Amir Junaid Muhadith – Life After Prison
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Welcome to the Young Smokes podcast.
We're here today with Amir.
Allah
is most kind.
You know?
My son And he's the best to plan
this because, you know, we've been trying to
get this done
for some time now. So, you know,
may Allah, you know, saying place in this
and make it a benefit for us,
you know, and whoever is and hearts this
may reach.
I mean, I mean,
you're looking fresh.
Looking,
It's good to see. Just working out.
You know?
Kinda have
a busy schedule trying to
keep up with the youth out here. You
know, the youth
ain't playing no games out here.
I'm guessing I'm guessing a a lot's changed,
you know, because,
you know, even even,
me, I'm only 35,
and I still don't I don't understand 25
year olds. So,
you know, things things have changed so fast.
Yeah. They have, but, you know, for the
most part,
there's a lot of things that's gonna always
remain,
and that's Islam.
So
I say that to say
even the time that I was born,
you know,
use utilizing,
you know, the dean
to facilitate your affairs, it never gets old.
Mhmm. And I think a lot of the
youth
you know what I'm saying? And plus with
all of these distractions,
you know, and and and and this, you
know, western culture,
you know, people tend to
resort to alternative methods of dealing with their
affairs. But Yeah. No matter what the situation
is, if you utilize Islam,
you know what I'm saying, and
covering yourself by Islam, you'll be able to
navigate
through any of it. Now as far as
working out,
you know what I'm saying?
You know?
There's some things that you, you know, you
you implement in this slam as far as
trying to, you know, lower your gaze and
stuff like that. That's why I go to
the gym extremely early
so that, you know, it's empty.
You know? Yeah. Yeah. Because once the people
come in, you know, they have no high
they have no shyness. So it's like
other than that, with the work and now
you gotta do that yourself. You know? So
that's where free will come in.
So,
it's it's good to have you on on
the Young Smokes.
You know,
I,
I used to follow you before I was
a Muslim. I was into
your music and stuff like that. And then
I, I became a Muslim in 2008.
It's the same year I became Muslim. Oh,
Yeah. Became Muslim in 2008.
Yeah.
Yeah. So
so yeah. I mean, it's it's nice to
finally catch up.
I didn't wanna go too much into your
your story to Islam because I know you've
covered it a lot, you know, in different
programs like the Dean show and things like
that.
Yeah. But just very, very briefly,
what was the the main thing you can
think of that that triggered you to think,
yeah, this this this religion is true?
I mean, just always being a truth seeker.
I think that, you know, coming out of
the in the cities of America,
you know, we're being fed a lot of,
you know,
lies.
You know,
we're constantly being, you know, victims of systemic
racism,
you know,
constantly being ostracized and things like that. So,
you know,
being of African American descent
or African descent,
you know,
trying to find,
you know, a place to belong or trying
to find,
you know,
something that, you know,
sustains, you know, your dignity and honor.
I believe that we all search for that
coming from these environments. So whether it be,
you know, guys resorting to gangs
or crews or groups or anything that can
forge that, you know, that need
to be, you know,
validated, so to say. So I've always had
that in my heart, and I've always wanted
to,
you know,
find truth.
And I think they've been in the music
business for so many years and seeing, you
know, all the evils.
You know, saying that,
constantly,
you know,
you know, establishing a music business,
I believe my heart became more and more
inclined to finding,
you know, what was contrary to all of
that. Mhmm. So
I think the most beautiful part of, you
know, Allah's guidance
is that I wasn't actually targeting Islam.
Mhmm. And I wasn't frequenting around Muslims.
You know?
I just you know, in my own sincere
and desperate heart,
you know, was seeking something,
but I didn't even suffocate. Just the Lord
knows your heart.
And he guided me to Islam. You know?
So
with no prior,
you know,
involvement
or
any prior, you know,
consultation,
I literally was guided
straight from,
you know,
and, you know,
a
a lifestyle that's just, you know, consistent with
fornication,
you know, violence,
drugs, whatever the case may be,
and was propelled
directly into Islam. And I think the most
beautiful thing, and this is something that many
of the used to say, is that they
didn't know
if they were more grateful
that they were guided to Islam or guided
to the sun.
When the Lord guided me to Islam, he
guided me
directly to the people of the sun.
So, you know, I I I didn't have
to experience
any deviation
nor innovation.
I just came straight,
you know, amongst the people who were consistent
in their, you know, adherence to,
you know, their adherence to the and
the right thing rightly got it. You know?
And all that.
You know? This consistency
is the only thing I've ever been exposed
to. So,
you know, that was it. You know, it's
just a beautiful thing
to be
pulled away from something that was so horrific
and so evil and so,
you know, fear seeming as far as the
sins and things that perpetuate
in that lifestyle to be brought to something
completely opposite.
So I embraced it with both hands,
both legs,
all my teeth.
Everything. I'm doing that. Yeah. It's fun a
lot. It reminds me you're biting onto it
with your molar teeth, you know, not letting
go of it.
And,
I I was actually gonna ask you that
question, but you've you've kind of answered it
that,
you know, I was wondering how did you
actually find the correct Islam? Because
there are so many
sets out there,
And, you know, sometimes it can be confusing.
