The Deen Show – Phil Jackson Accepts Islam – Suge Knight & Diddy NEED ISLAM
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They would think you're gonna be dead or
in jail rest of your life. No. You
know, it started off just like smoking, drinking,
going to parties and stuff like that. We're
seeing the end result with the p Dittys
and others. Their life is upside down.
Something y'all coming to your life from London,
extremely humble,
grateful, and blessed.
Sean Diddy Combs is now the subject of
a federal criminal investigation,
and he was just hit with another lawsuit,
and he's planning to sell his massive mansion.
You can go deeper. You can look at
the The Shug Knights of the industry. Me
and Puffy,
we use friends.
Just to understand one thing, the streets where
you know them as the best
become a trophy.
Everybody wants a troll.
To the man who was once once the
most feared figure in all of hip hop,
now facing life in prison. I was really
crying because my soul felt torn. I was
really trying to find God and seek God
out. I used to ask them questions, but
they to me, I feel like they really
didn't answer it. You embrace, you feel the
love. Like, you know, like, this is my
first time meeting you and I feel the
love. I feel the genuineness. Yeah. He got
killed at 1 at a party that we
was all at. From the drive by shootings,
to the gangs to drugs. It's not nothing
out there. This is Islam.
Life of a traveler.
Experiences from different lands. And our religious Conversations
with a brother. We love all the prophets.
The first command was called to the way
of your lord with wisdom. Giving us stories
about this plan. In India. In India. That's
motivation when you're feeling low.
Speak your heart and let the world know.
Bro, this is the Dean's show.
Discussions on what's really real.
Look at our La hills,
seeing transitions from another life.
Like, look at our La
guides. From the streets to Islam.
Reformed,
letting old habits go.
Inspiration from around the globe.
Bro, this is the Dean show. Assalamu alaikum,
man. We have with us Phil Jackson, not
the head coach of the, champion bulls,
but our Phil Jackson here.
How are you doing, young brother? I'm doing.
I'm good. I'm doing great today.
It's a pleasure to be here. I'm excited.
I hope this can reach some people and,
you know, inspire them to look into the
religion of Islam. And I'm just,
proud to, you know, get this opportunity. Like,
I watched your show and, just happy to
be here, man. Just hearing some highlights of
your story can be actually
a good film, man. You got all sorts
of stuff there. So you grew up
in Minnesota?
Yep. Saint Paul. Yep. That's where I'm from.
You're church going. Your mother
made sure you're going to church, Sunday school.
Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you
got involved with some gangs and drive bys,
and
you guys see a lot of, some some
of your friends died at a young age.
Mhmm. And then, your story of redemption, actually.
Yeah. The true story of redemption, which I
can really relate to myself. Yeah. Let's start
off with those beginning years. Talk about
your childhood growing up and your mother, making
sure you're in church and
Sunday school, and what kicked off from there?
Yeah. So, I mean, basically my childhood, you
know, it started off it was it was
it was fine. Like, it was cool. It
was like a regular childhood.
I would say things took a drastic turn.
My mom began to use drugs and stuff
like that.
That's when you know, because like before because
honestly, my mom, she wasn't even really the
one that had me going to church. It
was her sister. Because like by that time
my mom was on drugs. So it was
like you know, my aunt was the one
that made sure, like it was the boys
in the house. Like, the girl, she wasn't
really, you know, too much on them. But
the boys, it was like, you know, y'all
need to go here. And so I did
that, but, I always felt like someone right
about it. Like, I wasn't really too sold
on it. I just did it because she
made us do it. And,
so I did that in my younger years,
but I would say in my early teens,
I started to, like, cling more to my
friends. And, like, that's when I got involved
in the gang stuff. And, you you know,
it started off just like smoking, drinking, going
to parties, and stuff like that. Eventually, you
know, that led to serious stuff. Like, you
know, it started off with small stuff, stealing,
fighting, and then eventually it led to you
know me? I mean, it led to, you
know, people
being shot,
being murdered, you know, going to prison, federal
prison, state prison, like a lot of this
stuff. It was a snowball effect. And,
you know, I had got into drugs real
bad, like hard drugs.
And that's I feel like that's when I
went into like a downward
spiral with a that was one of my
darkest times. Mhmm. Yeah. So the whole time,
I mean, now okay. So it's your mother's
sister. Yeah. Her older sister. She was trying
to get you into,
the church. You were going to some church.
I was. Yeah. Yeah. So
now what happened there that it was the
environment
just took over? When you go to church,
I mean, what were you learning there?
Really, to me, when I what I from
what I remember, I just remember learning about
Jesus. Like, it wasn't even, like, really too
much about God, kinda. Like, it was just
Jesus this, Jesus that. You know, may peace
be upon him, like but
I feel like it was more so them
pushing
Jesus more so than God. So Mhmm. Did
did that do anything at that age, did
it have you think did you have any
kind of internal what what were you thinking
at that time? Okay. Like,
Jesus,
God, you know, you're saying that God would
it's confusing already. Right. Right. Right. Right. Because
when you when as a Muslim, you know
God is number 1, folks. Yes. Exactly. Jesus
is a messenger of God, like Prophet Muhammad
is a messenger. All the other messengers were
messengers, and God is God. There's this thing.
