this is the dean the dean show this is
the dean
showah alhamdulillah peace be with you
those are greetings of peace that is
what Muslims use the same greeting that
Jesus greeted his followers with we're
greeting you with that same greeting
here today and there are a lot of
misconceptions about Islam which is the
fastest going way of life in the world
today yesterday and tomorrow and it will
continue to grow because people are
coming to that realization that life is
short and you know what I in the state
of confusion I don't have the answers to
all the questions that are out there but
Islam provides me for all the rational
logical evidences to prove that it's
indeed from the creator of the heavens
and earth but there's some
misconceptions out out there about Islam
so we've been invited and you're invited
too inviting you to Be Our Guest because
with all the different stereotypes and
false fallacies one of them is that you
know there's a lot of radicalization
going on out there in these places of
worship the mosques that's right so
we're going to take you on a tour to see
is this a mosque really what's going on
in here is there hate speech going on
here is there is this a private bomb
making factory how does it look inside a
mosque where the people worship where
the Muslims worship let's go ahead and
take you take you on a tour come on with
Eddie here your guest your host come
on so okay so we're walking around this
is where the Muslims gather now so me be
a little bit careful okay so they come
in here here and there not too many
around right now let's go to the right
here come on so you walk in you got some
pictures on the wall here this is Dr
iset okay some calligraphy come over
here follow me you're getting a
firsthand look
into the house of worship okay we call
this God's house what it means is that
people come here to worship God and this
is the prayer area as you can see there
are no statues okay I'm going take my
shoes off you take your shoes off and
you come on
in and this is where people put their
forehead on the ground there are no
pictures you know you walk in some
places and you see all these statues and
icons and it just gives you a creepy
kind of feel you know you should be
doing that but this it gives you a good
feeling that you know what you just come
here and you just put your head on the
ground you just worship God that's it
just God the same way Jesus put his head
on ground that's what the Muslims do and
the Muslim is simply one who submits to
the will of God and you see this area
this is where they gather shoulder Tosh
shoulder foot to
foot the black the white the Chinese the
German the Italian the Polish they all
come
here as brothers in humanity and they
worship God they worship just God this
is it this is a prayer let's continue on
what else they got here maybe they got
something else that they don't want us
to see come on
okay this is just the washroom here you
got a little shoe area
okay wow this place is very nice and
clean alhamdulillah
okay see if we can find a tour guide
okay when you stand to pray pray as if
it's your last prayer that's deep
because you never know when death will
approach so every Muslim should be
praying his prayers his last prayer
young man how are you peace be with you
how are you good I'm I'm fine
alhamdulillah now uh what's your name
sir ibraim would you be so kind as to
give us a little bit of a tour here from
the from the mosque all right all right
so you know we we're we're trying to
show you are in the prayer the prayer
room that's the prayer room okay okay
have you seen this okay what is this now
this old picture mea mea right meca it's
very unique actually that's the I think
the 7s is that the first house of
worship built by Abraham yeah this is it
right here now the Muslims worship this
black box ah no no that's just the the
first house of worship that's it first
mosque this is a mosque that's the first
mosque it is basically the first mosque
yesam which is the sacred mosque yeah um
it's a Masjid yes okay so no worshiping
that you worship the creator of all this
of course definitely that's where people
go for Hajj too and that's where where
ibraim and his son ishma actually and
they they built they're the first one
who built that house there and as uh you
see Mecca this is the old city of Mecca
and this is the original city of prophet
Muhammad sallallah alhi wasallam that's
where he was born okay so Prophet
Muhammad he was a a prophet like Jesus
Moses Abraham absolutely he was he was
the last prophet yeah the last prophet
he said all prophets are like brothers
born into different mothers
yeah this is
the this is the
is
the
the this is
the this is the
[Music]
the
the this is the is
the
the the welcome back to to the dean show
we're here in Texas at the Clear Lake
Islamic Center giving you an inside look
at one of the MOs in Houston so we
started out going into the front
Corridor and now if you can take a look
this is we showed you where the Muslims
pray where they prostrate there are no
statues pictures any weird things on the
wall they're just devoting worship to
God just worshiping the one unseen creat
tour and in this particular mashid also
you can see they have a nice Lounge set
up with WiFi that's right so it's
very beautiful in here this is shik wed
bui's
mashid
and this would be something that if
anyone wanted to open up a mashid this
would be something
that one should copy because not only is
a mashid a place where you come and