You know, when somebody comes into Islam,
you know, you got one person saying this,
one person saying that. And sometimes it takes
people a bit of time to find their
their feet with Islam.
Yeah. But you were kind of straight in
you you know, the people you met were
well grounded in Islam, and and you were
just kind of blessed to be straight into
that.
So, yeah, I can only really attribute it
to Allah
because I would've I wouldn't have known,
you know, which group to embrace.
So by Allah placing me amongst people
who were extremely sincere,
and they always brought proof of evidence to
support every single claim.
Mhmm. And the consistency
of that
was something that always resonated
with. Because you have a lot of, you
know, callers to innovation,
callers to their desires,
you know, are very eloquent in their speech.
And if you listen to them for about
the first 30 minutes, you won't hear a
single ayah or a single hadith.
And I think that people who have this
immense need to be,
you know, have their heart softened softened or
this need to be kinda nurtured
in in some kind of way
or cultivated.
They easily fall into the eloquent speech of
individuals
who just, you know, speak of things that
are already known. Mhmm. You know what I'm
saying? So where's the lesson in that? Like,
telling me about something I already know so
I can only share
the emotion that comes with that thing, but
you haven't given me a remedy.
That's the beauty about Islam.
You know? The people of the sunnah will
always provide
a remedy from legislation
Mhmm. From the Quran and sunnah.
You know what I'm saying? Because Allah hasn't
produced a single, you you know what I'm
saying, disease or illness without a cure.
And this is the and this is the
benefit of Islam
that whenever we face with any form of
adversity,
we can always refer back to Allah and
his messenger and find that remedy.
And that's what I found consistent amongst the
people
who Allah, you know, placed me in, you
know,
their lives and in their presence.
Yeah. And only later I started to learn
that their ascription
to the sunnah
or their ascription
to the seller for solely or the, you
know, pious predecessors
Yeah. That this was
the basis
of
how they understood the religion
and how they acted upon it. Mhmm. So
it's not like, you know, Shay Foulan Foulan
or Shay Google, even Twitter or Instagram me
or nothing like that. It's like you're telling
me about individuals
who
have
a a snag
or a chain
of even how they acquire their knowledge. Yeah.
It goes back to some of the most,
you know, world renowned scholars of, you know,
those of those of their time.
So,
you
know, it's just a beautiful thing Yeah. Yeah.
When you come from a place
where you always fact check on the streets.
We gotta check the facts. Like, you can't
just tell us anything coming from the streets.
One thing about being a kid
growing up in the streets is, like, you
can't just tell me.
You know what I'm saying? So I think
that's
something that helped me navigate
through
certain individuals who were trying to exploit,
you know, my my my fame or try
to exploit
the fact that I was able to draw,
you know, crowds of young people and so
on and so forth, but I wouldn't contribute
to those things or assist them in their
call.
Yeah.
But when I, you know, sat amongst the
people of the sunnah,
it was more of me receiving benefit
with no strings attached.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They don't push No one
wanted anything. Yeah. No one no one wanted
anything in return.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know? And coming from
the business I was in, that was common
that people do something for you. They want
something back. Mhmm. You know what I'm saying?
So,
you know, all of these things
were just attributed to the radar system that
I already had coming out the street. So
when I found people who
accommodated
that
and then later learned, like, okay,
understand. Now why now it makes sense. So
you ascribe yourself to this book that the
law revealed,
you know, saying to this messenger that he
sent as a mercy of to all mankind
and those who follow him in totality in
this.
How did he that makes sense? Yeah. Yeah.
So, you know, I wanted to ask because
I used to be a a jazz singer,
and, I was involved in in the music
industry. I used to sing with, like,
you know, some famous well known, like, Wynton
Marsalis and other, you know, famous jazz guy.
I know you used to also I I
did a few I did a song with
a famous rapper in the UK.
But but, really, I'd I'd reached the kind
of as far as I could go with
music.
I'd I'd I'd reached
as far as I could go, if you
know what I mean. Like,
I I wasn't gonna be, like,
bigger than I'd already got. But for someone
like yourself,
you reached a very high level of fame
and fortune.
And it's it's a huge test, you know,
to come to Islam
and then have to I mean, you was
kind of at the top of your game
at that time in that particular industry.
You know? But how did you just kind
of let go of that so easily?
And and other people,
they will be thinking, how can someone do
that? You know? People are born into Islam.
Sometimes they're chasing these these kind of dreams,
and then they see someone like you just
it doesn't mean anything to you. You just
let it all go.
Well,
there's a ayah in the Quran where Allah
commands us to enter Islam
completely.
You know? Mhmm. To enter Islam
completely.
And what we understand
what iman what belief is is, you know,
statement of the tongue, action of the limbs,
you know,
pure intention of the heart, you know, statement
of the tongue, action of the limbs. So
this is what completes,
you know, the iman.
It's not just a statement of the tongue
that's not in the heart.
No. It's just not it's not a pure
intention with no statement and no action.
You know? It's not an action without you
know? So on and so forth. So the
reality of it is
for me to be completely immersed in the
lifestyle that's contrary to Islam.