You don't put them together. What's going through
a young mind of yours at the time?
I was very inquisitive at a young age.
Like, I always had questions, and so, like,
you know, I just was kinda my main
thing used to be, like, you know,
how could, like, this one person, like, die
for everybody's sins? You know? Like
and
I just kinda felt like, you know, like,
everybody is accountable for what they do. And
so, like, for 1 person to come and
just die for everybody, like, I couldn't really
wrap my head around that. And so,
I really didn't understand the concept of, like,
the trinity and all that are saying Jesus
was god at the time, but at that
time, that was my main question. Like, how
could this one person just die for everybody?
Saying so, like, you could just do what
you wanna do then, like, basically. You know?
That was the question that I had. Did
you go to any, learning people at that
time? Did you ever have any discussions about
it? Did you I used to ask questions
in the church and, like
because, like, you know, when I started to
go to, like, juvenile facilities, like, you know,
we used to go to church there
too. Started to go to, like, juvenile facilities,
like, you know, we used to go to
church there too, and so, like, I can't
remember the exact questions because I'm 29. This
one, I'm, like, 15, so this is, like,
15 years ago. And so, like, I used
to ask them questions, like, so this is,
like, 15 years ago. And so, like, I
used to ask them questions, like
but they to me, I feel like they
really didn't answer them, like,
and so I I feel like I I
never really, like, from the, quote, unquote, learned
people that I did go to, they didn't
give me a clear cut answer. So, like,
that kinda
made me still be in a state of,
like,
I don't know, like, just confusion or not
understanding Mhmm. The concept really. So then you
just you left it alone? Yeah. I just
left it alone after that. I left that
alone. And then when I was 16, there's
I was in,
like, this,
juvenile facility, like, treatment place. And so, like,
this lady because I wanted to go to
school for psychology when I was young, so
she brought me this book. It's a famous
book, and, you know, the audience, y'all might
have heard of this book. It's called,
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I think that's
her last name, and it talks about, like,
the law of attraction and stuff like that.
And so I kinda start getting into that
type of stuff, and, like,
I just kinda
fell back on religion at the time, to
be honest, like because
more so
Christianity,
and I had gotten into that.
You said you were always a a logical
person. Right. So
what you were learning there was illogical? It
just didn't make sense? With Christianity? Yes. Yeah.
It was it was kinda illogical to me
that one person can just,
you know, bear the burden of
everybody else. You know? Because, like, the concept
that I use is like, okay. So,
you know, you're saying, like, this person right
here can commit a murder. Right? You know?
And then I can just come and say,
you know, judge,
you know, let me be the sacrificial lamb,
quote, unquote, and, like, just take this case
for him and then, like, let him go
free. You know, like and I'm like, that
don't really make sense, you know, for somebody
to be a innocent person to
take on, like, the sins of
you know what I'm saying? Sinners that don't
have no,
you know, respect or obedience to God at
all. You know? And so, like,
you know, and sometimes you get into these
debates with Christians and you ask them, like,
okay. So
will Adolf Hitler be forgiven? You know, will
Adolf Hitler go to heaven? You know? So
it's like
some people, you know, they just
I don't know. Like,
I don't know. I just I I couldn't
really get with that, to be honest. So
then you move on now. Now you get,
does the the gang how how did you
end up joining the gang?
Really? It was just my friends, and so
I feel like yeah. I feel like a
lot of people with the gang stuff, it's
like it started off as a friend group.
Like, you know that you go to school
where y'all go to the rec center, play
sports,
and that's it started off like that, but
we are, you know, staying in a specific
neighborhood, though. You know? And then I feel
like
once it got the and then, you know,
y'all make a little name for y'all stuff,
like, oh, we're gonna be called this. Like,
just to give I think it was more
so to give us identity.
You know, to give us identity and, like
you know how you got tribes and stuff
like that. You got races and nations, and
it's all identity at the end of the
day. And I feel like at the time,
that's what we was lacking, and so I
feel like we created our identity for ourself.
And, you know, that's what we was. And
so I feel like it started off like
that, you know, cool, friendly, but then, you
know, we started having problems with people from
different neighborhoods. And, you know, it start off
as petty stuff, fights, arguments. And then, you
know, somebody brings a gun and somebody gets
shot. Now somebody get killed, and then it's
like revenge. And now it's, like, never ending.
And now y'all just going back and forth
trying to kill each other. Mhmm. And so
You actually saw you said you mentioned that
you actually
had young friends
that died? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I had,
some young friends. Like, I think the first
friend that I remember dying, I was, what,
13 at the time?
Yeah. He got killed at 1 at a
party that we was all at,
in my neighborhood, and it was over something
so stupid. And,
yeah, he lost his life at a young
age at 15 years old. So, like, that
was my first
experience with death. Like and, you know, I
went to the funeral, and it was just
That was at a party? Crazy. It was
at a house party. So what happened? Someone
came in with a gun from the opposite
gang. Happened is so that one of the
dude 2 of the dudes that that came
there, they was from the opposite gang, but
they wasn't like it wasn't like a real
problem at the time. But so
the kid that came there, he went to
school with the one that he killed. And
so, basically, they had some problems at school.
