The Deen Show – Morgan Freeman SPARKS Man’s INTEREST IN ISLAM Morgan Freeman GETS INVITED TO ISLAM From Bosnia
AI: Summary ©
The Dean Show is an episode of The Dean Show where Morgan Freeman plays Moorish and discusses his experiences with Islam and the importance of religion. The segment also touches on the struggles of praying and drinking alcohol, the importance of learning the Muslim's language, and buildingler-ready villages. Morgan Freeman talks about his desire to explore the world and eventually visit a mosque after his previous tour in Bosnia. He advises against trying to regret past mistakes and offers free copies of the Quran.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum, Sree Muhammad.
He was trying to give that.
Allah.
Hopefully, Morgan Freeman, he hears your story.
I'm just in time to hear what Muslims
believe is one of the most beautiful sounds
in the world.
The call to prayer.
Allah.
As-salamu alaykum, greetings of peace.
Who would think someone would go from watching
The Prince of Thieves.
Says you stole the bread.
It's a lie.
With Morgan Freeman.
You know Morgan Freeman, who said the most
beautiful sound One of the most heartening and
beautiful sounds in the world is the Muslim
call to prayer.
And playing a Muslim in that actual film.
And then my next guest goes to playing
Salahuddin Ayyubi as a non-Muslim building mosques.
Now the story gets even more exciting from
there where he ends up where we're here
right now.
He's here with me right now.
Where he did something amazing, truly amazing, six
months ago.
We're going to learn all about it on
this episode of The Dean Show.
And we're going to give a special invitation
to Morgan Freeman who said the most beautiful
sound that he ever heard was Adhan.
We invite him to the most beautiful way
of life out there.
With a special invitation to him during this
program.
Stay tuned, don't go anywhere.
This is the Dean, the Dean Show.
This is the Dean, the Dean Show.
This is the Dean, this is the Dean.
Peace be upon you.
Peace be upon you.
How are you doing?
Good.
So we're here in Bosnia.
Yes.
And the name of this mosque is?
And I wanted to say You
just wished greetings of peace, assalamu alaikum.
And you actually said that in Bosnian.
I'm very impressed.
And they're going to be also that you're
actually learning Bosnian.
Yes.
I try, I try.
So let's take it back now.
I started off with this Prince of Thieves
where Morgan Freeman, he's actually portraying a Muslim
in this film.
Yes, yes.
And you were talking about, was this your
very first exposure to Islam?
No, actually as a child my parents bought
me an encyclopedia.
Yeah.
And in there I also read about Islam.
And I don't know how it actually happened,
but I just went back to that page
and just read it over and over again
and I saw the Qibla.
You said it was one page?
Yeah, just maybe two pages, but just one
section.
So you're reading an encyclopedia and then there
is one, maybe two pages about Islam.
Yes.
And you kept going back.
Yes, yes.
After that comes the Morgan Freeman film, is
that right?
Yes, yes.
Tell us about that.
Yeah, as a child I watched Robin Hood,
the Prince of Thieves and there was a
character named Azeem and yeah, he was just
really amazing because as a child I grew
up in the West and everyone was drinking
alcohol.
But back then already I really kind of
not liked people that were on alcohol because
they were really loud and rough.
And then I saw this movie and there
was this character named Azeem.
He was from, he was like Moorish and
he refused to drink alcohol.
And I was like, what, wow, why?
That made him like really amazing to me.
And also at a moment they got into
a battle and he was praying and he
just didn't break his prayer.
He just kept on praying and ignoring the
battle and that really amazed me.
And that's from that film now with Kevin
Costner and Morgan Freeman.
Yeah.
So Morgan Freeman, he's portraying the Muslim in
there.
Yes.
And he's like, doesn't want to drink alcohol.
He's praying, they're battling and that's really impressing
you.
I noticed one part because I was trying
to figure out what's the angle of this
film because I saw that they were kind
of like, it was Kevin Costner and they
were, someone was like, they were chopping off
hands and the guy's like, oh, for bread
or something.
Cut off the infidel's hand.
