Famous British Youtuber Converted to Islam - Story of Jay Palfrey ​

[Music] how did you feel when you first took to shahadah how did you hear about islam for the first time before you become muslim i guess that you were dating you ate pork and you also drink alcohol i guess was it difficult for you to stop all this when you become mr [Music] i would cross the street if i saw a woman wearing a hijab in london that's how bad my mind was affected by the media in the uk if there was a chance to speak to all non-muslims in the world what would you like to say if you had a one minute [Music] who is jay sure i'm jay i'm from the uk i'm 25 from a tiny town in the southwest of england i'm a travel blogger and i share my journey of traveling all over the world on my youtube channel what is the aim of the jay why are you traveling that much i hopefully inshallah will change the negative perceptions about muslims all across the world i post on youtube and my instagram all the positive things about the culture the food the people the way of life to hopefully change perceptions back in the uk back in the uk and america perceptions about muslims are incredibly negative and hopefully inshallah i will change that in one of your videos you said that you love pakistan and turkey more than other countries what is the reason for that why pakistan and turkey i think i love pakistan so much because again i never heard anything positive about this country the main things i heard were terrorism and war and violence and i went there and all of my expectations were beat everyone was so kind so nice the food was some of the best i've ever had in the whole world and i felt such genuine love from these people and the same with turkey those two countries are my favorite because of the people the food and the culture i could talk about the mosques i love the mosques here i feel incredible here and i took my uh shahada in the suleimani mosque in istanbul so i think that's why i have such a connection to these two countries especially turkey because istanbul changed my life it's where i take my shahada it's where i made the best decision of my life instead of eating conflicts in united states or united kingdom yes you prefer to eat kebab in turkey yes what was the most interesting thing that you have shocked when you visited those countries pakistan mexico turkey egypt start with mexico right sure mexico is completely different to any of the other countries i've been to muslims are not widely shown in the media or even on the streets i only managed to visit one mosque when i was in mexico city so the thing that was the strangest for me in mexico was not being able to meet so many muslims in egypt pakistan turkey united arab emirates they are everywhere and i've made some of the best friends here how did you hear about islam for the first time that goes back probably 20 years when we go back to the story of 9 11. the first time i heard about islam in a very negative way and if we're talking more of a positive thing i learned about islam probably three years ago from traveling meeting these people and then i really learned about islam when i read the quran last year during lockdown how did you perceive islam before you became a muslim did you have any prejudice yes i had very negative perceptions about muslims especially there was many attacks in the uk from extremists and the media has a very good way of making that stereotype to two billion people when it's just a handful of bad people making those choices um i would cross the street if i saw a woman wearing a hijab in london that's how bad my mind was affected by the media in the uk because i didn't give myself the opportunity to really learn what islam was about and thankfully over the past three years i've really learned and discovered exactly what islam is and that's the religion of peace what was the thing that made you interested in islam originally it was meeting the people when i traveled i rarely traveled to muslim majority countries and i went to istanbul thankfully three years ago four years ago and then i decided to actually go to iraq in september 2019 and that completely changed my perceptions and made me want to research more about the positivity of islam i went to iraq for the first time when i was 22 23. so you met some good people who were muslims yes so you were interested in it so i was interested and then i gave myself the time to really research and discover the true islam away from the media in the uk how did you feel when you first took to shahadah the most immense sense of happiness and peace and i don't think i've come to a point where i've been so happy and so alive it was the best feeling in the world so before i entered the mosque i was an atheist my life didn't have much meaning i didn't believe there was a creator i thought after death that was it and once i entered the mosque and i took the shahadah and i took those words and i said those words i was so happy and i felt like my life went from black and white to colour it was the best feeling in the world what was the reaction of the people around you so happy they were clapping they were smiling people inside the mosque were watching and they heard and they were clapping and was so happy for me what was the reaction especially your family your mom your dad your sister your brother thankfully i have the most supportive family and supportive friends in the world so i told my sister first originally so i actually opened snapchat i was currently in istanbul and i just directly messages my sister first i said i became muslim and her reaction was so good she then facetimed me and showed her elated happiness for me i just can't understand why she's doing this it's not a good positive thing for them because the image of islam is not good for them i think it's not good so what's the reason that she becomes happy because she's seen my work she's seen who i've met and she's heard my stories and now i've taught them not to realize that the media is wrong like the media is so wrong they've now learned to take my videos my stories and my ideas as the truth rather than the media what about your mother your dad yeah so my dad actually left when i was one he moved to australia so i haven't actually had contact with him he doesn't know to this day but my mum i called her and i told her over the phone i actually made a video about that in her reaction it took me three times to actually call her and for her to pick up and my nerves were you couldn't see i could i was struggling so hard but i told her and her exact words were something along the lines of