And so when he came there, he tried
to shake my friend hand, but my friend
was like, I'm not, you know, shaking your
hand. Like So he he took that as
a sign of disrespect. He took that as
a sign of disrespect. And so, like, then
after that, they was outside and he ended
up shooting them over that situation. He ended
up killing them sadly.
Yeah. And so Now the other one, he's
in jail now? He got out. Yeah. He's
out of jail. Yeah. Because he went in
when he was a teen, so
he got really he didn't, I think maybe
maybe there like 10 years, maybe. It wasn't
that long. Mhmm. Yeah. And so he he
back on the streets now.
So those are the kind of things that
you were witnessing, Yeah. That was like my
first
experience.
That was my first experience at the end.
Like I said, at 13. And so
after that, like, I kinda
like, that changed me. Like, You know, that
changed me, and it kinda put me in
a state of, like,
I'm all in type of mindset. Like, you
know? And I was like, yeah. I was
all in ever since.
When I asked you if you, if you
grew up listening to P. Diddy, you were
like.
Yeah. He asked me did I listen to
Diddy, man. No Diddy. No. That wasn't your
generation. No.
I mean, don't get me wrong. Like, Diddy,
he had his songs and stuff like that.
Wait. Wait. Was he wait. Hold on. Was
he around at that time? Was he No.
Yeah. You know, Diddy been around since the
nineties, but I mean, like, that's not really
like, my I mean, he has some songs,
don't get me wrong, that they probably played
at family gatherings and stuff like that, but
I wasn't going on YouTube just searching P.
Diddy, you know? Like, I wasn't doing that.
No. Because
the music industry, you talked about touch upon
that, how demonic
it's become. Right. And then you look at
in the news right now, you see, Puff
Daddy, p Diddy. Sean Diddy Combs is now
the subject of a federal criminal investigation,
and he was just hit with another lawsuit,
and he's planning to sell his massive mansion.
A man is accusing Sean Diddy Combs of
drugging his alleged * assault victims. That's one
of the new details we're learning tonight about
the * trafficking allegations
against the music mogul. Well, yeah. Yeah. And
you'll see what's happening,
you know, what's being uncovered. Mhmm. And many
people, they end up idolizing people like this
Exactly. When they take them down a road
of
the the whole, Satan industry. Yeah. And I
feel like
honestly, to be for real for real, when
I really think about it now, this just
came to my head now, I feel like
the industry been satanic. It been demonic. But
I feel like it was more covered, and
they had more control over it. Yeah. Compared
to now, I feel like
it's it's not it's not hiding them. Like,
people is embracing
the demonic side. Like, you know, like, even,
like, rappers saying, like, oh, I'm a demon.
I'm this. I'm that. Like, or I'm the
devil, like, you know, and stuff like that.
And it's like
I feel like it it becomes something that
now people was conditioned. So, like, when they
see this stuff in here, it don't bother
them. You know, unless, like, you Muslim or
somebody that really know what's going on. So
before we say it was more overt, now
it's more up in your face? I feel
like it's more in your face now. But
I feel like they've been doing demonic stuff
in the industry, like, to be honest. Yeah.
I think so. And, I on young people.
How much did it have influence on
on young people. How much did it have
influence on you? Because with the music comes
the drinking, with the drugs Exactly. You can't
separate the 2, can you? No. You really
can't. And what's crazy, you know, just to
give a quick backstory to the audience, it's
gonna be real quick. Like, a lot of
people may not know how music originated, and
this is the Islamic, you know what I'm
saying, belief.
So at a time when, you know, like
once Cain killed Abel and these two people,
like, they they family separated. Cain, people went
on one side. Abel, people went on one
side. And so,
I think they needed, like, a worker or
something, right, to help them to do something.
So, like, the shaytan, he came, like, as
a man, and, he was helping them build
or they was doing something like that. And
then he started, like, making sounds, like, with
the tools or whatever they was using. And
then, like, eventually, you know, it turned into
drums. And, you know, now people was like,
oh, what's that? Like, you know, the the
human,
like, you know, they never experienced or heard
nothing like that at the time. So I
would say, like, they was kinda, like,
took in a back of Paul. Like, wow.
Like, you know, this is but at the
time, I don't think they really knew that
it was something that was bad. I mean,
obviously, I you know, I think,
you know, Abel, like, found family end up
telling them, like, you know, like, that's not
right. You know, like, don't get into that.
And so but, you know, at that time
so, like, they started getting into music and,
like, they was having parties, basically. You know?
And the able side, like, they used to
watch them and see what they was doing.
Like, what they doing over there? And then,
you know, they had the pretty girls. You
know? And able side, they didn't have the
pretty girls. So it was stuff that I
feel like the Shaitan, like,
he played he played on them. And, like,
he knew the weakness,
humans and at the time, humans didn't know.
And it's crazy to say that it still
goes on now with the partying, the music
to 2, 3 in the morning. It just
started 1000 of years ago with our people,
and it's still going on. And,
you know, with the liquor and drugs being
involved, this make you more susceptible to the
gin, you know, especially in you know, they
got they called some of this stuff spirits.
