what is called I was actually what what
was called an endowed Mormon so I've
actually went through the temple
ordinances at the at the Mormon temples
when you mentioned there are certain
things that are not to be talked about
what are some of those things that and
why are they not to be talked about
memorized by millions it's a living
miracle
you're looking at one of the oldest
fragments of the Quran ever discovered
it's written on parchment most likely
made from sheep or goat skin and it's
been dated by experts as being more than
1300 years old so it's more along the
lines of the you don't really discuss
everything that happens in the temple
African Americans were not permitted to
do the temple endowment at all because
that was considered the mark of the
lamanites in the Book of Mormon you
can't take it with you when you go or
you can't take this with you when you go
and you can't take this with you when
you go brothers and sisters we're all
going to depart from this life and all
of our material possessions to our money
will stay behind but your reoccurring
investment in the dean Center will
continue to grow even when you leave
this light so go ahead and make that
reoccurring investment in a Masjid and
mega dollar Center that will benefit you
in this life and in the next click the
link below donate right now may God
Almighty Allah reward all of you
[Music]
your host how you guys doing back again
for another exciting episode Another
exciting guest and my next guest grew up
in Maryland was raised a Methodist he
attended Catholic school at a young age
once he graduated high school he started
to explore many other religions for a
number of years he even studied
neo-paganism
he went on to look into Buddhism
Catholicism and many other religions and
eventually in 2016 he joined the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the
Mormon Church LDS
and he's here with us
get this he's also a
Rodeo writer
and bull rider amongst other things so
he's got a also a Harley
Harley fan likes Harley bikes we got a
lot to talk about with our next guest
Jay here on the D show
to my face
and his final message
[Music]
thank you
how you doing Jay I'm fine how are you
did I hit that right is that the right
term Rodeo writer uh Rodeo Cowboy
whatever you want to call me crazy crazy
person that likes to uh get on the back
of animals that want to trample you to
death you know so that works
so you ride uh horses and and uh bull I
rode the Bulls I rode Bulls um up until
probably six or seven years ago and then
I ended up with an injury so I had to
retire
and
um I also did steer wrestling which is
where you ride horses quarter horses and
jump off and catch about 700 pound
steers and flip them so
you flip what do you flip again yeah
grab them by the horns and flip them
over that's how you get points
oh yeah wow yeah that was how long were
you doing that for uh probably about 25
years
25 years it is very uh what was it was
it feel like now I mean how what was
usually when you jump on um
what's the difference here you have you
see the rodeos when they're riding the
horses that are bareback the horses what
is it these that are not broken in and
then you jump on them those are those
are bras so those um there's a either
side or bareback depending on on how
they're riding so
so you would do that I never did Bronx I
wasn't a big Bronx fan they uh they kind
of beat you around a little bit so I
stuck with uh bulls and steers
okay what's a steer steer is what you
would see is a smaller cow with uh like
Longhorns almost they're not as big as
like a long like a Texas Longhorn but
they're anywhere between five to seven
hundred pounds
um so they're they're relatively small
are there a lot of uh fatalities in this
or uh it's a very dangerous sport bull
riding is very very dangerous um
I've had 18 concussions from that and I
have 18. yeah I have broken
pretty much every bone from head to toe
at least once so
what what drives people to uh head
towards all of this uh is it just the
excitement of it the thrill it's
adrenaline yeah adrenaline rushes insane
so yeah yeah it's an insane journal in
Rush huh man
all right so moving along so let's start
off uh with the beginning of your
journey okay you uh you went to a uh
your race Methodist and you talk about
um from there moving on and exploring
many of the religions and even
neo-paganism so let's start from your
early years okay
um
household was I will say like my dad's
side of the family is almost
almost atheist uh they don't really have
a very strong belief system they never
did my mom's is much more casual so the
church that she had went to was a
Methodist Church so that's pretty much
what she raised my my sister and I in as
we were growing up but it was a very
um I'll say very stereotypical Christian
um kind of upbringing for the simple
fact that we went to church on Sunday
and then we didn't really do much with
it for the rest of the week so um you
know Monday through Saturday there
wasn't a whole lot of emphasis on
religion and then Sunday we would get up
we would go to church we would go to
Sunday school we would do picnics you
know just so social things like that
there wasn't a very strong
um you know background with that I've
always been a little bit more spiritual
than the rest of my family
um you know we're just trying to you
know figure out what's going on and you
know the greater scheme of things I
guess
um so when I was in I think third or
fourth grade my parents made the
decision to send me to Catholic school
because they knew that I could get a
better religion there or a better
education at the Catholic School than I
could public school so
started going there and one of the
caveats of going to Catholic school is
you're exposed to Catholicism pretty
much 24 you know seven the whole time
that you're there
um you know there was a lot of symbolism
in it
um the the school that I went to was
um was run by nuns and those nuns were
not fans of the changes that the church
had made in the 60s so they still did
the mass in high Latin which is
something that you don't really see too
much there's been sort of a Revival of
that in the last couple years but at the
time it was pretty controversial so it
was
swinging incense and you know
processions and everything and coming
from a Methodist Church where basically
everybody just kind of went in and sat
down uh it was pretty mystifying to be
able to see all of this and you know a
lot of symbolism and statues and
emphasis on those types of things so it
was a very just kind of a very different
um you know experience to go through
that and it sort of opened my eyes up
that there's more things than just in
the box that I was you know had painted
myself into and had grown up in so it
just kind of made me want to explore
other things I'm like if there's this
Branch right across the town you know
right across the other side of town from
where I grew up at what else is there
you know so once I got older and was
able to go a little bit more on my own
then um you know I started to look at
other things
for the Layman out there who never heard
this term I mean we understand
Christianity you were a Christian but
then can you break it down like what
does it mean when you're a Methodist as
opposed to Evangelical Baptist is this a
sect of Christianity
what were some of the core beliefs of a
Methodist so um the the biggest the
biggest division within within
Christianity for those that you know
aren't aware is Catholicism versus
Protestant so the Catholic church and
the Protestant Church there's the
Catholic church and then there was
everybody else that's not the Catholic
church that's considered Protestant
methodism is a branch of that that
actually came out from the church of
England and the reason that they were
called methodists is because they were
very methodical in the way that they
picked the Bible apart and it was meant
to originally bring in
um better Bible study but they ended up
branching off so far from the church of
