I end up getting in a high-speed chase.
You can say a high-speed chase led you
to Islam. They had the helicopters. They
It was probably half the half the priest
think there. I I got him. I got him.
He's at 9:00.
Don't play with
it was copied from the Bible. Like you
said is plagiarizing taking things out
of context and it doesn't make sense in
their Bible. The pedophilia the Catholic
Church is the greatest example of that.
Right. I mean Wilfredo, how are you?
So I had a chance to uh meet your
brother. He came down to uh the dean
center and he was telling me a little
bit about your story. But now I have
opportunity to hear it from yourself
personally. Now your brother also
accepted um this beautiful way of life
Islam. But you weren't always a Muslim.
Can you talk to us a little bit about
your way of life uh before accepting
Islam?
Sure. Sure, man. You know, before
accepting Islam, you know, we was born
and raised Catholic. In the Dominican
Republic, that's predominantly Catholic.
So, I went to Catholic school as a as a
kid. And, you know, it was real humble.
In the Dominican Republic, we didn't
have much of the extras, but we had
everything we needed. At least my
family, alhamdulillah, we were always
fortunate to to always have what we
needed. And, you know, that whole
culture, that's what that's what raised
me. It was the whole baseball, you know,
go outside and make the most of it. When
the lights go out in the house, you got
to go outside and enjoy yourself.
Everybody gets together and do, you
know, all kind of things. Family was a
huge thing. Dominicans, they they pride
themselves in in being a a strong unit.
And the family is something very
important. And yes, you know, I'm one of
six, but at the time it was just me and
my little brother in the Dominican
Republic when I was younger. And my
parents actually went to New York and
left us in the Dominican for three and a
half years of which we stayed with my my
auntie and I just ever since then it was
me and my little brother and I was
always just looking out for him. Mhm.
And you grew up you were talking about
um how you were you were really into the
church growing up. You used to do the I
wasn't really into the church. Uh my
parents they had a they had a real fine
line. They alhamdulillah may Allah guide
them. They've always, you know, kept God
pressing. I remember being a kid and
always hearing that God was watching.
So, you know, when I went to do certain
things, I would actually think that God
was watching. And obviously, he is, but
as a child, I was definitely aware of
that and it came from them. And also,
anytime they say anything, if they're
going to do something, call you the next
day or whatever the case may be, they
always say, "God willing." They always
say, "God willing." And these were
things that that I grew up around. We
weren't churchgoing folk very much, but
every once in a while my father would
round us up and and take us there, but I
did go to Catholic school, like I said,
so it was very much prevalent and that
that is the way of life. Most of the
people there are Catholic. Do most
people they have this notion that okay,
we're we're god-fearing, we believe in
God, but the church is corrupted. Yes.
Yes. and and obviously you know after
the whole Catholic church thing you know
that they didn't recover from that to
this day in the Dominican Republic
there's not there's not trust what
church thing well the the the pedophilia
the Catholic church is the greatest
example of that right I mean you cannot
say Catholic priest without someone
thinking pedophile there's no other
occupation on earth that has such a
connection to pedophilia you know and
everything that that was covered up And
you know that that was systematic and it
was happening in so many places and and
it came out in reports that they were
just transferring people from one one
church to another, not letting them go,
not holding them accountable for these
things. So it was very much systematic
and in the Dominican Republic it
affected a lot of people and you know it
you had victims over there as well like
in many places unfortunately.
Yeah, I remember that now. That was um
that was a big cover up. There was a big
scandal which you just huge. They would
they would uncover that this this priest
was molesting kids and they would just
instead of um bringing them to justice,
they just flip them over to another
church. Yes. Very much so. And the
people that you know where he was being
sent, they would think that they were
getting a blessing, you know, they oh we
got somebody else to to to help us out
here when obviously that was not the
case. They they just moved the devil
somewhere else.
Yes. Yes. Yeah. Alhamdulillah. So after
that you said that they didn't after
this uh whole scandal and this was I
mean this is something that's um how is
it now? Do you have you follow through?
What what's the situation now with the
with this scandal with the pedophilia
and the church? Do you do you know much
about it? What's h what's what's
happening now? No actually I don't
people you know how it is. they they
move on from things and unfortunately as
Muslims we have so much that that we
have to deal with with our own brothers
and sisters and everything that that
they're going through and may Allah tala
bring them relief may he grant them
shuada
so did you believe at that because many
times you'll speak to a a Christian and
they'll say okay I was a Christian but I
didn't believe Jesus was u I believe I
didn't believe in the trinity I didn't
believe in certain aspects that didn't
make sense
Where were you at at that point? Did you
believe uh in the Trinity? Did you
believe Jesus died for your sins? Did
you I did I did believe I didn't I
didn't get too much in depth because to
be honest with you when I started my my
prison sentence I knew that I I needed
God in my life and I knew that if I was
going to make it out of being away for
15 years and I was still going to be a
productive citizen and I was going to be
somebody that my family was going to be
able to lean on while I was still in
there and then when I come home to be
productive and to be you know sane. I
knew that God had to be a part of that.