They call some liquor gin. Like, you know,
if you really put it together and look,
you're like, oh,
this makes sense. So I feel like
this one brother used to tell me that
the,
music is the Shaytanza then.
Yes. You know? And like,
I'm like, Wow, like that was a powerful
statement. So This is nice when you go
back to a story that you're narrating. Yeah.
How the first musical instrument,
how it started when it was created, and
then the fitna,
then the the trial that came and the
temptations and how the party
kicked off from there and then fornication and
everything,
started from these musical instruments. Exactly. Yeah. I'm
I'm impressed you know the stories. Yeah. They
have some study.
Yeah. But then you see the culture now.
You see what's what's taken over via b.
Rock music,
country music,
you know, these are tools that Yeah. It
don't even matter. Yeah. You you see these,
singers and you look at their lives and
what is it calling you to? It's calling
you things the displeasure of God, Allah. Exactly.
Yeah. So then you see,
the
right now, the unfolding
of P. Diddy, and you see, like, what
is going on at these parties and in
the undercover cameras, what they're filming, and then
the blackmailing. And, I mean, nothing good. Nothing
good. Nothing good at all. Yeah. And you
know some people that I meet that's not
Muslim, like, they kinda feel like Islam got
like a lot of restrictions or a lot
of prohibitions, but you know, I tell these
people that, like,
it's for a reason. You know? And so,
like, it's it's for a reason, and I
feel like the reasons that you had just
mentioned, like, you know, like, these things has
caused this. So it's just like, if a
loss of Penobuatoala is telling you to do
something or given his ruling on this, best
believe there's a reason for it. It's not
like he's trying to
make you not have fun or, you know,
don't do nothing. Like, no. It's a real
reason because a lot he knows what this
stuff can lead into. And I feel like
now it has like I said, we so
conditioned
to where it don't even bother us no
more. It's just normal. Life goes on without
it. Yeah. And I compare it to, malware.
You know, you have
a a, clean computer. Mhmm. The virus is
in the malware. So these Beats and, like,
rappers, they'll have the the hook. That's the
hook to get you in. Oh. So so
now you have these dirty lyrics that are
in there talking about, you know, do you
know, I had a psychiatrist psychologist on, and
he was talking about the effects of these
words.
So in in that's the virus. So, now,
if you look at some of these songs
and what
we went step by step, we saw, like,
you know, because people don't stop and and
just read sometimes the lyrics, but they're really
involved with the beats.
Right. Right? So the beats, that's the malware.
It opens them up.
So that opens you up, and then the
virus comes in, the lyrics. That's how it
gets Oh.
The arrow hits in. So that's why the
rappers, when I've interviewed people in the rap
industry, and they'll talk about how much time
they spent on just following that that certain
beat rhythm. That rhythm, the beat that gets
in you, because that opens you up. It's
your emotions going, and then you're all loosened
up, and then the lyrics, the poison is
put in. That's the virus. The malware,
virus, and that's how it gets into your
mind, and people don't think. And they just
and that's the beauty of the blessing of
Islam.
Right there, it cuts it off. All the
all the before you can get to the
symptoms, you cut it off from the root.
Wow. The line is crazy that you say
the word a hook. Mhmm. And when you
think about it, it's
like, wow. I never thought, like, why do
they call this
the hook? You know? Because it hooks you
in, obviously. Like, you know, and then they
play it over and over. The hook on
a song probably go, like, 2, 3, 4
times. Like Yes.
And it's repetitive. And so it's like if
something is repetitive like that, it's it's trying
to, like, you know,
bring you in. Wow. That's crazy. And you
don't see many many of these, stars out
there,
like the p Diddys and whatnot. I mean,
what, what good influence, what role models do
people like this have for the community? Yeah.
And then another thing too, like, I wanna
touch on briefly, like, these people that's in
this music industry because, like, you know, a
lot of people is impressed with the material
stuff. So, you know, they see the flashiness,
like the cars, the clothes, whatever,
the money. And it's like, number 1, you
don't know what they doing to get this
stuff. You don't know what they doing to
keep it. And so,
a lot of these people that do have
all this material stuff, they so that's why
some of them that's why a lot of
them is addicted to drugs and because they
got mental issues. They got,
stuff they trauma they're dealing with within, and
they sold,
and it's not being fulfilled. And so the
reason it's not being fulfilled so I I
seen the cookbook where this guy was explaining
how, like, okay. Like, our our flesh, right,
it comes from the earth. It comes from
the dirt. Where do we get our food
from? The earth. The dirt. So the same
place that our flesh come from, our foods
come from. So that's the nourishment that you
you know, that we give to our body
to,
be able to thrive and survive on earth.
And so it's like, okay. Now we have
a soul that's inside
of this body. So where do we get
the nourishment for the soul? From the source.
