All I have to say is all what you know already, to
confirm what you already know, the message of the Prophet
(Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as given by God - the
Religion of Truth. As human beings we are given a
consciousness and a duty that has placed us at the top of
creation. Man is created to be God's deputy on earth, and
it is important to realize the obligation to rid
ourselves of all illusions and to make our lives a
preparation for the next life. Anybody who misses this
chance is not likely to be given another, to be brought
back again and again, because it says in Qur'an Majeed
that when man is brought to account, he will say, "O
Lord, send us back and give us another chance." The Lord
will say, "If I send you back you will do the same."
- MY EARLY RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING
I was brought up in the modern world of all the
luxury and the high life of show business. I was born in
a Christian home, but we know that every child is born in
his original nature - it is only his parents that turn
him to this or that religion. I was given this religion
(Christianity) and thought this way. I was taught that
God exists, but there was no direct contact with God, so
we had to make contact with Him through Jesus - he was in
fact the door to God. This was more or less accepted by
me, but I did not swallow it all.
I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were
just stones with no life. And when they said that God is
three, I was puzzled even more but could not argue. I
more or less believed it, because I had to have respect
for the faith of my parents.
- POP STAR
Gradually I became alienated from this religious
upbringing. I started making music. I wanted to be a big
star. All those things I saw in the films and on the
media took hold of me, and perhaps I thought this was my
God, the goal of making money. I had an uncle who had a
beautiful car. "Well," I said, "he has it made. He has a
lot of money." The people around me influenced me to
think that this was it; this world was their God.
I decided then that this was the life for me; to make
a lot of money, have a 'great life.' Now my examples were
the pop stars. I started making songs, but deep down I
had a feeling for humanity, a feeling that if I became
rich I would help the needy. (It says in the Qur'an, we
make a promise, but when we make something, we want to
hold onto it and become greedy.)
So what happened was that I became very famous. I was
still a teenager, my name and photo were splashed in all
the media. They made me larger than life, so I wanted to
live larger than life and the only way to do that was to
be intoxicated (with liquor and drugs).
-IN HOSPITAL
After a year of financial success and 'high' living,
I became very ill, contracted TB and had to be
hospitalized. It was then that I started to think: What
was to happen to me? Was I just a body, and my goal in
life was merely to satisfy this body? I realized now that
this calamity was a blessing given to me by Allah, a
chance to open my eyes - "Why am I here? Why am I in
bed?" - and I started looking for some of the answers. At
that time there was great interest in the Eastern
mysticism. I began reading, and the first thing I began
to become aware of was death, and that the soul moves on;
it does not stop. I felt I was taking the road to bliss
and high accomplishment. I started meditating and even
became a vegetarian. I now believed in 'peace and flower
power,' and this was the general trend. But what I did
believe in particular was that I was not just a body.
This awareness came to me at the hospital.
One day when I was walking and I was caught in the
rain, I began running to the shelter and then I realized,
'Wait a minute, my body is getting wet, my body is
telling me I am getting wet.' This made me think of a
saying that the body is like a donkey, and it has to be
trained where it has to go. Otherwise, the donkey will
lead you where it wants to go.
Then I realized I had a will, a God-given gift:
follow the will of God. I was fascinated by the new
termino- logy I was learning in the Eastern religion. By
now I was fed up with Christianity. I started making
music again and this time I started reflecting my own
thoughts. I remember the lyric of one of my songs. It
goes like this: "I wish I knew, I wish I knew what makes
the Heaven, what makes the Hell. Do I get to know You in
my bed or some dusty cell while others reach the big
hotel?" and I knew I was on the Path.
I also wrote another song, "The Way to Find God Out."
I became even more famous in the world of music. I really
had a difficult time because I was getting rich and
famous, and at the same time, I was sincerely searching
for the Truth. Then I came to a stage where I decided
that Buddhism is all right and noble, but I was not ready
to leave the world. I was too attached to the world and
was not prepared to become a monk and to isolate myself
from society.
