Jeffrey Lang – From Atheism To Islam
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So Jeffrey doctor Jeffrey, can you tell us
a little bit about yourself? What you do
and,
a profession Well, I'm a professor of
Mathematics.
Professor of mathematics at the University of Kansas.
Doctor of Math?
Yes. Yes. In Lawrence, Kansas. Okay. How long
how long you've been doing this? Well, I've
been a professor since I was 28. So
that would be, no. 27.
So that would be 26 years. 26 years.
We brought you on the show because we're
interested. We wanna know your story. Why you
chose this beautiful way of life of Islam?
But before that,
you, tell us a little about your history.
You're born in America, in the States? Yes.
Yeah. 1954.
1954.
Alright. Long time. Yes. Yeah. So what kind
what way of life It's not bad long.
Yeah. Yeah. That's it.
I'm not ready for the grade.
Necessarily.
No. You look quite young. Yeah. Okay. I
actually, the first time I saw you, this
was maybe like 5 year years ago. Mhmm.
Yeah. You don't look like you're aged day
6. Oh, that's good. Good. Let's hope it
keeps out.
So tell me tell us, the viewers,
because you see, nowadays,
Islam, there's a stigma attached to it. So
now someone as bright as yourself, who's a
doctor,
who is an intellectual,
for someone who is afraid of Islam,
who doesn't
understand Islam, they wanna know why would this
man choose Islam as his way of life.
Oh, well.
I was an atheist before becoming atheist. You
didn't believe in God? I didn't believe in
God.
You you were you born into a family
of atheists or No. No. My,
I grew up in a Roman Catholic family.
I went to Catholic school,
my entire life from
1st grade to, senior high in high
school. And,
my mother was very, very devout.
My, wonderful woman, wonderful believer, extremely
terrible. My,
father,
he believed very much in God and in
the Catholic church,
but he had a terrible drinking problem. He
was an alcoholic and he was very violent.
So,
in an early stage in my life, I
mean, living with a nightmare of my father's
violence, and the target of that violence was
usually my mother.
And I remember praying when I was a
little kid in bed, night after night, you
know, please take my father out of our
lives.
Stop this unending nightmare. The guy was that
bad. It was that bad. I thought he
was gonna kill her. I thought I'd wake
up in the morning and not find her
there. Of course, that's I'm a young kid
at the time. 8, 9, 10. As you
grow older, you realize, oh, this has happened
many times. She'll survive.
But, you know, it it leaves very deep
scars.
So when I was 16,
you know, it it created in me doubts
about the existence of God. Why would why
would God, this loving God, expose my mother
to lifelong
torment and torture?
What sin did she commit to deserve this?
Why would he let the strong oppressed weak?
Why would he create us to experience such
violence and and suffering in this? There's nothing
wrong with wanting to know the answers to
these questions. Of course. It is natural especially
when you're living with them daily.
So,
doubts about the existence of God prepped in
early in my life. And they only got
accentuated as I grew older and, you know,
we
experienced the Vietnam War,
experienced the race riots in cities like mine
of the sixties.
The assassinations
of political leaders was rampant, or at least
it seemed that way at that time.
Heroes like John f Kennedy and Robert Kennedy
and Martin Luther King get gunned down to
replace by the most corrupt rulers that we
thought.
So, you know, why did God make it
this way? The
question which was rooted in my childhood experience
grew as I got older. So when I
was 16, since I could never find really,
even though I was in a Catholic school
all my life, and this is nothing against
the Catholics,
even though I couldn't find
coherent and cogent answers to those questions,
16,
I became an atheist.
You wanted to know
why
the weak were getting oppressed by the strong.
You wanted to know why all this
corruption, these
in society, and you were looking for answers.
And
the way
the way of life you were brought up
to didn't answer. You have to remember, I'm
going to Catholic school every day, you know.
And this again, this is not against the
Catholics.
But I have many other things going on
in my life. I'm exposed to religion every
day. What about Christianity? I mean, we understand
Christianity,
Catholicism is it has the same kind of
creed that, Yeah. Jesus is God. He's the
son of God. He's 1 in 3. So
what if someone says, well, you are in
the wrong faith. Why didn't you choose Christianity?