Right? God. So,
I feel like a lot of people are
definitely that's in the music music industry that
got all this money and can do whatever
they wanna do. They are not getting that
nourishment, and I feel like the soul and
the flesh got 2 different diets. And so
a lot of people don't know that,
And,
definitely, that's living that fast life. And if
you just feed and feed and feeding your
flesh and your soul is,
you know, starving, like, I mean, what do
you expect? Mhmm. Absolutely. And you went you
went around and you started studying. You read
you mentioned that in your cell you guys
you and your cellmate used to read a
lot of different books. Yeah. A lot of
different books. Study different religions. Yeah. And how
did how did they when you put them
all together, how did you end up now
deciding that? Because people think, okay, all religions
are the same and Right. Right. Right. You
know, and then you just pick 1 and
you'll be okay. No. It's Islam. There's one
that's from the Creator.
How did you come to
to understanding that Islam this was the truth.
It was not man made, but it was
sent for mankind from the creator. Okay. My
cellmate that I had at the time like,
we used to read a lot of books
like the bible, the Torahs, the,
I had read, like,
Hindu texts, all type of stuff.
So at the time, I was Muslim at
the time still, but I was still on
that search. I was still on my journey.
And my Iman and my Iman wasn't
as high as it is now, alhamdulillah.
So the brother actually ended up,
he had got released and, like, I was
in a cell by myself. And so, like,
so this morning, I was, like, tossing and
turning and stuff like that. And then, like,
I swear, like, this is verbatim what happened.
I was tossing and turning in my bed
and then a voice came to my head
like, Go to the Quran and go to
page 121.
That
cut clear. And I set up on my
bunk because
at the time, a couple nights before that,
I'm not gonna lie, like I had cried.
Like I was really crying because my soul
felt torn because I was really trying to
find God and seek God out and like
trying to understand like who is God? And
I was reading so much stuff, and it
put me in a state of confusion, and
my soul was feeling torn. And so and
I was feeling trouble. And so, like, once
that had happened to me, I set up
on my bunk.
We didn't have bathrooms in our room. And
so I'm like, okay, like, I'm a go
to the bathroom. But looking back, it's the
shaytan trying to distract me from what I
really need to do. And so I jumped
off my bunk and then I grabbed the
Quran at the time and then I grabbed
it and then I just opened it to
page 121.
And now it's not what what it opened
to Sura 7
Ayat,
172. And now every book not gonna be
page 121, you know, because, you know, it's
different Quran. So at the time, that's the
page what it was, though. And what kinda
blew my mind was that, like, I didn't
go to the table of contents or none
of that, but this stuff I thought about
afterwards. And so once I read the Surah,
the Surah basically said this in so many
words that
Allah
sent signs to people. And, like, he said,
We could have elevated him with our signs,
but he chose to cling to the earth
and follow his own vain desires. And the
similar tool that he gave was that, you
know, like, this person is like a a
dog, you know, with his tongue. If you
tell him this or if you tell him
that, it's gonna fall on deaf ears. It
really don't matter. And he said, the shaytan
followed him up. And so this kinda put
Taqo in fear of me because I'm kinda
like, is he talk is this like to
me? You know? And why I was kinda
took in it back because I know stuff
stuff like that don't happen to people. Like,
you know, it's people don't get these exact
messages or guidance from a lot like this
direct. So for that to happen to me
like that, it was very personable,
like Wallahi. And that's when I knew y'all
can't can't nobody tell me nothing, like, I'm
a die on this religion. Like, I'm Muslim.
Like, and ever since I was deenning and
I got really into it. Like, I'm not
saying, like, you know, I knew a lot
or know everything, but, like, that's helped me
really turn my life around and get away
from the gang stuff and get away from
this. And I know some people, especially where
I'm from, kind of think like, I did
a 180. So they kind of look like,
dang, this guy, like, how did he get
to this? It's my religion. That's really how
I got to this, bro. This is not
me. This is not nothing out there. This
is Islam. What stood out about Islam? It
was very practical. So once that happened and
I started reading it and it was clear
cut and the way that
Allah
speaks in the Quran with the authority and
it's like when I used to read it,
I mean, obviously, I don't know Allah's voice,
but it's just like the voice that I
was hearing. It was very powerful. Like, it
was very like and how I started to
understand the Quran was like I would go
to the index and glossary
and read that and then go back to
the Quran. And so once it opened my
mind up to helping me understand it,
that's when I really started realizing, like, Wow,
This makes sense. And then once my m
grew and I started getting around the brothers
and I had this one brother tell me,
like, you know, like, Islam is gonna grow
on you. Like, don't try to learn everything
right now. And sure enough, it grew on
me. And, like, it's like the more knowledge
that I learned, the more my iman went
up. Mhmm.
Your faith started to increase. It didn't
take long before you took your shahada? Did
you knew that this was the truth? Yeah.
So like in 2017, I took my Shahadah.
I studied Islam for maybe like a month,
maybe a couple weeks. Boom, I was Muslim
like that.
SubhanAllah. And so,
like I said, I'm from Minnesota, so it's
a big, there. Like, so I grew up
around a lot of,
Muslims, but I didn't really know that much
about it. Like, they didn't really give me
dua. I was just kinda around them and
I knew bits and pieces.
And so,
you know, Islam made the most sense to
me though. Islam, because I did study a
lot of religions, but Islam made the most
sense.
The, it's pretty straightforward. God is 1.