worship but where communities gather and
they come to get together and get to
know each other so he's seen he has seen
such a success here that the Muslims and
our non-muslim friends Brothers in
humanity are welcome to come in can be a
part of this that now they know each
other better because they sit around and
they talk and they hang out instead of
going out to the coffee shops and the
kids getting in trouble you have a
playground here the kids can play in the
playground we showed you the playground
and you also have this very
nice atmosphere here a nice Ambiance
they show different movies documentaries
have different lectures it's beautiful
let's go meet some Muslims come on
there's some people gathering over here
by some beautiful paintings so we're
still in the MOs the musjid and if you
can
see now I wish we can find
the the artist who you know that that'd
be a nice thing thing to find the artist
who who actually uh painted these
wonderful paintings I'm here uhoh he's
here hey alhamdulillah all thanks to got
how are you sir good what's your name uh
ISAT
Abes ISAT Abes now you're the one
responsible for these beautiful this
beautiful artwork here uh all made with
my hands nice all right mashallah can
can you tell us now is the Arabic
calligraphy
can you tell us now uh Define what do
these say and what are some of the
meanings here behind them okay first of
all all of them except one are a present
to the mosque I did them and give it to
the mosque as a present this one here
is which means by reminding Yourself by
God by mentioning God in your heart your
heart which is
agitated calms down and this is the the
beauty of remembering heart uh
remembering God this one here is the
saying
of he
said this is one of the greatest prayer
are like from the Quran which says God
open my
heart make it easy for me make me um Al
eloquent so that they understand what I
say this one
here means all of you Muslims unite and
attach you yourself to the Rob of God
this is how you get the strength when
you are united you are strong when you
are divided you are weak and can be
conquered this one
here is the English translation here but
I read the Arabic
here you the prophet of
Muhammad I sacrifice my mother and my
father for you I painted that when they
attacked the prophet Muhammad by the
cartoonist and this is a uh his love is
in our heart and you can see the heart
here and we give it to him now let me
ask you this you know for some people to
comprehend that it's it's very difficult
but when you name you you mention Moses
there yes and we also people now they
know that we as Muslims some might don't
know for those that don't that we love
Jesus so anyone who is it true that
anyone who insults Jesus Moses Abraham
that would be an insult to Muslims also
because they're beloved to our hearts
too is that right uh this is what in the
Quran all of them are equal in the eyes
of God and there was a story when the
prophet was in Medina and a Muslim tried
to insult a Jew there because they were
living together there about Moses he
said no you are absolutely wrong he is
my brother he is as respected as I am
Moses yeah Moses okay so we love Moses
we love we love all the prophets of
Muhammad yeah they are equal equal in
the eyes they're equal to
Muhammad especially but the rank is a
little bit different but they are all
gods all from God yes to human being
beautiful let's continue please okay
this one here from the Quran
also means take care of your parents
take care of your parents right take
care of your parents and this is a an
essential part we should really realize
now they were they give you all what
they
had sincerely without expecting anything
unconditional love yes so this is what I
think is a
valuable uh quotation from the Quran on
yes now I I like this one here this one
is really profound here because you have
a a boat here it says forever what is
that a Bentley or Rolls-Royce you got
some gambling going on you know gambl is
not allowed in Islam okay you got some
drinking you got some uh partying going
on here money and some would say that's
like bling bling in modern terms you
know and you got some uh is that the the
the the the devil the satanic forces
whne what's going on with this
uh what inspired me to do this was Enron
Enron oh when I when I I am from H so I
live that Scandal of Enron and that what
is reminds us in the Quran means you
keep collecting things until you die
this is the the the weakness of the
human being and God reminds us that one
day will die and that's why I made this
painting to show the
Indulgence of things and Injustice
because you cannot collect all this
money without Injustice and then self
pleasures and that's why eventually see
here he he's Rich he the stock market he
has real estate real estate he has money
money and house got the house and on his
boat he ride forever like he's going to
live forever live forever and and the is
Guided by the devil to do this to do the
the sins the sins so you got that could
be drugs alcohol womanizing correct
gambling gambling and then he dies and
then it's done it's done does he take
any of this with him that's why he said
here is written from the Quran also yes
writing here
my money did not prevent me from dying
I'm not going to live forever he
couldn't buy his way out of the Grave
right and did not prolong his life one
second when his time comes he done and
then he will be punished not only in the
year after but also while in grave here