So I I actually started from the Old
Testament. I started from the very
beginning of the book and you know it
took a long time because I I wasn't just
reading it. I was studying it and I
didn't get to to the last of the book. I
didn't get to much of the New Testament
and it was something that I did believe
only because I was told. But to believe
in one thing, you have to have
certainty. I never had that. You know,
you believe as a child what you're told.
And you know, as grown-ups, I advise
everybody, do your research. If you
believe something and you've been
believing it your whole life and you
don't know and it doesn't feel quite
right as Christianity, that is the case
for a lot of people that I speak to.
They say, "Oh, well, you know, I'm not
sure about this. I'm not sure about
that." But then at the end of the day,
how could you actually think that what
you believe is going to reform you if
you don't really believe in it? So,
there's an issue with with Christians
especially to where, you know, they they
don't know what to think as far as the
the whole Trinity thing. Is he really
God? Well, he was praying to himself.
Well, he forsook he forsake himself and
he did this and he did. It doesn't make
sense. And so many times in even their
own Bible, which you know that that's
just the reality. Jesus makes a
distinction clearly between him and
Allah. There he's always telling them
who's giving them the power to do the
certain things that he was doing.
Whether it was bringing back the dead or
any miracle that he did, he always said,
you know, it is through God who gives me
the strength. And how could somebody
read that and ultimately not think
something's up? So what didn't feel
right? When you say something didn't
feel right, what was it?
Just the fact that you had instances
even in the Bible where it tells you
like in Mark, I believe it is the
crucifixion itself at the end it tells
you this was added at a later time. So
you you ask yourself, how could it be
added at a later time? If this is part
of this book, it should be part of that
book. Who edited it? And when it comes
to, like I said, imman to have faith in
something, it has to be concrete or it's
not real. It's something that it'll
it'll it'll fall, you know. And I can
say personally, the first time I even
looked at a translation of the Quran and
I opened it and the introduction said,
"The Quran is the word of God." Right
then and there, I paused and I knew how
how could you say that? So, I read the
rest of the introduction and then
started reading the actual text, the the
translation, and I knew something was
up. I knew that this was something that
I had to learn about, and I knew right
away that there was something going on
that I was going to either figure out or
miss out.
How much reading did you have to do
that now you got to a point where like
okay the introduction is telling you one
thing like you're like okay I got to
keep going. So then you get into the
first chapter of the Quran, surah fat.
You get in surah bak. How far down the
road are you like, okay, you you're
starting to feel like this is this is
the the the the is from the creator.
This is from God Almighty. What at what
point did you start getting that that
feeling that I I actually might become a
Muslim? It was it was early. It was
early. I I I didn't get out of Bakra. I
didn't I didn't get out of Bakra. And I
already knew then I said, you know, this
this feels different. It's written
different. It's written with a certain
authority that you can't fake. You
cannot, you know, you can tell where
it's coming from. So at that point, what
I did was approach somebody who I knew
was Muslim and I asked him, "Hey, is
there a way that I can get a book that
details what you believe, why you
believe that way, how you pray, why you
pray like that, and just gives me the
the basic knowledge of of the religion
of Islam." And he agreed. He brought me
a book on the five pillars. It was
almost 300 pages. And ultimately, I
ended up reading about Islam and
studying for about 2 months. And even
less than half of that time, I had
already quit praying to God to to Jesus
at in his name or I had quit doing the
the rosaries that I was praying because
at the time I was doing my rosaries. I
was waking up every day about 7 in the
morning. It would take me about 30
minutes. Every day you got to read
certain scriptures and then you got to
do a certain Hail Marys, a certain
number of Hail Marys. You go through the
rosary. Every one of the small beads in
a rosary is actually a Hail Mary. And
the big bead, the bigger beads is the
uh, you know, a holy father. So you go
through this every day. And I had
stopped doing that. And my only prayer
was, "Oh god, show me the truth. Show me
the truth." And I kept reading. And
ultimately he he led me to it. Okay. So
this is a crucial point here. You
stopped praying to anyone other than the
creator, God Almighty. So you started
praying to who Jesus prayed to himself.
So you stop praying to Jesus and you're
asking God Almighty to guide you.
Yes. And then um you know it's
interesting uh I was I just uh did a
reaction to I don't know if you've heard
of the Hajj twins.
Yes. Yes. You've heard of them? Yes.
Yeah. And um they're conservative
Christians and you know many Muslims uh
are um they like some of the material
they put out and they had um an
anti-Islam
Islamophobe call them recently and it
kind of their their position kind of
switched and I I did a reaction to some
of the some of the nonsense that he was
spewing some of the lies and
misinformation. And one thing that stood
out was that they said that the they
were saying that they're ignorant about
Islam. So I was like, why don't you just
have a Muslim on and I'm looking at your
story for example, you actually read you
started reading the Quran. You read
you've you were doing your homework.
They're not doing their homework and
they were saying that they were
repeating some of these things that the
Quran was plagiarized. It was copied
from the Bible. Like you said, it's
plagiarized. taking things out of
context that doesn't make sense in their
Bible because that that religion is only
what about 600 years old. Have you heard
that? Yes. Yes. That's
Yes, I' I've actually say to them people
like that who want to make this claim
and in the video I kind of list many
many of the um simple arguments that
anybody can refute something is really
um foolish who says something foolish
like this.