That's it. Toheed. The Toheed, the pure absolute
monotheism,
worshiping the creator, not the creation. That's did
that stand out? Was there any ambiguity there?
That stood out to me because, like, you
know, I met people that were saying, like,
God is in trees, God is in this,
or Jesus was God. And to me, I
felt like my vision of God, you know,
especially at the time was like, it's
no way
that Allah is like in a man or
in a like somebody's I had this one
person tell me, like, God is in this
chair. Like, and I'm just kinda
like, bro, like, there's no way, like,
God is, like, in a chair. Like, you
know, and so stuff like that.
Yeah, I just couldn't really get with that.
And really it was like that tahit and
learning the akita and stuff like that where
I'm really like, this is the truth. This
makes sense right here.
Yeah, this is the fascinating part. This is
really
so important.
That's the foundation right right there. Everything else,
you know, falls in place after that. Mhmm.
The pure absolute monotheism. Right. The Tawhid, like,
no other way of life. Everything, every other
religion is man made and has you worshiping
the creation. Exactly. Islam is the only way
of life religion that calls you to have
a direct connection with your creator. Right. No
doubt about it, and no going through a
confession box or praying through a messenger, a
saint,
a stick of stone. Nobody. Just the one
who created you. Right. And another thing that
really got me was that,
and the Muslims, they
worship actually Islam.
That's really what it was too. It's a
way of life. That's what really got me.
Like, it's incorporated in everything you do when
you eat, Bismillah, when you use the restroom,
when you in the shower. Like, everything is
a is a act of worship compared to,
like, other religions. It's just kinda like you
know, you might go to church or do
this. You do have some Christians, don't get
me wrong, that are devote. Like, you know?
But, you know, I feel like in Islam,
for it to be that incorporated in your
life, like, that really made me like, you
know, this is this is the way you
live. Like, this is not just for one
day you go do this. Like, no, you
got 5 times a day that you got
to go pray. And then even that, like,
another thing that I really thought was beautiful
that in Islam,
before we,
approached Allah
we have to clean ourselves. We have to
offer wudu ablution. You know, you have to
clean your nose, your mouth, your ears, your
arms, your hands, like and it's like, you
know, compared to some other religions, you can
be in you know, whatever you got going
on, it don't matter, and you can just
go pray. And it's like you addressing
the creator of the earth. Be clean, purify
yourself. And that made a lot of sense.
So as I said, once I started to
learn more,
I'm like, this is it. This is it
for me right now. Yeah. So from the
former prayer so people know the former prayer,
you have to prepare yourself. Like you're saying,
make an evolution will do. Mhmm. But if
you're right now, if you're somebody who's smoking
weed or you wanna get off weed or
drugs or anything, you just got home and
you're watching us from, you know, another, time
zone, and you're like, man,
you know, you've you
you you wanna submit to God, you can
call upon your creator and say, guide me,
guide me, guide me. You
Right? Exactly. Yeah. You can. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
So, it's for everybody. It's a universal way
of life.
What did you see as far as, you
know, you have
the the, beauty of Islam, like when Malcolm
X went to Hajj Oh, man. And then
he said the solution when he wrote in
his letter, the solution the race problem in
America is Islam. Yeah. What do you what
do you think now when you study this
part, the beauty of bringing all of humanity,
all the colors together
from all backgrounds under the worship of 1
and only 1 God. I think it's beautiful,
and, bro, it's crazy. Wallahi Adeen. I've read
Malcolm X's book in prison maybe 5, times.
Wow. He played a big role even with
me embracing Islam too. Yeah. I forgot about
that wallahi, I swear.
Yeah. And so, like,
what I think about that is, like,
especially with him, you know, making Hajj and
stuff like that, that really changed his perspective.
And he realized that,
you know, what was going on in America
and what he was being taught within a
nation of Islam was bitter, and it wasn't
right. You know? And, you know, alhamdulillah that
Allah
even allowed him to go make this trip
and learn this stuff before he died. You
know? So that was a blessing on him.
But
what I think is that, you know, Islam
is beautiful. Like, it's
it's not about your race. It's not about
your background. Like, when I go to Masjid,
whether I'm in Chicago, whether I'm in Minnesota,
wherever I'm at, like, you embrace, you feel
the love. Like, you know, like, this is
my first time meeting you, and I feel
the love. I feel the genuineness. Like, it's
not like, you know, I'm looking at you
or, you know, I'm thinking suspicious. Like, you
know? And I feel like that's the beauty
of Islam. Like, right now, bro, like, I
go to because, like, I don't always go
to the same masjid because it just depends
on where I'm at. If I'm coming from
work and I go to any masjid, and
I really feel welcome, Wallahi, like, the brothers
embrace you. Like, it's really a brotherhood. You
know? It don't matter about your race or
where you come from. They don't care. They
don't even care about your past. Like, it's
been sometimes I try to, like, you know,
talk about my past and brothers, like, it
don't matter. Like,
don't even, you know,
you took a shahadi Muslim.
So it's a beautiful religion and I love
it. And I'm happy to be Muslim, I
must say. Your story, a real story, a,
an example of redemption
Exactly. Going from the drive by shootings to
the gangs
to drugs, and
now
change your life so much so that you're
helping others in that state. Yeah. I'm the
leader. You're a part of a health,
and wellness institution.