No, I took the bread.
That's not true.
I'm not interested in the truth.
Yeah, we know that's not, no one's going
to chop your hand because you took some
bread, right?
Yeah.
So I was thinking like, what's the angle?
But what impression did you get after watching
this film?
Well, because I was like really young, I
don't really, how do you say that?
I have a good memory of everything that
happened in the movie, but I only kept
the good parts.
So those are the two good parts.
Yeah.
Morgan Freeman, the Azeem, his name is, he's
staying away from alcohol.
Yeah.
And then the other part is in the
back, he's still praying.
He kept praying and Robin Hood, he was
fighting some soldiers of the sheriff and he
just kept praying.
And he was like, Azeem, where are you?
Come, come, come.
And he just kept praying and I thought
like, wow, he's like next level.
That's how it felt.
What religion were you at that time?
Christian.
You were telling me about when you'd go
to church that at one point you liked
the stories of some of the prophets or
whatnot.
What were you saying?
But something disconnected.
What was that?
Just as a child, I couldn't believe like
that a man could be a god.
How could like God die, but he can't
die because they say he's all powerful, but
still he died.
So probably I lost interest in the religion
because of this.
That was a disconnection.
Yeah, that makes sense.
A lot of people, they reject this.
It goes against with the Islamic term, the
fitra, the natural way to make God into
a man, a human being.
Jesus, we love him as a messenger, as
a prophet like Moses, Abraham and all the
other prophets.
Muhammad, peace be upon him, being the last
and final messenger.
But this is something that your fitra, you
rejected.
God being a man is Jesus.
Because they kind of claim they have, it's
called tawhid.
Tawhid, yeah, pure, absolute monotheism.
They kind of claim it's tawhid, but then
they have the trinity and then it's like
you have to choose either this or that.
What about Jesus dying for your sins?
It's also weird because I'm only accountable for
my own sins.
Why would someone else die for your sins?
So you understood this just even before becoming
a Muslim.
This was just something that just logically you
put together.
That didn't make sense.
Let's go back to Morgan Freeman.
When you mentioned this film and him, it
had me thinking about when Morgan Freeman, he
was doing a documentary and he's quoted as
saying, and if we could find this clip,
we'll play it.
One of the most heartening and beautiful sounds
in the world is the Muslim call to
prayer.
Where he's saying the most beautiful sound that
he heard was the sound of the adhan,
the call to prayer.
That's true, yes.
I think he even tried it, to do
it.
Morgan Freeman also tried, yeah, he was trying
to give that.
Allahu Akbar.
I want us to also, hopefully Morgan Freeman,
he hears your story because he's at a
ripe old age of 87.
We could die before, we don't know when
it's written for us, but if we go
by age, I mean, he's about to check
out.
So he's 87 years old.
So if he listens to this story, we
invite Morgan Freeman to really, because not only,
and these are the signs, like, look at
this, like Morgan Freeman, he goes from visiting
Muslim country, before that playing Azim in the
film, a Muslim.
Actually playing a Muslim.
Yeah, and then he goes later to talking
about the most beautiful sound he ever heard
was the adhan.
And also he obviously knows what Islam somewhat
is now.
And he's going to hear more from when
we're talking about it.
Yes.
Here with your story.
So not only can Morgan Freeman learn, but
the rest of the audience of your journey.
So you take it from there and you're
playing Salahuddin Ayubi now, the freer of Jerusalem.
Yes.
Tell us about that.
Yes, there was this game I used to
play as a kid, it's called Age of
Empires.
And you can actually, it's a real time
strategy game and you can actually play as
Salahuddin Ayubi.
And yeah, it's about this conquest.
And in this game, you can also build
villages and you could also build mosques.
And I don't know why, but I really
like to build mosques.
Out of all things you could have been
building, you just find yourself playing the character
of Salahuddin Ayubi.
Yes.
And you're building mosques in this game.
Interesting.
All right, so we can see the pattern
here.
So we see from the first step here,
rejecting the concept of God being a man.