is the snake and the crocodile here the
snake and crocodile are a symbol for the
punishment you get in in the grave the
grave is if you are good you'll be
rewarded Your Grave will be
lighted the angels will accompany you
say You are not alone we are with you if
you are did bad things then you'll be
punished in the grave and until you day
of judgment this is really beautiful
tell us for our brothers in humanity the
not yet Muslims because we really want
them to understand us because Islam
Islam Today is misunderstood so tell us
would you if some of our brothers from
in humanity came in and wanted to see
some of your artwork see the mosque are
they welcome or does Islam teach you to
hate those who are not
Muslim Islam is based on love peace and
Justice uh and the word Islam is peace
part half of it is peace and Justice is
the you know this man didn't do justice
is for the world you have to be just to
yourself to your family to your Society
to the
world and that's Islam anyone wants to
come to the mosque and see this he
welcome the mosque is anyone anyone any
religion or no religion yes come in you
know it's it's God's house it's not my
house it's God's house it's God's house
yes and he welcomes all his
people who created whom he created when
you hear a couple more questions just
before because you have I'm definitely I
mean we're very impressed with this and
a person such as yourself who's over the
years gained so much experience and when
you see a lot of the misconceptions out
there people talking about Islam like
it's something that's barbaric that you
know Islam teaches terrorism and
radicalization of the youth does this
sadden your heart what do you how do you
respond on to this it really saddens my
heart but I have to blame also the
Muslims for not portraying Islam the
right
way uh
some bad
apples destroyed the whole crop yes and
I
really uh people should not look at this
bad apples look at Islam look at the
history of Islam learn that's why I I I
published a book called Islam in the
eyes of an artist showing how Islam is
beautiful how Islam is is peaceful how
high level of meditation and elevation
of the soul in Islam all in
paintings and transl and the English
explanation next to it so
really uh Islam needs a lot and we are
we should educate people and people
should seek
knowledge ignorance is the best enemy to
anyone that's right ignorance is the
best enemy to anyone so we need to clear
up all this confusion by getting
ourselves educated and come visit here
at shik W's basuni Masjid here in the
Clear Lake Islamic Center Dr is
that yes and he'll give you a tour of
some of his beautiful paintings and if
you have any other questions you know
stop by and visit us here that's right
come and visit the Muslims come and
learn directly from the Muslims and get
to know your neighborhood Muslims those
who have consciously submitted to one
God and that's how we get peace and we
wish you peace thank you very much thank
you for visiting us we were
very rewarded by your visit thank you
very much sh thank you Salam alikum I am
not afraid stand alone
I am not afraid to stand alone if Li I
am not afraid to stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
Li by side I am not afraid to stand
alone I am not afraid to stand alone if
a lies I am not afraid to stand Al
[Music]
and if we're going to worship something
I figured I might as well worship the
Creator instead of any of the
Creations now in upon investigating all
the religions I remember finding out the
meaning of what Islam is what a Muslim
is those who surrender theirself to God
is a Muslim those who surrender submit
to God God's will that is it Islam was
pure it was just you just pray to God
your
[Music]
creator there's another young man here
and I think yesterday we we were going
and having a tour and we want to
continue we're almost done here shik
ibraim how are you man he took me by
surprise I wasn't expecting that you're
also one of the imams here ah yes I'm
the administrator also for the Clear
Lake Islamic Center yes yeah now now we
saw the we we we got to see the the
prayer area you know one interesting
thing is there there's no statues
there's no pictures what what's going on
here well B
basically uh statues and and images in
Islam are not permitted and um it
is since the early days of Islam when
the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him
you know destroyed all these statues
that were around the Caba so that was
something that was forbidden and it is
like taking the religion back to the era
of Abraham he's the first one who
destroyed the statues so definitely we
will not have him in our mass and not
any Masjid in in the whole world will
have any statues it's all about the
worship of the one God of the one God
Allah the same God that Jesus worshiped
Jesus would would broke some statues too
no statues we're not talk promoting
breaking statues out there but we're
just it's symbol symbolizing the the
worship of the the one God pure
monotheism this is what Islam is based
on absolutely absolutely uh Jesus
himself in the Bible said that you
should worship only one God the god in
the heaven that that is the only God
that deserves to be worshiped and
actually I I heard in in a lot of your
interviews that people translate the
word Allah into the only one true God
that's a description Allah is is the
only one true God but Allah also means
the woried one that is basically the the
meaning of the word Allah he is the
woried one meaning you know he's the
