- If you have
your partner,
everything will be good.
You will be away from the bad things.
- [Interviewer] So if there's anyone looking
for a pious Filipino husband...
(both laugh)
- InshaAllah, InshaAllah.
I'm available, just submit your CV (laughs).
I will be submitting my CV.
My name is Jovich de La Cruz,
but my Muslim name now is Mohammed Nasir,
Mohammed Nasir-Yusaif,
which is very long, and I am 38 years old.
I am from Dubai and I was born in the Philippines.
I embraced Islam
in 2009,
also in the month of Ramadan,
when I was
33 years old.
I was actually having lots of friends here,
Muslim friends,
but all of them are
trying to
convince me or encourage me to enter Islam.
But at that time, my faith in Christianity was very strong.
During that time, my heart and my mind,
my brain was totally blocked when it comes to Islam.
So what they did at the end of that week,
maybe they gave up or whatever
but they just gave me books about Islam.
From the moment I finished reading all those books,
it just opened everything for me,
and that week my first friend here in the UAE
asked him to bring me to any mosque near to my place
and I want to enter Islam.
With the help of my friend,
I was thinking that he would just bring me
to any near masjid in our place.
But what he did is he bring me to
a big Islamic center in Sharjah
and I told him, "Why are you bringing me here?
"There are lots of Muslims and this is very big masjid."
He saying, "Because this is a special day for you
"and for us."
That's why... (chokes up)
Every time that I am remembering that moment
it's really bringing tears into my eyes.
He said,
"This is a very special moment for you and for us,
"that's why we bring you here.
"We bring you here in this special place
"to perform your Shahadah."
My biggest concern before entering Islam was my family
first of all,
because all of them are Christians,
and what I'm thinking is that
maybe if I will change my religion and my belief,
they will not accept it.
My biggest concern also is the society.
What I'm worried about is that
what will people think about me
because I think in my town I am the only Muslim there.
And also,
when I went on my first vacation
and having this big beard,
maybe they are thinking, "Oh my goodness,
"maybe he is a terrorist also like this."
Generally, Muslims are very good.
What people think about Muslims
is what they see on the media.
Since I become a Muslim,
everything becomes clear to me.
Before, I was just a typical Filipino
having this crazy hairstyle
and
I shaved my
eyebrows also,
wearing contact lenses, whatever, everything.
All crazy stuff I was doing before.
Now I
know how to present myself to everybody.
The way I speak to people,
how I avoid bad words,
how I
prepare everything from food or clothes I will be wearing,
and to deal with people.
Think about yourself,
because
it's
in the hereafter,
even our family will turn away from us,
because only us who can save ourselves.
Allah will always be there
and you will be born again.
All your your pasts will be erased and
inshallah
all the struggles you will overcome.