a couple of times met at school
we went to school together
I knew him
I never knew that he was Muslim
and there is couple of reasons why I never knew he wasn't Muslim
because he was african american
and the book said that Muslims were Arabs
and no.2
I though Muslims ran around marrying as many women as they wan't
and killing
non Muslims
I didn't also know they could also be part time drug dealers
>audience laughs hard<
so I didn't really know
I never knew
that this guy was muslim
I didn't put 2 and two together
so we were at his house one day
and me and my other friend
that I got in a some trouble with
I am trying to keep him out of trouble now
uh
we were at his house
and we were debating something about religion
I forgot even what the topic was
two teenagers thinking that they know everything
umm
and I was trying to explain something to him about the bible
and that guy came and was listening
he said have you ever heard of Islam
I said I have heard ALLL(emphasis) about Islam.
>audience laughs<
he was like
ok so what do you think of it
I said what do you mean what I think of it
that is probably the worst religion
I have ever seen on the planet
he is like why
and he is like
I am a Muslim
I was like man stop playing me>audience laughs<
you know like you are an african american
he goes like so
the book said you guys were Arabs
all the Muslims were Arabs
he was like what else did you read in the book
he told me like "Man what have you been reading
>audience laughs<
he is like you need to go to the mosque for jummah
he is like
he told me that I am not a good Muslim
that is what he said to me
I am not a goold Muslim
I am not even try to say that I am a good Muslim
he said but I can guide you to some people
who can tell you some real truth about Islam
he knew about my story
of wanting to find a religion
and he said that you need to go to the mosque for Jummah
and I said what is Jummah?
he said its just like church with no chiars
>audience laughs hard<
I said I can do church with no chairs
because in church the chairs were the worst part anyway
>audience laughs<
because they had these hard benches
they are like this (action)
that is good you sit on carpet? wow
and I said that every church should be like that
and I said where is the mosque
he said its on [place]
is said where on [place]
I live on wayhampton bolevard
I live right of wayhampton
he said where de road intersects with ray hampton
I said yeah
I live on the other side of the intersection
he said its right there
I said no its not
there is nothing
there is gas station and a church
He said you know the church the evangelical training facility
I used to take missionary classes there
he said you know that building in the parking lot
with the gold thing on top
I said yeah the gym?
he said no that is the mosque
cause I had always though it was the gym
because it was in the same parking lot
and it was rectangular with just two glass door
And you could literally walk in between the church
and the masjid
and touch them like this>action<
anyone who doesn't believe me
Go to south Carolina
you can almost touch them
just like this
he said yes just rigth there
You know first I was shock
I have been living across the street
with all these crazy Muslims all my life
>audience laughs<
I never knew
and he told me to go to jummah
and I asked him what time
and he said
he would meet me there at 1 o'clock in the afternoon
on Friday
So I said ok
I went on Friday
and im waiting outside for him
im not going inside
that not happening!!
and I seeing all these people going in
this time it was a predominently indo ***
arab masjid
anyone who went in was not american.