What is the title? The c? It's, it's
called the CRSS. So what it is Your
CRSS? Yes. Certified Recovery Support Specialist. So it's
the mental health field.
And so, like, I work at a mental
wellness center for teens. So, like, they're, you
know, basically,
I'm like what I do there is, like,
I,
you know, I'm the one that has the
the lived experience of, like, mental health and
substance use. So I can relate to the
peers on that level, to the kids or
whatever. And, you know, like, I'll talk to
them, tell them my story.
And I also like you know, I do,
like, one on ones with them. Like, you
know, if they're having a bad day, we
talk. It's it's not necessarily therapy. It's more
in a support form. And, like, our whole
class is on, like, you know, coping skills
and,
you know, ways to navigate that or, you
know, mindfulness,
you know, a lot of stuff like that.
And, sometimes I go to a crisis center
too and help,
it's it's with adults and stuff like that.
But, overall, it's the mental health field, and
I'm there helping people, you know, that's, you
know, struggling and going through this stuff. Like,
a year ago, I would have never guessed
as, you know, I was released. You know,
I went to state and federal prison for
about 6 years and some change. And so,
like, I was released last year in March.
And so,
and I would have never guessed, like you
know?
And so I was living in Minnesota, and,
like, you know, up there, I had earned
a different certification called the CPRS.
And it's the same thing, but it's more
on the substance,
new side. But,
you know, so I kinda did that for
a little while, but why was kinda hard
because of the environment that I was in.
And so I had a good friend up
here. You know, actually, 2 of them that
kinda encouraged me, like, man, just move to
Chicago. Like, get away from that stuff because
I was on the verge of going back
to what I used to do. I was
this close. Literally,
I was this close to go back to
doing what I used to do. And I
saved up some little money, and I came
up here. I didn't even have a real
plan, Eddie. Like, well, I like, I didn't
really know what was gonna happen, but I
knew that I wanted a halal.
I wanted a halal living, you know, sustenance,
number 1. And I didn't wanna get money
in the Haram way.
And, you know, I really didn't wanna go
back to prison or, you know, have something
happen to me. So, you know, I moved,
and, you know, it's a penal law. Like,
I got my own place. I got a
car. I got my license. Like, I got
good brothers around me. Like, you know,
I got a good job. You know, I'm
I'm going back to college in the fall.
Like, I got my classes already.
So it's like,
Like,
bro, from where I come from to be
where I'm at now is
is
Islam. It's it's a lot. That's the only
person I can think of. That that's the
miracle of Islam. Yeah. That's the miracle of
Islam, the transformation that takes place when you
implement it. Exactly. And you start living. It's
the blueprint for a successful life in this
life and the next. And, one of the
the miracles that kicks it off is the
Quran,
and now you're not, Arab. You do you
you don't speak Arabic Little. But you're but
you're actually like any Muslim who now who
starts to learn starts to learn the living
miracle of the Quran Exactly. And you recite
the opening chapter Yeah.
Every day in prayer. Can you go ahead
and let them witness
a recitation of the opening chapter or or
any other,
chapter from the Quran?
This is I usually have,
my,
guests who have accepted Islam
share that with them because people can see
who are not yet Muslims, non Muslims out
there, and this is the living miracle of
the Quran, that you're not a native Arabic
speaker, but every Muslim is inspiring
to memorize some of the Quran. Then you
have people who memorize the entire Quran.
Yeah. And there's the famous statement we know
amongst ourselves, but for those who haven't heard
this, you can take every
different scripture,
book, throw it in the ocean, bury it,
burn it,
and the only one that you can bring
back
in its full compilation is the Koran. That
s the miracle of it. You just exemplified
that right now reciting the opening chapter
of the Quran.
Yeah. And wow. I I loved it. And
that's one, what you just mentioned, I always
mention that. Like that's one of my things
when I have my friendly debates with other
religions. It's like, bro, you can burn every
book. And the thing about Islam is that,
like, me, myself, like,
I'm a revert. So it's just like, you
know, outside of the Fatiha, I maybe know,
like,
6 or 7 servers, you know, off the
top of my head. And so, like, just
imagine the Muslims that's from early age. It's
Muslims that's out there 3, 5, 7 that
know the whole Quran. So it's just like,
if y'all take it's it's nobody out there,
like,
you know, like, what Christian know the whole
Bible? It's too many different versions of it,
number 1. So it's like, how could you
memorize something that's always changing? The Quran never
changed Mhmm. Ever.
So we got some, some rappers
or P. Diddy or the used to listen
to the Lil Wayne or something. Yeah. Wayne.
These people who are calling people to, the
hellfire basically.
What would you from your story, what would
you say to p Diddy, Lil Wayne, or
any of the others who probably see this,
you know, to
inspire them, to motivate them, to look into
Islam?
I would say
this is what I would say.
At the end of the day,
you know, like,
this life
all of our life will end. You know?
