Saad Tasleem – Maldives, Journey to Islam, Purpose of Life, Music, Youth, Dawah, & Sandy Beaches!

			Salam aleikum I'm Simon and today I'm here with che Saad.
		

			He's a very well known che and one of the youngest chef right now. I welcome you to the show. Thank
you very much. It's like a like a roller coaster. Um, what should I call you? sub, you can call me
whatever you like you call whatever you like, call me sad, sad this fine. How are you? I'm doing
well. How are you? I'm doing really good as well.
		

			Um, how is your stay in the Maldives? so far? It's been absolutely wonderful. I'm done. I always
look at something. And I and I think this is very beautiful until I see something else. Something
like this is this is even more beautiful. So hamdulillah you have a beautiful country here. There's
only probably there's one thing more beautiful than the country. I would say it's the people, the
people or more people on the country. I have a question. Right? Sure. So when you will landing in
the aeroplane? Uh huh. Well, what what are you experiencing? What was I experiencing in terms of
sights or in terms of, like, some people when they land, they feel like it's gonna crash the flight.
		

			Since the runways fully surrounded by water? Yeah. Okay. So, um, you know, I was, first of all, I
actually did a little bit of research into Maldives before I came. And I actually had friends from
maladies from before as well. So I kind of had an idea of what to expect. And so I knew that
obviously, Maldives is made up of a bunch of islands, and the islands are small. And so I figured
that you know, what, we're probably gonna be landing and it's gonna look like we're landing in
water, and actually
		

			went to another place where the airport was very similar. And that was my actually first experience
of feeling like you're landing in water. That was pretty bad. This time hanging out. It wasn't
expecting. Yeah, it wasn't scary at all. No, it wasn't scary. It was more. Like I said, it's more
beautiful than anything. I was more concerned with how beautiful everything looks. The bill, you can
see my level Ryan lander, right. Yeah, I could see the city. Yeah, very beautiful view, right. Yes,
indeed, very much. I heard that you were in a punk band before? Who told you that?
		

			That is true. That is true. Now, look, you know, a lot of times when people talk about me, they say
like, he used to be a rock star and things like that. That's not true. My band was never like very
famous or anything like that. It was a high school band. So yeah, I was in a band, like a punk rock
metal band. And that was a big part is a big part of my life, obviously. But it wasn't a rock star
or anything like that.
		

			Um, what made you change your mind? What made my chain what made me change my mind, Pamela, that's
actually a very, very long story. But if I had to break it down, if I really had to go to the core
of what it was, I basically came to a place in my life where I was looking for more meaning in my
life, than just the everyday things are just the common things I think a lot of young people look
for. And that's you can break it down into wealth, trying to be rich, popularity, getting attention.
		

			That's just just a couple of those things, you know, and for me, I had reached a point in my life,
even though I was young, but I reached a point in my life where I kind of came to the conclusion
that there has to be more to life than simply wanting to make a lot of money or to be famous or to
		

			just have as much fun as possible. Right. And I think that's a lot of people live their life, from
day to day. And the idea is, well, I just want to have as much fun as possible in my life. Oh, get
rich or become popular. Exactly. And then you come to a point, you know, I came to a point in my
life where I realized that you can keep chasing that high, keep chasing fun, and it's not going to
get you anywhere. And it for me, you know, I actually sat there one day and I kind of plotted my
life, I kind of plan my life. And I thought to myself, if my life goes exactly the way I plan it,
how is it going to end up, you know, kind of thinking in the future. So I said, Okay, a year from
		

			now, two years from now, 10 years from now, let's say everything goes perfectly right? So let's say
you know, my band does really well we get a record deal. We become famous and rich and all this kind
of stuff and then what what happens after that
		

			And then I said, you know, let's say I end up at the end of my life, I'm on my deathbed and about to
die. I look back at my life, and I just spent my whole life, you know, just chasing fun and trying
to make music and, and then what, and I really felt like that's, that's a that's it's very, it was
an empty life for me. And so I figured out, I have to figure out what the purpose of life is. And
it's so it's, it's in that moment that I started to look for the purpose of my life. And eventually,
I came to Islam. And eventually I turned to even though my parents are their Muslim, I was, I was
born in a Muslim household, I was raised in a Muslim household. But our Islam was very just like a
		

			cultural type of Islam. No one was really serious about practicing Islam. So it's kind of like it
actually took me a while to come to Islam.
		