Encyclopedia actually being drawn into some of the
basic teachings of Islam from just that one
page.
And then moving along to the film.
Now we're here at the game.
What happens next?
You go ahead and you, is this the
time when you meet Chechen?
No, it's a bit later.
I graduated from high school and I had
one Chechen guy in my class.
And he invited me over to a barbecue
to celebrate that we got graduated.
That's where you met the Chechen now?
Yes.
And his father, he was the first person
that gave me dawah.
Okay, so now this friend of yours, his
father is educating you.
He's giving you dawah.
Yes, the first true, real person that really
came with the message.
What do you remember from that conversation?
What I do remember is his sincerity.
And the way he spoke and his mannerisms.
You were telling me you were at a
young age, around 17 or something.
So you're there physically, but mentally you're somewhere
else.
Next is just a really strange kind of
loophole.
I always had to cycle quite a distance
to school.
And I always used to listen to amputee
music.
And in some, I don't know how it
happened, but I just found some nasheeds.
And also a few music tracks from Cat
Stevens, Yusuf Islam now.
Some of his old stuff.
Yes, some of his old stuff.
Ayats for Allah.
Ayats for Allah, Uthala al-Badru.
And I really listened to it.
I cannot even recall how many times.
And I just loved it so much.
But I didn't know, I wasn't planning to
become a Muslim or something like that.
But I just loved it, loved it.
Really, a lot.
So from Yusuf Islam, Cat Stevens, the former
musician.
And then he started to make some nasheeds
long ago.
You can see the power of that ended
up affecting you.
He didn't have all the musical instruments or
anything.
And it was just his voice.
And he was saying ayats for Allah, nothing
for Allah.
You find yourself listening to that.
I loved it, I loved it so, so
much.
I still listen to it by the way.
And then there was another very famous nasheed.
Maybe someone can go ahead and translate it.
I think in the comments.
We'll go ahead and play this real quick.
Is this one of the nasheeds also?
You just randomly found yourself listening to these
nasheeds.
Yes, yes, yes.
So I don't know if for our audience,
I don't know if this is a translation.
This is one of the comments here.
Allah, today I feel helpless, but I know
you're always by my side.
For this I'm grateful to you, Allah.
I don't know if this is a translation.
You didn't obviously know the meaning, but it's
something about Allah.
So what are you thinking?
Okay, we have these random events.
Are you connecting the dots yet?
No, not yet.
Not yet?
Not at all.
Next, I actually get to know some Muslims.
But they were not really practicing.
But still they taught me some things.
Like eat with your right hand.
What else?
Don't eat pork.
So you met some Muslims not really practicing.
Some were even getting high.
Is that the ones?
These are the ones.
Okay, so you got some smoking the marijuana
or whatever the case.
But they're telling you to eat with the
right hand.
Yes.
And what else?
Just things like to respect your mother.
Good, good, okay.
These are good qualities now, obviously.
Were they praying?
How did you know they were not really
practicing?
One was not praying at all.
And one was praying occasionally, but just really
very rarely.
So I've seen him praying and I already
thought like, wow.
I was mesmerized by it.
When he would pray, it had some kind
of an effect on you?
Yes.
Because I was really like, what is this?
It's amazing.
Maybe secretly I thought, I also want to
do this.
Yeah?
Yeah.
But the distance was still way too large.
Yeah, way too long of a jump right
now.
Okay, this is a point.
You see like you got Muslims who shouldn't
be smoking and stuff.
But still the teachings of Islam, some are
there being respectful to your parents.
Prayer occasionally.
But this is important.
You see a lot of Muslims are scared
to pray.
Some.
Not all, obviously.
You see a lot of praying here.
But some, you know, maybe they're ashamed.
Muhammad went from Muhammad to Mo, right?
He's scared what someone's going to say.
But you can see the impact of the
prayer just on you.
And them occasionally praying.
So pray.
Because it connects other people.
People like yourself.
Your fitrah is calling.
Your innate nature.
Like, man, I want to do that possibly.
The problem in the Netherlands is that a
lot of people, they don't dare to pray
after they sin.