And, like, you can't take none of this
stuff with you. None of the cars,
none of the women, none of the jewelry,
none of this stuff, like, you can't take
with you. At the end of the day,
you're gonna be by yourself, and you're gonna
have to face Allah, God, however you wanna
put it. Like, you're gonna have to face
this in the end. You know? And so
the advice that I will get on that
give on that is that, like, in this
music, you know, whether it's these guys' intention
or not, like, you know, like, that sin
is gonna be on you. You know, like,
that you basically influencing people and inviting them
to this. So if they start to act
on this, like, this is on you now.
You're responsible at this point. You know, because
it's literally people out there that listen to
music and
know to these people music and, you know,
they that's why they do drugs or get
a gun. And now these people, they go
kill somebody or they overdose, so they robbing
people because of the influence
of this stuff, you know? So I would
just tell these brothers, like, you know, at
the end of the day, you know, like,
just you know, look into Islam, like, you
know, like, because I feel like
it's it's it's the truth and it's something
that can no matter what background you're from,
no matter what you did, don't ever feel
like it's too late for you. Like, don't
feel like, oh, I'm too far into this.
Like, you can always because I know some
of these people have made pacts with demons
and done stuff like that. So they might
really feel like
it's over with, like I'm all the way
in on this, but it's never. If you
repent to Allah
genuinely
and you seek his forgiveness and his aid,
he can he will change your
beautiful advice coming from a living,
miracle yourself. Somebody who was so deep into
that life,
witnessed people dying in front of you, drive
bys,
prison,
and they would think you're gonna be dead
or in jail the rest of your life.
And now you're someone who's turned your life
around, and you're helping others to get on
to the straight path in life. SubhanAllah. That's,
amazing. Coming from you, hopefully,
they can see because
we're seeing the end result with the p
Dittys and others, their life is upside down.
And they have everything. They got all the
money, all the drugs, all the candy, and
the women, everything.
But you can see their life is
is upside down. Yeah. It's * on earth.
Yeah. Literally. And, you know, so for the
people that's looking at you know, people that's
having money and having this stuff, like, don't
ever be jealous of these type of people.
Like, don't ever because the thing that some
people don't know is that, like, you know,
Allah,
of course. So, like, I'm not saying, like,
I know what Allah is thinking.
But some people will have money and they
can think it's a blessing, but it's really
a fitna, it's really a trial.
And so Allah sometimes,
I feel like
just because some people have 1,000,000 of dollars,
bro, don't think they bust.
And don't think because you have little that
you're not blessed. It's poor man out here
right now that's going to Jenna. Mhmm. Like,
you know, like and they humble and they
respectful. And, you know, they say it's the
same what they say, like, if you wake
up and you got food house and Yes.
Security.
Yeah. You got everything.
Right? You have everything like you good. Yeah.
Muhammad Sallallahu said, yeah. We said, yes. So,
yeah. Sallallahu Alaihi wa Salam. So, you know,
that's a blessing. So, you know, don't get
caught up and pay attention to what people
doing because you don't know what's going on
in the background. And one thing I will
say, well, Lahey,
like nothing is ever what you think it
is. Like when you looking outside of stuff,
like it's never you think, oh, it's
no. I'm telling you. It's not. Yeah. We
can go deeper. You can look at the
the Suge Knights of the industry. You've heard
of Suge Knight. Yeah. Of course. You see
Tupac who already end up he's a dead
to the man who was once once the
most feared figure in all of hip hop.
But here he is now, Suge Knight, a
former rap powerhouse collapsing in court, built an
empire founding Death Row
Records, now facing life in prison. Suge Knight,
who is the biggest of them all, he's
in a penitentiary
in jail right now. But then you have
people like, Muta. You know? Oh, yeah. Muta.
He was with I I followed a brother.
I think he moved to Saudi. Right? Yeah.
You can see him.
Shout out out to that brother, man. I
I follow him. Yeah. Good brother. You see
him. He was with the outlaws Tupac,
and he left all that alone. You can
see he's living a beautiful life now. So
you can have your paradise for the moment
on earth, right, and you proceed, but your
heart is dead inside. Creator told him to
submit his will to the will of
to the one who created him in Islam,
creator told him to submit his will to
the will of to the one who created
him in Islam, he dies. Hellfire. That's it.
But look at Loon also. Lewin. Yeah. He
did his life. He turned his life around.
You can see the what he's preaching and
teaching now. You can see that he's on
the right path and
he's happy. He's content. Yeah. So and you're
you're another example of that. Yeah. Yeah. You're
another example. So I thank you for sharing
your story with us. Yeah. Appreciate it.
Thank you, brother. Yeah. A very good friend
of mine, brother Eddie from the Dean Show,
who I've known for a number of years.
From the very beginning when he started it,
I was among his early guests.
And our brother Eddie has been very active
in
promoting dawah, spreading the message of Islam, and
he has now taken everything
to the next level. Eddie has now, after
a number of years on the Dean show,
taken the Dawa efforts to the next level,
which is that of establishing
a Dawa center for the USA.
He is about
to launch it in its fullness, but it
has already started in Florida, and he needs
your support.
This is an effort which began already some
months back, and
they need your support for spreading the message
of Islam in the USA. So my brothers
and sisters, reach out to support him. We
need your support now.