How I Came to Islam (Part 1)

All I have to say is all what you already know, to confirm what you already know about the message of the prophet (PBUH) 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 the Holy Qur’an 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 light of show business. I was born in a Christian home but we knew that every child is born in his 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 religion upbringing, I started making music. I wanted to be a big star. All those 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 had a lot of money. The people around me influenced me to think that 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 example 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 will help the needy (it says in the Qur’an, we make a promise, but when we make something we want to hold on to 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 the life and the only way to do that was to be intoxicated (with liquor & drugs).

By Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)

Source: al-shia.org