period
and I did not see one african american
go in there
and I did see one
and he went in
I heard
him talking in a dialect
that I realised he was probably from africa
and I said he is not american
so im waiting and im standing outside
sitting on the church step
and the imam pulls the car in front of me
and I had no idea he was the imam
but he was the imama
but he got out and he asked me
that if I am waiting for someone
and I explained to him
he said oh ya we know
this brother
we don't see him that much
but we know who he os
and he said im glad you came
and he was a very nice gentle young man
umm
and he invited me into the mosque
and I kinda wanted to wait for my friend
but at the same time I didn't want to tell this man I didn't wanted to go in
so I went in
and they put me in the back and they gave me a chair anyway
>audience laughs<
I said I came to sit on the floor
they gave me the chair anyway
and all of these people are piled up in front of me
and there is no american here
and I am starting to wonder you know
if this is a setup
because it started to smell like a setup to me
>audience laughs<
because in my mind
im like you have been set up before
this seems kind of like this
and im starting thinking I my head
you know scenarios
A young mind at play
I was thinking this guy my friend
was in the same situiation like me
and he probably made a deal with them that to get out
as long as he brought other americans
>audience laughs<
to trick them to come to the mosque
so they could do their jihad
after jummuah and get their 70 virginss
>audience laughs<
so I am sitting here
and there all these people in front of me
and there is a curtain behind me
with all these people making noise
and I have no idea who is back here
so I am stuck in the middle of this
I hear there are some women
but I don't know
there is a curtain
I have no idea
so im like there is something very odd about this
what is going on right here
I am starting to look for the exit
I am calculating
how many people are there b/w me and the exit
>audience laughs<
u know I know some martial arts
I am gonna hit a couple of them and I am out
and then the imam came
I just now realised
he was the imam
because he got up on the mimbar
and they startted to call the adhan
that man seemed genrally nice
so got a little more comfort
and then he got up
after the adhan
and he started his kutbha
inal hamdulilah nahmaduhu
I said OOOOO
OOO my God
I said I bet he is talking about me
>audience laughs hard
and he is being forcefull
he was getting loud and banging on the mimbar
and he is pointing in my direction
>audience continues laughing<
and I am like o man
I gotta get out of here
real quick
I said I am gonna take my chance with the women behind me
I am going for the curtain
>audience laughs<
and then when he got done with his
Arabic
he started to explain it
that
verily all things belong to Allah alone
God alone
and Him do we worship
and Him do we seek help and assistance
seek refuge from him
with the evil and the like
you know he explained
what he said in Arabic
and it sounded so beautiful to me
and it was very very beautiful prose
what he said
and I wanted to know what he said
from where did he got that
because it was only about God
and about the nature of ourselves
all of that what is said in the beginning of the kuthbah
and he qouted the 3 verses from the Quran
o you who believe
fear God as he should be feared
and do not die in a sate of submission other than Islam
he was a very wise man
because he translated everything
because it was as if he knew I was there
translating everything for me
and I remember to this day
what the khutbah was baout
and I don't know if he did it because I was there
or that was his already planned khutbha
but it was almost as if
it was meant for me
the khutbah was that
the title of it was
the forgiveness of Allah
open to anyone at anytime
any place
No matter what unless they have comitted Shirk
the prose of he kutbah was a very
long hadith
a very long hadith that some of you may know
And just to make it short
it was a hadith where the prophet (pbuh)
me angel gabriel
the angel jibreel
and angel jibreel
was telling them
to tell him that
if the Muslims commit this sin
to tell them that Allah would forgive them
everytime he would tell the Muslims
they would say and what about this sin
and he would go back and meet with angel jibreel
and he would go back and come back
tell him that Allah will forgive him for that
this ofcourse happened for many different sins
and finally angel Jibreel (AS) said
tell them that Allah has said
nomatter what they do
even if there sins are like the oceans from the east and the west
as long as they have not associated partners with Allah
tell them that Allah will forgive them
And I remember that he told me
that
the door of repentence
to God is open
as long as you have not seen the angel of death
or
the sun hasn't arisen from the west
I really didn't understand the sun rising from the west
at that time
but he said
God's forgiveness has to come from God alone
and this was the whole premise of his kuthbah
it was o frogivness
and taubah
and I was saying to myself
these are all the same concepts
that I had
formulated through reading the religious scriptures
my self
and I am asking
myself
where did he get this stuff from
where did he get all this from!!