only one who deserves to be worshiped
and that's even embedded in the meaning
of Allah now you got to learn a little
bit also more about Islam and the key
pillar only worship the Creator let's
continue walking around this house of
worship as we said yesterday this is a
Community Hall and it is
it is set up in such a way where it is a
family uh friendly environment where
families can come and actually we have
everything for all the family here we
made it where the sisters can enjoy
themselves there so you separate here
you have the the men with the men the
women with the women to make them feel
more comfortable and also if a family
like a father you know PE parents and
their children can sit around and you
know discuss something and you know eat
something together we have the provision
for that so the boys with the boys the
women with the women yes definitely I
mean it it it may sound that you know
we're um it's it's like Society we're
dealing with Society with all its uh you
know factions and all its elements so
basically any people can come enjoy
themselves in this uh in this facility
Muslims non-muslims and they can come
and just you know enjoy you know
socializing with Muslims in this
facility in such a way that
is not even about religion it's about
neighborhood and and being friendly to
your neighbors and being welcoming and
that's that's the attitude that we have
in this place actually okay so what else
do we have here now oh we um just like I
told you we have a you know uh we saw
the playground yesterday right the play
did we see it did we see it okay we can
uh all right
yeah we have a playground an indoor
playground for the kids wow Subhan Allah
now this now this is a Masjid right now
some people might think like what are
you doing you got a like a play pen here
this is not a play pen this is like a
mega siiz play center in the musjid and
hey what if someone hey that's and
someone says man this is some kind of
bid no it's not actually this is very
much in encouraged by the spirit of
Islam you know you want to attract the
kids to come in here you know they go to
McDonald's and what happens at
McDonald's they eat unhealthy food I'm
not against McDonald's but that's the
reality is that they you know so we
bring them here for a healthy
environment you know their parents can
cook their food and they can come and
eat it here the children can play like
we have two kids here playing um is that
a time where where not many kids are in
the Masid but yeah it's to attract those
kids and to have them attached to the
Masjid and uh you know see their parents
go to prayer and come play here and then
you know it's it is something where you
know attach the you know connect kids to
fun you know we're going to the Masjid
we're going to the mosque to have fun
which is very good and later on they'll
find out that you know they're loving
the place of worship and they know the
purpose of it uh more so than just
having fun although having fun is's
nothing wrong with it so alhamdulillah
that's so this is amazing this isaz this
is one of its kind and we hope that
those who are thinking about had this
when I was uh yes this is amazing so we
want to inspire you we want to really
motivate people who are thinking about
making a Masid that they incorporate
this into the Masid this is wonderful so
what else I heard you actually you got
to get get fit a fitness fitness center
in the mosque amazing simple Fitness
room so now if you got need some you
know greasy beryani or you know some
hamburgers you shouldn't be eating you
know with all the greasy stuff and you
you you want to change your eating
patter eat healthy and now you want to
look good and feel good you know the
best way is to make the salot you know
that's that food for the soul but now
you got some training for the body tell
us what thought process went behind this
to make this happen well well basically
this is something that is it's like a
dream you know a lot of uh especially
the the sisters who come to the Masjid
you know they want to have a place where
they can do it alone you know without
any male interaction and they can just
come and feel comfortable so we found
that this I mean the Masjid can provide
this for the sisters and basically you
know we have it where it's four days for
the Sisters three days for the brothers
and they can come and enjoy them
themselves in a way where you know
Fitness is is something that is
recommended in Islam you have to be fit
actually and you know like you said you
know prayer can do so much but it cannot
really shed the fat that you have so we
add to it something that Allah has
blessed us with which is you know to be
active and and to be fit and find ways
to uh you know burn these calories so
amazing amazing tell us now
alhamdulillah all praises to God to
Allah and so a we got that out of the
way that our brothers in humanity are
welcome here they're not yet Muslims
they can come in here anytime
yeah we're open for all the you know all
the neighborhood anyone can come here
and actually we've had many of our
neighbors come here and and you know
enjoy the uh you know the environment
and use the facility U we had students
who would come and study we had uh Faith
groups and we we've arranged actually uh
Interfaith activities with churches in
the neighborhood that they can use the
facility and we can go also there and
use their facilities so this is like
that's how it is in America you know we
have to work together we have to live