I tried Zen and Ching, numerology, tarot cards and
astrology. I tried to look back into the Bible and could
not find anything. At this time I did not know anything
about Islam, and then, what I regarded as a miracle
occurred. My brother had visited the mosque in Jerusalem
and was greatly impressed that while on the one hand it
throbbed with life (unlike the churches and synagogues
which were empty), on the other hand, an atmosphere of
peace and tranquillity prevailed.
-THE QUR'AN
When he came to London he brought back a translation
of the Qur'an, which he gave to me. He did not become a
Muslim, but he felt something in this religion, and
thought I might find something in it also.
And when I received the book, a guidance that would
explain everything to me - who I was; what was the
purpose of life; what was the reality and what would be
the reality; and where I came from - I realized that this
was the true religion; religion not in the sense the West
understands it, not the type for only your old age. In
the West, whoever wishes to embrace a religion and make
it his only way of life is deemed a fanatic. I was not a
fanatic, I was at first confused between the body and the
soul. Then I realized that the body and soul are not
apart and you don't have to go to the mountain to be
religious. We must follow the will of God. Then we can
rise higher than the angels. The first thing I wanted to
do now was to be a Muslim.
I realized that everything belongs to God, that
slumber does not overtake Him. He created everything. At
this point I began to lose the pride in me, because
hereto I had thought the reason I was here was because of
my own greatness. But I realized that I did not create
myself, and the whole purpose of my being here was to
submit to the teaching that has been perfected by the
religion we know as Al-Islam. At this point I started
discovering my faith. I felt I was a Muslim. On reading
the Qur'an, I now realized that all the Prophets sent by
God brought the same message. Why then were the Jews and
Christians different? I know now how the Jews did not
accept Jesus as the Messiah and that they had changed His
Word. Even the Christians misunderstand God's Word and
called Jesus the son of God. Everything made so much
sense. This is the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to
reflect and reason, and not to worship the sun or moon
but the One Who has created everything. The Qur'an asks
man to reflect upon the sun and moon and God's creation
in general. Do you realize how different the sun is from
the moon? They are at varying distances from the earth,
yet appear the same size to us; at times one seems to
overlap the other.
Even when many of the astronauts go to space, they
see the insignificant size of the earth and vastness of
space. They become very religious, because they have seen
the Signs of Allah.
When I read the Qur'an further, it talked about
prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a Muslim yet, but
I felt that the only answer for me was the Qur'an, and
God had sent it to me, and I kept it a secret. But the
Qur'an also speaks on different l I began to understand
it on anothlevel, where the Qur'an says, "Those who
believe do not take disbelievers for friends and the
believers are brothers." Thus at this point I wished to
meet my Muslim brothers.
- CONVERSION
Then I decided to journey to Jerusalem (as my brother
had done). At Jerusalem, I went to the mosque and sat
down. A man asked me what I wanted. I told him I was a
Muslim. He asked what was my name. I told him, "Stevens."
He was confused. I then joined the prayer, though not so
successfully. Back in London, I met a sister called
Nafisa. I told her I wanted to embrace Islam and she
directed me to the New Regent Mosque. This was in 1977,
about one and a half years after I received the Qur'an.
Now I realized that I must get rid of my pride, get rid
of Iblis, and face one direction. So on a Friday, after
Jumma' I went to the Imam and declared my faith (the
Kalima) at this hands. You have before you someone who
had achieved fame and fortune. But guidance was something
that eluded me, no matter how hard I tried, until I was
shown the Qur'an. Now I realize I can get in direct
contact with God, unlike Christianity or any other
religion. As one Hindu lady told me, "You don't
understand the Hindus. We believe in one God; we use
these objects (idols) to merely concentrate." What she
was saying was that in order to reach God, one has to
create associates, that are idols for the purpose. But
Islam removes all these barriers. The only thing that
moves the believers from the disbelievers is the salat.
This is the process of purification.
Finally I wish to say that everything I do is for the
pleasure of Allah and pray that you gain some
inspirations from my experiences. Furthermore, I would
like to stress that I did not come into contact with any
Muslim before I embraced Islam. I read the Qur'an first
and realized that no person is perfect. Islam is perfect,
and if we imitate the conduct of the Holy Prophet
(Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) we will be successful. May
Allah give us guidance to follow the path of the ummah of
Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). Ameen!