Were you exposed to that at all? Yeah.
Well, I was a Christian at the time,
you know. I mean, I wasn't Christian as
I'm a Catholic. What's the main difference? Tell
us for the viewers that might not know.
What's the difference when you say Catholic and
Christian? What It's just the branch of it's
a sect of Christianity. It's a sect. So
you were you are Christian. Yes. It's just
a sect of Christian. Yeah. It's the largest
sect. It's the largest sect. Okay. Just the
world.
So, you know, I'm exposed to religion every
day.
It's part of my life because I go
to school every day and on and on
weekends I go to church.
So I have that going on. Meanwhile, I
have these big questions looming in my life.
Why would God create us here to suffer
if he's supposed to be an all loving
God, as I was taught? So I have
these contradictions in my life. The mother my
mother, the most saintly woman I I've ever
known, the suffering, this violence and abuse of
my father.
And sometimes we children also us children also
experienced it. It. And, why would God do
that? Why would He let innocent people suffer
at the hands of more violent criminal people?
Why wouldn't a perfect God create a more
perfect world?
Where does evil come from? If everything comes
from God, then evil comes from God. And
so forth and so on. So, you know,
these questions grew
and,
as as they grew and became,
bigger in my life, and they were big
to begin with, Yeah. I I moved away
from my church. Okay. Moved away from belief
in God. This I just couldn't reconcile it.
This was at quite a young age, 16.
16. So now there is a gap in
between
16
and when you came to Islam, which what
age was that? 28. 28. In between them,
really short, what were you doing? What kind
of life were you living?
Oh, I just went out and lived my
life. Yeah. You know, so
I,
I tried to live a good life. You
know, I I thought that, you know, I
I didn't think that religions were totally invalid
in the sense that
the values that they preach were bad. I
thought the values that they religions preach were
good. I I would I was a humanist.
I believe that,
you know,
a life becomes worth living,
becomes more enjoyable,
becomes,
more serene and peaceful the more you reach
out to other people and help them. So,
you know, that part I took from religion.
It was just the theology, the existence of
a supreme being that made this world so
chaotic. That part I could never accept. Now
we as as Muslims, ones who surrender and
to submit
to the will of the creator of the
heavens and the earth. We know at the
end of the day that there's a light
at the end of that tunnel. Through all
the struggle and the hardship,
there is hope at the end of the
day.
But how did you as an atheist, when
we didn't believe in God, was there hope
at the end of the day? Was there
a light at the end of the tunnel
when you would hit rock bottom? And did
you ever hit rock bottom that you were
like, you know, call who would you call
out to? Who would you when you're alone
in your room, it's pitch black, or you
just came from a hard day, you know,
the world's on top of you, you feel
like it's gonna crumble over you. Who do
you reach out to? Who did you reach
out to?
Well, I think I pretty much relied on
myself. Yeah. You know, I Is that hard?
Is that really did it or you just
got used to dealing with it or? Well,
yeah. I got used to and I never
really had to get used to dealing with
it. You know, surprisingly, my life went pretty
smooth after I became an atheist. Yeah. Yeah.
I went away to college. Mhmm. Got away
from the family. I see. You know,
got was married,
you know, when I was around 21. The
marriage didn't last, but it was a peaceful
marriage. It lasted a couple of years.
I was very successful at school,
went went to graduate school,
did well there. So nothing really went badly
and, you know, but I assume that if
something did go badly, that was just the
accident one of the accidents of life. So
where the shift now? If everything was going
smooth, you're going to school, then how the
shift why the shift?
Oh. From being an atheist
to now,
discovering this way of life as well. Yeah.
How did this turning point happen?
Well,
when I was,
you know, when I finished graduate school at
Purdue University, not too far from here,
I went to, my first teaching job, which
was at the University of San Francisco.
And,
there I met some Muslims,
nice family. They sort of adopted me and
vice versa. Yeah.