What do you say? What would you like?
What do you tell people if they they
say, "Oh, this you're just you just you
were just reading a book that was copied
from the Bible."
I would tell them that there is no way
that the Quran was copied from anything.
The Quran has so many miracles and the
way it costed
and the way that that he you know
explains his his names the way he
mentions it the way the order in which
is done the way that the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
didn't ask for anything everything was
from Allah tala for the people nobody
benefits except the whole of mankind and
this is something that you don't have to
pick up one part of the book and then in
the other part it's going to contra
convict itself. Allah tala makes it very
clear and the Quran actually explains
itself. The Bible you go into such a
rabbit hole that you might never come
out as you see a lot of people actually
die upon that. Unfortunately, that's
just the truth. And the Quran is
something that if you delve into it, you
will come out in the light. And there's
no way if you come sincerely and you ask
God Almighty, Allah tala himself to just
guide you, there's no way that a person
can can do what they do with the Bible
and just go to the left. It's not it's
not that. What do you think this is?
Just just um mental laziness. What is it
when um you know they'll bring on people
who are um so-called um like this last
guest they had you know very ignorant of
Islam but they they they speak they are
coming on and speaking trying to speak
with some authority but they actually
are I mean really ignorant and then they
they don't bring on people who actually
live Islam who are scholars who are
students of knowledge who can explain
the religion properly. I'm just um that
baffles me, you know. Well, you know, a
lot of people they're not trying to do
anything outside of entertain. Yeah.
Entertain themselves, entertain those
who who are subscribing to to the
madness that they're spewing and that's
that's just their thing. So, they look
for people that are going to add fuel to
that fire. And no pun intended, but
that's just what it is. Fuel to the
fire. Yeah, that's really important what
you said. The uh pure absolute
monotheism, the toheed, that's one thing
that stood out. This is something that
anyone who reads it, it's over and over
calling to just the worship of the one
creator, the creator of the heavens and
earth. And why didn't then you mention
the um these mistakes, contradictions
that are in there? Why didn't the Quran
copy this? Um why didn't the uh Quran
you know there's there's stories in
there and that are talking about the
prophets in a very derogatory manner
like Lot like uh David you know the
stories with Bashiba and and these
things but you know when you contrast
that with Islam you see how Islam
elevates the prophets and puts them in
such a high status that um they wouldn't
come these are fabricated stories
obviously why didn't the Quran copy
these things. So, there's just a whole
list um of things that you can go down
and you can be like, okay, there's it's
of course it's coming from the same
source obviously, but now when you get
into when you get into the the details
there um and you look at for instance
Noah's arc, you see where the the
examples there where Allah is talking
about the ship on Mount Judy. How do
these accounts compare? According to the
Bible, the ark's final resting place was
on the mountains of Ararat. The Quran,
however, states that the ark came to
rest on Aljudi without mentioning the
word mountain. She regretted. In the
Bible, God expresses regret over
creating humanity, which contradicts the
attribute of the all knowing God. Then
you see how the story in the Quran Allah
is talking about. Unlike the biblical
account, the Quran makes it clear that
Noah's people were given ample
opportunity to repent before the decree
was sealed.
The Quran shifts the focus away from the
physicality of the ark and instead calls
humanity to reflect on the lessons
behind it.
Indeed, in their stories, there is a
lesson for people of reason.
This message is not a fabrication, but a
confirmation of previous scriptures, a
detailed explanation of all things, a
guide and a mercy for those who believe.
Yeah. Night and day. Yeah. And and even
the crimes that they accuse the prophets
of. Yeah. That's what I'm talking about.
You know that's that that's and and it's
it's interesting what you said not only
that Islam you know elevates the
prophets but even in the modern day time
you see how it elevates the people you
see how people are able to actually
rectify themselves. Some of the best
practicing Muslims that I have seen with
my own two eyes have been some of the
people that were considered the worst
upon society. Some of the people that
had spent 20 25 years for murder.
sometime multiple murders and to see
these these individuals become some of
the most gentle human beings and I can
attest to it even with my own story. I
came from a good family. My parents have
been together longer than I've been
alive. May Allah tala guide them. I mean
and they gave me my father gave me an
example of what it's like to be a man.
And even then I went and veered off to
the left. And when my life got hard
after I split up from my first wife and
I turned into the streets because I felt
betrayed by so many people that I loved,
my my life spiraled out of control. So
you can take a a kid from a good
upbringing who had good grades in
school, not the best, and ultimately
ended up dropping out to be a man
because he got married early on in life.
I got married when I was 17 the first
time. My marriage fell apart when I was
20. And from 20 to 24 till I went to
prison and I entered the streets, it was
not the same person that my parents had
raised. And you can see that as a as a
Muslim, I've dealt with so many
obstacles and I've dealt with so many
trials that Allah has helped me remain
patient through through most of them.
And that's what Islam brings. It brings
rectification of character and it brings
uh a tool a tool set to be able to deal
with anything that life throws your way.