And then, like I said, searching for its
exact opposite.
When I found that,
that's what I was looking for.
For. You know what I'm saying? So there's
no need for me to straddle. There's no
need for me to play.
Mhmm. This is what I was looking for.
You know? Now some people
come into Islam
and still have some doubts and uncertainties.
Mhmm. You know?
And these are the things that the shaitan,
you know,
tries to exploit
or take advantage
when someone comes into the religion
weak
or
not completely embrace.
You know what I'm saying?
Islam
and and its totality
alongside its simplicity. You know what I'm saying?
Mhmm. Because they still have
some love or attachment to the dunya.
Yeah.
So for me, like you said,
I believe that the long period of time
of being in that state
of, you know, fame, like you said, you
know, success or whatever the case may be,
didn't enable me to understand it
in totality.
You know what I'm saying? The only thing
really was left
was to just make more money.
Mhmm. But as far as all the accolades
that come with it, I've experienced all those
things.
I'm saying from,
you know, fornication,
you know, drugs, you know,
whatever. All the things
that come with it, I've experienced them so
much
that I can acquire,
you know what I'm saying,
Sort of
a numbness. You know what I'm saying?
But for someone who's new to that,
it may take them some time,
you know what I'm saying, to get over
it, so to say. You know? Yeah.
Because if you just tasted it, it's like,
you know, you gotta, you know, you gotta
have
a few more hearty meals before you're ready
to, you know, let that go.
But for me, I was at that point
where I understood
that all of that wasn't gonna amount to
anything
other than coming to some kind of abrupt
halt,
and then I have to find my place
all over again. Mhmm. You know what I'm
saying?
I would have to find
my place in life all over again.
Because now this purpose is gonna expire, and
then what am I gonna do next? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. That's a very troubling, you know,
way to feel.
Yeah. Is to know that the life expectancy
rate in the music business is you're as
good as your last song.
Yeah. Yeah. You see, it's like as good
as your last song. Even, like, the people
that you was with at the time, these
days,
they hardly even known now.
And it's only, what, 10 years gone. They're
not even known anymore.
It's such a short lived
kind of dream. Right? Exactly.
And, like, when you can actually
not foresee that, but you have some foresight.
You know, you understand
that, you know, this is like a lottery.
Yeah. You know? Everyone's gambling
every day
to remain relevant in the game that's fleeing
from
Mhmm. Just like this life of this world.
Yeah. Yeah. Fleeing from it. It's following up.
So that game is the same way. It's
fleeing from
you. You know what I'm saying? The audience
is waiting for you to make one whack
record
or do one thing that contradicts your character
or whatever you say you were or whatever
you ascribe yourself to be.
One flaw,
one crack in your armor,
and they turn on you.
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So that's
why you see people go to extremes
to maintain
the attention of that audience. They'll paint their
hair yellow. They'll do something anything.
Yeah. Yeah. Anything. I know. So at that
point, you you you know that that's a
certain form of slave.
You've enslaved yourself,
you know what I'm saying, to
acquire
the attention of people
who have an attention span
of a goldfish.
Yeah. It's follow-up. You know? That's that's that's
yeah. That's crazy. You know?
So that's really what was bothering me is
that I knew that at some point, man,
I'm a get older.
You know, this is it's a lot of
stuff. This is gonna factor into, like, what's
the next move.
Yeah. Yeah.
You know, So when I found it yeah.
Go ahead. You know, something I've never really
said on camera, not many not many people
know, but
as I was coming into Islam,
I had a cold case going on,
and it was looking like
I was looking at possibly 10 years in
prison. Not many people know that.
And and I just
you know, when when I was in the
court,
I said to Allah, you get me out
of this. I will work for you. Right?
And, after after a 2 year court case,
it got canceled.
And and as as I said, I accepted
Islam in 2008.
You know, this is similar time to when
you accepted Islam.
But you was actually tested
with that test of actually going to prison
for a long time. You know, something that
maybe you don't need to get into the
details, but something that maybe from your past
life or whatever it may be. But the
ultimate thing is you were tested with that
huge test.
So I wanted to know a bit about
how the how Islam
played a part in in you being in
prison,
and how was the dua also in prison?
Well, leading up to my incarceration,
I always felt like something was gonna happen
to me. I didn't know what
because I felt like
I was breaking so much ground. I was
reaching so many people,
and this is what prompt me to wanna
move out to Egypt and try to study
because I knew I couldn't spend,
you know,
5, 10 years keep talking about bad boy
and what I used to do. I didn't
wanna be that kinda speaker because the thing
is when you have the youth inclined to
listen to you,
but they may not listen to the.
They may not listen to the early man
because they think, okay. These guys are 80
years old.
They ain't never smoked weed. They don't really
know.
Shayfa ain't never been in the club and
so on and so forth. And these are
all facts.
But the reality of it is, he knows
the book of Allah. He knows the son
of Muhammad so
he doesn't have to go to the club
to understand what's Haram and what's halal.
He doesn't have to smoke weed
to know that this is and so on
and so forth. So the youth have this
very
tainted understanding of
who they choose to gravitate to. Mhmm. So
you find people like myself, like, Utah,
you know what I'm saying, and some of
the other influential Muslim, may Allah guide us
all, you know, who, you know, inspire the
youth.