and you know he started using
names like ebrahim
musa
he trasnslated to abrahahm and moses
where is he getting...these are the names
from the bible
I know these people
so after the kuthbah
they started lining up for the prayer
and I got aprehensive because every one is getting up
in front of me
and blocking my exit from the door
>audience laughs<
so I guess one guy from the back saw me
and I had to move back a liitle bit
so he said to me we are about to pray
and I said pray to who
and he said to God
and I said which one
and he said the one that created the heavens and the earths
the same one that is in the bible
the only creator of the heavens and the earths
the only God
I said yes
I know him
>audience laughs<
and so the imam started praying
and when he recited the Quran
I knew it sounded very intruguing
I had no idea what it was
but then when I saw Muslims bow and prostate on the floor
verses and verses of every religous book that I had ever read
started ringing
in my head
this was the way men of God prayed
and the first thing that I could think of
in my mind
was this is worshp
that was what I said to myself
this is not prayer
because prayers are for asking God for somethings
these people are worshipping God
So I said to my self
you have written this religion of way to easily
I though I was a much more open minded person than that
and I was ashamed of myself
that I had written it of because of one little book
I had put all this study in the other religion
I just read one thing about Islam
and I was done
so I went to the imam
after jummah
he talked to me
and I would have to say that
I was probably a little bit rude to him
and I asked him to frogive
I saw him a few years later I said to him
that you have to forgive me for the first time you saw me
because he started telling me
He had a very heavy accent
he was an egyption brother
he started telling me
will you like to know more
about Islam
he started to give me some phamplets
I said "No....No...No"
I don't want any of this
right here
I said
Do you have a book
this is waht I wanted to know
do you have a book
can you give ...
he said yes we have a book
he said its called the Quran
I said that can I read it
is it in english can I read it?
he said sure you can read it
and then he tried to explain it to me a little bit
how it came by
I said noo noo
I said just give me the book
because the book should speak for itself
so I took the Quran home
and on Friday night I started to read it
because it was a book I had never seen before
and I was very interested
so I went home and I opened this
opened the Quran
and I read the Fatiha
it seemed to me kinda like a lords prayer
little similar to what I found in the bible
but then I started to read
suratul baqarah(chapter 2 of the Quran)
I started to read surah ale imran(chapter 3)
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
zacharaiya
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 found in the bible
were people that were deplorable
of not a very good character
these same men in the Quran
were someone who were the highest echelon of
moral character
and moral fibre
they were someone who's example is 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
pbuh
because when I saw the name of Jesus first
that really intruiged me
I wanted to see
what did this book had to say about Jesus
and I read the
story in ale imran
and I read the story in surahtul maryam
and it was more beautiful than anything that I had read in the NT
it was more beautiful than that time x10
I remember that the only thing 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
with this finger pointing at her
of having a baby
when she is not married
there is no real in to that
there is no good defence for her
from this
in the NT
but the Quran is so explicit and is so clear
that Jesus's first miracle
was to speak from the womb
to speak as a baby
to defend the honour of his mother
something that you cannot deny
something you cannot deny[emphasis]
about her
who mary was
who had this baby speaking on her behalf
so
I would say that I read the quran
entirely in 3 days
but that first night
after I had made it through surahtul ale imran
my heart was already given to this book
I didn't know what it meant it 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 I read about in this book
these are people I could follow
these were prophets
this was a book of guidance
and this is something that this book is calling
appealing to me
that you don't believe in this book
I have never seen this in any other scripture
the direct challenges
that are in the Quran
if you don't 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 if this is true
test it
bring something else like it
test it
put it to the test
I mean..
all the analogies about God
everything was so logical
so rational
so reasonable in my mind
it was
like
2 +2 =4
and that was it
there was no 1 + 1+ 1=3
and yoke water
there was none of that ; foolishness
the Quran was very directly and very straight forward
in its teachings
so I gave my heart to Islam
that night
in my living room,
reading the Quran
and I cried and cried
you know that I had been looking for the truth
all this time
had searched all this was
and it was right across the street
right across the street from my house
and so I went back on Monday
to accept Islam
ask these Muslims
where in the world have they been all this time
and I go...ready to go in there
and do my thing
and I go and the masjid is locked!!