i'm smiling like a cheshire cat and cheshire cats are very much known to be always happy always chirpy always funny and that was her exact words actually i'm smiling like a cheshire cat and from that day onwards i have never had a bad word said i've never had a bad idea said about islam to me and i'm very grateful that my friends and family were so happy and are still with me to this day because it would have made my journey a lot harder if i didn't have them by my side with me in islam we have to pray we have to fast during ramazan and we have some other things did any of them seem difficult to you before you become muslim yes they all seemed incredibly overwhelming especially as in the uk before i became a muslim i was on this journey alone during lockdown i couldn't see anyone i can practice with anyone it's very difficult still to this day i still get overwhelmed but now thankfully after a lot of practice a lot of work i've got the point where i can do anything with ease how did you make that research from internet which videos which speakers many youtube videos um many stories that i've met from the people on the streets and actually reading the quran itself can i ask this question if it's private just pass it your family are atheists so you're muslim what do you feel about them are you praying that they become muslims someday are you telling the truth of islam to them of course i am every single day i'm talking to my family i wish though one day i could talk to my dad about the journey i've been on and told him about islam and the real islam because i'm scared he still has perception about islam and one day i hope to change that and i know thousands of people will watch this episode and i hope they pray for my friends and family to hopefully find the beautiful journey of islam one day in their life before you become muslim i guess that you were dating you ate pork and you also drink alcohol i guess was it difficult for you to stop all this when you become muslim so firstly pork i haven't eaten for a very long time probably since i was 10. so that was not an issue and i definitely don't miss it dating i haven't had a girlfriend since i was 17. so dating for me doesn't work um also i don't have the time when i'm traveling so even if i wanted to do i couldn't and alcohol i stopped drinking alcohol when i in 2019 so the year before i even became muslim what was the reason that you stopped drinking alcohol i drank a lot at university at university in the uk it's very much a student culture to drink almost every day have parties and celebrate reading one text paper but yeah i stopped after because it's not a healthy lifestyle so i was also vegetarian for a year and a half actually and thankfully i discovered halal mead which i'm so thankful for especially here in turkey the food is incredible you have a youtube account and instagram account and you're popular i guess that you have messages who wants to date with you am i right yes every single day what is your reaction to them i don't reply or i block because people shouldn't be asking me that and i also get messages from women and girls mums emails and instagram messages and comments on youtube asking me to marry the daughter and i definitely do not reply to them and also i don't plan to get married in the near future especially in the next two or three years there's so much of this beautiful muslim world that i have to discover and more incredible people i have to meet so until i'm maybe 29 or 30 i do not plan on getting married uh there's so much i need to discover learn and explore why didn't you stay as an atheist and need to do some research about islam sure um i'm a very inquisitive person i think that's why i travel and that's why i want to learn i had time and i studied international journalism for my master's degree and i learned about the media and how they were completely wrong about islam and of course i took my inquisitiveness so i've always been a very inquisitive person someone always eager to learn about cultures people language all around the world and during the coronavis pandemic i had a lot of time and i decided to put their time to good use and discover what makes the people i meet so kind so loving and so peaceful and that all came back to islam and that's when i decided to read the quran watch youtube videos learning more more about prophet muhammad peace be upon him and everyone else and it's been amazing who is muhammad ali salatu salaam for you he's incredible and i don't think i could find a better word for him and i think everybody on this planet can learn a lot from him and they could definitely put his life story into their own life and be a lot more loving a lot more giving and a lot more accepting if there was a chance to speak to all non-muslims in the world especially for the ones who have prejudiced to islam what would you like to say if you had a one minute learn from your own personal experiences not the media travel the world travel to muslim majority countries and give yourself the opportunity and the time to speak to muslims and learn about their journey their stories and their life because i promise it will never be what the media says and also when you travel around the world and if you see any kind of negativity just know that islam is perfect and muslims are not we are very nice to meet you brother thank you so much your journey your story is very interesting inshallah your aim is great inshallah you will be succeeded rather inshallah i can keep doing this until the whole world finally has a positive view of islam [Music] let's come to the hardest question that will make you sweaty coffee or tea that's the hardest question you could ask me being in turkey uh chai is my favorite here um but i love coffee if you say coffee there will be many dislikes in this video i say chai that's okay how did you find shojar kushku you've seen our studio or madressa how did you find incredible everyone working here is so kind and the studio is phenomenal except that it's very hot it's very very hot too hot what would you recommend to new muslims or the people did i make an english pronunciation wrong and you're laughing at that you keep loving it this is a real serious problem brother you will understand me when you when you got married [Music]

Channel: Towards Eternity

Views: 153,344

Rating: 4.9771233 out of 5

Keywords: islam, muslim, sozler kosku, towards etenity, jay palfray, jay palfrey, jay palfrey islam, is jay palfrey muslim, tought questions

Id: WVlZqWZJRvQ

Length: 13min 20sec (800 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 06 2021