You got Muslims that are dealing with so
many things so many places around the
world and so many people who are
misguided today will say that they have
they have not opened their eyes to a
different reality because of what our
brothers and sisters and Philistine are
dealing with and in the manner that they
are dealing with it. And may Allah
rectify rectify that. May he give them
and may he grant them genital for a
mean. And may he hold those responsible
who are committing the atrocities. Amen.
Amen. So you have people in prison that
wouldn't do certain like for instance
incest, right? Um something that you're
going to accuse Lot of who's a prophet.
And I'm never trying to purposely
disrespect uh you know any Christians or
anybody but I just want people to think
just think about it because I speak to
some some of my Christian friends and
I'm I just say look look at uh because
if the hodgepodge twins or any of these
say okay the Quran is copying you know
this book had such an impact on you and
then someone said oh he just copied from
the Bible just think about it here just
one example like the story of the
prophets and one in particular well
let's say two in particular we have Lot
and has he's doing incest with his two
daughters and the prophets are there to
be uh role models for us. So then our
Christian friends tell us that they're
humans, right? It shows the reality that
everyone can fall. But hold on then I
say, but you have human beings who now
wouldn't do such an evil act who would
not fall into something so so evil. And
you're telling me like David uh going
and sending his general in the front
line because he had a lust and a desire
to be with Bashibba. Right? So there's
people who live by a code on the streets
who wouldn't go sleep with their
right-hand man's wife, for example. But
you're going to see a prophet of God
went and did that. But there's an
alternative. We're not trying to just,
you know, throw everything uh throw you
into the ocean without without a
lifeline. We're saying, hold on. Is that
story more plausible? Or is the one over
here where Islam is saying, "No, this is
a fabrication. This is a lie. This did
not happen. They're actually the best of
mankind. We're supposed to emulate
them." Because if somebody's like,
"Well, if the prophet if if they did
that, then who am I?" Exactly.
So, I thought this is uh this is a very
very important point. What do you think?
No, you're absolutely right. And I mean,
think about it like this. There's two
angles to it. Well, more than that, but
we're going to cover two. The first one
being that Allah that God sent somebody
who wasn't adequate. So God, the creator
of everything that knows everything,
that decrees everything is going to send
a man to lead everyone on earth at the
time, at least in the region, but he's
going to pick somebody who's not
qualified. You can't even get that out
of out of good businessmen on this
earth. Good. You you mean to tell me
they can make better decisions than God
himself? It makes absolutely no sense.
But it just it goes down the same line
as somebody who doesn't want to see the
truth. As somebody who you can see it,
you can show it to them in 10 different
ways and they'll treat they'll choose
the the other way. And you know,
unfortunately,
you know, that's just the reality for a
lot of people. Allah says it in the
Quran himself that so many people are
just gonna cling to oh I'm doing what my
what my forefathers did. I'm doing what
my forefathers did even if they know
nothing. Come on. So was what was it
that finally did it for you that you
were like okay you're reading the Quran
and were there any Muslims there that
were helping you? They were also kind of
u answering your questions. Any doubts
uh anything that came up? Was there
anybody helping you along the way?
Actually, no. No. No. And that's what
makes my situation one that I'm always
so grateful to Allah tala for guiding me
and the way he did. Mhm. Ultimately, I
end up running into the Quran, into the
translation.
I open it. I start reading. He opens my
my breast. He opens my heart. And then I
start asking somebody to to bring me
more information. They bring it to me.
Well, as I'm reading it, the thing about
my situation was that I was in a level
five prison. So, we're locked down
almost all day. You come out one hour a
day for recreation, one and a half, and
then you would come out 30 minutes, two
times a day, only to get ice, take a
shower, and call your loved ones. So,
the time that you have outside of
yourself is very limited. And I actually
didn't have somebody who was living with
me who was Muslim. So it was me in the
books and me just praying to to Allah,
guide me, guide me, show me the truth.
Ultimately, I remember maybe a month
before I became Muslim, I told my wife,
who I at the time I had been with her 8
years, alhamdulillah, Allah tala decreed
for this woman to actually wait for me
all 15 years and we've been together 21
years. And alhamdulillah. So I told her,
I said, "You know, I'm looking into this
and the reason I'm telling you is
because I I feel that this is this is
the way and I might end up being
Muslim." And at the time, I was going
through so many things. I was back in
the courts and my case wasn't going how
I wanted it to go. So she said, "Oh no,
you're just upset at you're just upset
because things aren't going your way and
I I think you're just desperate right
now. So you're trying to blame God for
for what's going on with you." And I
told her, "No, that's simply not the
case." And it was about 30 days later.
So the last thing that I asked myself
was, who is the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam? And where
did he come from? How come I don't know
about him? He's he's the the the last
messenger sent by God. Well, where did
he come from? And then it actually took
me back in the Bible because I was
reading some references at the time that
was showing me basically both sides. And
then I I I realized that he came from
Ishmael. So I said, "Hold on. You mean
to tell me that Allah sent Abraham to
drop off Hagar and Ishmael in the
desert? And from that man came the Arab
people. The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam is a direct descendant
of Ishmael. And the Muslims right now
are the ones that go to that house and
they're the ones that live in that in
that area.