Because they are being called hypocrite by others
that also sin.
But actually they should just pray and always,
never leave the prayer.
Absolutely.
Okay, so now we got another situation here.
You're meeting some Muslims.
Kind of giving you some dawah.
Eat with the right hand.
Anything about the pure monotheism?
Tawheed?
Was there anything about the six articles of
faith?
The five pillars?
Worshipping the creator, not the creation?
The messenger?
They told me about pilgrimage to Mecca.
Okay.
That's kind of it.
Okay.
Alright.
That's another lesson we can take.
Just knowing how to explain, you know, the
basic concepts and principles.
The belief system of Islam.
Very important.
Very powerful.
Yeah.
But what they did know, they were sharing
with you.
That's a good thing.
Yeah.
So what happens next?
I actually made a revert.
Sadly, he also got high quite a lot.
But he actually showed me documentaries.
And then I also got to know Yusuf
Estes.
Yeah.
Yusuf Estes.
Hello.
Assalamu alaikum.
I really admire you.
You are truly one of the greatest reasons
I also took my shahada.
Alhamdulillah.
You went from learning all these things, and
then you were telling me you went through
another phase of now exploring some kind of…
Spirituality, like Buddhism and Hinduism.
That's your background, right?
Sri Lanka is also Christian and also a
lot of Buddhists there.
Yeah, yeah.
Primarily Buddhist majority.
So of course, it's like appealing.
But eventually even God became like a little
period, really shameful period of atheism.
And then…
You even dabbled in atheism.
Four years.
Four years.
So you got to a point, you're like,
I don't believe in anything.
Yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah.
And I can imagine what happened there.
That's kind of just like trying to shut
your conscience off, so you can just explore
and do whatever you want.
You don't feel guilty about it.
Is that what you think what it is?
Yes.
What did spirituality mean to you at that
time?
What did that mean?
Because to me, it's a whole lot of
nothing.
It's just like, it's just an empty slogan,
really.
Spirituality, okay.
It's an empty slogan, definitely.
Just trying to create an identity or to
put some answers to question marks, but the
answers didn't come, of course.
Did you find yourself asking the question, what
is the purpose of life?
Yes.
Why am I here?
Yes.
Like for me, it was like, I always
felt there was something, but I just couldn't
explain it.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I tried to find it, but...
So how did you come out of this
atheism trap now that you fell into?
Well, like one of my best friends, he
actually got into Christianity.
Yeah.
And somewhere in the back of my mind,
I always knew that Islam is the fulfillment
of the word of Abraham, alayhis salaam.
And Christianity, it's an attempt to actually put
it to practice, but they, I'm sorry, they
failed.
And I told my friend, if you are
interested in Christianity, then you should pick...
I said that, well, I didn't do it
myself.
I said, then you should actually pick Islam
because it's the fulfillment.
And then from that moment, it took me
maybe a few days.
I got back to watching videos of Yusuf
Asters and Zakir Naik.
And before I knew it, it was like
a bullet in a gun.
Boom.
I just kept on reading and watching things
on YouTube.
Your show, of course.
Alhamdulillah.
You tell this Christian friend of yours, Islam
is the fulfillment now.
Yeah.
It's the completion.
Like you have the Old Testament, New Testament,
Islam.
The Quran is the last and final testament
sent to mankind.
Yeah.
And where are you at now in this
stage after you tell him this?
How much later until you end up in
Bosnia?
And you didn't end up in Bosnia once,
twice.
Twice.
Tell us about the first time and then
the second time.
Okay.
So we both really got into Islam and
we thought, let's go to a place where
they have like an Islamic majority.
And it could either have been Turkey or
Bosnia.
But Bosnia is a bit more nearby, so
we went to Bosnia.
Yeah.
We came here in Sarajevo and we took
an Islamic tour.
It was called Islam tour.
But the tour was just about architecture and
a little bit about the history, how Islam
came here.
So we felt really dissatisfied.
Very important point here.
So the tour was called Islam tour.