England that they kind of did their own
came up with their own denomination
I see but the court teachings of Jesus
being God Son of God Trinity dying for
your sins that's all the same that's all
the same yes that's all the same so what
led you now from going to from a parent
your upbringing Methodist and you go to
a Catholic school being exposed to this
to neo-paganism what's neopaganism for
people who've never heard this term well
um you know in modern terms you hear
terms such as like Wiccan or Druids um
things like that so it's supposed to be
pre-christian practices uh based on you
know historical
um you know like the original religions
of the Vikings
um the original religions of the Celts
before Christianity came in there so
it's a lot of emphasis on nature
um a lot of emphasis emphasis on
divination to be able to not only see
the past but also to predict the future
um certain denominations within
neopaganism also have a lot of focus on
communicating with those that have
passed over so there's a lot of
communication with spirits and and
things like that um it's also would also
be considered like a form of animism
where they believe that there's a spirit
in everything whether it be a plant a
stone
um animals and things like that and you
can tap into that energy and not only
communicate with it but you can use your
own personal energy to manipulate and
um you know make things happen the way
that you want them to or if somebody has
done something bad to you you can use
that energy to kind of send that back
almost like a type of karma
is that is there a lot of I've heard
when interviewing different guests who
are involved in like a lot of these
things you have a lot of um
the spirit world where you have what
we'd call the gin
[Music]
was there was there any play was there
any play with that in your experience um
black magic and some of these other
practices yeah there was a lot of a lot
of emphasis on that depending on again
even with the new paganism there's a lot
of what would be considered denomination
so a lot of it depends on the culture
that the that the person's studying from
so somebody is looking at ancient Greek
where you would have like the ancient
Greek deities that are written about a
lot their emphasis would be on that line
so
um you know a lot of traditional things
that would come out of that again like
the Celts um people that are from
Britain Ireland Scotland those places
Germanic which would be like Viking
Germany
um areas like that where there's a lot
of like local folklore
um in stories regarding like those um
alleged deities and things like that
um that's where you would kind of tap
into if that makes sense
obviously there was something missing
because you went from one religion now
towards this neo-paganism and
Catholicism you're exploring Buddhism
and other religions what was it that was
missing what was it that kept you just
moving along well one of the problems
that I've had with so-called organized
religion or at least here in the U.S you
know with um you know
um especially branches of Christianity
as the Trinity makes absolutely no sense
whatsoever even if you look at it from
different
um you know different viewpoints of
different religions it just doesn't make
any sense because they all emphasize the
fact that they're supposed to be one God
but then at the same time there are
signing attributes to people and other
and other things and to me that never
made any sense so there was always like
a gap
um you know where I would be like okay I
can kind of feel like a connection to
some of this but then it would just
start to kind of rub me the wrong way
and I'm like all right this just doesn't
feel right so I would kind of move on to
try and figure out you know what what I
was missing where the Gap was in that
and um that's kind of how I kept
exploring I kind of kind of saw myself
as as a Seeker you know where I would go
out and I would kind of I always
referred to myself you know prior to um
coming into Islam that I always felt
like my spirituality was kind of like a
patchwork quilt where I would kind of
take bits and pieces of the truth from
one area and kind of like put that into
my own personal quilt that I was going
to you know carry along with me so that
I would find pieces of the truth that
were Within These different religions
and spiritual practices and just kind of
focus on the good part of that and what
made it connect up with me versus the
parts that I didn't necessarily agree
with
tell me now you went on to continue
exploring and then you explored so much
that you went into the LDS the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that
is correct
yeah so how did you end up now in this
particular Church which is actually for
for many Christian this is uh and how
would they consider how would they look
at the the normative the Protestants
even the Catholics do they not even
consider them Christians they depending
on who you talk to uh the majority of uh
mainstream Christians do not consider
the LDS church to be actual Christianity
um the LDS church will tell you that
they have the name of Jesus Christ in
their church so obviously they have to
be Christian so it's it kind of comes
down to splitting hairs on that
um the LDS church Journey was very
interesting because just prior to I
would say probably about two two years
prior to
um to me joining that church I had one
sibling my sister had passed away in
2013 so I had really started to to
search a lot for you know trying to
figure out what happened when we passed
on because nobody really seemed to be
able to give me me the answer as to what
that was so I really started to explore
you know what happens when we when we
die uh what happens on the other side
because I had that background with
especially with the neopaganism and also
with the Catholicism where they can you
know believe a lot with communicating
with people that have passed on on your
behalf and I really just wanted to know
you know what happened so um ironically
at the time I was living in
um the Eastern panhandle of West
Virginia because I was working in the
Washington DC area and it's not that
much of a commute especially when you
compare housing prices to living in
Northern Virginia versus driving an hour
in from the Panhandle so it was it was
worth the worth the drive
um when one evening I had two LDS
missionaries knock on my door
um and to be very honest I was in the
middle of playing a game on PlayStation
they annoyed me because they knocked on
my door it was January it was cold the
only reason I opened it up is because I
felt bad for them because it was cold so
um I was kind of rude when I opened the
door up and said you know hey don't
really want to hear anything that you
want to say but if you want to come in a
warm up for a couple minutes I'll I'll
you know give you the heat so um they
came in they talked to me for a few
minutes and then um you know they said
can we come back and I said you know
yeah sure whatever so they came back a
couple times and we started to talk
about kind of the afterlife and they
started to show me the teachings that
the church had on the afterlife and
again with coming with the back
background that has explored a bunch of
different you know areas when they're
saying oh well in the spirit world when
you pass some people are still learning
and they're teaching and things like
that that clicked for me so um I said
all right you know let's let's talk some
more so over the course of a couple
months um we continue to speak and
eventually I said you know I'm ready to
go ahead and join this church
um now their teachings are very
different from mainstream Christianity
um even when it comes down to the
concept of
um what they call the godhead and not a
trinity they do not believe in the
Trinity so
mm-hmm uh I want to dig a little bit
deeper into the Mormon teachings because
many people they'll try to go ahead and
discredit Islam Prophet Muhammad peace