>laughs<
because they only came on Fridays
and for Isha (night prayer)
during that time I didn't know
so I said ok I guess I have to come back on Friday
because every time I go past the masjid it is always locked
so I came back on friday
and I took my shahadah (testimony of faith)
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
or the world
telling my story
just for the entertainment value
even though o have been told that I does have some entertainment value
I'm sure if that was the purpose
the only reason
then you could just get it off of YouTube
and it was the same exact story
I am 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 of million of millions of millions
people
just like me
just like me
in 1998
searching for the truth
can't find a way out
there are probably millions of people in california
hundreds and thousands
if not millions
right here in orange county
los Angeles
in the southern California area
they want to know the truth
they are tired of hearing the same garbage
preached to them over and over again
they are tired of this
shaitaan box
telling them the same thing over and over again
tired of the world being in the condition that it is in
tired of there life being in the condition that it is in
and we as Muslims
have the solution to every single one of there problems
and guess what 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 wanna solve world hunger
the problem of world hunger
Islam has the (solution)
you wanna solve the problem of world poverty?
Islam has the solution
Islam has the answer
you wanna fix the economic situation?
of this country
Islam could fix it tomorrow
and this was an op-ed piece in the Washington post
in the Washington post there was an op-ed
piece
that the two markets that have fallen apart
in the country
are investments in housing
and there are two people in this market
this market is steadily climbing
its not shooting over night
getting rich over night
like people want to
but it is continuously going up
that is Islamic finance
and Islamic housing market
these two things are so steady and so strong
that economist
in Dc
are trying to figure out how can they take some of these Islamic principles
from these investing and housing firms
and plug them in
to this system
to give it some stability
because they realized
that you wont get rich overnight in the Islamic system
but it will be stable
it will be something that will give stability
so they are starting to find out
that Islam had the answer in the solutions to their problems
but we already knew this
we already know this
that we can solve every world
problem
with Islam
we will put an end to it
but the problem is
we are hiding it from the people
unfortunately
willingly or unwillingly
knowingly or unknowingly
we are hiding this from the people
and there is a statement in the Quran
that Allah warns
the Jews about what they did with there religion
there is a statement that is left in the Quran
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
unless they repent
and reveal that which they have been concealing
those I would accept there repentance
because I am the one who accepts it
the Most Mercifull
we have become just the same way the Jew
were hiding the truth
of their reilgion
when they saw the prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
they knew the truth but they wanted to hide it
people !!
we know the truth about Islam
and we are hiding ti
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
every thing 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
you jsut gotta find it where it is at
and anyone of you...im not
want to go for too long
but if you wanna know the solution
to everyone of your problems
in this world and the hereafter
just go read suratul saf
ayah 10 to 13
very very easy solution
if I had the time
I will read it to you inshaAllah
but we have
the cure
to every disease in the world
and
and we are not giving it to the people
and I wanna use it to this parable
I really want this to get home with you
let say...>asks brother a question<
what is your name brother
"Abdullah"
Br.Joshua: mashaAllah
lets say me and Abdullah are
are best friends
we are brothers in Deen
we are roommates
and we have been roommates for years and years and years
and lets say brother Abdullah had a, he contracts an illness ,a disease
that is one of the most painful diseases that any human being can ever ever go through
in his life
its not something that is gonna kill him quickly
lets say this disease
is gonna suffer ,infest Abdullah
and make him not eat sleep....
he is just miserable all the time
when I come home
in the evening
he is rolling around the floor
in pain
and I know him in this condition
and lets say I one day come across
the cure for his disease
someone tells me that
if you give this guy Abdullah
or anyone like him,
he will be instantly cured
and he will never suffer again
and lets say I take that(cure)and put it in my pocket
and I don't give it to Abdullah
why? why wont will you give it to Abdullah?