So it was Islam tour but more about
architecture.
Yeah, like mosques and wakuf.
But no dawah in there.
No.
Okay, so this is good for anybody from
the tourism industry.
If it's a tour called Islam, explain Islam.
Yes, exactly.
You were disappointed in that, huh?
Yeah, very disappointed.
So go ahead, continue on.
So we felt quite disappointed and my friend,
he actually wanted to get a perfume at
a perfume shop.
And there was a man, he was doing
calligraphy and he also put calligraphy on his
bottles.
Yeah.
And I thought like, hmm, calligraphy.
He must be quite deep into Islam, else
he wouldn't be doing calligraphy.
So I asked him, do you know anything
about Islam?
Could you tell me something about it?
And he was like, right away, I'm working
now but come back after I close off
and then I'll take you to the mosque.
And there you will meet my friend.
So we got together and we went to
the mosque.
But before we went actually to the mosque,
some people were praying outside.
And I don't know what I was feeling
but I kind of tried not to cry.
Once we got here in this exact mosque,
I had this feeling again.
And once I actually entered there, I just,
I wasn't like really crying but tears were
just coming, rolling over my eyes.
And I just don't know, it's really, really
unexplainable feeling.
And then they actually let us participate in
the prayer and I had a few more
tears.
But you didn't take shahada yet?
No.
You're just having this feeling from now, just
being around the mosque and watching Muslims pray.
And they're explaining Islam to you and you
just find yourself just tears coming down?
Yeah.
We finished the prayer and actually saw his
friend.
And I expected just a friend of his
age because the man of the perfume shop,
I think he was around 30 years old.
But it was an older man and he
had the sweetest face ever.
They called him something like Noor in his
face.
I started crying again.
Not like loudly but just with tears rolling
over my face again.
And he gave me a hug.
Just emotional now?
Yes.
And then he took us to this exact
spot and they spoke about Islam and I
refused.
You refused to take shahada?
To take shahada.
You refused shahada to accept Islam?
Yes.
At that time you said...
I refused.
I was afraid.
I didn't know what happened.
And it was actually this spot right here.
We're doing the interview right here.
So I left.
And this is like the worst, probably the
worst period of my life.
Because I went back to the Netherlands and
I felt so bad about that I didn't
take it.
Already after leaving the gate here I already
felt bad like I did something wrong.
So right away you went from feeling really
good, that emotional feeling, it was a good
feeling, was it?
Yes.
Then the invitation was given to you, you
rejected it, you started feeling right away the
opposite?
Yes.
Very interesting.
Really bad.
And that was in August and then we
came back in April during Ramadan.
So this is your second trip now?
Yes.
And then I kind of already knew what
I had to do to take the shahada.
So actually on the day I came here
I didn't take the shahada because we came
quite late here.
And I thought like it's not a good
moment.
So I wanted to take it the day
after.
I texted this brother, can I come to
the mosque, can you take me?
Because I didn't know you can just go
by yourself or do shahada anywhere, you know?
And he said like no, I have to
take my family to Iftar.
And we have to drive a very long
way so I cannot take you.
And I completely panicked.
Like my heart was beating like crazy and
I just didn't know what to do.
And I said please, please, can you take
me, please?
I really have to do it.
I really have to, you really have to
take me.
And he was like okay fine, I'll take
you but you have to be really quick.
You have to come to the tram tracks
and just quickly get into my car.
So we were there and he was like
really rushing and he just opened the door
like come on, get in.
And I got in and I thought okay
fine, he's going to take us to the
mosque.
But he was picking up his mother-in
-law and his son.
So they also got into the car and
I was sitting there and I was almost
unable to talk.
Even now I just remember the feelings coming
back to me.
He just drove us here to the mosque
and I got out.
And I didn't tell him I wanted to
take Shahada by the way.
And I just came here to the spot
here, there.
And I saw the older man again.
And he was like hey, how are you?
Same older man?
Yes.
And I just couldn't, even now the feelings
coming a bit back.
I just couldn't talk anymore.
And I said to him, I want to
take my Shahada right now.