And,
and I used to discuss these issues and
these questions with them.
And they had a very difficult time answering.
Yeah.
And, so one day,
they
real they,
gave me a copy of the Quran as
a present,
with the understanding that they couldn't answer the
questions.
But, you know, perhaps, if you're still interested
in looking, you might look in here. They
they were really not the type that tried
to convert. This man. I didn't feel that
was their motive. When I did, I probably
would have shied away and not ever seen
them again. But it was like the peace
jester, you know. It was their their sincerity
in just trying to give them a gift.
Right. We can't we can't deal with these
questions. We have no idea how to answer
them. Yeah. But, you know, this is our
scripture. If you'd like to look in there,
there to learn more about Islam.
I'm a few So it was a it
was a English translation of the Quran? Right.
English interpretation of
Koran. And,
I took it home, I put it in
my apartment
on the bookshelf,
and that's where it stayed for a while.
For a while. Not very long, really, because
I was new to San Francisco.
And I had shipped my books from Indiana,
Lafayette, Indiana,
to my new place of work and my
new address.
And they hadn't arrived yet. So it wasn't
long before I ran out of stuff to
read. And one night, I was sitting in
my apartment in Diamond Heights, and there was
nothing to read. And I look over at
the coffee table, it happened to be on
the coffee table,
and there's a copy of the English interpretation
of the Quran. So I picked it up
and I thought I would Peruse it. Yeah.
So the journey began. The journey began. Now
tell me this, because
did you open it
Some people open the book to look to
find contradiction, to look to find discrepancies.
At what at that point, did you look
was your mind open? Was your heart open
to the truth if it was the truth?
You you you get my question? Yes. I
get your question. I was very convinced there
was no God. So, you know, when I
picked it up, I wasn't looking for searching
for anything on a spiritual level.
I wasn't looking for contradictions. There's no point
in that. You know, I had
reasons not to believe in God. I thought
they were very co very compelling reasons. So
I wasn't really looking for anything. I just
picked it up and out of, I would
say, at the time, academic curiosity. Just wanted
to see what it is. Academic curiosity. I
thought I would read 3 or 4 pages,
get bored, and put it down. Yes. Yeah.
You know how it is. I understand. When
you have enough to read, you pick up
a magazine, you But that wasn't the case.
No. It turned out to be a little
bit of a surprise. You know,
I read the first Surah, which essentially is
a prayer for guidance. You don't sort of
realize it till you're done. Yeah. That was
a little bit of a, you know, I
thought the author was clever. For for it's
a very short story. Can you for
our,
viewers
who aren't Muslim, can you just the 7
verses Yeah. Can you translate them in English?
Yes. It goes basically like this.
In the name of God, the merciful and
compassion. So one, it says the most merciful,
the most compassionate. Right. This is deep. Right.
Because we as human beings think sometimes, you
know, we're merciful. You know, this guy is
such an this is the most merciful. Right.
Go on. So right away, emphasis on mercy
and compassion.
Then it says all praise be to God,
more or less ruler of all worlds. The
king of all realms. The one who's running
the show. Yes. Of all that exists. Yes.
The most merciful, the most compassionate. Again, reminding
again, the most merciful, most compassionate.
Show us the straight path. Yes. Oh, no.
No.
You alone,
we pray to and, you alone we see
stone from. You alone do we pray to?
Praying to God alone. None of his creation
to him directly. Direct connection. Right.
And then then the next verse is, show
us a straight path. The master of the
day of judgement. Oh, master of the day
of judgement. Master that there is a day
of judgement, that we're gonna be accountable for
all of our actions.
Right now. Now that part bothered me a
little bit, master of the day of judgment.
I thought, now I'm coming back. You know,
the emphasis on mercy and compassion is nice.
Master of the day of judgment. Okay. This
I think of punishment. Yeah. And then I
think, okay. He creates us with all these
flaws, and then he punishes us for having,
you know. So, you know, I'm just a
little put off by that. Yeah. And then,
show us a straight path. You know, the
path of those whom you have favored,
not those who have, gone astray Yes. Or
upon this
violence or wrath. Yes. Yeah. So and then
you went on to So it was very
interesting. It starts out like a hymn of
praise, like a song. Yeah.