mustn't be upon I don't know if you've
had this experience
they'll say ignorantly that Islam is
just and Prophet Muhammad is someone
like Joseph Smith or Islam is same thing
to the Christian faith as the the Mormon
religion it's it's the same thing but
when you really study Islam I mean you
see the the very tenant you know it's of
pure monotheism and then just as a as a
cursory just a very shallow look into
Mormonism you can see just it's just uh
what we call the association of partners
with God you can see all over it you
know human beings being God and the the
core teachings of Islam which uh go
against this very clearly and so let's
go into there the start of it you study
this you were you were very uh you know
the history very well
so let's talk uh let's talk about this
you know from the beginning of some of
my research what's what I remember is um
and you could take it from there where
if you go back uh and do they discuss
these these with um
or is this you have to get to a certain
level or were these some of the
conversations you were having when they
were visiting you where there were
certain planets ruled by gods who are
once humans and then Elohim which uh we
would say Allah had billions of
spiritual or millions of spiritual Sons
uh two of them which were Jesus and
Lucifer and then they had they had the
council meeting and then from there uh
there was a a rift there one wanted one
thing the other one one of the other
does this sound familiar yes very much
so yeah can you can you go ahead and uh
take it from there and kind of explain
explain this uh from someone who is
actually a you were a Mormon for many
years is that correct yes um yeah and
what is called I was actually what what
was called an endowed Mormon so I've
actually went through the temple
ordinances at the at the Mormon Temple
so I I'm familiar with these teachings
where you you were able say that again
endowed it's um when you go through the
telephone to get an endowment
endowed so many don't even don't even
reach that level
um you have to have a certain level of
Purity and there are certain rules that
you have to follow so if you're not
married you have to be 100 celibate
um you do have to um you have to pay 10
tithing into the church out of
everything that you get
um you have to make agreements with the
church that you will devote all of your
time and energy into helping other
members of the church and building the
church on Earth and um you have to
abstain from coffee alcohol
um you uh the what they call what is
called the word of wisdom which is um
which is the dietary restrictions um you
know alcohol
coffee tea any kind of drugs um those
things and you have to go for an
interview
um every two years with the bishop of
your area in order to get what's called
a temple recommend and that allows you
to enter into any of the temples of the
LDS church in order to perform an
element ceremony for yourself and then
once you've done it for yourself you go
through on behalf of your deceased
ancestors because the belief is that if
they could not do the endowment
themselves you can do it on their behalf
as a proxy and in the spirit world they
have the choice to either accept the
endowment or to reject it
and this is an and uh my next question
is uh and this is not to on any of these
uh questions to mock anybody from the
Mormon religion or anything this is just
kind of to get an idea of the beliefs
and people can go ahead and judge for
themselves is part of this endowment is
this is part of this also you have uh
certain garment uh would they could you
say underwear or something that you had
to wear like every day or every other
day how did that work um it's called a
temple garment and it's actually a
two-piece yes it is okay my apology okay
so it's so it's nice
okay it's two pieces um and it's it's
from the men at least it's pretty modern
um the the bottom piece looks like very
long
um boxer briefs um they're you know they
cling they cling to cling to your legs
and everything like traditional um boxer
briefs wood underneath of your clothing
um they come just above the knee and
then there is a the the
um the upper part that looks like a
shirt and it has shorter sleeves that
stop about right here so that you can
wear it under regular clothing and then
depending on the cut if you have it
where it kind of comes down like this so
it fits underneath the um as an endowed
member of the church you are supposed to
wear it um all day
um every single day unless you are
exercising swimming taking a shower or
having intimate relations with your
spouse
what's the significance of this
um it is supposed to signify the
clothing that
um that God placed on Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden once they
um once they partake of the tree of good
in life and they were a good and evil
and they were made aware of Good and
Evil in the world and cast out from the
garden at which point in time they were
you know noted they knew that they were
naked and that was if you read in
Genesis where it says that they were
clothed in a garment that's what is
supposed to symbolize
is this for women also women and men it
is for women and men
okay so now you're uh somebody who went
through the whole process and these
teachings now that we're going to get
into some of the the history is is this
something that from early beginnings of
joining the Mormon church that you you
get to know these teachings
um it is one of the the goals is always
to get yourself ready for the temple to
go into the temple so that's that's like
one of the the big things um that they
really that they really push whatever
you join in because you do have to be a
member in good standing for one year
when you join the church before you can
even go into the temple
um to do the endowment so if you join
the church and leave um two or three
months later you still can't go into the
temple you have to be you have to be a
member but in good standing and then
there are certain things in the temple
that aren't to be discussed out of the
temple just the way that some of the
ceremonies and things that are done
inside
let's touch upon that before we go into
the beginning the history like when you
mentioned there are certain things that
are not to be talked about what are some
of those things that and why are they
not to be talked about I contrast that
with Islam because Islam is an open book
everything is out there forever there's
nothing hidden everything is out there
for the whole world to see so it's just
it's very interesting why certain things
are not to be talked about
The Stance from the church is that it's
um sacred and not secret
um and it's to keep I believe the air of
a mystery I think whenever you go
through the temple so it's more um along
the lines of the you don't really
discuss everything that happens in the
temple um I will tell you that it's
nothing that extraordinary um it's it's
it's very mundane for the most part but
they they just ask that you don't
discuss
um you know like the words from the
ceremony
um and things like that it's basically
um whenever you go through the endowment
ceremony it's almost like what would be
considered a psychopomp uh where it's
more of uh it's a it's a storytelling to
kind of give you
um knowledge as you go through I will
say it's the same story every time that
you go through
um it is a movie that's played up on a
screen
um and then there are certain times
during the during that ceremony where
they will ask you to stand up or you
know to affirm and and you know to to
um to agree to keep those things
um either secret or um if it's to the
point where they're asking you to like I
said you know affirm that you will
um
dedicate your time and energy to
building the church up and you know to
to giving your talents to the church and
they ask you to affirm that either for
yourself or on behalf of your ancestors
you're there so I mean there's really
it's really not that extraordinary it's
just I think that they keep it like that