			That's in a nutshell, I would say, that's my journey from going in to being in a punk rock band,
		

			our high school band, but being in a punk rock band to eventually, you know, submitting and
dedicating my life to
		

			that story might be very useful for the young Bolivians interested right now, in the musical Do you
really study and understand music, you realize that when you get into it, you get really into it.
And even now, we know scientifically like neurological studies show us that, you know, and they
tested the brain and how the brain functions when when it's exposed to music. There's a chemical in
our brain known as as dopamine, dopamine, and it's basically they call it the pleasure chemical.
Basically, it's a chemical that that gets released in our brain, when we find something to be
pleasurable. And so they found that when a person is listening to music, dopamine is being released
		

			in the brain, and so the person enjoys it. And not only that, the person craves it more and more and
more and more and eventually gets lost in it, gets lost in it and gets addicted to it. And I know
people, you know, they don't really think of, they don't think of it in that way that Oh, I'm
addicted to music, they just think of it well, it's just, you know, it's just I just do it for fun
or whatever. But in reality, there comes a point in your life where you listen to music, you pretty
much get addicted to it. Right? Like, well, you can't function you can't you can't live a day
without music. And that's why I tell people to listen. How about you just stop listening music just
		

			for a day? Right? And for some people, it's very difficult.
		

			Yeah, it's like I can't it's because they're so used to it. It's such a big part of life, because I
think a lot of people are addicted to music, right? And it's taking over their life. So
		

			what would your message be for the youth of our lives and the youth working in Dawa,
		

			to the youth of now these are the young people. And nowadays, my message is the same message to the
youth all over the world. And that is that I honestly think that sometimes we treat young people
like their kids, right? We just tell them, You need to pray, be a good Muslim, do this, and do this
and do this and don't do this. And we've just made Islam into kind of like, a set of rules. And
that's it. But actuality, Islam is supposed to affect every part of our life. And so I would tell
young people that maybe look beyond just the halal and haram look beyond just the rulings of Islam
and really ask yourself the question, or I would say, the big questions of number one, what is the
		

			purpose of your life?
		

			Like, why do you wake up in the morning and do what you do? What drives you in life? Is it really
just to make more money just to try to have as much fun as possible? Right, that's something that I
think if you really think about that issue, it will lead you down a path to getting close to a law
and seeking out that spiritual spirituality. So what is the purpose of your life? Really think about
that. Second of all, think about the fact that this life is temporary. And we're not going to live
forever. And as a matter of fact, we don't know how long we're going to live. And if I were to say
to you for what to say to a young person, you know what, you're gonna die tomorrow? How would you
		

			live your life? I would imagine that they live their life in a very different way. Yeah. And yeah,
and the reality is that we don't know if we're gonna live till tomorrow or not, I don't even know if
we're gonna live for another hour. So maybe it's a good idea to figure out what the purpose of life
is. Right and, and, and the soul, the knifes
		

			Allah has made us as beings that we need a law to live a happy and contented life. So no matter what
you get from this dunya we're not going to be fully content until we become those spiritual beings
who worship Allah. So that's my message. Look for a purpose in your life beyond just everyday stuff
beyond just money and wealth and, you know, popularity involved while having fun. And I think that
will lead you on a path which will bring you close to a loss of data for the people working in dour.
		

			We've had a lot. It's a it's a long, hard
		

			growed and that is the way a Lost Planet Allah test the people who are calling others to goodness.
		

			The best example we have is the example of the prophets. They all had very, very difficult time,
very, very difficult time calling people to goodness.
		

			And the Prophet said to them, you know, he was some members of his family, he wasn't able to call
the he wasn't able to bring them to Islam. And I think patience is such an important thing. Because
when we get frustrated, when we lose patience, it's at that time that we become harsh with other
people. You know, we just want to like force someone to listen to us. You know, and that's because
we're lacking patience. The prophets were not like that. The Prophet Mohammed subtle, I send them,
he was incredibly patient.
		

			And because he was patient, he was able to be lenient and gentle with people.
		

			This is why I was printed out, I said, probably not I met him in a law, he didn't tell him, that it
is from the era of letters from the mercy of Allah, that you're lenient, you're gentle with the
people. So every day I must have patience. And every day somebody who's calling to goodness, they
must, must, must be gentle and lenient with the people. You cannot expect people to change
overnight. You have to work on their hearts, you have to constantly remind them of Allah and just
hope and pray to Allah that Allah guides them.
		