And it slips into being a prayer for
guidance at the end. Yeah. So I thought
the author was very clever because he sort
of tricked me into making this prayer for
guidance even though I didn't Before you started
to go to the book of God. Right.
I didn't believe in God. Then you come
to the next,
Surah, and it begins Alef Lam, Meem, 3
Arabic letters, and then it says, that is
the book, literally. That is the book, wherein,
no doubt, is the guidance. Yeah. No doubt
this book. Yeah. Well, it seems to be
saying that, you know, this very dismayed, this
is your answer. Yeah. So I thought the
author had a very compelling style writing. Yeah.
And he sort of engages you in a
sort of intellectual conversation.
So I, you know, as I was reading
the Quran, I was appreciating the author's, let's
say, literary genius. You know, even though I
didn't know who the author was, and I
definitely assumed it wasn't divinely inspired. Uh-huh.
And then I come to the 30th verse
of the 2nd Surah chapter.
And it says, Behold, your Lord said to
the angels.
So it's a heavenly announcement.
I'm about to put a vice friend on
her. The Arabic word was Khalifa. I'm about
to put a vice friend of mine, a
vice one who acts on behalf of another
or represents another.
So it's a heavenly election.
I'm about to put a viceroy on Earth.
And then the angel said,
will you put there in one who will
spread corruption and shed much blood?
Oh, this is now one of the answers
to some of your questions. This is my
question. That's your question. Well, we the angels
are asking. Right. Yeah. Well, we, the angels,
celebrate your praises and glorify you. What was
response from the almighty? Yeah. So, you know,
I read that verse. Yeah. And look what
they're saying. When you put human beings on
there to represent you,
well, and they spread tremendous corruption and shed
much blood. And that's what's going on nowadays.
Yeah. Yeah. While we, the angels,
celebrate your praises and glorify you and are
entirely submissive to you and do exactly what
you want. You know, what you want of
us. You know, the question is, why would
you create this beam and put them on
earth
while we, the angels,
you know,
patently superior
and could fulfill that role much better. Yeah.
Why would you create humans when you could
just make them angels? Yes. You know, so
that took me right back to, day 1
of my child. You know, it just reminded
me of my entire my entire
life, all the scars that I had accumulated
and,
you
know, baggage I had accumulated because of my
childhood all came back to me that moment.
And I was irritated by the question, of
course. It made me angry, frankly.
And And then the answer to it was,
of course, the next verse says and God
says to the angels in reply, I know
what you do not know. I know exactly
what I'm doing.
And I thought, you know exactly what you're
doing.
But you realize
that this world is filled with violence and
crime and etcetera.
Why didn't you just make us all ancient?
You know, I was arguing with the scriptures.
Yeah.
But I was definitely hooked. I wanted to
see what the author, how the author answered
that question.
So I continued reading through the Quran,
looking for clues and answers. And I know
this interview has to be can't be that
long.
But by the time I got to the
end of the Quran,
I had found what for me were compelling
and coherent answers. So those answers that you
weren't able
to get through your young adult childhood life
now finally at the age of what? 20,
7 or 20. You got them in this
Quran.
This last and final revelation,
the verbatim word of God as we say
as Muslims in the Quran. You got the
answers to all your questions. Yeah. I I
found for
for
myself personal theology that I felt was coherent
and compelling and consistent.
Yeah.
Just so our viewers know, you have actually
published a few books but tell us the
book,
where could someone get it, the one that
talks about your story in detail. So once
they go into the detail. What's it called
and where can they get this book? That
book is called Losing My Religion. Losing My
Religion. A Call For Help. Call For Help.
And it's in the first chapter. Alright. Where
could someone pick this up?
Amazon.com.
Amazon.com? Yeah. Check out the book by doctor
Jeffrey Lane. Yeah. So now, because we're short
on time,
tell us you accept
Islam. Well, the point was is that How
long after that? Well, my daughter once asked
me a good question. She said, okay, dad.