I said, "Subhan Allah." Right then and
there, I knew it. Because in the Bible,
they don't even talk about Ishmamail
more. They just basically go on down to
the the 12 tribes and and all that. So,
alhamdulillah said, "This is the blessed
nation that God promised he would make
them." And alhamdulillah, it was that's
it. Once I learned that, I was I was
pretty much sold. So, then you connected
the dots and allegedly I did. I did. Not
only did I connect the dots with that,
but I also connected the dot and
everything that I had read that didn't
feel right in the New Testament because
you know when you go to church sometimes
they always going to feed you the all
you know John 3:16 this that you know so
these verses that they quoted so many
times and even the one when when Jesus
where he says that on the day of
judgment there will be many people that
will come and say that they did they did
things in his came and he's going to
say, "Get away from me. I don't know
thee." Right? So, I said, "Oh my
goodness, this is it." I mean, there's
no way that this could be the truth.
Obviously, by that time, you know, I was
I was hooked on Islam. I was I was the
only thing it was that my my parents and
everybody, we didn't I didn't know
anything about Islam. And I can admit
that. I didn't know even the people that
were around me before I went to prison.
I didn't even know the ones that were
Muslim were Muslim. You know, the ones
that named Hussein Hassan and all these
little brothers that obviously, you
know, we knew them. They never gave us
dawa, you know. So, it was then that my
parents found out about what I was doing
and my reading of the books and they
advised me not to do it. And that was
like the last thing that that held me
back. It was my parents because I had
put them through so much already. Nobody
had been to prison in my family. I'm
actually the first person and out of all
my siblings and close relatives, I am
the only person that's ever been to
prison. So, my parents, they aged
overnight. And it was something that I I
I had so much guilt because of what they
had went through. So, I didn't want to
disappoint them anymore. And I remember
my dad telling me, "Son, put the book
down because even if you don't put the
book down or even if you just read it,
something's going to stick with you."
And he was right. So ultimately I took
the book back. As I'm taking the book
back, before I finish it, I hit my head
on the door knob. And it happened in
such a way that, you know, I had slid
something under the door so many times.
As I told you, we was locked down. So I
you always had to slide stuff under the
door. When I slid the book under the
door, I went to race my head and I hit
my head. And I still have a knot cuz I
hit it in a metal handle. And I was
sitting in my cell with ice on my head.
And I kept telling myself, "That's what
you get for taking the book back." I
couldn't sleep for about two, three
days. So, I went back to get the book.
He says, "What happened? You didn't
finish it?" I said, "Nah, I didn't
finish it. I need to." And it was then
that I decided that no matter what
happened, I wouldn't turn my back on God
because nobody was going to stand before
before God with me. Nobody was going to
have to to help me or anything like
that. This is something that I had to do
for myself and for me to turn my back on
God for anybody then and now will always
seem foolish. So it was I I went back
and I read and basically the day I
became Muslim like I said May 6, 2012.
It was a Sunday and on that morning I
had a dream and I'm sitting there at my
uncle's house. He's getting a haircut
and I'm walking around just mosying
around saying hi to everybody like we
always do, seeing what's going on in the
house. And when I get to the front
porch, I see the grown-ups out here.
They're hanging out and there's this boy
about eight eight to 10 years old maybe.
And he's crying. And I've always been
close to kids. Yesterday I was in the
skating rink first time in over 25 years
and I was skating like I was the biggest
kid cuz I am most of the time. And I
said, "What's wrong with him?" My my my
siblings, they all ignore me. They just
say, you know, just shrug. So I walk up
to him. I say, "What's wrong?" And the
kid looks at me between tears and he
says, "I want to be Muslim." And I
hugged him and I said, "That's all
right. That's all right." And that day I
woke up. I went to the individual that
got me the book and I told him, "I'm
going to become Muslim." And that's the
day it happened.
So um this is uh amazing. It's uh you
can see these signs that you have that
God almighty Allah sends but the
greatest sign is the Quran itself
and we can see that um how it's
transformed your life to where you are
today and how has your family now taking
it? It's been a while while at first
they were were they a little bit
nervous? Uh how
how was um the journey been from then to
now with your family? Alhamdulillah.
You know the way my parents found out
cuz even then I said there's no benefit
in me telling them about the fact that I
became Muslim. Not yet. I didn't see it
because I didn't see them except once a
year. So for once a year they would come
out during spring break. They were out
one particular year and my mom's on my
little brother. she's on him about
becoming Muslim. At the time, she
doesn't know I'm Muslim. So, my little
brother, you know, he kind of threw me
under the bus a little bit and he said,
"Well, Junior's Muslim." And oh, man, my
mom comes the next day. My grandmother
had said that she would never come see
me in prison. I had been there, like I
said, 5 years. She had never came. This
was the first time that she said that
she was going to come see me. And she
came. So, it's my wife, my mother, and
my grandmother in visit. And my mother
just looks at me and says, "I'm going to
ask you something and you need to tell
me the truth. Are you Muslim?"
