COUPLE ACCEPT ISLAM BEFORE MARRIAGE - PICCADILLY CIRCUS
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
202.63083
Summary
In this episode, I chat to a man who shares his story of how he came to Islam and how it has changed his life. He shares his experience of growing up in a religious household and how he went on to become a Muslim.
Transcript
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You know what bruv? Open the Qur'an in a random place. Let's see what God's got to say. But before
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you do, do a little prayer to God, yeah? In your heart, give me a sign, yeah? And open the Qur'an
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Oh, yeah. How you doing? How's life? I'm good, I'm good. That's good, man. It's nice meeting
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you. I get the positive energy, you get me? So I'm charging myself right now. Okay, how
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old are you? 25. Tell me a bit about yourself. What do you do? So I work in IT, a developer.
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Yeah, I play tennis, coach a bit as well. Oh, tennis? I like badminton. I'm not bad at
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badminton. Yeah, yeah. It's still a good sport. I like it. Injury prone, but yeah, so I play
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tennis regularly and yeah, boxer, ex-boxer. Oh, I like it. I used to do boxing as well.
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Oh, good, good. Yeah, not professionally, but I liked it for the sport. Oh, I see. Very
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hard. Yeah. I hated every session, but I still go back. That's good. It is good. Mentality.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can see. I can see. Okay, that's good. So obviously you was going
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past with wife Timmy and you said basically that I asked you what religion do you adhere
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to and you said you're thinking of reverting. Yeah. Okay, tell me what's led to that point.
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So for me, I've always kept religion in a back burner my whole life kind of, you know,
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as you're young, you go to church, you do the normal things, parents want you to do stuff.
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I did it all and then came to the country. I moved from Portugal and I was like, I don't
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know what religion really is. Do I feel anything? Do I understand it? And I kind of just put
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it in the back burner the whole time. And for the last three years or so, I kind of thought
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about, oh, I actually need to take my time and go into it fully. And not just logically,
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that's what I used to be, into more spiritually, think outside of the norm, outside of science
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and the rest. So, and then when I met my girlfriend and several people, actually my friends and
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stuff, and I always, I would call it admiration for commitment to a religion. So anyone who did
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and to me, I always thought people within Islam had something that I wanted to have.
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And that's the thing I'm trying to pin and I still don't completely understand it, but
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Before I came to Islam, I've been a Muslim for about nine years, going into 10. So I had
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that feeling. I know what you're saying. You know, when you look around, to me it was
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specifically how the woman used to wear the hijab and the bayah. I really, it caught my
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attention. Because I used to live a lifestyle of partying and girls and all this kind of
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stuff. When it comes to a certain point where you're just like, you know, girls that are
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dressed half naked, et cetera, you're just desensitized to it now. Do you get what I'm
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So to me, I found it really beautiful. I found it really modest, et cetera. So there was
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something about them that really attracted me. I don't know if it was a way of life.
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I don't know if it was something that they live by. Like, I think it's Malcolm X.
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He said, if you don't stand up for nothing, you'll fall for anything. So it's as if I felt
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like a lot of religions were falling down the route of going with the norms. But Islam was the only religion
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which was like, no, these are principles. We're not letting go of that. That was to me.
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I do definitely agree with that. I think there was sort of principles that people led by or
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they were living with. And it shows. It actually shows. It's as if there was a sort of all
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around it. And I had people close by at work and I could just... I was drawn every single
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time. And that's why I thought, let me actually look into it. And I've been looking into it
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further. Try to read a bit. Try to understand where it's coming from. I say a story, but it's
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more of a... I don't know what to call it. Yeah, that's my...
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That's beautiful, man. So have you had a connection with God before? Like, have you always had
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that connection with God? Or has it... You know, it was in the back burner. Was religion
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So to me, I put anything to do with faith in the back burner. So that went with religion
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and everything. So as soon as I allowed myself... I literally had to allow myself to feel.
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And that's where you kind of start to feel more things. And just things are connecting
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and it's making sense. So that's why you see me happy because I actually... I can feel
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Alhamdulillah. That's right, man. May Allah always keep you happy. So God was always in
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Okay, good. I was like that as well. So God was always in the picture, but religion wasn't
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Okay. What's... You said you're on the verge of accepting Islam. What's stopping you?
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I think it's myself. I think it's taking accountability for the things I do and respecting, I think,
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others to not my standard, but to a full standard. Okay. And I think that's probably where I'm
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Okay. Now, if you came and said to me, Ali, I'm still not sure if the Prophet Muhammad is
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the final messenger. I'm not sure if I believe in Allah. I don't know if Quran is the final
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word of God. I will say to you, you know what? Let me give you some material, look into
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it. But you're telling me that you believe in Allah. God.