so that whenever you go through you
actually have something to look forward
to I mean it's there's it's been
published numerous times there's a bunch
of YouTube videos on it
um and a bunch of websites that go
through the whole endowment ceremony
um so I mean there's really there's
really not that much to it where it's
like that but they just ask that it you
know you guys trusted outside of the
temple so I got it okay tell me let's go
to the early beginnings of Mormonism can
we talk about this is it true that this
is one of the fundamental teachings that
uh there were planets and these planets
were ruled by gods and gods who are once
human
there's a doctrine of exaltation which
is what they preach and in order to
um the temple is key to that because in
order to have exaltation you have to not
only be endowed but you have to be what
is called a temple um ceiling uh the the
wedding ceremony that's done within the
temple so the belief is that when a
person has been through those
when they have the ability uh granted by
Elohim whenever they pass on to be
exalted into the form of a God and they
are given rulership over a planet and
then from there they would have their
own what the what the church calls
Spirit children and basically it puts
themselves up as a godhead if that you
know does that does that
you know so the like the whole the whole
thought on that is and one of the things
that's really different with the Mormon
Church versus
um you know versus any other branches
they believe that the god mentioned in
the Old Testament of the of the Hebrew
Bible is actually Jesus Christ before he
was given a physical body so anything
that's that's anything that is referred
to as Yahweh in that in that in the
Bible
um in there you know when it's creation
of the earth and everything like that
that is not what we would call Allah
um that is actually Jesus Christ before
he had a physical body and he was doing
that on behalf of
God the father as they call him
um is is the god of the Old Testament
that they claim uh is Jesus Christ
before he came down to Earth was he just
one of the Gods of many other other gods
where he wasn't the other other God
for from what I've been able to gather
from it as it is it's a very confusing
Doctrine but
um it's their focus their focus is
mainly on Earth so from that standpoint
what the the deity that they would call
um you know Heavenly Father
um that is what most people understand
to be the concept of God and then
um you know so he directed Jesus Christ
in spirit form to create the Earth and
you know to do all of those things that
we most of us attribute to God in the
Old Testament of the Bible whenever you
read that
um and then from there everything that
he did was directed out
um from Heavenly Father basically
telling him so it'd be like me telling
a person that reports into me go do this
and them going and doing it
mm-hmm now um somebody can clearly when
they look in Islam and say look do they
believe in that God is one and alone
worthy of worship yes do they believe
that God Almighty Allah can have
children no they don't so these are
clear teachings like if someone wants to
discuss them you know they uh is very
lucid on this so we're kind of doing the
same thing so people can kind of really
uh grasp and understand some of the the
core teachings uh behind it so they
could be more informed and make a
contrast between this and Islam tell me
tell me this uh what about the story
that you have of is it true that God uh
in what they call Elohim
uh is this how they would classify the
father Elohim hello
yeah and we would say Allah this is this
is Allah that he had they would they
would say the Mormons that he had two
that he had many sons but two of which
were Jesus and Lucifer yes so can you go
into this this is very very interesting
wow yeah so the
um the spirit children uh concept is
there's also a concept of heavenly
mother
um who is supposed to be the companion
of Elohim but she's not discussed very
much um within the church it's a very
couple obscure teachings
um that you can find back and they
acknowledge that she's there but you
don't really hear a whole lot on her
um but the um Jesus Christ is supposed
to be the firstborn of Elohim so since
he was the first and then one of his
siblings is Lucifer
um so whenever they was called the the
great Council was held and that's where
the Plan of Salvation was laid out where
um Elohim said this is what I want to do
you know I want to I want to have a Plan
of Salvation for um you know for the for
the Earth for the people that live on
earth so that whenever that they can
come back and you know be one with with
me in heaven so the two plans that were
presented one was Jesus Christ where
everyone would have free will and they
could you know choose whether or not to
um you know to worship and to obey the
the Commandments of of heavenly father
Elohim
um and they that would all be you know
up up to that person whether or not they
wanted to do that oh the spirit children
would be given the opportunity to leave
the spirit realm and to be given a
physical body and they would at that
point in time cross the veil and the
veil would make them forget everything
that um that they had known so it would
be up to them to kind of find their way
back
um and they would do that of their own
free will
that was one plan that was presented the
second plan that was presented from
Lucifer was that he would force
everybody to follow the Commandments and
he wanted the glory he wanted the
acknowledgment and the glory of that for
himself
um and for that they said we're not
going with that plan and because this is
what you want and it's contrary to
everything else we're going to cast you
out so that's how he ended up being cast
out
um from heaven and that's when they went
with the Plan of Salvation as presented
by Jesus Christ
is this where you now had Lucifer who
later he ended up taking like one-third
of the the people there the spirit
children and had them he he created a
protest a a a rebellion he rebelled
and then you had those who followed him
they end up becoming demons and their
punishment and their punishment is that
they cannot and will not have a physical
body
so they can only be spirit
and then those who just kind of remained
neutral they ended up getting punished
with darker skin
yes that's what was that's what was
originally taught um according to the
Book of Mormon
okay originally taught so that was
changed later that was changed in the
70s they kind of started to push away
from that um originally with the temple
endowment um people that had darker skin
particularly African Americans were not
permitted to do the temple endowment at
all because that was considered the mark
of the lamanites in the Book of Mormon
so um as that was a punishment that was
a punishment they weren't allowed to do
that in the 1970s I believe it was the
leader of the church the president of
the church was also called the prophet
of the church
um received what was what he called a
revelation that they were supposed to
change that and that change was made to
allow all men and women regardless of
skin color to
um to be able to do the endowment and
the church started to really push away
from talking about the curse of dark
skin at that point
okay so it was known as that was the
curse of dark skin it was I mean this is
clear I mean when you can call this is
clear racism no because uh you weren't
allowed yeah I mean when you look at it
when you look at it from our standpoint
when you're going you know yes
um you're basing this on skin skin tone
and things like that yes and I mean it's
it's blatant racism regardless of how
you want to paint that or how positive
you want to spin it or where you're
saying that it's coming from I just
can't believe that that the creator of
the universe is like well you all can
commitment not you because your Skin's
too dark it just doesn't make any sense
to me yeah yeah and I think that was
until 1978.