I understood that to come with a responsibility.
You know what I'm saying? It's not to
have the youth fascinated with me, and I
thrive off of that. Yeah. Because once again,
I already experienced that. And they come to
Islam to have a fan club. You know
what I'm saying?
I came to Islam
to learn who's my lord.
You know what I'm saying? Learn about the
messages that he sent
and learn about the religion that he prescribed.
You know what I'm saying? These are my
intentions.
And to embrace this newfound brotherhood
that can never be forged.
No other way.
Mhmm. Not through gangs, not through ethnicity, not
through anything else.
Okay. Not through tribalism.
It can't happen.
So
these were my intentions.
So now that I've learned that Allah is
using me
to unite the hearts of the people and
bring, you know, this newfound awareness to Islam,
I didn't want that to just
weather away after a couple years of still
talking about bad boy Yeah. Or coming to
Islam
and so on and so forth.
So I went to study.
And
as I was getting closer, like, literally
just getting a nod off my tongue. You
know what I'm saying? Mhmm. You know what
I'm saying? As far as speaking Arabic.
Yes, sir. You know? I was learning the
Arabic language. I went to, Monica at
first, then I'm with the, Monica at, then
I had just signed up for and,
university.
That was gonna take my whole
elementary
school education
over in Arabic.
You know what I'm saying? This is the
loss of cost. Like so I'm not actually
going through the jammy.
I'm actually going through, you know what I'm
saying?
You know,
my scholastic career. I'm going through all of
that all over again in Arabic. So this
will increase my vocabulary.
This will increase my understanding of things that
I already know, so on and so forth.
So this is my plan.
So,
the best of plan is
it just led me to,
you know,
the last moments traveling. I had just made
Hajj. So Allah invited me to his house.
Just made
Hajj. Came back to Egypt to drop off
the things I bought for my family. Jumped
back on the plane to go to Belgium,
and I'm literally just getting back.
It's funny. So
when I got arrested
and like I said, I felt like something
was gonna happen to me. I just didn't
know what. But when that happened, I wasn't
shocked.
Mhmm. So all the details leading up to
it didn't really matter because there was a
old case that was before I was Muslim,
and
those details didn't matter. Allah had already forgiven
me for my past. So I can't sit
here
and and wallow in, you know, saying sorrow
and grief
about
Allah placed in a trial on me.
You know what I'm saying?
That
from the outside looking in looks like something,
you know, that may be, you know, Haram
or might be,
you know, something that was
caught up to me in all of these
different, you know, terms that people may I
knew that this was what Allah was and
just, like, this is what Allah was preparing
for me. Yeah.
So I used to just
so to ask the second part of your
question,
I used to just ask Allah
every day to continue to purify my intentions
and make me a benefit for the people,
make me a benefit for the people. So
now
being a practicing Muslim
in the streets, in the world, right,
being able to sit in some structured environments
amongst people who you know, people of knowledge
Mhmm. And then to go to prison,
This is what Allah was answering my dua.
Yeah. Because now I could benefit these people.
Like, in here,
I may actually be
a
a a a a senior student of knowledge.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a funny world,
I was, you know,
I was a weak student. Yeah. You know?
But to actually come into prison Oh. Where
people have embraced Islam sincerely,
but
they kinda coupled it with the prison culture.
Yeah. Yeah. And me,
I'm coming in.
I'm not even
I'm a I'm not I'm opposed to prison
culture. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The same Muslim I
was when I'm out there, the same Muslim
I'm a being here.
And that's what transpired,
and that's what people knew me for the
whole time I was incarcerated
is that,
you know, I love Islam.
You know what I'm saying? So I was
able to benefit the people with what I
learned.
You know, they see how steadfast I was
and avoiding the things that are lost a
bit.
So, like, every year, they would have Christmas
dinner. I just I just share this one
thing with you. Every year, they would have
Christmas dinner,
and I would sit in the block, you
know, sitting in my, prison
block or dorm or whatever by myself.
Everybody go out, including some of the Muslims.
May Allah forgive.
So the police every year, no matter what
prison I went to, say, yeah. Hey. You
know? You know? You ain't gonna go eat?
They call all of us.
Yeah. You ain't gonna go eat?
Like, nah. That food is for y'all, man.
Yeah. What you mean? I don't celebrate no
Christmas, man.
They start telling me, yo, they got cranberry
sauce. They start telling you all of this
stuff that they don't give you normally.
Yeah. Yeah. So they kinda, like, you know,
beef up the meal for the holidays.
Mhmm. And he's trying to tell me all
this.
Like, this is going to convince me to
disobey Allah. Right?
So I will always tell him, like, listen.
If I can turn down 30 meals
during the month of Ramadan
Yeah. I know the Muslim. We fast.
If I could turn down 30 meals,
a whole month for eating for the, you
know, for for the sake of Allah,
one meal ain't nothing.
And then all of the cool Friday would
be like, yo. I know know you don't
celebrate Christmas, but, like, yo, could I get
your tray? Like, nah. Can't get my tray.
