- [Male] Do you smile? - You know German
background, what can I say? I'm from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, born in, from ... You know it always goes
smoothly when you're not taping. My name is Muhammad Robert Heft. I was born in Winnipeg, Canada, to second generation Canadians, originally German and Irish. I'm from a small town growing
up in Milton, Ontario. I call it redneck town or farmer's town, depending on how you look at it. I was born into a Lutheran family. We weren't that practicing. Sunday school was something we did until about six years old. I don't consider ourselves
overly religious. Probably we went to
funerals when somebody died. We went to churches when
somebody got married and other that celebrating Christmas, which wasn't a really religious
holiday for any of us. I'm sure to many people, I'm the guy that they wish they weren't and they were glad they were not. I mean it was ... I wasn't leading a very healthy lifestyle and I wasn't going very many places with my thinking or my strategies. Some people will say 'Oh
well you weren't that bad.' But you know I wasn't that good. I accepted Islam July 12, 1998 and I went through quite a bit. I went though gambling,
drinking, drugs, womanizing, trying to acquire as much
material wealth as possible. So I hit rock bottom
and I started searching and I fell upon Islam when I
went into a convenience store, never hearing about it. After debating with a
convenience store owner for about three days, by the grace and mercy of Allah, I accepted Islam. It was very important
for me to have Jesus. I love the stories in the Bible a and then when they told
me He's a prophet of God, He's better than us, He's a perfect human being, that really set proper in my heart. Then the Quran being an owner's manual, a way to live, it was amazing because I
was looking for structure. One of the concerns was that I wouldn't be able to convince my family that I had made a good decision, but over the years
obviously it wasn't a phase and they see that from my actions. I was willing to take everything that came with that decision. The main thing for me, without a doubt, was the oneness of God. I mean I was into mathematics. I was playing the card
game Euchre in grade three. I was in special classes for math and the way it works out mathematical for us as Muslims though theology. I mean believing in God and His attributes and that God exists and exists eternally or pre-eternally without a place, and without a size, without a shape. I mean it was amazing that the fact that we are the only religion that believes that God is not inside of something. We don't have to put God
somewhere to believe in Him. We believe in God out of necessity. I mean we've come to
a confident conclusion that God's existence is out of necessity and mathematically speaking
that we can say God has to exist cause He can not, not be. He's absolute in His existence because everything in the universe is contingent, it doesn't have to exist
and needs a Creator. And the Creator has to
have certain attributes. I mean I thought that was just amazing. How it just works in and there's no body who can
come with a philosophy and try and refute it. No body can say the big bang. Anything they say it always comes down to once of those things that it's necessary for there to be an uncreated Creator for the entire universe. If you think you have a
better formula than Islam, there's no use wasting your time accepting Islam in the first place. You might have a girlfriend, you might have a boyfriend, you might think that you want to stop drinking or do drugs before
you make this decision. I'm telling you accept Islam
and then improve yourself. Because what the devil is going to do is he's going to tell you right now that "Yes, yes, yes you're
going to accept Islam," "but in time when you improve yourself." Islam is the way to improve yourself. So accept Islam now and then look to improve yourself from
drinking, doing drugs. If you have a girlfriend
or boyfriend, that's fine. Even though Islam doesn't permit
girlfriends or boyfriends, you can pray to God that the
individual becomes Muslim or God finds you a better way
or better person in your life. Either way you don't lose. But don't let that hold you back because these are temporary things. You are doing things, you're thinking to yourself that you want to correct yourself, correct yourself in your understanding and acceptance of God. Not whether or not you drink, or not whether or not you party, or not whether or not you
have a wife or a girlfriend. The most important thing
is to accept the concept in the understand that
there's only one God and Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the final messenger.