priesthood was not allowed for uh
African-American black uh people of uh
darker skin is that correct exactly yes
wow all right so now you have this uh
Rift and you have this uh rebellion and
then the demons and the devil Lucifer
shaytan so this story goes on and then
now let's move along to what happens
they come down to earth and what happens
from there you have some kind of battle
that goes on and then from there you got
Joseph Smith who finds the golden
tablets can we discuss this a little bit
Yeah so the the story with um with
Joseph Smith is pretty interesting
because there was
um it was in New York state I believe is
where it happened at it was a name 18 18
something or other it was pre-civil war
so
um so there had been a lot of revivals
and things up in that area so he was
trying to figure out what church to join
and um what he had what was called the
first division he went into a Grove of
trees in New York got down on his knees
and prayed because he wrote a passage
out of I believe it's Mark
um in the Bible where it says any any of
you that lack knowledge you know ask and
you know I'm very much paraphrasing that
because I'm not a Biblical scholar and I
do not have all of those verses
memorized so please do not quote me on
that so
um but so basically what he did was he
went in he claimed at the time it was
the first time he never really prayed he
got down on his knees and he prayed um
and he was you know seized by a vision
so he saw two personas uh personages
come out of the light
um and they were identical in shape and
form they were physical men
um they were not Spirits they were
physical men flesh and blood and the one
pointed to the other and said this is my
beloved Son hear him and that person
identified himself as Jesus Christ so um
and at that point in time they said none
of the church is true none of these
churches are true they're not my true
church on on the earth um and you know
basically we will make it known to you
uh what church you're supposed to join
and you know that the vision pretty much
ended at that point again it's very high
level I'm paraphrasing because I have
whole volumes of books that's dedicated
to just the first Vision you know so how
that worked
um
so um he was then visited what he called
an Angelic being who identified himself
as Moroni who was supposed to be a
prophet from the new world which would
have been you know somewhere in the in
the in the continent of the of the new
world instead of the Old World
um and said that you know that there
were plates buried and then he was you
know he would show them to him and you
know he needed to be patient so I
believe it was two or three years went
by when he was finally
um you know given the location of the
plates and um was shown how to actually
translate them and the translation of
those plates came out from
um and turned into what is called The
Book of Mormon and what that is is it's
supposed to be a testament of Jesus
Christ as he visited the Americas after
his resurrection
um it talks about
um it talks about the people that left
from
um Jerusalem
um prior to it being destroyed there
were families that came over
um to escape
um and they were in the new world they
lived there for a while all um they
branched off into two two branches and
again you had one that was darker skin
than the other and it the Book of Mormon
is basically a bunch of stories about
how when they have faith in God he
guides them whenever they don't have
faith in Jesus Christ or in God and the
emphasis is on Jesus Christ and is not
on God the emphasis is on faith in
Christ
um then they you know they start to lose
battles so it's very cyclical so it's
it's a lot of up and down so it's like
you know they're good they're bad
they're good they're bad they're good
they're bad and then it gets to kind of
the culmination is whenever Jesus Christ
actually visits those people after his
resurrection comes down as a resurrected
being
um teaches them and everything
eventually the Bloodlines die out Moroni
is supposed to be the last
um of them and he was the one that wrote
the last on the plates and then went and
buried them and then was made and
exalted Angelic being that would guide
Joseph Smith so that he could find the
plates in Risk establish the Primitive
and original church back on the earth
which is what the LDS church considers
itself
uh when you look at when you contrast
Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be
upon him when in his community uh before
Revelation came from the Archangel
Gabriel who was also known in the Bible
who was somebody who was prophet
Muhammad peace must be upon him who is
known as Allah mean the trustworthy he
was known he couldn't read or write he
had an impeccable pristine character
amongst his community
and you couldn't really raise any kind
of
complaints about his background but now
when you contrast that with Joseph
Smith's how do Mormons deal with the
fact that he is it true he was a felon
many known him as a con artist amongst
other things how do they deal with that
a lot of it a lot of it seems um it's
it's kind of there's you don't talk a
lot about the history of Joseph Smith
it's very it's very much um you know
with the way that the church presents it
is it's very much like I just said you
know with the story there's um there's a
some official Church Publications out on
the Joseph Smith papers Joseph Smith
history which are volumes and volumes
and volumes
but there's not a whole lot of
discussion on that a lot of it's painted
off as you know people being jealous
people trying to steal the Golden Plates
from him
um you know he did this this and this um
and that's why you know like he hid the
plates he wouldn't let anybody else
touch the plates because he was told
that they couldn't
um you know people that saw the plates
then would say they didn't see the
plates people that you know were in the
church and with him left because of
disagreements and you know there are
some that never changed their testimony
they said you know they did see the
Golden Plates and you know that they
would always say that they saw that they
had seen the Golden Plates but he had a
reputation as being what was called a
treasure seeker and you know he would um
use a stone for divination to show where
he could find treasures he had been sued
a couple times in court because of that
um you know for not being able to
produce
um you know so he was he was considered
a lot of things like that um you know he
took over a town destroyed the printing
press so they tried to get him for
destruction of we know
um freedom of speech
um you know so there there was a lot I
mean there was even when the Mormons
eventually kept moving West
so they left from New York they headed
towards Ohio they went from Ohio they
were kind of cast out from there after
they built their first temple in
Kirkland Ohio on the people kind of
rebelled and started chasing them out
you know took over the temple cast them
all out they went from there to Illinois
they went to Missouri and they were so
hated in Missouri that the governor
there actually put out in order to kill
them to either they either had to leave
the state or they were going to be
executed so um you know it was in a lot
of it came down to people just did not
trust Joseph Smith and you know it's
it's just it's it's really strange that
you know especially when you look at the
prophet Muhammad you know peace be upon
him we don't have any of those stories
even his enemies that didn't like him
couldn't really say anything bad about
him
um you know so that I mean they may not
have agreed with him but they still had
to say we don't agree with them but the
man's impeccable more moral character
you know we can't find any flaw with him
except we don't like him and you know we
don't want to believe what he's telling
us which is a big contrast to the
founder of the LDS Church
yeah it reminds me of a story also
authentic uh story of prophet Muhammad
before his prophethood when the pagans
were they were remodeling the the Kaaba
which is the first house of worship bill
by Abraham later they started to uh go
ahead and do the idol worship and later
was restored to the pure models he is a
prophet Muhammad before Revelation they
were reconstructing it and then I don't
know if you know the story that they
were trying to now put the black stone
in place and which tribe is going to go
ahead and have the honor to do it so
they were at the verge of coming to war
again and they said okay the next person
that comes through this door we're gonna
go ahead and let him decide
so it wasn't some Tom Dick and Larry
Prophet Muhammad came to
to the area now he came through and they
said yes this is El Amin this is the
trustworthy and they were so happy that
it was him and they left it now to him
to make the decision uh are you familiar
are you familiar with this yeah I've
heard I've heard yeah pieces of it yeah