What you mean? So, yo, listen. If I
accept the tray, then that means I'm participating
in,
you know,
this this this this religious, you know,
holiday.
Yeah. I well, yo, can you just sit
it down and I come get it? And
they I mean, they would come with all
kinds of stuff. I'd be like, look. Look.
Nah, man. Matter of fact,
I ain't even going in the kitchen. So,
you know, this was the this is what
people knew me for,
and this is where the Muslims,
you know, around me
understood that I wasn't playing when they came
to Islam.
I'm funny. I could joke with you all
day. I could do all of that, but
when it comes to Islam,
I'm not playing.
You know what I'm saying?
And that's the balance that we all should
have. You know, sometimes, you know, you have
some brothers
who are, you know, excessive in their harshness
and their firm stance
to where,
you know, they make the things that's permissible
for us
appear to be haram Mhmm.
Or or or or or.
You know what I'm saying? Or someone is
so for. But the reality of it is,
man, we all got our own different character.
You know? We all got a different character.
We all striving,
you know what I'm saying, to follow
the exemplary
character of of the prophet,
and none of us is gonna make it.
Not near one of us. The most righteous
of us today
would never come
remotely close,
you know, saying to the character, the prophet,
and it campaigns.
Mhmm. But that's not discouraging.
You know what I'm saying? That's not a
bad thing. Yeah. That just means you're gonna
always have something to strive for. Mhmm. You
know what I'm saying? Till you meet the
law, you're gonna always have something to do.
Oh, my Muslim can't say he bored. How
could you say you're bored
But you got a a a day to
be better.
You know what I'm saying? You
know? How was your,
how how was he how was he meeting,
like, some of the old
friends from back in the day since you
came out? I've seen that you met some
of your some of, like, p d d
and others. How was it meeting them after
such a long time, and how were they
how did they take it of you becoming
Muslim?
Well, the thing is, you know, however they
took it
is not really my concern.
Mhmm. But I understand the question.
I
mean, you know, people know me
to be, you know, frequent with these people.
Yeah. Yeah.
And, you know,
you know, relationships with these people, business related
or whatever the case may be.
But I think a lot of them seem
before
I came home from prison
that something had changed.
But then they come home from prison and
see that, hey. I'm still the same guy
that you saw before I went to prison.
Still ain't thinking about no music.
Still ain't going to no clubs, no parties,
ain't doing none of that. Still ain't smoking
and drinking, so nothing's changed.
Mhmm. And I think that a lot of
those people
because,
you know,
a lot of people have rough patches in
their life. Right?
And they try to find some alternative to
get around that.
Yeah. You know? And then your peers, they
kinda, you know,
ain't serious. He's a Buddhist now. They're saying
he don't beat cows, and he don't do
this, and he don't do that.
And you give it, like, a couple of
months in a year, then he backslide.
So those people kinda anticipate that. And the
law mentions this about, you know, the people
of, you know, people of the book. Mhmm.
You know what I'm saying? And taking them
as, you know, and so on and so
forth.
Yeah.
So all they wanna do is corrupt you.
Yeah. This is true. This is true. I'm
a law. You understand?
So
I guess
expecting that,
but being so firm and consistent
and content,
I believe these guys just gave up. Right?
So, you know, now it's like, you have
to learn how to embrace a man. Yeah.
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So that's
really the turning point. So to answer your
question,
however they felt, like I said before, it
didn't really matter because I kind of blocked
those things out. Yeah. Yeah. But to see
now,
fast forward, you know what I'm saying? 13
years later, I've been Muslim.
Nothing's changed. So now I was like, you
know what? I gotta get over this whole
loon thing. I gotta learn how to get
acquainted with Amir. Yeah. Because I see that,
you know, maybe some pieces of loon there.
It's not a bad thing. You know?
My name is not associated with shirt. You
don't have to I'm a associated with you
know what I'm saying?
You
understand? I would rather you get more acquainted
with a mirror
because there's a turning point that is so
valid and so beneficial
Yeah. Yeah. With me being a mirror opposed
to you trying to talk about
old stuff
in a new day.
You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So You
know, just before you leave us, I just
wanted to speak a little bit about your
projects that you have going on because,
I've seen you you got a few things
going on. You got paid meals.
I've seen this halal drip,
and, you you've got your brand as well.
So what it's Yeah. Touch upon that before
you leave.
I've been so busy, man.
Like, Allah is so kind. You know what
I'm saying?
Pro merciful.
And he's enabled me
to accomplish so much in just a year.
You know?
You know,
I've got a book deal with Simon and
Schuster.
You know what I'm saying? So I'm gonna
be releasing the book,
you know, the top of next year.
Sure. You know? So just we have to
put this whole story behind me. So, like,
everybody can just read the book. You don't
have to ask anymore.
You know? So that means following that, all
my interviews is just the current event.
I got a 6 part doc series I'm
I'm shooting with, unrealistic
ideas, which is, Mark Wahlberg,
production
company.
So we partnered up
to do my 6 part doc series on
my whole life from beginning
to now.
I'm sure. So once again,
you won't have to ask me no more.
