- I'll have to do it one way around.
- [Interviewer] Start again.
- I'm Chris, I'm 27.
I did a lot of Christian activities,
camping and stuff, as a kid,
but my mom and dad was never religious.
I had a step-dad growing up.
He was never religious.
They were like a youth place for me
the boys would go to.
Well, I was in a very bad place, suicidal.
I was talking to someone that wasn't there, asking for help.
I was asking for help for like three month,
and I stumbled up against onto this video
on Facebook about Jesus.
Whereas I thought Jesus was the son of God.
And it was telling me that Jesus was a prophet of God.
I was thinking: "What's this?! What's this?!"
I watched these videos called Merciful Servant
for two months, and I still didn't click
even though I was watching stories
of the Prophet Mohammed.
Peace be upon him.
I was watching stories about him,
and it didn't click this was Islam.
So I was in a taxi.
I was talking to an Asian guy.
I said to him: "Do you know of a religion
upon the understanding of Jesus being a prophet of God?"
And he smiled at me, and I was like
"Why is he smiling at me?"
So he smiled at me and I smiled,
and I'm like: "What's he doing?"
And he said: "This is our religion, brother."
And I went: "What religion's that?"
And he went: "Islam."
So I turned around to him and I went:
"Muslims are terrorists."
"Muslims kill people."
"How can they have Jesus in their religion?"
"You know, Jesus is the savior, you know."
And he looked at me and he smiled again and he went:
"You know what it is brother.
Just keep watching them videos and keep watching."
So I kinda stopped watching the videos for a few week
but there was something that was eating me inside.
"I needed to know, I needed to know."
And it was really, really, it was bugging me.
So there were a few.
I was very, very, very.
I was on the verge of just going, you know, ending it.
And I was drinking a lot.
I was doing things with my friends.
I felt so lonely.
But there was only this thing that kept me going.
These videos of Yusuf, Prophet Yusuf.
And a lot of stories that kept me going,
and it kept my will to live, so to speak.
And I was speaking every night to someone
before I would sleep, and I was saying: "Please help me.
Please help me, God."
I was speaking to God, but I was in my own way at that time
because I didn't understand.
I went back to the videos, and as I got into the videos
I found out a few more things
and I watched more stories about the Mohammed.
And I was thinking to myself:
"But people say bad things about Mohammed."
"People say really bad things about him."
That's all I've ever heard.
You know, I've only known bad things.
So I'm like: "Wow! These stories...
You know, this is how I want to be."
I started working at the Broadway in Bradford
as a security officer, and I met a guy called Bashir.
One of the Nigerian brothers,
who didn't really speak about it.
My view was if a lot of my friends is dictators,
I don't want Muslims are dictators either.
So I need to go down my own path.
So I kinda kept it all quiet.
So I worked with him for a few month.
And he was talking about Islam,
and he was inviting me for food.
I believe now he was put there
to help me along this journey without him knowing.
Very, very, very nice brother.
On the fifth of November was bonfire night.
I was celebrating the bonfire night with my friends
who didn't know anything.
So I was obviously drinking and that.
Then I woke up on the sixth of November.
It was a Friday.
And I thought to myself: "I need to go to the mosque."
So I rang Bashir.
I rang him and I said:
"Bashir would you please take me to the mosque?"
And he turned around and he said:
"You need to learn Islam first before I take you to mosque."
I said: "Brother, I've been doing it for 10 months.
I need to go, and would you take me to the mosque?"
So he took me to the masjid where I met
some of the brothers.
And I was in the room with Massoud the sheikh
of the mosque I was at, the imam.
He asked me a few questions,
then he brought up a few things, and I said:
"I believe, I believe."
"I do believe that God was one."
"And the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him."
"I believe, I believe in it."
So after that I took my Shahada and I become Muslim.
I remember the feeling.
I get that feeling now sometimes
when I'm talking about Islam.
It's weird.
It's like obviously when I used to drink and stuff like that
you get them rushes of feelings from that.
You can't explain the feeling that I actually got from
taking my Shahada and becoming Muslim.
You know, it was.
I sat there for nights and nights just thinking: "Wow!"
For days, and I still do it now.
And I think: "Wow!"
When I learn new things, I just think: "Wow!"
What I am now, yeah, to what I was then.
People seeing it and I'm gleaming and I'm glowing, you know.
I've got something about me.
I've got a purpose of life now.
Back then I didn't have no purpose at all.
I didn't even care about anything.
I didn't respect me mum, me dad.
I didn't respect me brothers.
All I did was argue with me friends.
Now Islam has taught me how to treat people.
How to pursue a life.
How to become.
It's been a guidance for me, you know.
It's a guide like, Islam is a guide.
I don't see the Quran as a rule book.
I see it as a guide of life.
And everything in Islam is beneficial, very beneficial.
I was concerned that I wouldn't be a good Muslim,
that I'd go back to drinking.
I would go back to.
But the thing is I met Bashir.
He kind of gave me that support.
You know, it wasn't like he just come to the Shahada with me
and then he just left me behind.
He's still with me now.
He still rings me now.
He's still giving me support now.
Obviously when I first took me Shahada I had me doubts,
and everyone will have them doubts,
but once you find the love for God
and you find the love for the Prophet Mohammed,
peace be upon him, things change in your life.
A light opens up, you know.
You got to go in, and you've got to work hard at it.
You've got to work hard if you want something.
You've got to work hard for it.
And I've worked hard this last year.
I've worked really hard, and now I'm seeing the benefits.
You know, when I'm praying, I'm feeling it.
So this stuff makes me proud of myself as well,
and it's brought a sense of happiness to me.
It's opened other doors,
like me dad's more understanding about Islam now as well.
And he knows that it's not what it were.
And to this day it's the best thing I've ever done.
You know, the bestest thing I've ever done.
To believe in your heart.
Go with your heart.
Because that's where you'll find
your happiness and your peace.
Don't be afraid.
There's people out here that will help you.
And you've got a lot of support.
The brotherhood, the sisterhood in Islam
is out of this world.
We're all together as one.
And if you are looking into Islam and you need some support,
open up to people, speak to people,
because if you don't speak then you'll never know.