Ashraf Schneider – The Path Islam – iERA

			Peace, blessings and mercy be upon y'all. Assalamu alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh. Before we
begin this broadcast, I would like us to take a moment to praise the Almighty Creator and to glorify
Him above all else and all things. And to thank him for opportunities like this to speak about in
his mind and his glory. We thank the almighty creator for our spiritual well being and upliftment
and for guiding us protecting us and for blessing us upon this path. What I would like to share with
you guys today is how I was first introduced to Islam, and what my journey looked like, and why I
eventually decided to embrace this way of life as my religion, to follow upon the path to glorify
		

			the Almighty Creator.
		

			Now, my journey begins at my childhood, because I was born and I was raised in a Christian family.
My father was the pastor of our church, my mother was a beautiful singer within the choir. And from
a very young age, I've been nurtured by the names of the great prophets, from Abraham and his sons
to Noah up on a ship, Moses with his remarkable courage to guide his people to safety. And it was
from this very young age that I was met with a burning desire to follow in my father's footsteps,
and to become a religious leader myself. And so I dedicated myself to this cause, and I soon found a
platform upon which I could share my love and my passion for God. And when I then believed his
		

			untainted revelation,
		

			and as I was growing within the church, my independence grew, and religious freedom to call, I
started asking questions to my religious leaders, which will often left unanswered.
		

			It was during this time as well that my mom started learning more about Islam. Now what happened
with her was, she wanted to write an article about Hajj for her local magazine. And so she
approached the Muslim men to write this article for her, but he was going to Hajj with his family.
And so she took it upon herself to study more about Islam, to study more about Hajj to be able to
compose this article.
		

			And as she was studying more about Islam, she fell in love with us religion. Now for me during that
time, I completely contested request for additional knowledge. And I could not comprehend or
understand why she would go to Islam, to look for more knowledge about the Creator.
		

			And I remember that there was even a time at which we would have youth group at my house, and we
would have praise and worship music, and I would turn the music just a little bit louder, to try and
call it back to Christianity. Now was at this time when I realized that my quest of following in my
father's footsteps was starting to wither apart, and that I had to reevaluate who I am and who I
want to be in life. And thus, I decided to go work abroad for Royal Caribbean Cruises as a
photographer.
		

			And just before I left my flight, at the airport, my mom helped me in a close, embracing hug. And
she prayed a prayer over me to this new guide named Allah who I did not know back then. But she
prayed to Allah, to send a very big angel with me to guide and to protect me upon my journey.
		

			And as I left for my flight, and I landed in Australia, and I boarded mashup, opened up my bag, and
I realized that my mom had left me with more than just the breath, she put a copy of the Holy Quran
within my bag. And on the first page of this beautiful book, she left a little note which said that,
if ever wanted to bait against Muslims one day, I need to understand their religion, I need to
understand their foundation and where they come from, and why they believe what they believe. And
this made rational sense to me. And so I dedicated myself with the love that I have my mom to read
at least one page every night. And soon one page turned into two, two into three. And I found myself
		

			completing the Quran from cover to cover. Now brothers and sisters, this is truly where my spiritual
battle began. A battle which left my heart, my mind, and my soul completely torn. Because I was
separated countries between myself and everything that I held there. And I felt lost. But I knew I
was exactly where I had to be. I felt betrayed by my religious leaders for not educating me as to
what Islam truly teachers, but yet I knew there was still something that was guiding me. I felt as
if I did not really know God, but I knew he was right there beside me. Now having completed the
Quran from cover to cover, I saw a comparative study between the biblical text and the Quran. And
		

			what I had found is that there's more cohesion between these revelations than what there is
separation from the very core principle of the Almighty Creator within the Quran in chapter 112, was
one to fall where it says that say that He is Allah, the One and the only is the absolute and he's
the eternal, He begets not nosy begotten, and there's nothing like on Tim within this universe,
echoed within the book of Deuteronomy, chapter six, verse four, where Moses peace and blessings be
upon him says that era is
		

			Well, the Lord our God, the Lord is One, confirmed by Jesus Christ in the book of Mark chapter 12,
is 29, where he says that Hera Israel, the most important commandment is this, the Lord our God, the
Lord is One, to the very concept of this God is completely unseen, that there is nothing like unto
him within the universe, confirmed in the book of Exodus chapter 20, verse three to five, where God
says that nothing in the heavens above the earth beneath or the water and the earth, whatever
resembling, we're not allowed to make any images of this, confirmed by Jesus Christ in the book of
John Chapter Five is 37, where stands in front of his followers, the Pharisees and disciples, and He
		

			says that you've never heard the voice of God, neither have you ever seen his shape or his form? I
was astonished by these comparators that I drew. But this is not where my journey ended.
		