No.1
I am way too busy
I have two jobs
going to school
I have a long commute back and forth
I have to drive up and down everyday
I don't have time to give Abdullah
his medicine
if he wants the medicine he will get it himself
I don't have time I am really busy
No.2
I am not a docter
I should not be prescribing
Abdullah medicine
and I am not knowledgable
in medicine
if he wants help he should go to a doctor
I am not a doctor
no.3
Abdullah please forgive me
but he is kind off stubborn
he doesn't really listen very well
he is probably kind of set in his way
even if I tell him this medicine
is good for him and it will cure him
he probably wouldn't take him anyway
so why waste my time
do any of these excuses sound familiar
and lets say I don't give this medicine to Abdullah
and he dies
and lets say he dies the most painfull death that you can ever imagine
I wann 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 have oppressed him
I have oppressed him
I allowed him to suffer
knowing that I could ease his suffering
I am sure Allah is going to ask us about this
but you know the beauty about Islam
is 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 beautfiul Islam is
that he could very well come before
Allah and He will ask him
and brother Abdullah says you know what
Allah I forgive him
so you are forgiven
this is the beauty of our religion
and Allah will forgive me
but the disease I want to tell
you about
is a 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 is the disease of shirk
the disease of being jahl(ignorant)
ignorant about Allah(swt)
Allah give them life
and they worship someone else
Allah feeds them
and they thank someone else
Allah fashioned them in the womb of their mothers
and He knows them better than they know them selves
and they have no idea who He is
they don't even know who He is(emphasis)
if that does not pain your heart
to see
a person in this condition
then for sure
hearts have become hardened
because when I see Non Muslims
especially when I sit in place 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
I think to myself that there is no way I can talk to all of them
there is nothing I can do
and this disease
is something
that not only
is not going to show up as a physical symptom
it is gonna leave them ignorant
about Allah swt
but on the day they die
they will die the most physically painful death
that anyone can ever suffer
Prophet(pbuh) said that when the angle of death
comes to the disbeliever
it doesn't come kindly
he yanks the soul through he nose
as if his flesh is torn from his bones
its as if they take brother Abdullah upside down
and stuff him in an human paper shredder
this sis the death that is waiting for those
who do not know Allah swt
and you knw the unfortunate thing
that while you have been sitting here listening to me
thousands of people have died
thousands of people have
lost their life
not knowing Allah while I am talking to you right now
people in this city have lost there lives
and there is nothing we can do about that
they are gone
its too late for them
we can't save them even if we want to
and that is a deplorable...deplorable
sad sad fact
that we can't save
them
but there are many many many who we can save
and that all that takes us
taing this light of Islam
that we have
and showing to the world
there is a statement in the bible
and I finish with this
whether Jesus AS said this or not
doesn't matter
because this statement is one of the most profound
statements that has been some what of a focus from me
in my mission of dawah
it is said that no one
would bring a candle
into his home
and place a bucket on top of it
because then no one would benefit from the light
if someone would bring the candle in their home
and 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 them
no one can see our light
no one can see the beauty of Islam
believe me if you don't
see it
take it from someone who was once standing on the outside
looking through at window
it is one 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 se 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 dawah that you can do this world
is very very simple
its not complex
its not a 10 hour workshop
even though some of the details do
if you wanna know the way
the best way to do dawah
is for Muslims to be Muslims
that is 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 go to another
country
and live their lives
as Muslims
not shaving of their Deen
to be pleasing to those people
but being Muslims
and when the people asked them
what is it about you
backward Arabs
that we have heard all these
crazy things about
now you come out of the desert
with pristine morals and characters
and you have better ethics and morals
then we do
what is this...what has happened to these people
there answer was la ilaha illAllah
muhamdur rasulAllah
that we believe I Allah
and he has sent us a man named Muhammad
and we emulate his lifestyle
that is why we are like this
this is what conquered the world for Islam
this is what conquered the people's hearts
for Islam
was the truth and the beauty of it
in its simplicity
in its message
this is what the world needs
with all of this foolishness going on in this world
this is what it needs
the simplicity of Islam
whether they wanna hear it or not
they know it in the bottom of their hearts
when you show them the truth
even if they turn away from it
they know its the right
and they know its the truth
and on the DOJ stand before Allah
having washed your hands
and saying I did my job
I finished 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 the prophet Muhammad pbuh