You know what I'm saying? You're gonna get
it all. You know? You get
everything from
childhood,
music, business,
Islam, prison,
the entrepreneur,
so on and so forth.
Paytmills is a tech company,
and we're building a 2 point o version
of Paytmills right now, which is a pay
it forward app. It's gonna impact hunger
in an extremely major way.
But what I've been doing is manually implementing
the systems my you know,
receiving money from conservatives,
hiring private chefs to cook the meal, and
actually go allocate the meals to poor people
and one of the shelters,
halfway houses, or whatever the case may be.
You know,
rehabilitation
centers, domestic violence centers.
It's just out and about in the streets.
Oh, sure.
To World West,
that's my other tech company,
which we actually provide the service
on technology
preferably for, you know, minorities
who can't really afford
the cost,
you know, of paying for technology based on
the Western market.
So we try to help entrepreneurs to get
quality technology
that
competes
with,
you know, the technology
that's out there,
you know, with with people who are more
fortunate, you know, financially,
so on and so forth.
For Luz,
in the Clover line I'm coming out with,
You know what I'm saying? This should be
out with, you know, around the fall winter
time. Now Faloos, you know, Arabic, everybody knows
of me well.
And, basically,
is a is a lie
that is inspired by Islam,
but definitely
is gonna draw the attention from Muslims and
non Muslims alike.
Because I know there's a lot of young
people out here who's not really inclined to
win and owe what they
You know what I'm saying? But if I
can create a line that's appealing, but still
covers the owner.
So you're doing the master, and you're gonna
make,
you know, and your cake thing out. You
know? I did my job. You know what
I'm saying? And you're still fresh and fly.
There's nothing and then there's something that says
we can't be fly, and we can't be,
you know, you know, appealing in our, you
know, you know, in our attire.
Now the Halal gift shop,
that's actually gonna be a a a a
a a mobile application and a web based
application
where I'll be able to,
you know what I'm saying,
consolidate.
You know? Or base you know what I'm
saying? All of the, Muslim vendors
and put them in one place.
You know what I'm saying? So you don't
have to shop all over the place looking
for Muslim. You know what I'm saying? Clothing,
Muslim fragrances, so on and so forth. So
the Halal gift shop is gonna become that
one stop shop.
All Muslim
fragrances,
tires, so on and so forth. So
I'll even be able to showcase my own,
you know what I'm saying,
merchandise as well. But it's just to give
the Muslims an opportunity.
So on the Alawdrip,
shop page on Instagram,
the the intention was to,
you know, create this newfound attachment
to your Islamic identity.
Yeah. Yeah. So I show this whole
array of diversity
all around the world, all the young Muslims
all around the world
dressed in whether they wear Izars, whether they
wear thongs, you know, the the the brothers
in, you know, Bangladesh, and their
and so on and so forth. So I
was like, people don't know
that
every
Muslim
country
has their own cultural, traditional,
you know, attire.
Yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?
So when a lot of the young people
get shunned
or claims are made against them that they're
imitating the Kufar
but we live in the west. You know
what I'm saying?
So we live in the west.
So with that being said,
there's gonna be a certain type of style
that comes with even a Muslim who chooses
to wear a hoe. He might wear a
hoe with a traveling bag. Yeah. You know
what I'm saying? With some brand new jade.
But I'm still wearing a bow. I'm not
imitating the bow. You know what I'm saying?
So all of these type of claims is
what actually pushed a lot of the youth
away from wanting to identify
with their Islam.
So the Halal Chip Shop, you know, started
a movement, and
is going beautifully. And I asked that everybody
continuously, you know,
continue to, like, keep the way going. I
asked that people continue to contribute the paid
meals
because, you know, every contribution made, you see
me out there physically making sure these people
eat that food. So, yeah, the money is
not going to, you
know,
scam
a new con artist
giving you videos of kids suffering and so
on and so forth, and you send your
money and it never reach them. Yeah. Yeah.
Any dollar you give me isn't a matter.
You know? And Islam is a trust. You
know what I'm saying? I don't make no
money.
You know, when I when I make a
side of pay bills you know what I'm
saying?
Whoever goes into the pay bills bank account,
I take that money, and I spend it
on food. And I go out, and I
make sure that these people are being fed.
So every weekend,
I see, you know, shelters
in places in Atlanta.
I got volunteers in other states to do
the same thing. I got the Peggy Mills
Pantry. I give away food every day in
New York. You know what I'm saying? I
partner, you know, with a lot of,
you know, food vendors and so on and
so forth. So right now, you can actually
go on a landing page
Yeah. If you're a food vendor
and register to pay meals. So once the
app goes live, you could be a registered
vendor,
you know, whether you're grocery store,
restaurant, food truck, food cart, or certified private
chef. All of these fall under the category
of food Come on. Yeah. And we'll be
able to, you know, feed an abundance to
people through this system. System. Masha'Allah. We're we're
gonna put all the links in the subscription
so people can check
them things out. Yes. They can see what's
going on. But it's great. Masha'Allah. You know,
you you're on the ground,
you know, doing doing it.
Yeah.
I mean, the thing
is we gotta go meet the law.
You know? And how we choose the medium
is is all on us.