so this is just an example now of who he
was so going back on uh this stuff that
you're talking about this is documented
this whole thing of uh these these
things that happen with the felonies and
other things with regarding Joseph Smith
and anybody any Christian or anybody who
tries to make this example to try to
equate Prophet Muhammad or Islam with
this I mean just by looking at some of
the Court teachings of Mormonism this
would just discredit any of these false
Notions that people have continuing on
tell me these uh these books so these
books these golden tablets this is like
the wahi we'd say this is the the
Revelation that's coming for for Mormon
this is what the Book of Mormon is based
off is that correct yeah the whole book
of Mormon is translated out of those
plates
now we don't have archaeologists did
they ever find these plates
the plates according to church history
once the translation was complete Joseph
Smith was ordered to give them back to
the angel Moroni who then took them so
they've never been seen since
another contrast is we have the Quran
so we have it in its original memorized
by millions it's a living Miracle you
have different places in the world like
for instance you have the Birmingham
you're looking at one of the oldest
fragments of the Quran ever discovered
it's written on parchment most likely
made from sheep or goat skin and it's
been dated by experts as being more than
1300 years old and that makes it among
the earliest known fragments of the
Quran anywhere in the world and it's
here in the University of Birmingham a
person who actually wrote it may well
have known the prophet Muhammad he would
have seen him probably he would maybe
have heard him preach he may have known
him personally and that really is quite
a thought to conjure with this is an
exceptionally rare valuable Discovery
and the university says it will be put
on public display it has no intention of
letting these pages from world history
leave Birmingham now this is where it is
also they found that it has been
preserved as it was revealed at that
time you can go ahead and examine it
so you can't do the same here with these
golden tablets obviously no and even um
if you look at the original because I
have a replica of the
um uh one of the original copies of the
Book of Mormon as it was first published
I have a replica copy of that and if you
compare it with the modern there's been
a lot of changes to it even in the way
the book is structured the words the you
know there's been a lot of change just
like we see with you know with the New
and Old Testament what the Bible is
there's been a lot of alterations and
changes done to it so it's not in its
original form even the even the original
published form that was I think 1830 I
believe if I'm pulling that that number
off on my head I believe it was around
1830 that it was done
um you know that copy isn't the same as
what we see now
okay so anything original of any more
Mormon book now also it's obvious this
has been uh changed this has been
something that's been tampered with and
in This Book of Mormon so what's the
main message that you obviously you've
read you've read the entire book being a
Mormon what do you what did it take
what's the takeaway like when you read
the Quran it's clear you have the the
clear definition of God Almighty is
presenting himself he says I've revealed
this Quran I will protect it I'm your
creator it's really straightforward you
can't get it wrong that God is one in a
long worthy of worship it goes into the
much of the the stories of the the
prophets from the past and their message
of pure monotheism to taheed the purpose
of life Paradise Hell Fire the good
moral code of how we need to live by uh
there's no strange incantation
superstitions uh it's a book of guidance
uh what do you go away with when you
read the The Book of Mormons uh The Book
of Mormon focuses mainly on how having
faith in Jesus Christ there is very
little talk Of of any any being other
than Jesus Christ in the book there's a
lot of cross-referencing if you look in
the book at the bottom there's a lot of
biblical cross-referencing most of the
book is actually as the book sits um the
Great Piece of the book is indexes that
go back and forth that says I'll wander
this topic if you read it here it's also
in the Bible under here here and here so
it seems that as you go through it and
read it there's a lot of justification
that's found in the Book of Mormon and
it's like well you know this is true
because it's also here in the Bible so
there's a lot of cross-referencing back
and forth most people especially those
that grew up in the Church of Jesus of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have
very very high scriptural knowledge and
they can cross-reference back and forth
and quote scripture like crazy it's one
of the things whenever I first came into
the church that I was very enviously was
the fact that you know you could talk to
somebody and they would they would just
belt out scripture and tell you exactly
where it was at
um but the clear emphasis even though
the Bible is used is always on the Book
of Mormon so it's always you know well
in this chapter of the Book of Mormon
there's this and by the way you can also
find it here in the Bible so it's always
the Book of Mormon first and then
everything else is kind of second to it
but there's nothing there that really
teaches you how to worship you know or
anything like that it's always you know
follow the Commandments The Ten
Commandments as they're written and then
there's a whole other section of um
what's called Doctrine
um they're they're called the I'm trying
to remember the term Forks it's been a
while since I've since I paid attention
so then like the select I won't say it's
a selected works but it's it's something
along those lines where
um there's the Book of Mormon there is
um What's called the Pearl a great price
which is another
um revealed
um you know kind of story and and things
like that that goes back to Abraham and
Moses
um that you know was supposed to be
translated out of Papyrus
um and then there's um Doctrine and
Covenants which is all of the other
revealed stuff which is where a lot of
the foundations from the church come
from you know so where the word of
wisdom which is again like I said the
dietary restrictions and things like
that that's found in Doctrine and
Covenants and Doctrine and Covenants can
be added all into it doesn't happen that
often but if they you know declare that
something is going to be put in it it's
considered revealed scripture at that
point
so the Bible the Book of Mormon it is
it's above the Bible so the Book of
Mormon supersedes the Bible
um I won't say that it supersedes it as
much as it's supposed to be a
complementary volume to it so whereas
whereas the Bible is geared more towards
the Jewish people
um and those that you know were Jewish
or Gentile and then converted over to
Christianity The Book of Mormon is
supposed to be a complementary testimony
of Jesus Christ as he revealed himself
in the Americas so it's it's just that
there's a lot more emphasis on the Book
of Mormon because it's considered by the
church and by the followers of the
church to be the quote most correct book
on Earth that is the quote that they use
the constant theme in the Quran is to
worship one God to worship the Creator
not the creation to not associate
partners with God that God is one and
alone worthy of worship over and over
and how previous nations were destroyed
for taking uh creation as a god next to
God or worshiping the creation how they
were destroyed over and over and you you
can't walk away without
experiencing the pure monotheism when
you what I'm getting at is when you read
the book of Mormon it's obviously
encourages you to worship Jesus exactly
even the Doctrine and Covenants that are
supposed you know they're supposed to be
Revelation that's been given to the
prophets of the church
um are all coming from Jesus Christ it's
not coming from Elohim it's not coming
from you know God Allah or you know
however you want to put that into terms
within that church
um it's the revelations are coming from
Jesus Christ to the prophet of the
church to be disseminated out to the
people
belief in Trinity is that a Mormon
concept or no
no there is no belief in the Trinity the
godhead is totally different
um so the
um Trinity is you know again like I said
kind of a strange concept you know it's
it's
three gods of you know one mind or yeah
I still can't wrap my head around it
like I said years of Catholic school and
everything else just still doesn't make
any sense to me yeah but the concept of
godhead within the um Latter-Day Saints
movement is that God is Elohim is a man
he is an exalted man he is made of Flesh
and Bone he is not a spirit
um and Jesus Christ is an exalted being
he is flesh and blood he is not a spirit