So I said, "Yeah." My mother in the
middle of the visit room starts
whailing, crying. Oh god. Oh, we
Dominican. We don't know nothing about
Muslims. And she's doing this and going
on and on and on. My grandmother was the
one that snapped her out of it. She
said, "Hold on. That's it. You're going
to mess up this whole visit. The boy
tell you he worshiped one one god. How
many gods you know and that was it? You
explain you explained that to your
mother before?
Yes. No, in in the visit. Yes. I I was
trying to tell her right away, you know,
because as soon as I told her, I knew I
I had to tell her more. So that's what I
started doing. I I I basically just
start explaining to her why I did it.
And that was the main thing you know and
even then alhamdulillah that I even
started with cuz a lot of times you know
we try to start with so many different
things and we need to focus on when we
talk to somebody about Islam that is the
main thing that the the prophets the
messengers
they call to and that's what we need to
call to but that's the first thing I got
in there and I tell you what a year
later at the time I was smoking at the
time I was drinking At the time, I was
still getting tattoos and my mother
would talk to me about these things. And
the one thing that I always prided
myself in was telling the truth. I would
always tell my loved ones, if you ask me
something, make sure you ready for the
truth cuz I'm going to give it to you.
It didn't matter who it was. So, when I
was in prison, I said, you know, the
last thing I can do is lead people on to
believe that I'm one way when I'm
another, and then I come home and
they're disappointed again. So, I said,
you know, if they ask me, I tell them
the truth. And my mom would ask me, "You
still doing this?" Yeah. You still doing
this? Yeah. You going to get tattoos?
Yeah. And when she came back a year
later, she asked me them same questions
that she asked me so many times. And
every one of the answers that she got
was correct. I quit smoking cigarettes
30 days after becoming Muslim. I quit
smoking everything else a little bit
longer after that. I quit drinking. I
quit getting tattoos. And I quit doing
these things that I knew didn't stand
for my new lifestyle. And when she came
back and she heard that a year later,
she actually looked at my wife on the
way home and she said, "You know what?
At first, I was upset. I was sad. I was
hurt. But after seeing him today, I'm
happy he's Muslim." And she went from
hiding the fact that I was Muslim to
then going ahead and telling everybody.
That would be the first thing she lead
with. Oh, Junior, he's doing great. He's
Muslim. Alhamdulillah. It works. Islam
works because Islam is true submission
to the creator, not the creation. And
I've heard this so many times where
people they want their kids, they want
their loved ones to be one thing, to be
morally a right to live a certain
righteous life, but they can't get it in
the other any other packaging. But when
you package it with the way of life
that's from the creator and the system
that now you live by that helps you get
to that level, that's Islam. And we see
it right here. This is a great another
example.
Yes. Yes. They couldn't get it. You're
absolutely right. Yeah. That's uh uh
amazing. So, um, tell us, um, I heard a
little bit about your story, uh, before
and I was intrigued to to learn more and
I'm I'm really happy that I did. Uh, is
there is there anything do you feel
comfortable, you know, talking about
your experience in jail and how you
ended up there? I'm an open book, so
whatever you want to ask, Eddie, you
know, people like people, if you don't
want to discuss it, that's fine. But
some people are thinking like, why why
is he a level five? How did you end up
getting in jail? What happened?
Well, okay. Ultimately, I end up getting
in a high-speed chase. And anybody who
knows the Independence Police
Department, they know how things can go
south with them. Me, I experienced it
myself. I moved here when I was 12 years
old. At 14 years old, I was a good kid
going to school and I just happened to
be in a car who was driving past the
police station. We get pulled over. I'm
in the back seat. They pull me out. They
put me in handcuffs. They search me.
They question me. And I've done
absolutely nothing. And this is the type
of treatment that they give. And
ultimately, just February 13th. What
state is this? This is in Missouri.
Missouri. Yes. Independence, Missouri.
And just the same and then the same
police department where I caught my
case. Independence Police Department
just February 13th, one day before their
so-called holiday, my my my little
cousin actually went on a chase. He ran
from the police, stops, comes out with
his hands up, and there's witnesses
attesting to this and they shot him.
They killed him. And this is your
cousin. My cousin. So, he was in also
high-speed chase. Yes. 27 years old.
They they won't release the footage. And
even that night, my little brother told
me that he was told, "If it was me and
you out here alone, I would kill you."
And that's exactly what happened to my
to my little cousin. Who said that?
That's what the cop told him told my
little brother. That the cop that
arrested my brother told him that. And I
knew these things about him. Now, so
what happened was I'm I'm in a
high-speed chase. Is that like I mean
maybe we get like a video like is that
like those high-speed chases that you
see you can see helicopters and you see
the police on a highway maybe
that's what this was. Yes. All out. Yes.
Did they have helicopters looking for
you? No. For me and my brother. Yes. My
brother was in the car with me. So you
actually they had the high during the
high-speed chase they had a helicopter
on you? Yes. Yes. Wow. They had the
helicopters. It was probably half the
half the priest think there. So what
happened was what why what made you run?
Why did you run?