You can't blame the shape.
You can't blame this one. You can't blame
that one. You know, you have a duty.
You have a right to fulfill.
Yeah. You know? And a lot of times
us. If we fulfill his right, our worship
and him and him alone and not associating
the partners.
You know what I'm saying?
Then the law has granted us, you know
what I'm saying?
Paradise.
Yeah. Or the party that don't stop.
No. I wanna go to the party that
don't stop.
You know? I've I've been to all other
parties. I wanna go to the one that
don't stop. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm saying and
I'm serious about that. So, like,
yeah, I'm a fall short. You know? I'm
not free from standing. I'm not free from
shortcomings.
But the reality of it is I try
to conceal my shortcomings and conceal my sins
and work on the things that are pleasing
and praiseworthy.
Yeah. We all should do that. Yeah. You
know what I'm saying? Do you do When
we do that Yeah. Do you do you
have any When we do that, we only
empower
ourselves.
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? We raise
the flag of Islam,
the banner of Islam.
Allah grant us the support, the aid, and
the victory that we want. And we so
desperately desire, it will come from our own
hands and what we put forth. Yeah. Yeah.
You know? So
catch up with you. And,
you know, I'm really, really happy to catch
up with you and, hear about the work
that you're doing. You know, the the thing
we can take from this is as Muslims,
we have to be active. We have to
be doing something for Allah.
You know? Yeah. No no matter how small
we think it may be, you know, at
the end of the day, we're doing it
for ourself. You know? We're doing it for
our own our own hereafter.
Yeah.
Supam Exactly.
Because we can't just sit around and and
hope for a lot of mercy.
Yeah. We can't do that.
You know? We can't assume that because your
name Mohammed or your Abdul Rahman
that you're going to paradise.
Yeah. Yes. You know, we have to be
working. We're supposed to be the busiest people
on the planet.
Yeah. The busiest. Like, when people would think
of a Muslim, they think, oh, man. Them
people right there. Yeah. They put in that
work.
Yeah. They don't waste no time. They got
3 jobs. You know what I'm saying?
Mhmm. 6 kids
working. Like, you know, your kids is work.
I know they we all
have to, like you said,
contribute to our.
You know? You wanna live,
you know, for an eternity in a state
of bliss?
Mhmm. It ain't cheap.
Mhmm. You gotta work for it. I'm gonna
learn. Gotta work for it. You know?
So
I say this as a reminder to myself
and a reminder to the Muslim. You know?
Work.
Put in that work, but make sure it's
praiseworthy,
And make sure that it's an accepted deed.
Meaning, it has to be solely for the
sake of Allah,
and it has to be a quarters to
the sunnah of the prophet.
No deed is being accepted.
These two things did not work as simultaneously.
Yeah. Solely for the sake of Allah
and according to the sun of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Can't have one without the other.
Just just before we go, can I just
ask you just for because I have a
lot of non Muslims
also tuning in?
And,
could you just give them a a a
small reminder of what it takes to be
a Muslim?
You know, what what what is needed for
somebody to
come into the fold of Islam?
What it takes is knowledge and understanding that
your creator
created you with a purpose,
and that purpose
is to worship him and him alone.
So we're not created and left to our
own whims and our own desires.
We do not create our destiny.
We're not in control of our futures.
You know what I'm saying?
We're put here
as servants whether we choose to serve or
not.
You know? Our free will is limited.
You know what I'm saying? A lot of
the facilitator
of all of our affairs.
So this creator, who's the creator, the facilitator,
the arranger
of all the affairs of creation.
If he and he alone
is the only one that possess the ability
to do these things, then it's he and
he alone who should be worshiped.
It's that simple.
That is your purpose.
Once you acquire
a understanding of that purpose,
everything
else would just fall into place.
Easy.
It's that simple.
You can't build a house from the roof.
You have to have a foundation,
and the foundation is a slab. And you
build upon it until you meet your creator.
And when you meet him,
he will look at the deeds,
the effort.
You know what I'm saying? Time,
wealth,
everything that you've invested in building from that
foundation,
and he will he will reward you accordingly.
He will reward you accordingly.
Mhmm.
So if you're seeking any reward in this
life,
it has to be done for the sake
of the one who created you,
for the sake of the one who created
the heavens and the earth and everything in
between.
And it has to be in accordance to
the methodology
of the messenger that he sent to all
mankind.
So
this is very simple.
That didn't sound too long.
I'm just all that drawn out is very,
very simple. Islam is extremely
simple.
That's why the Muslims, we know we are
a work in progress.
This is why we, you know, we we
we we're very, you know, compassionate towards one
another.
You know what I'm saying? We're very considerable
of the fact that we're all deficient,
created deficient.
We won't fall short,
and that's not discouraging.
Mhmm. But as long as you know you're
on the correct path, that's all that matters.
Yeah. You know? That's all that matters. So
I pray that Allah guide all of you
and rectify your affairs
and guide you to the truth.
You know what I'm saying? Because Islam is
the truth.
Yeah. This blessed being, the submission
is true.
That is the only way to govern yourself
in this life.
In according to what your lord prescribed for
you because he knows you better than you
know yourself.