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Okay. Do you believe the Prophet Muhammad is the final messenger?
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Okay. You are technically a Muslim. It's like, what's your favorite food?
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Lasagna. I had it yesterday. My wife does the best lasagna of her. If you get married, I'm
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Trust me. You're going to love a lasagna. Okay. Now, when I asked you that question, you
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said lasagna. What you did is you proclaimed what you already believe inside. So I said to you,
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what food do you like? You knew inside lasagna and you said to me, I like lasagna. The Shahada
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is a bit like that. Not compared to lasagna. It's a big, big, it's a big claim. But most
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of the times what happens and what happened to me is I was looking into Islam about two,
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three years. For about a good year, I knew Islam was the truth. But because I have bad
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habits, I used to think, let me fix them. Then I'll accept Islam. But it actually works
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the other way around. You have to accept Islam for it to fix it. It doesn't work the other
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way around. Do you get what I'm trying to say? So some people come and say, I'm a bad
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person. I commit sins. Once I fix them, then I'll start reading the Quran. Once I fix
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that, I'll start praying salah. Salah means a fiber. And I say, no, no, no, you got it
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wrong. You have to pray and you have to read the Quran. And that is what will stop you
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sinning. Not the other way around. Do you get what I'm trying to say? Because that's
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what is God's word. God's word is going to penetrate the heart. When you pray in front
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to God, that is what's going to cause you to leave the sin. Don't twist it because Satan
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came to you and says, you know what? Nah, nah, nah, you're still a bad guy. He comes and
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tricks you. Do you get what I'm trying to say? Obviously, I don't want to keep it too
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long. I know why. Oh, she's bounced. She's like, forget this guy. So what I would say
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is, bro, I'm not the type to, I wouldn't say force, but encourage, force people to take
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their shahadah if they're not sure. But you're telling me you already believe
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in Allah. You believe the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. You believe the Quran.
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Bro, I'm telling you, whatever's stopping you is Satan. I'm telling you because there
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is nothing. If you came and said to me, I'm not sure if the prophet is a prophet. I would
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say, you know what? Let's talk about that. I can try to maybe convince you. But you already
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believe those things, bro. Don't let it stop you because you don't know if you're going
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to, God forbid, die today or tomorrow. Do you know what I'm trying to say? So I would
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say, bro, shahadah is a big thing, but don't think it's something where it's like,
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oh, if I take it now. No, no, no. Bro, it's just the first step. You know what shahadah
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is? It's a key to the door. You open the door. Your journey begins. All it is, is a journey
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beginning. You're going to fall short. You think I don't sin? Don't I sin? You think
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I don't have shortfalls? I have shortfalls. But what Islam, God Almighty is telling you
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in the Quran is just know that you have a law that's forgiven. Repent. That's it. You
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know what, bro? Open the Quran in a random place. Let's see what God's got to say. But
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before you do, do a little prayer to God, yeah? In your heart, give me a sign, yeah? And
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open the Quran wherever you like. And pick a random verse if you want. Whichever verse?
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Which one? 69, yeah? Okay. This is Surah Naml. Okay. Okay. Say, O Muhammad, proceed, travel
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through the land and observe how was the end of the criminals. And give, and give not over
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them, over them, or be in distress from what they have conspired. And they say, when is the
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fulfillment, the promise, if you should be truthful? Say, perhaps, it is closed, it is
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closed behind you, very near. Some of that, some of that for you, which is, which are
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impatient. And indeed, your Lord is the possessor of the bounty for the people. But most of them
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are not grateful. And indeed, your Lord knows what, what breasts conceal and what they declare.
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Okay. That's a deep verse. Because what God Almighty is saying, He knows what's inside you
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and what you declare. Okay? Because what we're talking about here, what's inside you, which
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is Islam, and what you declare. And at the beginning, here it's talking about, if we go
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maybe in context, it's talking about nations before this. Because when Allah talks about
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in the Quran, He talks about nations that He destroyed before, yeah? And these are nations
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that God doesn't destroy. God is not, people make God as if God is this monster that is looking
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to destroy people. God wants mercy and paradise. Like, that's what He wants. But there's nations
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who have sent messengers and messengers. So God is saying, reflect upon the nations
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before. And these nations, you know what they used to say? To the prophets, if you're truthful,
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let God send this destruction. Let's send, God send this destruction. And God doesn't work
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on their, like, oh, if you say, I'll do it now. God gives them time. Sends the messengers.