and then there is the holy spirit which
is the one that continues to you know
talk to people today that is the only
Spirit that's out of that but it's not
the godhead is not the same as the
Trinity because they are seen as persons
Elohim a Lindley Father and Jesus Christ
are seen as physical people just as you
and I are
and separate they're separated
wow okay so then you would clearly have
uh two Gods just right there yes because
there's and it's clear and Mormon
teachings that Elohim they say we say
Allah they're saying that he is a man
clearly he is a human being
he is a man and the reason that we see
him or they see him or however you wanna
it's it's it's kind of you know what I'm
talking about this it's kind of hard to
figure out how to how to use the right
pronouns whenever I'm going through this
but pronouns seem to be everyone's big
thing you know nowadays but
um you know so yeah that's a whole
different that's a whole different talk
right there but
um so the reason that the focus here is
on Elohim is because Elohim is the
exalted man that oversees us
hmm crucifixion what about crucifixion
uh crucifixion is um the crucifixion is
not emphasized as much as the more in
the Mormon church and they believe that
it happened they believed you know that
he was crucified that Jesus Christ was
crucified and was resurrected his Spirit
was put back into his body as an exalted
resurrected being
um where he is a physical person but the
emphasis there more on salvation and
freedom from sin would be the prior to
the crucifixion In The Garden of
Gethsemane that's where they believe
that whenever he was pleading to not
have you know to not go and be crucified
and was down on his knees praying and
they said that his you know his sweat
was like blood that is where in the LDS
church the belief is that the salvation
actually happened it was not on the
cross that's why you do not see many
people from the church where or have any
crosses or anything like that there's no
crosses on the buildings there's no
emphasis on the cross the emphasis is on
is on Jesus Christ instead
so the belief in Jesus dying for your
sins and this is the way to Salvation
that's not really a tenant of Mormonism
um it's still there but it's more like
where most traditional Christians
believe that when Jesus Christ was
crucified nailed to the cross and was
dying that that's when the Salvation And
Freedom you know the the freedom from
our sins you know happened to
forgiveness
for the Mormon Church the focus is more
on the Garden of Gethsemane they believe
that when he was praying intently
um that that's when he Not only was you
know obtaining that he felt every single
sin that was going to happen from
anybody that had been alive anybody that
was currently living anybody that was
going to live it was all at one time
when he was in the garden and the
crucifixion is talked about more almost
as an afterthought
who at the end who would you conclude
who had people concluded that wrote is
it it's attributed to Joseph Smith is
that he's the author or it's multiple
authors writing The Book of Mormons he
wrote it um he didn't he didn't write it
per se so what he did was he would he
would see the plates
um in the the
the
method that he used to translate the
plates was that he would he had what was
called a Seer Stone so he had a stone
that he would actually put into a hat
and the plates would be sitting beside
of him and there would be a curtain
separating him and his scribe he would
stare down into the Seer Stone and the
Seer Stone would tell him the words that
were being translated from the plates
and the Scribe would write it
that's what's uh that's the story behind
it what of others I mean what if is that
something that um because that was never
uncovered the the stones they went back
up they they say but what what have you
concluded do you from your investigation
the church is in possession of the Seer
Stone um they have a cataloged they
still have the stone yeah there are
pictures of it
um it's very unassuming
um you know I will say that if you look
at the transcripts from The Book of
Mormon as it was being translated a lot
of it does seem to be phonetic so it
does seem to be as if you know somebody
was sitting there saying the words and
somebody else was writing them because
you can see corrections to it where like
spellings and things like that words no
it's not spelled like that
um you know I can't I can't draw the
conclusion that it's divinely inspired
um I believe it definitely comes from
man um you know like I said I have a
replica of the original first edition
that's here and if you compare it to the
modern one that I also have multiple
copies of you know because in the church
you seem to collect those um whenever
you're in the church it's like you
collect many copies of the Book of
Mormon for some reason
um you know so I mean I have them and I
can compare them and they're different
so I mean it's definitely been altered
and changed whereas with the Quran
um I can pick up Karana from 200 years
ago and pick one up from today and it
says the same thing
that's Divine that's a divinely inspired
book that's a that's a book that's
Divine when it's not changed it hasn't
changed I can see the same thing I can
see the same thing that people could see
during the prophet's time
um once it was actually written down so
let's get into now your journey towards
how did you get your first exposure to
Islam and what was it that finally that
you concluded through all of these
Journeys now that you've taken that this
is indeed the truth I'm not jumping from
anything else now no more I I found my
home here
it's I don't it's it's kind of strange
um because I wasn't looking for anything
else I was very content you know
um the social aspect of being in the in
the Church of Jesus Christ it pretty
much consumes everything you know so
every single day you have something
that's going on with the church you know
people are constantly reaching out to
you it basically becomes your entire
Outlet you know people would reach out
to me at work you know hey I need help
with this whatever so I wasn't looking
for anything but but right around the
same time that I had started to you know
really look at the church back in 2016
um you know I again you know I like to
compare religions I had picked up a book
and I believe it was like Islam for
dummies believe it or not you know it
was just one of those it was like Hey
I've never really read this you know let
me read this a little bit you know don't
know much about it
um you know hear you know a lot of what
I hear about especially living in the
area that I did because you know I was
you know right smack in the middle
between Washington DC and New York City
you know so after 9 11 those events and
things like that you know obviously
Islam and Muslims you know we're not
high on anyone's list of you know of
good talking points you know so I was
hearing a lot of negative stuff and I'm
like you know what there's got to be
more to this you know than just all this
negative stuff because why would people
want to belong to a religion that's just
you know that's this negative that's
this restrictive that's this supposed to
be terrible for everybody I'm like that
just doesn't make any sense that just
seems like it seems like there's just a
lot of you know Massacre apparently in
the Middle East that this might be that
this is what they this is what they want
to do because everyone I've ever met
from their religion always seems super
happy you know so it doesn't make any
sense so I picked up a book like that
kind of skim through it a little bit you
know around a little bit every now and
then I would come back and pick it up
just for something to read you know kind
of just get like basic history and you
know things like that um
and I would say probably in 2018 I think
I'd actually visited one of the local
majeeds a couple times you know just to
kind of see you know how things were
done you know
um didn't understand a word of it
because like I said you know before I am
I'm actually 100 deaf I use Cochlear
implants arabic's very hard for me to
pick up the nuances on so you know his
prayers are being done in Arabic and
things like that I'm like no idea what's
going on here you know but the feeling
feels good everyone seems to be pretty
happy
um you know and I would just kind of you
know fling back and forth on it and I
was just sitting at work one day
um and it was probably a Wednesday
probably a Wednesday it was kind of a
slower day and I'm like
I'd like to read the Quran you know no
idea where that came from you know no
idea where I came from this was probably
right around Christmas time of last year
you know wasn't looking for anything out
of the church I'm like I haven't haven't
really looked at that for a while you
know let me do that
um
so kind of thought about it a little bit
didn't really think too too much into it