He knows you better than you think you
know yourself.
He knows you better than other people think
they know about you. You know? It just
you know?
That's in it. So how many lie wanna
lie. You know, the people they know, they
can read our faces. You know? They know
we believe it's religion. This is not just
for fun.
You know? Yeah.
What what we're gaining really in this life?
Nothing.
Look at what you've given up. You know?
And look at your face. Look at the
happiness, the Noah, the light, you know, the
the the this insert you know, you can
tell that you you you believe in this
thing.
You know? Yeah. And it took and it
and I couldn't get this from that life
I lived before. I was miserable.
You understand?
That's fine. Everybody wanted what I had,
but they didn't wanna take the misery. You
gotta take that too. You don't get to
just take the car, the house, the money,
the girls, the the the alcohol. You gotta
take the misery, though.
So if you don't want the misery, then
you leave it all alone.
Yeah. Yeah. This is why I don't play
with that stuff. I ain't listening to music
in 13 years. This is why I don't
play with it. Because you put one little
toe in the water, you won't end up
going swimming.
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? The water
feel nice. Going to. Put that what
Yeah. I wanted to speak to you about
this because, you know, a lot of people,
especially
because we've been involved in music before,
people are like, why don't you make halal
music, this, that?
I know halal music.
I know. This is what I'm saying is
and even even just vocals, I don't want
anything to do with anything like it. You
know? It's Yeah. But look at look at
listen to what you just gotta listen to
the trick and the shape of. Yeah. We
know music is haram.
Why not make halal music?
How did you attach the word halal to
haram Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And think that you're
making it halal?
Yeah. Right? If music represents haram
Yeah. How do you make halal haram?
You know what I'm saying? This is the
trick to shaitan
that make you believe that you can take
something from
something prohibited.
Yeah.
Something detested by Allah
and turn it into something good.
Yeah.
And this is why I say I'm so
grateful that Allah didn't place me around these
people when I came into Islam. Understood. Understood.
What I'm saying? Because I'd be like some
of these
individuals who are carrying out the city names
who started off, you know, as Muslims, and
now they're back on tour with their good
talk. You know what I'm saying? Because they
was around these people Yeah. Yeah. Who were
chasing their desires,
constantly pushing in this man's face.
You know? That there is
a gap
or there's a small window,
you know, where you can you can just
squeeze it in.
Trust me. You saw that.
Some stuff for the next year, you know,
you know, you back on the road. It's
Kat Stevens.
Yeah. You know? Uh-huh. You're not even used
to the slam anymore.
Yeah. I mean, a lot of guiding them
back to the truth. I mean, I mean
You know? So, you know, it's like
I mean, a lot of protectors, Aki. It's
a it's a lot going on out there,
but I just really found so much comfort
amongst the brothers that I would every day
come around Muslim that remind me of Allah.
And I said that I left a a
post or something like that from a talk
that I did a long time ago. It's
surround yourself with people who feel love. That's
how you save yourself.
You can't be around people that don't feel
love.
Yeah. Yeah. We gotta be around people that
feel loved. Because even if you get caught
slipping, you're gonna look at your brother, and
you're gonna be looking at your life. Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I
you're gonna tighten up. Yeah.
But if you're around you got a whole
section of people.
Hold
on. Hold on. You understand?
Once again, like, some of these individuals just
out there, still in the music business. You
know what I'm saying? Still trying to justify
it by shooting a few things out there
that's related to the religion, but all actuality,
your whole call,
your whole
activity, everything that you aspire yourself to. You
got guys out there rampant, claiming gangs, and
Islam all in the same breath. Doesn't make
any sense.
You know what I'm saying? You gotta pick
1.
But if you don't know which out of
those 3 is the one in team,
then you're definitely bound to be a loser.
It's a problem.
If you don't know Islam itself is the
winning team, how could you describe yourself to
a game
and
immerse yourself in Harlem and think you won't
win?
It's a problem.
You know?
So, yeah, I don't wanna, you know, get
too winded, but I really appreciate
you inviting me, you know, to give this
talk.
You know? I've been really
trying to, you know, connect with you. It's
been kinda rough because I've been busy, and
I haven't really been doing no talks. I
actually been turning down a lot of things
because I wanna get a lot of my
business and stuff
in order first. Because anything I do, I
wanna be consistent.
Yeah. So I don't wanna start giving me
talks and doing things that's gonna take me
away
from providing for my family because they got
rights, and they've been without me for 9
years.
You know what I'm saying? So I have
my family, our rights. So they come they
come at first after Allah and his messenger.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, the Allah and his
messenger come my family.
You know? And then I can mingle amongst
the people again in.
Amen. But Thank you for your time, and
I love you for the sake of Allah.
And, Man, may the one who's sake you
love me for love you.
Amen. Amen.
And, we Ameen. Make dua for you. We
ask everyone who's listening to remember you and
your projects in the dua. And we we
ask Allah to, you know, accept your projects
from you and your work from you
and, grant success through them.
I hope to see you in person soon.
I might have some good news. I'll make
an announcement pretty soon, but I'm working on
something that
that might enable me to start moving around
again. Shot.
Michelle. Okay. Now