I I see you answered your questions
when
you studied the Quran.
But that that why did you become a
Muslim? Yeah.
You know, I mean That was my next
why why now did you become a Muslim?
Right. I mean, just because you've answered some
questions,
that doesn't prove there's a God. Yeah. But
the fact of the matter was is, you
know, as I was reading through the Quran,
the more I began to find the answers
to these questions, the more I began to
doubt my atheism.
And the more I began to doubt my
atheism. The Quran has a very powerful literary
style. The more those verses began to move
me. And there were times as I got
towards the end of the Quran where I
felt that I was in this
presence of this tremendous
mercy, this tremendous
love, mercy, and power.
And I had these
very powerful spiritual moments.
And they would last sometimes
for a long period of time. You know,
10 5, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. It's hard
when you when you really get into the
deep state. These are the words of the
one who's created you. It's like if you
read a letter from your long lost mother
that you haven't seen. Yeah. Yeah. And now
you're this is your mother. This is your
creator. Yes. So would you suggest
for anybody
obviously, who's seeking the truth that if they
come with this at with an open mind,
a humble heart, that they'll be able to
see the same thing that you see. That
this is from the creator. That there's no
way a man could have authored this book
or any men. Well, it depends on the
individual. Of course. Yeah. How do you how
do you talk to this person who Yeah.
I mean, like,
you know, I didn't really come with a
humble heart. Yeah. I mean, my position
I mean, if you do believe in God
and you do,
accept that there is a God, then an
atheist is a pretty arrogant position. Yeah. You
know? I'm not saying atheists are arrogant, but,
you know, from the standpoint of a religious
point of view, an atheist is an arrogant
position. Yeah. And an open mind, well, I
just picked it up out of curiosity. Yeah.
You know, but it hooked me. Do you
recommend now that someone
obviously should read this book?
Well, definitely if you're looking for something, you
know, if you're if you're looking for faith
Why should why should someone read this book?
How would you answer that? Well, if you're
searching for faith in your life, this may
may be the the the place you'd like
to I mean, it's it's a worth a
look. Yeah. You know, I don't like I
don't like to preach to people and proselytize,
you know. That's just not my nature. Mhmm.
Especially being an ex atheist. I used to
hate it when people used
to sell their religion to me. So I
don't try to sell my religion. Absolutely. Yeah.
I just, you know, but for peep but
I need many people who are looking, who
are searching. And I tell them if you
are searching then, you know, I could share
these this much
with you. And take it or leave it
or take it wherever you wanna go. Do
you share a lot of these points in
your book? Yes. Okay. That's great. Tell tell
us a few more questions and then we'll
cut out.
Tell us how has Islam
benefited you as a human being? How is
it,
fit and completed your life?
It's interesting. You know, it's an interesting question.
I mean, probably many ways that I
more ways than I could count or or
on the call.
But, I you know what?
I once was asked that question in front
of an audience about a few months ago.
And it's hard, you know, you're searching through
your mind all the ways that it has
affected your life. I'd say, well How about
me? How about I answer the Google sec
second? Can I answer? I love I love
with with myself,
it like I said earlier, it's giving me
light at the end of the tunnel. When
you know at the end of the day
that there's something beyond this waiting for you,
a paradise,
that there is a creator that you will
be able to meet. We get excited about
meeting the Donald Trump's of this world, the
Michael Jacksons. Some people, they cry. They pull
their hair up. But now, can you imagine
meeting the one who created you?
Sitting and being able to see him and
him being pleased with you?
And you
all now throughout life, all he wants from
you is to call upon him alone and
to do good deeds.
You see? And at the end, now the
benefit is at the end of the day
that paradise is swaying for as a result
of being a human being because Islam calls
you to be good, to bring out the
best in you as a human being. Right?
So how about half of your team? No.
That's not bad. For me, it was it
was you know, know, I think the first
thing that came to my mind, and this
is the truth,
is that for the first time in my
life, I was able to,
experience love again.