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Until they keep being arrogant, then God sends the punishment. But what is very interesting
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here, is what God is saying, is that anything can happen any second, kind of stuff. Do you
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get what I'm trying to say? For these nations. But what's interesting here is God Almighty is
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saying, He knows what internally you have and what you declare, yeah? So it's just
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as if God is saying, look at the previous nations and learn lessons out of it. But that
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verse, which is very interesting, that says God Almighty knows what you conceal and what
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you reveal, yeah? Look, God knows inside that you have embraced. Do you get what I'm trying
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to say? And for you to, from there, then we come to this verse. I think, bro, like for
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me, personally, I would say, don't let it stop you. You know why? Because it's just a journey,
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man. Once you take a shahada, it's just a journey. And it might be a reason, bro, that you stop
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today. So I'm going to leave that at you, but if you want to take a shahada, bro, there
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is nothing stopping you and you've got nothing to lose. Tell me one good reason that you can
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There's no reason. There's no reason to not take it.
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Okay. If you want, bro, we can do it together. It's totally up to you. I'm not the type to
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pressure, but genuinely, I'm looking for a reason. I can't find one, bro. I don't think
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there's a reason not to at all, yeah. Do you want to take it with me? Like, should
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Sister, don't worry. I was just talking to him, yeah? So I'm just trying to convince
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him, but I'm not someone that pushes people to the shahada, yeah? Because what I usually
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do is, I try to assess. So I spoke to him, I said, do you believe in Allah?
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He says, yes, I do. I said, okay, do you believe in the Prophet Muhammad? He said,
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yes, I do. Do you believe the Quran is the final word? Yes, I do. Internally, he's a
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Muslim. He opened the verse, I told him, make a prayer and open the Quran in a random
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place. He opened the verse where it talks about God, how he destroyed nations, but
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then there's a verse where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, indeed, God knows what you
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conceal and what you declare, yeah? So all I'm just saying is, sister, there's nothing
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stopping him. Do you know anything that will stop him taking the shahada? There is
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nothing. So I'm saying you can maybe ask the wife his permission, yeah? But maybe take
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a shahada, like with us, because it's just a journey. I took my shahada nine and a half
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years ago, yeah? And I know how it feels where you have this moment where you're like, oh,
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I'm still sinning or maybe I'm not perfect. Allah doesn't want you to be perfect. What
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God wants you is to acknowledge you have a Lord and repent to him. And it's just a
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journey, bro. Do you think I'm perfect? None of us are perfect. God doesn't want us
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to be perfect. So there's nothing stopping him from taking the shahada. What do you say?
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I think it's up to him when he feels ready. But yeah. You do feel ready? You talk to
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me. Forget us. Forget us. I think, I do definitely, I think, no one, I guess no one's perfect. I
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definitely, it's something that I, I see no reason not to do. I just keep kind of stalling
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myself to do something. As your brother, your brother in humanity, and I want to be
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a brother in faith as well, yeah? I have to give that little push. You know why? Because
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you, you believe internally. I told him, I said, what's your favourite food? He goes,
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lasagna. I said, tell me you love lasagna. He said, I love lasagna. I said, the shahada's
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a bit like that. You internally believe it and like it. It's just declaring it. So it's up
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to you. You can repeat after me. I think it's, I think you've actually, I feel like
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you've, you're, you're showing me a good direction to go to. And that is something
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that I, even in the right now, I'm thinking, yeah, like there's no reason not to. Okay.
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Repeat after me. Okay. Just repeat after me. Yeah. Don't worry. Could this be off camera?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. If, if, if you want, it can be off camera.
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This is what makes our day here at Salaam, guys. You know, it's very amazing that, you
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know, I've been trying to hear, trying to stop people, trying to stop people to like
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talk. Nobody wanted to talk to me, you know. Hi there. Would you like a free Quran?
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No. Okay. No problem. So it's very interesting. You know, they, they, they, you know, he's,
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he was not a Muslim. His, his, his, his wife to be is a Muslim, but he came here and I genuinely
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asked him, what is stopping you? And there was nothing stopping him. And because of that,
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I did give him that little push because we know shaitan comes here and there. He accepted
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Islam. Inshallah, they're going to get married soon. And with our new Salah project, Salah Plus,
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where we teach new Reavers and born Muslims, how to reconnect back to their Lord via Salah.
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Inshallah, we invited him to that, Inshallah. May Allah bless every single one of you guys
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that are watching and supporting Salaam. And yeah, may Allah keep him firm. And Inshallah,
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they're righteous children. That will be their Sadaqa Jari, Inshallah. Till next time,
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from Salaam Corner at Pikidiri Circus. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.