And I took my backpack and threw it
on the ground and also my jacket, my
coat.
And I was shaking, I was like I
want to take Shahada right now.
And he said, do you want to go
to some place quiet?
I said like no, no, I don't want
to.
I want to do it right now.
And then I took my Shahada and I
just cried and it's unbelievable.
I cannot describe the feeling really.
For people who are wondering, the not yet
Muslims, non-Muslims out there, what are they
talking about Shahada?
For our friend Morgan Freeman and others who
are out there, we'll get this message.
And particularly because he played, Morgan Freeman played
Azeem in the film.
We're extending an invitation to Morgan Freeman, inviting
him to Islam, to explore it and to
accept what you did, that Shahada, that giving
birth to what's already inside every human being.
And now you just got to uncover that
treasure and give birth to it, and come
out as the Shahada, declaring that there's nothing
worthy of worship, nothing in the universe, nothing
on the earth, except the one who created
the universe, the one who created the earth,
the one that Jesus worshipped, the one that
Moses worshipped, the one that Abraham worshipped, the
one that the last and final messenger sent
to mankind, called people to worship, the one
God, in Arabic, Allah, in Arabic, Allah, and
Muhammad is his slave servant and final messenger.
And when you say this Shahada, you automatically
include Jesus as a messenger who came before
him, and Moses, and Noah, and Abraham, and
David, and Isaac, and Ishmael, and all the
other preceding messengers, because they were all in
a line of messengers who brought the same
message.
Submit your will, not to your desires, not
to a human being, not to a saint,
or an idol, or a dead person on
the ground, or Jesus, or Muhammad, or anybody,
but submit your will to the one God.
So what would you say to Morgan Freeman
now?
He's going to hear your story, God willing,
and others out there who are kind of
on the fence, they've also investigated, others who
are just maybe dabbling into this and that,
what would you encourage them to do?
I would encourage them just to not try
to understand everything with their minds, but try
to listen to your heart, because if you
listen to your heart, then you will definitely
want to say Shahada, because it will just
empower you and make you, how do you
say that, whole again.
Everything will just feel right, like all the
puzzle pieces will fit together, and you will
feel complete.
Did you see at the end, everything from
the first moment, the encyclopedia, reading the one
page or two pages, that one page encyclopedia
about Islam, and then the film, the prayer,
the staying away from alcohol, and that film
Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Morgan Freeman, and
then moving on to Salahuddin Ayubi, building masjids,
and then listening to the nasheeds, and then
the Chechen brother actually explaining Islam to you,
and then the Muslims getting high, you got
all these different signs, and some people educating
you, some people sharing different experiences with all
this stuff, the movie, the film, the game,
and everything, all of a sudden, boom, it
all comes together.
It all comes together.
The beautiful thing is it goes beyond your
mind, that's what I like to say, it
goes beyond your mind.
And it's been recent now, it's been how
long, six months?
April the 5th, actually.
April 5th.
Yes.
And how do you feel, how's the heart
feeling now?
At ease.
Of course, sometimes you stay human, of course,
sometimes you can get a bit agitated or
whatever, but I really feel like there's a
heavy weight gone from my shoulders.
Can you say that, was there a void
in the heart, was that void filled with
Islam?
Yes.
Yes.
Alhamdulillah, thank you, thank you for sharing that
with us.
May Allah preserve you, keep you steadfast.
And may Morgan Freeman, Kevin Costner from that
film, or anyone else right now who's listening
to this, may they benefit from it, and
those Muslims who are getting high, hopefully they're
not getting high anymore, and they get some
good deeds from sharing the little bit that
they know.
Thank you very much.
We'll see you next time here on the
Deeds Show.
Subscribe if you haven't already.
Say your shahada, you won't regret it.
There you go, say your shahada, you won't
regret it.
Say it after me.
Ash hadu an la ilaha illallah, wa ash
hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh.
There you go.
Nothing is worthy of worship except the one
that created you, Allah, and Muhammad is his
messenger.
Peace be with you.
Assalamualaikum.
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