			So that's my message. That's my message.
		

			I hope your message reaches the Moldavian I do as well, as well. So
		

			how do you see all this? How do I see nowadays? Well, to be fair, I've only been here for a few
days. But I've gotten to meet the people of maladies. And honestly, I got this sense of like, when I
came to maladies, I got this sense of calm, and I feel maybe has something to do with the weather or
you know, the atmosphere. Is that true? Is that is that not Devens? Are they relaxed, very relaxed,
it's very, very relaxed. So that that's, that's how I felt. And I think that's great to catalogue
there's so many crazy things happening in the world right now. You know, there's so many issues
happening in the world. And seems like everywhere, people are either upset or angry, or this is so
		

			many issues. And they'll come to a country where people are just chill, show, they're just, they're
relaxed, and people have, they're nice to one another and, and they're kind and they're gentle. And,
you know, sometimes this is lacking in the world, you know, just just being kind to someone who
disagrees with you. being gentle with someone being nice to someone, even though they don't agree
with you, even though they're from a different
		

			background, or they have different views and ideas. I think a society like this where you have so
many, you know, there are a lot of people come here and tourists and so on and so forth. And to be
able to see this diversity and to be so kind and gentle. I think that's a awesome trait there. For
me. That's the takeaway, like when I go back to America, and
		

			that's one of the things I'm going to take away from from Maldives. Is this the lifestyle of, you
know, the good character? And then now?
		

			It's very relaxing, right? Yes, it is very relaxing. And then you're staying at the edge, right?
Yes. Yes. It's very great as well, right? Yeah, it's nice. It's very nice.
		

			Look out, you know, look outside, and I just see the ocean. And it's, it's great. Feels nice to be
here.
		

			So what's your view on this program? The message? Honestly, when I heard about it, I didn't believe
it. That I was told that's kind of like every month, you guys invite a new speaker from all over the
world? I was like, really? Is that really possible? And then we've had a lot, I realized that it's
being put together by the Ministry of Islamic affairs, right? And I was like, okay, that means it is
possible, because there's a lot of time and money that goes into putting together something like
that it's not easy. So the fact that it's real, and you guys are doing it, I think is amazing. The
fact that people in Maldives can experience a new speaker every month, I think it's great. And I
		

			asked a lot of data to bless you in this endeavor and to make it a success. Make it a means of
guidance for others and ask a lot to continue to give you the means and the resources to continue
with this project. The message I'm very happy to be part of it and in a very honored to be invited.
And so I would thank you and thank everyone who invited me.
		

			So I have one last question. Sure. Sure. Like,
		

			how would you describe all this to others?
		

			How would I describe maladies to others? You mean when I go home back to America? I would say if you
want to go to a okay. I've heard I don't want to I don't want to say this is my original statement.
I heard it from someone but that's what I'll conveyed. And that is this.
		

			Someone said to me, they said you know if if Jenna
		

			dice were to be on earth it would be in the city it would be in Maldives and that's
		

			that's how I feel that's that's it and I haven't even seen all of Maldives I've just seen it you
know a couple things here and there and I know there's far more beautiful places and you know the
islands around.
		

			But it really it is it is absolutely gorgeous. And the cherry on top if you know what that
expression means basically, the cherry on top is that it's a Muslim country.
		

			So that just makes it one of the I would say probably I don't want to say the best place that I've
been to in the world. I don't want to offend anyone or any other places that I've been to. But I
would say one of the best places that I've been to on earth
		

			like I said, very happy to be here. And I actually would encourage everyone to come if you're able
to if there's if you have the ability I know you know things are sometimes they're expensive and all
that
		

			go make it just go make aroma and once you did did that then maybe come to melody seashell.
		

			Never seen one of the white sandy beaches. I have seen a I saw a beach today actually and it was
quite white and I was told that there are beaches in Maldives that are even more white than that. So
I haven't seen it yet. Maybe Maybe I'll get a chance to see it until I before I leave. It's one of
the things you have to say with your visit to Maldon insha Allah. Looking forward to
		

			thank you for your time with us. Thank you for having me. Enjoy the rest of your stay.
		

			Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. It's been an honor and a pleasure.