together and just like you have an you
know a Christian neighbor that Christian
neighbor can come to your wor place of
worship and see how see what you do
actually in your utmost intimate moments
with Allah subhana tal with your creator
for those people that that try to you
know depict Islam as something that
is out there to get you it's the other
it's about you know creating Mischief
here in America and you know it's like
the boogeyman is coming to get you you
hear terrorism Muslim what do you have
to say to those people who are confused
about Islam
well there are so much that you can say
but I think the best way is to reach out
to the people and and do rather than say
and just show them you know by example
come and see us and see what we do we're
part of you we're part of the fabric of
America Muslims are the integral an
integral part of America you know
they're they're really good citizens and
they have you know contributed to this
Society in so many ways and
unfortunately when they contribute to
the society they are known by their
individuals but they're Muslim and their
faith encourages them to be good to the
society and to be produ productive so
what I say is not everything you hear in
the media is you have to really be
critical in what you hear in the media
and you know think for yourself and go
visit your neighbor the Muslim neighbor
and ask him if that's true and they will
show you Hospitality they will show you
come to our places of worship to social
Gatherings and you will see who we are
for what we are exactly yes yes that is
excellent tell us the last point I want
to ask you is for the Muslims now we
want this to be an example of what a
mhid can be it's not just restricted to
the five daily prayers that bringing
community together the way you guys have
you got a gymm here you got a playground
for the kids instead of the kids going
to Starbucks or this Cafe that cafe and
getting in trouble out there you know
they come and they attach their heart to
the house of God to the house of Allah
but sometimes you have you know those
you have some people and we want to
soften their hearts too some of the
people that don't get the youth involved
and they sometimes close this door and
make it difficult for the Youth to be
involved and to prosper and to grow like
you guys have what advice do you have
for those people well you know to begin
with this you know when we started here
as a Muslim Community in America we were
like immigrant families who came here
and we kind of like did not change the
mentality that we came with and we just
wanted our places of worship the same
way we used to have him back back home
in whatever country we came from and
this is not really healthy and it's not
really even you know productive in
Society like America it's a very fast
growing society and youth they have so
much exposure to other things so you
have to really be competitive with
whatever the out there that is
attracting Our Youth and our youth those
are our children and and we seeing we
see them I mean be they Muslim Christian
or Jews we have the same problem all
these Faith groups have the same problem
with the youth that they're running away
from religion and we want them to really
come back to religion and see that there
are certain things that you can
incorporate in your places of worship
that attract the youth and there's
nothing wrong with them and you can be
competitive you can show them the better
way of life the better alternative to
whatever is out there because whatever
is out there is there to make money and
they don't really care about you know
the mental health of your child the
physical health of your child in a place
like this we care about this social
health mental health and physical health
and religious and spiritual health and
so what I say is we have to really
change that mentality and start learning
more from our youth what they really
want and exactly this is the product of
the youthful thinking of the leadership
in this community you know like she
basuni masallah he has a really great
you know insight and it's because he's
been in contact with so many youth
that he is able to really you know uh
realize the things and the dream that
they have so this is just part of the
solution we're trying to solve this and
we advise our brothers everywhere those
who build their massaged please don't
pay so much attention to just decorating
your Masjid rather than making it
functional with great facilities that
you know help and and serve and care to
every member of the family and every
member of the society
actually that's amazing don't spend all
the time arguing about the minet how big
it's going to be 50 ft or the Dome this
design that design you know Braden your
your mind open your mind and do some of
the things we're giving you an example
here let the uncles we call them work
with the youth work together so we can
grow together exactly well that's I mean
one Dome May cost about $100,000 to make
with $100,000 you can make you know a
gym double this size yes you know where
youth can say well it's better than the
Dome I can't really do anything with the
Dome I can't climb it but I can do
something with this here so you really
putting your money in a goodful use I
mean in useful uh uh purpose yes yes
thank you very much peace be with you
thank you so much may God Almighty
reward you thank you for coming here we
appreciate your uh your efforts thank
you very much alhamdulillah thank you sh