I had so much going on at the time,
Eddie. I was under the influence first
of all, right? You know, when when my my
my marriage fell apart, I did the same
thing that many people who live this
lifestyle do. Went straight to the
bottle. Yeah. I went straight to
drinking. I went from somebody who who
didn't hardly ever drink to somebody who
drank every day. Then somebody, you
know, put pills in my hand and says,
"Look, you you want some some uh relief?
This is what you need." And they put
Xanaxes in my hand. And then, you know,
you put it was like a cocktail by the
time I was done. So, you know, not being
in the right state of mind. I used to
drive for a living at the time for a for
a moving company and I had a uh a fender
bender. being under the influence, I
knew that I was going to lose my
license. More than likely, I knew I
would lose my job. And of course, I
wasn't thinking correct at all. And I
come out of the car, I asked the the the
woman, I said, "Are you all right?" She
says, "Yeah, she's all right." I looked
at the damage. I said, "This ain't bad.
You know, how about I just give you
1,200 and that should call it even. That
should take care of it." She said, "Oh,
no. My parents have killed me. I'm
calling the police." I said, "You
calling the police?" I said, "Okay,
well, let me go get my insurance." I get
in the car and I drive off. So what
happens is my my headlight was broken
from the accident itself. So when a cop
sees me down the street, maybe half a
mile away, he sees my lights broken. In
Independence, you don't need a broken
light for them to actually come. They
they've stopped me for a broken license
plate light in the back before. And when
he jumps behind me, you know, I I'm
thinking to myself, I'm not stopping for
him because I'm already knowing how
independence does. So what I did was I
was driving to the precinct. My accident
actually happened right there on my way
to the precinct on the same street that
the precinct is on. They could have
literally just waited for me to go to go
a little bit further and I would have
been right there where they're at. So
what happens was a kid comes out 17
years old. He comes out. Christopher
Cooper is his name. And I almost go go
past him but my I end up hitting his
bicycle and his legs. He comes over, my
car, comes down, and the cop that's
chasing me, instead of stopping at the
red light, just continues to go. So, he
runs him over, crushes him head to toe,
drags him down the street, 50 ft. Then
they said that the camera was broke, put
it on me, got my lawyer to sell me out.
We gave him almost $30,000, paid the
victim's family over a4 million to
basically not ask questions, and they
sent me up that way. They sent me to
prison for a car accident with no premed
no premeditation and no intent. They
sent me for 15 years and even then I did
you know the good behavior the classes
and all these sort of things and they
wouldn't even grant me parole. So I mean
it was the fix was on from the beginning
you know and it's something to where
alhamdulillah you know Allah he decrees
and at the end of the day I feel like I
got off cheap. This is the way that I
got Islam. I go, I come back and you
know 15 years later, some of the same
people that I had left who I grew up
around were doing just as bad if not
they were doing worse and none of them
were Muslim. So I know that Allah you
know he chose me and yes it it's tough
and yes he decrees things that you know
we might hate at the time but they turn
out to be good things for us and this is
what that was. So high you can say a
high-speed chase led you to Islam
almost.
Yes. That's what Allah used. Yes. Yeah.
He used that high-speed chase to uh
bring you to Islam. How what do you
think would happen to your life if all
this didn't transpire? So you you didn't
end up going to jail. You didn't end up
going down this route. What how do you
think your life would have um went,
you know, the way you were going? It
wouldn't have been pretty because you
know when you're in the streets and
never had I hope to be a drug dealer.
Never did I aspire to be or hang out
with them or even look up to them
because like I said I I had excellent
examples in my life. But after
separating from my wife and I saw that
basically I I left her everything and
just told her not to put me on child
support and it was a dumb decision. But
at the time I was hurt. I didn't want to
be around her. I didn't want to hang on
to something that I knew was over. So, I
just left. And after leaving, I pretty
much got, you know, I had any I had
nothing. I had $25 in my pocket. And
then, you know, I was always a
individual that when when I get around
businessminded people, then I do
business. Ultimately, I was in the
streets. I was selling drugs,
you know, drinking every day. I had been
robbed a couple times at gunpoint. So,
after that, I had to go and get my own
guns. And I I can only imagine that it
wasn't going to be pretty. And my
mother, you know, she told me when I was
when I was in in jail, not even when I
went to prison, but before when I was in
jail, she said, "You know what? You're
in here, but you my son and I got you
back." And even my father showing up two
days later from Florida and saying, you
know, I'm here for you and I'mma hold
you down. I'm going to make sure I do
anything to get you home soon. And you
know, had it not happened like that.
Yeah, I could have died. I could have
been I could have been killed on the
streets. I could have maybe went to
prison for life or for killing somebody
else. Who knows? Because that that
street life, you know, there's nothing
out there but destruction.
Mhm. What do you say to people who are
kind of in a similar situation, but
they're watching this interview and you
know, as soon as you bring out Prophet
Muhammad, you have, you know, this is a
big hate industry, an industry, you
know, fake news, propaganda, and they
put out all these negative things about
Islam, about Prophet Muhammad. What do
you say to them,
man? I tell them
that everybody that brought the truth
was persecuted.
