well the simple version of that is I
went to when I went to the United States
I went to public school I went to high
school majority of the people around me
were not Muslims actually I didn't know
any Muslim for the first two years of
first year of high school I didn't know
any Muslims and the environment is
completely different the language is
completely different and you just a
natural tendency for a young person is
to try to fit in and of course the thing
that makes me different from everybody
else is Islam as a matter of fact
because you have five days of public
school even on Fridays you don't take
time off to go to Jamaa I didn't I
didn't pray Gemara for two years when I
was in high school so slowly you started
making friends and all my friends are
non-muslims and of course if they're
non-muslims their lifestyle and
everything about them is has nothing to
do with religion and so I started opting
you know what they what they do and you
know my parents don't expect me to
change so I have I was kind of someone
else at home and someone else when I
left home for school I think to this day
and I don't think it's just in America I
think that a lot of these values that we
hold dear in Islam
they're not even promoted enough or
properly enough even in Muslim society I
used to think before I travel outside of
the u.s. that what I went through is
something is specific to me doesn't
happen to other people as a matter of
fact it's happening to millions of
people even today you know and I a point
came where you know you feel guilty when
you're living a life that is against the
teachings of your religion and you
hate-filled nobody likes to feel guilty
so eventually you have to decide either
you're gonna accept a religion or you're
going to you don't want to feel guilty
anymore you just get rid of the thing
that makes you feel guilty just kill
your conscience and just do what you
want to do and that's the road I chose
to take it at one point it reminds me of
a hadith Aladin Olivia oh yeah I had to
come on your haunted I was completely
away from Islam even early on in college
and I happened to meet you know come
down hello Michele just a lot I just
happened to meet this young person who
was putting up a flyer for the Muslim
Student Association and I asked him what
that was about and I thought you know if
it's a Muslim Student Association they
must have the best parties because they
met they must get Muslims from all the
countries at their parties so I asked
him do you guys party and he said yeah
we party
so but when I went it was just these two
guys and they're discussing something
about the Quran or something I thought
this is not a place for me but these
guys were really nice to me and they
started spending time with me they're
giving me rides home and slowly but
surely I still wasn't praying or
anything but one day you know one of one
of those friends he just pulled over to
pray and I just felt bad and I prayed
just cuz he was there and I just got a
taste of it and before I knew it I was
praying five times a day again and
relearning how to pray I didn't even
remember how many turqu are there were
in Belle Reve and what do you recite you
know when you sit in plural I had to go
through all of that over again but I did
I'll come to lead I know it so I
attributed entirely Allah made my
friends a way to do that
but one of the most important messages I
think that benefited me that I hope
other Muslims can benefit from is number
one there's nobody who's hopeless
because you know if you saw me in
college and you were you were religious
and you just came out of salaat and you
saw me walk by in high school you would
look at me as he has talked a lot of
them look at these people you know I was
one of those guys but then somebody
decided not to judge me and just think
of me as just a human being who has some
goodness in them you know and we have to
do that for other people we have to have
some patience with them in giving them
Islam you know and it's not gonna happen
overnight and this this brother that I'm
talking about one of my best friends in
life he never actually gave me Dawa to
Islam he never actually told me to pray
he never told me about half of Quran
well I'm out I had no idea and he you
know he's the one that just through his
company little by little by little and
it was a good year long process that he
did this with me for subhanAllah that I
came towards the Deen