but then I remembered I'm sitting there
and I'm like I think that the local
mosques
play their Friday prayers on YouTube or
on Facebook and I bet I can watch one of
those so I did so I pulled it up and I
watched one and I think I found a
broadcast on YouTube from Atlanta I
believe it was from one in Atlanta that
I was able to just kind of stumble on
you know so I kind of watched it a
little bit and I thought you know that's
kind of cool didn't think much on it for
about another week or so
um but then
all of a sudden I couldn't stop thinking
about it and I'm like what is this you
know why am I getting consumed with this
you know I'm very happy where I'm at you
know I I'm you know the church seems to
be you know taking care of me in a
pretty decent way you know I'm I'm
pretty good with it I don't understand
you know where this is coming from but I
could not
could not stop and it was all consuming
all I would think about was I want to
know that I want to read the Quran I
want to go back to one of the mosques I
want to talk to Muslims I want to you
know figure out you know what this is so
finally I was sitting at work and it was
a Friday and I just sent a message into
the local
um the local one here and I'm like you
know hey I'd like to meet with somebody
and they said well coincidentally
tonight is our community dinner why
don't you come out
so I'm like all right you know so I went
over it's just a couple minutes from my
house
um you know whenever I had dinner met
with a couple people I met with uh with
the Imam and everything that was there
and he's like I can't see you until
later on in the week come back you know
I was like that was a Friday he's like
come back like on Tuesday so I'm like if
this is supposed to happen everything
will play out
so I went over on Friday or whenever on
like I think it was Tuesday
um after the evening prayers and was to
meet with him and I'm kind of talking
with him and he's like well what do you
think and I'm like right here tells me
that this is where I need to be at
because I feel very peaceful when I'm
here I feel very happy whenever I'm here
this is where I need to be at and I
don't know why I said but all I know is
this is where I'm supposed to be so we
talked for you know I would say probably
another half an hour or 45 minutes and
he said are you ready are you ready to
do this and I said I think I am so I
came back in on February 28th and met
with a couple of the brothers there in
the evening and took the shahada and it
was just before Ramadan I had no idea
when I was getting myself into I
jokingly told people I should have
looked at my calendar because I was not
ready to do 30 days of fasting that soon
after doing joining him with this but
you know what at the same time I'm very
grateful because I was able to get such
a sense of community from all of the
things that happened during the Ramadan
season you know with the iftars and you
know the different uh Gatherings and
things like that and I was very happy
that that's when I actually chose to do
it but to this day if you ask me why I
can't tell you all I know is that this
is where Allah wanted me to be and this
is where he put me out in everything
it's I I say a lot it's much easier to
see where you've been if you look behind
you than it is to look forward I can
look behind me and see everything that's
happened to me over the course of the
last years has put me to where I need to
be right now and I believe in all of my
heart that when I was ready to do the
shahada in order to come into Islam that
I had been pushed and shoved and pushed
and taught different things and shown
different perspectives in order to be
prepared and to be ready to be where I
was at and I think if I had done it
beforehand I don't think I would have
stayed
uh just so people get an idea the
shahada when somebody enters the first
it's one of the five pillars of Islam
and one is the testimony of faith that
you declared that there's nothing worthy
of worship except the creator of the
heavens and the Earth in Arabic Allah
and that Muhammad peace and blessings be
upon Him is the final messenger the
slave servant messenger of God Almighty
the Creator Allah and this was
automatically include all the preceding
messages that came before him including
Jesus Moses Abraham Noah and all the
other Messengers the prophets that God
Almighty sent and you would say the same
thing during their time
and if you're living there the time of
Jesus Esau Jesus is the messenger of
Allah during Moses time Moses the
messenger of Allah and this just makes
so much sense when you put it together
what uh for somebody now before we
conclude for somebody who's just getting
into now really to the very important
questions what's the purpose of life why
am I here and they're not really in tune
with what their parents brought them up
to things don't make sense Trinity and
The Parting is getting played out and
there's a void in the hearts so they
don't have to go around the whole world
looking at all the different I call
man-made religions how do you separate
Islam the Quran Prophet Muhammad from
all the man-made religions that are out
there to really know that it is the
truth from the Divine as you said
earlier how would you explain this to
somebody and just you know a few words
what advice would you give them
um you know I think it's definitely
important for people to look at things
because what you don't want to do is you
don't want to jump in at one and then
four you know forgo everything else
especially if you don't feel that that's
where you're supposed to be at I feel
you know where I'm at now is where I
needed to be
um but I can say with great uncertainty
that if I haven't looked at those other
religions denominations and things like
that I I don't think that my faith would
be as strong as what it is now because I
know from being through those that no
matter which one I was at something was
missing I don't feel that missing piece
anymore I feel very complete and very
whole with this
um I will say that I'm much more content
in my life knowing that whatever is
going to happen is the will of Allah and
I'm very happy to know that I'm you know
if you want to consider me a slave of
Allah I'm perfectly content to wear that
very very proudly because
Allah is the one that's in charge and
I'm I'm I I love that and it's not that
I've given up my free will it's not that
I've given up my freedom or I've given
up anything I just don't have to worry
about it so much because even if I see
it as a negative maybe that's where I
need to be at that point in time to have
a positive come from something else and
that's not something that's really
taught in other religions you know or
anything really it's always oh it's
negative thing here you know you've got
to overcome it I don't really have to
overcome it I need to figure out what I
need to learn from it so why is this
negative thing happening what what
positive is going to come out of it it
might be a negative now six months down
the road it might be the best thing
that's ever happened to me and as long
as I continue to put myself into the
into the role of you know this is the
will of Allah and I'm very content to to
live with the will of a law and to and
to continue forward with that I feel
very good about them
that is really profound and deep and uh
for Christians tuning in just hearing
the term Allah for the first time Arabs
who are Christian they use the word
Allah and uh Aramaic this is the creator
of the heavens and earth Jesus in
Aramaic he would call on God Almighty by
Allah this is uh when you say Allah this
is the creator the one God
and I'm very uh Happy elated to hear
this story I'm sure many other people
are going to be really thrilled to watch
it and benefit from it and inshallah may
this be an inspiration
to move more people to at least examine
and look into Islam and I've interviewed
so many different people from across the
globe and similar situation where they
went through and they looked at all the
different religions some joint here and
there but when they came and they
finally looked into Islam it's just like
you described this was it this was what
was missing
congratulations again thank you very
much
thank you
bless you preserve you and shall I will
meet again uh sometime in the future
inshallah okay peace be with you
thank you
and I'm so excited to be here at the
dean Center mashallah which is under
renovation and I can't wait to see
what's going to come inshallah there's
going to be a dawa Center there's a
Masjid there's a school in Islamic
school a gym and what we hope in
Charlotte will also have a mental health
part of this Center as well inshallah so
I'm asking you to please make sure that
you support this effort inshallah I
really hope that it spreads and really
the knowledge of Islam and people get to
know more about Muslims in Islam for
this effort
[Music]