I mean, growing up in
a family where you're always worried about
the person in your life you love most
not being there, you know, or being taken
out of it.
And,
and also,
having a father that you're you you grow
up supposed you're supposed to love and trust,
sort of violating that love and trust. You
come not to really believe in love.
And you don't let anyone get close. Yeah.
You have to cut love out of your
life. Because you know if you let somebody
in that close, they're going to hurt you.
So throughout most of my adulthood, up until
the time I discovered Islam, I could never
love anyone. The love came back now? Now?
Yeah. Because
I felt, you know, through the experience of
prayer and through reading the Quran, especially through
this experience of prayer, my early prayers, you
know, this overwhelming one.
And it brought me to tears on on
too many occasions.
And when I have these moments and feel
the embrace of that divine mercy,
it it moved me in ways that I
never even thought it could. I discovered a
spirituality I didn't even think I've had. So
the soul now started to Feel. I I
tell me if you agree with me. You
don't have to, but if you do, say
you don't. You do. Alright. Alright. I compare
it. I make it to, like, a child.
A child, if you take it away from
his mother Yes. The child starts to whine
and cry. But when you give it back
after it's being passed around to all these
different hands, it's whining, whining, you give it
back to his mother Mhmm. And now it
rests. Did your soul find rest now? Yeah.
Well, actually I found that it was a
very healing process. Healing. That that that Yeah.
That it was like something that's spiritual high.
You're calm now. The soul is not the
anxiety and this is what I was experiencing.
Yeah.
And and then after that, I could love.
I mean, now I'm I have a wife
right now that I love very much. Of
course, I love God. Alhamdulillah. It means all
praises to God. Alhamdulillah. I have 3 beautiful
children. You know what? I really could never
imagine that that would ever have happened just
because of my
the way, you know, the pain and the
scars I had suffered Yeah. Earlier.
But it was an interesting one, like a
child. I remember, once when I after I
became a Muslim, I used to love to
go to the early morning and then the
Maghreb and Ma'eshah,
the sunset and the evening prayers a lot.
And at that time, I understood no Arabic,
but I used to love to hear the
Quran chanting.
It was a powerful experience for me. 1
of the brothers once saw that I was
always coming and he said,
Doctor Lang, I see you always coming to
those 3 prayers.
Why these 3 prayers will come when you
don't even understand
what's being recited?
And I told him that, my answer was
immediate. I said to him, why is a
baby comforted by his mother's voice? Oh, that's
beautiful. You know, because even though he doesn't
quite recognize make out exactly the words,
it's a voice he's always known.
That's the recitation of the Koran. Yeah. It
felt like a voice I'd always known and
that it has always known me. Yeah. You
know, and I think it's was similar to
that. Mhmm. Yeah. That's
More points and more points we'll cut out.
You accept Islam,
finality of the messenger, the seal of the
prophets. To name the 5 for the greats,
Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Mohammed, peace
be upon them all. It's very simple.
So now you accept this. You become a
Muslim.
You get some hard times now since then.
You start having a tough time just because
you real simple, because you,
surrendered yourself to the creator.
Well, you know, that was,
short time after the marine bombing and, bombing
of the marine barracks in Lebanon.
And, around that time there was also the
Iranian hostage crisis. Yeah. So Americans were not
feeling very good about Islam. Yeah.
And,
and so, yeah, my friends didn't react very
negatively. They just slowly drift
away. And, So your friends became non friends?
Yeah. More distant. Distant. Yeah.
That's that's too bad, you know. But I
think, you know, I I understand. You know,
they felt I must have been going through
some sort of loss of my mind or,
you know, some sort of personal crisis or
something. I I Which you weren't, actually. No.
You're just spiritual enlightened. Yeah. I was the
same person I was the day before. I
just I had something new in my life.
Yeah.
And it was, you know, I think it
was
having a positive impact on me too. But
in any case, yeah, they did drift away
and I met new friends and I met
a lot of friends in the Muslim community.
And,
yeah. So there was that.