Everybody that brought the truth was
opposed by the people. And if you cannot
see how the Muslims have been opposed
since the inception of Islam and they
are today, if you cannot see that the
dark forces are the ones out here
controlling the media, that they're out
here making sure you stay liquored up,
that you make they make sure you stay at
at some hotel, that you make they make
sure you stay buying condoms because you
having all this illicit sex, that you
doing all these things that lead you
away from your maker and straight to
hell. Ultimately, there's only two
destinations and most of us, the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam said
that out of 1,999
will be in the fire. And that's because
the the the chaos that's out here. And
we must understand that if you can't
tell that they're trying to lead you
away from your maker and straight into
hell, open your eyes because there's
nothing in these streets. these streets
that we're banging for and that and that
people are dying for. Nobody when you go
to prison, you're going to be by
yourself and nobody's going to send you
money. They're not coming to see you.
They're not going to worry about you.
You will be forgotten and replaced by
the next person they taking advantage
of. I suggest that you open your eyes
and ask God to open your chest and start
doing some soularching because it's the
only thing that's going to save you is
for Allah to guide you to this way of
life.
Thank you, brother. Thank you. Uh,
incredible story. Um, I heard uh you
also you for those who want to keep a
nice uh beard and you also um are you
have a a company that um does um sells
what? Beard products. Yes. Yes, we got
all natural beard products. It's called
Beard Love. Beard Lu love. Yeah. Beard
Love. and we're online. Hopefully soon
we'll be on Amazon. And it is all
natural. It's actually made in Egypt.
I've been I've been blessed enough to to
be able to move around a little bit
since getting since getting out 2 and
1/2 years ago. And you know, the first
thing I did was
start my own business and cleaning. You
know, one of my my biggest things was
being able to come out here and live
life as a free man. And in order to be
free, you have to have freedom of place
when need be. You have to be able to go
to the masjid. You have to be able to go
to Juma on Fridays. You have to be able
to to provide. And you have to do it in
a way that you're not answering to to
Kufar half the time. And and them
looking at you crazy. So I knew that I
didn't want to go from a situation where
I was imprisoned in one way to be in
prison in another way. So, I came out
ready to to do what I do, which was
hustle to work, you know, and I've never
been afraid of hard work. And that's
what I did. I started a cleaning
business. And alhamdulillah, that had a
year and a half run, you know, the the
the business as far as with the
contracts and people under bidding and
doing all these things and and you know,
back door deals. That happens a lot. So
by the time that that dried up, I had
started beard love and beard love was
born because Muhammad Allah, the owner
of Touchwood, had created a product that
was that was beautiful. When I came
home, I I I I told myself, you know, I'm
finally going to be able to get
something for my beard. I'm going to
take care of it. You know, this is the
sunnah. So, alhamdulillah,
there was nothing out here like what I
expected. And ultimately me going to
Egypt and meeting my my business
partner's brother-in-law and him telling
me about it and me ultimately trying and
and when I tried it, you know, I told
him I want a box. I don't care what it
cost. And he said, "Guess what? I can do
something better. We can go into
business." So that's where Beer Love was
born. Then at the first at first we only
had the wax. Then we knew we had to
introduce other products. So we
introduced the all natural wash,
sulfatefree, got the butters and the
oils in there. And then our growth oil
is only three ingredients. Rosemary oil,
hoba oil, and vitamin E. And you know,
we we tried to get this this interview
done a while back and it didn't it just
didn't line up for one reason or
another. And I I do travel a lot for
business because, you know, when when
it's a new business, you have to
introduce it to the people. You know,
we're starting it's grassroots. We we
got to come from from the bottom up. And
we just letting the product speak for
itself. We've been on we've been going
for a little over a year and I'm I'm
glad to say that, you know, as ugly as
business is, it's been a it's been a
pretty ride and it's had his his ups and
downs and and it's not if but when
you're going to have your setbacks in
business, whether it be with the
shipping, with the quality of the
product when you get it as far as like
the the cans being all busted up, but
you know, it's a long ride and I'm happy
to say that we're setting up and we're
being wellreceived. Everybody that's
usually buying it already has beer
products at home, but they're choosing
ours over theirs. And I like that.
Alhamdulillah. Well, thank you, brother.
It was nice talking with you. Thank you
for sharing your your amazing story.
Inshallah, it can be a benefit for so
many people who listen to it.
And I hope to come I I hope to come down
there and see you because I'm very much
an advocate for anybody who's trying to
build something for the next generation.
As Muslims, we need to offer our
children the outlets that they need
because if we don't provide them,
somebody else will. And the same way
that they're trying to take everybody
away from their from the path to their
maker, that's what they do to our
children. And they trying to pick them
in every which way. So, it it's
important for us to to support these
causes and and to make sure that we do
our part. And I hope to come down down
there and check it out. And hopefully me
and you will be in talks because I I
know that there's some beautiful things
that could be born from that. Inshallah,
we'll see you at the Dean Center soon.
Inshallah. Inshallah. And I thank you
for having me, too. It's a pleasure and
I'm humbled to be here and I've heard
about you since I became Muslim.
Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Thank you,
brother. May Allah continue bless you
and your family. Amen. You as well.