to the Muslims as a whole
he gave his farewell sermon
and we know what his farewell sermon was
summary or synopsis
of what Islam is
and its general principles
and he knew that this was the last thing he was going to say to the Muslims as a whole
and how did he end his sermon
those who were here
pass this on to those who are not here
for verily it might be that the last one who hears my message
may understand like who was right here amongst is
he gave a command to those Muslims
to pass it on
and for those Muslims to pass it on
for those Muslims to pass it on
until there was no one left to hear this message
this was a command he gave
the last command he gave to the Muslims
his Ummah as a whole
and then what happened
he pointed his finger to the heavens and said
oh Allah bear witness
that I have indeed conveyed the 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 the prophet Muhammad(pbuh)
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
...if you don't believe me go and read
surahtul bayyinah
about what was commanded of the other nations
no other nation was given this opportunity
and blessing
to pass on this message
this Deen
except us
because there are no more prophets coming
so the job falls on our shoulders
Qurans are not gonna fall down the sky and
and hit people when they are walking on the street
this job has now become
ours
and just like if the prophet Muhammad pbuh
had not done his mission
he would have been accountable before Allah
if we do not do our job
of spreading this message that
of Islam
we will stand before Allah on the DOJ
don't be the person standing
before Allah on the DOJ
and your neighbour
that you know
your co worker
that you have known for 15 10 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 us
and we are not giving it to them
we need to stop hiding it in our masjids
in our homes
in our hearts
and we need to give it to the people
its beautiful
trust me
just hand it to them
just hand it to them
I promise you they will take it
because its something so pure and pristine
and forgive me for probably going above my time
and if we have time
I wanna leave some time for questions and answers
and I will be outside for taking any question
and answers
the only last thing that I want to
announce
and you brothers and sisters no is that
one of my biggest dawah projects
is a DVD project that I do
and my goal is to put a DVD
about Islam
in the hands of every single
person in the united states of America
right now other brothers working on it
in other places
because
people will watch a DVD
People will watch a DVD we did a study
studies on this
and people will watch media
before reading a book
before they will listen to an audio CD
and alhamdulilah
through these DVDs we have got
I would say an average of 2 Shahadas a month
because my personal contact info is on the DVD
and people watch them and they call me
and I converse with them
and usually most of them accept Islam
I just had a shahadah
the day before yesterday from Irvine,Texas
from someone who had bought the DVD
a Muslim had bought the DVD and had given to his friend
his friend hated it
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 project works
is I make a 100 DVDs
and I bought 2 of them with me
....the way this project works is that I make a 100 dvds and 75 go out
to different dawah
arenas
and the other 25
I make available for Muslims to purchase
for two reasons
so that I can buy a another100
and so that you can share in this ajar
along with me
because when you
purchase a DVD
it makes another DVD or you give it to your friend
then you share in this ajar
with me
if anyone knows ..
that Dawah is the biggest pyramid system
because a hadith of the prophet pbuh
the one who
calls to guidance to Islam
gets the same reward who
as the one who is guided
without any loss of reward
so I make these DVDs available
to the Muslims
so that you can put a little effort in dawah
and make another 100 inshaAllah
so I brought 2 today and they are outside
one of them is called Islam in the bible
which is basically what I just told you
in a power point format
so that you could see all 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 it
and I coincide them with the Quran
so that you could see them
and there is another one
the other one is called
the true gospel of Jesus Christ
where I go through the new testament
well first part I think is an interview
about me
my story to Islam
and there are some Q and A on the other DVDs
about nature of God
and all these different things
its 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 there own book
that they have to agree
they either have to believe it
or reject it
and if you believe it
then you will have to believe what I am saying is true about Islam
if you reject it
this your book not mine
so I try to use these 2
teaching methods and they can also be given to non Muslims
because they are in a power point format
they are in a very educative format
and they are available outside for sale
for 10$ each
if you could please take it back home
so please come and get them
if you have any questions
my contact info
is on there
and everything
if you have more questions for me
on my website
thank you for your time
and if there has been anything that has been of benefit
then know truly that all Good comes from Allah(swt)
and if anything that I said is incorrect or hurtful or shameful
that indeed it comes from my own lack of understanding
DUA
as salaam alaikum warahmatullahI wabarakatuhu
Camera and Post Production Azizan
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