			There were so many questions that I had. And this is truly where my love and passion for Islam fell
into place. Because all these questions that I had was answered within the Quran. For instance, the
rational explanation for the existence of God can be found within the Quran in chapter 52, verse 35,
to 36, we have this creator speaks to us. And he says, Do they believe they were created out of
nothing? Do they believe that other creators have been songs? Have they constructed the heavens and
the earth now only but uncertain, and this uncertainty is regarding his existence? Now, in the first
verse, God is saying that do they believe that were created out of nothing? Now, both you and I can
		

			think about this, that is completely illogical, because our void, something cannot come into
existence within this physical realm. So fundamentally, there has to be energy or power prior to in
order to bring something integration. The second possibility is that we created ourselves, but this
in itself is illogical, because something cannot create itself without existing right? The third
possibility is that we were created by something that came prior to us, for instance, another
universe, if there was a big bang book. And then before that was another universe, there was a big
bang that then imploded to create our universe, then the question is what what created that
		

			universe, the answer would be in that mindset, another universe. And so that cycle will continue at
infinitum, until there is a beginning, a creation out of void. So what this revelation is telling us
that we were created by something that is itself all powerful, to produce the energy and power to
create the universe, we were created by something that is itself all knowledgeable, to create a
universe for the coexistence of planetary bodies, and to ensure that our existence upon this earth
is possible. And we were created by something that is self sufficient, was not created, and is not
in need of anything that is itself created. For instance, this something this creator does not eat,
		

			it does not sleep, it does not go to the restroom doesn't need to pray on to itself or fast, because
it's absolute and eternal.
		

			Now, what I discovered is that through these names and attributes of God, it is what makes him
unique. And if we were to apply these three criteria, to any other concept of God out there in this
world, there's only one that would stand and that is the Almighty. Let me give you an example. In
Islam, I learned to love and respect Jesus Christ, and to follow in his footsteps and to listen to
his major tenants that he had propagated. And he is written with in the Quran is one of the greatest
prophets. But fundamentally, you could not have been God. Because if we look at the biblical text,
he was never all powerful. In the book of John, chapter five, verse 30, he says that out of my own
		

			self, I can do nothing. As I hear I judge my judgment is just because I seek not to please myself,
but only the creator had sent me. So out of his own self, he could do nothing. He was not all
powerful. He was also not all knowing, because in the book of Matthew, chapter 24, was 36. He says
that of the final day in our nobody knows, not the angels in heaven, or myself, but only the Creator
who had sent me. So he was not Oh, no. And Jesus Christ was also not self sufficient. He had to eat,
he had to sleep, he had to go to the restroom, he had to find care from his mother, he had to put
his forehead to the ground and submission to this creator, and yet you fast onto God for spiritual
		

			protection. So that is fundamentally why we believe that he is a prophet of God, he cannot be God.
Because as soon as something is not all powerful, it means that there is something else out there in
the universe that is more powerful than it. And fundamentally, once that happens, then this entire
concept, the names and attributes of God would be broken. Therefore, the creator is Almighty, He is
maximally perfect and all his names and attributes are also had to understand as to why the Quran is
from God. And fundamentally, I want you guys to visualize this with me. Imagine we had all the books
in front of us. We had the Veda, which is the first Hindu scriptures, we have the tallest
		

			Revelation, the Buddha's Revelation, the sickness Revelation, we had the Koran and we had the Bible,
for us to be objective and to look at these revelations and to the
		

			side which of these books is from God? Both you and I would agree on three things. The first thing
is that this book needs to represent God in the right way. For instance, if a Revelation says that,
you know, God is a monkey or that God is a human being, or the goddess, a tree, both you and I would
agree that that revelation cannot be from God, because a monkey, a human being in a tree is not all
powerful, not all knowing and not self sufficient. The second thing we would be looking for is
internal and external validity and consistency. Internally, this revelation should not contradict
itself, because fundamentally, God would not contradict himself. External consistency means that
		

			when God speaks about his creation within this revelation, it needs to be consistent with his
creation itself, because God would not deceive us in that way. So for instance, if a Revelation says
that the earth is flat, or the universe is only 6000 years old, both you and I would agree that this
revelation cannot be from God, because we know that the earth is spherical, and we know that the
universe is billions of years old. The third and final criterion we'd be looking for is some form of
divine inspiration. If we look at this revelation, we say Undoubtedly, this must be from God, a
human mind could not have composed of this revelation, right? Now, if we apply these three points
		