And there was some risk to my
my career. Yeah. Because I was teaching at
a one of
the oldest Catholic universities in America,
and they certainly,
you know there were some that weren't comfortable
there in the administration with one of their
faculty members converting to Islam, they thought.
Sent a bad message to them. Yeah. You
know?
Did you end up losing that position?
No. No? You're still there? No. I, left
there. I got tenured there and I got
promoted. You got promoted there? Yeah. And then,
I did quite well there. And then but
I wanted to move to another part of
the country. Okay. So what are you currently
doing now? You're still a mathematician? Still a
doctor? Yeah. I'm a professor at the University
of Kansas. You also speak at different,
conferences,
Islamic conferences about Islam and your Yeah. And
I write some books on that subject.
You know, because, also I think, you know,
as any convert does, the Muslim,
the Muslims who come from overseas to the
United States bring their own sort of cultural
stuff. Cultural baggage. Yeah. A lot of and
we gotta understand that
Islam is not, it's a variety of people
from all different race, creeds, and colors.
And a lot of times what you see
is not Islam. Right. It's an action of
some culture that has nothing to do with
Islam. And and they have their own cultural
slant on Islam. Yeah. And so they insist
that many things are demanded by their religion
that are questionable in nature. And so, you
know, that that that struggle. Yeah. You know,
the struggle to sort of
distinguish between culture and religion and what is
actually
required by the religion and demanded by the
religion and what is just more custom or
or, you know, a a particular cultural's application.
You know, that that's been a major effort
and that's what I write about a lot
of the high books also. And I think
like you said, it's not our job to
try to convert somebody. We're not missionaries, but
is to present Islam in his true nature
and then let the people choose for their
self. Well, that's why, you know, one thing
I really like about the Quran's approach. I
mean, you know, it even tells the prophet,
peace be upon him, peace be upon him.
It tells him
that it's not for him to guide you.
Yeah. Those whom he loves. You know, God
guides guys Who he loves. Who he loves.
Exactly. You know, it tells him that not
to get all
paraphrased
bent out of shape because people aren't responding.
You know, it tells them just deliver the
message, communicate the message and leave the rest
to God, you know. So I I like
that. That appealed to me. What what what
advice do you have? We're gonna close-up now
to
anyone of our viewers
that are truly seeking the truth and say
he is from another way of life. Whatever
the case, he's an atheist.
What would you like to say to that
person about Islam? How it's been anything, whatever.
You got you got it for 30 seconds
a minute.
I I don't really know what to say
other than, you know,
for anybody who is seeking the truth, I
would tell them to continue on that path.
You know, and and do it sincerely and
objectively and
and courageously.
You know, and go wherever the truth takes
you. You know, that's that's what I would
say, you know, that's what I've always told
my children as well. You know, when it
comes to all things. Yeah. Yeah. I'd like
to thank you for being on the show.
Thank you. Peace
again. One beautiful thing is, look, we're both
Americans here and we're saying a So it
doesn't mean if if he was French or
Canadian or Japanese, if
we didn't speak the same language, now we
do we say peace be unto you. Right.
Look at that. So beautiful. And we pray
together
in in one unity praying to the one
God. It's very simple. Very this is, something
beautiful. Another another miracle in itself. Well, it's
good to meet you. Good to meet you.
Alright. Alright.
I like to now
close with letting you know that
Islam is a beautiful way of life for
everyone to see. And we're here out of
the love helping educate the people because through
education, we're building talent. Islam teaches. Islam is
a verb.
It's an action.
It's something that a Muslim does which is
to surrender his will to the will of
the creator of the heavens and earth. Earth.
We met one of those Muslims today. If
you wanna know about Islam,
please come to the source because there are
Muslims nowadays who might be doing some things
that are in accordance with Islam. So we
don't wanna judge Islam and the actions of
some Muslims. It's not fair. So come to
the source.
You can check out the Quran we have
for free. You can read it. It's on
the deenshow.com.
We have other videos. We have other topics
to see how our Islam
tackles these very important issues.
Peace be unto you.