			upon all the revelations in front of us, would there's only one that stands and that is itself the
Holy Quran. I would like to give you some examples as to why within the Holy Quran and chapter 21,
verse 30, the creator speaks to the unbelievers once again. And he says that do not the unbeliever
see that the heavens and the earth was joined together as one unit of creation, and we split them
asunder. Ever we created every living creature from water, will they then still not believe? Now
this is something we just recently discovered that the heavens and the earth comes from a
singularity a complete and hot and dense point, that then splits apart, and that every living
		

			creature comes from an element of water. For instance, the human soul consists of more than 60% of
water, the human brain around 75% When a fetus a baby is just born, they consist of more than 8% of
water. Now, objectively, we are we have to ask ourselves, who could have revealed this 1400 years
ago, if we've just discovered it in our century? Could have been a human mind? Or was it divinely
inspired? I would like to give you another example. When the Creator speaks about the working bee,
the producers honey and pollinate plants, he speaks about them in the female term, meaning that all
working bees are female. Now, as Johanna just said, just recently discovered, that all working bees
		

			that produce honey, and pollinate plants, that all of them are female. Now, again, we need to ask
ourselves objectively, who could have revealed this a human mind? Or was it God? I would like to
give you guys one more example. There are hundreds within the Quran. But in the Quran and chapter
78, verse 67, the creator says that we've created the earth as an expanse that we place mountains as
pegs within the ground. Now, if you and I would just take a peg, right, so we were to hit it in the
ground, took took took took two, we only see the tip of a peg, and the rest of the peg will be
underneath the surface of the Earth, it would not even be something that you can see. Now the
		

			creator's saying that he created the mountains as pegs. And yet, we find the geologists have only
recently discovered that when two tectonic plates push against one another, there's a plate that
goes up, and there's a plate that goes down that creates the roots of the mountain. And these
geologists use the word steaks or pens in order to define what this is like. Now, fundamentally,
this is not even something that you can pursue with your eyes. And yet it was revealed 1400 years
ago, as a testament of truth. Now who could have revealed this, upon my journey I discovered through
going through many of these examples is that this must have been divinely inspired. Because
		

			fundamentally a human mind cannot compose these things. And if we rationally think about this, every
single prophet came with a specific miracle and assigned for the people. Moses, he struck his staff
and the sea seperated peace be upon him, is equal Elijah the hill Pacific peace be upon them, Jesus
Christ, because there are demons and he helped us make peace be upon him. Muhammad during his time,
he multiplied water and he healed the sick, peace be upon him. And these prophets, when they perform
these miracles, many people started to follow them. And they said that Surely this must be a prophet
of God, let's follow them.
		

			Now, if this God is just, if there's God is merciful, which we know he is, and he sent every single
generation with a sign that is from him, it would be unjust of him not to leave our generation
without a sign, and therefore the Quran is the sign from this almighty creator. It is the only
revelation that is untainted. It is the only revelation that has no internal external
inconsistencies, is the only revelation that represents this creator and ultimate utmost form. And
fundamentally through the signs that creator sent us, we know that this is a revelation that is
directly from him. Now this revelation itself was revealed by Prophet and his name is Prophet
		

			Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.
		

			And he did not come with a new religion. But he came to bring people back to the religion of
Abraham, to say worship only the almighty to God, that is all powerful, all knowing and self
sufficient. Do not associate any partners within, worship Him alone, pray to Him alone, glorify Him
above all else and all things. Because on the final day of resurrection, we will stand in front of
him. And we must live a life in righteousness in accordance to His laws and decrees to worship and
glorify Him for every action that we do. When we look upon something, look upon things that are
pleasurable only to him. When we listen to something, we do so only to glorify the Almighty Creator,
		

			and only to listen to things that are pleasurable to him. And when we work with our arms, we do so
to glorify and worship the Almighty Creator, and only to work in things that are pleasurable to him.
And through these actions that we perform, we also fulfill the purpose of our life, which is to
worship this Almighty God and to live a life in accordance to what he wishes of us in accordance to
His will. And so when we submit onto him, that is what we call to be Muslim. And through this, I
decided to make my Shahada to declare that there's only one to Almighty God,
		

			to declare that Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him as a prophet of God.
		

			Now, I hope this gives you guys an answer.
		

			As to why I decided to embrace Islam, how my journey began, the things that I had to start with in
regards to comparative religion, and what the truths are that I had found within the beautiful
Koran, and how this had led me to embrace Islam. And I would like to make another episode as well in
sha Allah in the future regarding comparative religious studies, and if you guys want to make
contact with me directly, feel free to visit my page. It should be linked in the description, and
all the best Blessings to you and your family. Zack Allah here, all the blessings upon you and thank
you for this opportunity. And thank you for listening to me