The Islamic Bulletin Volume XX No. 26 Page 7 eyes. Later, I learn that one of the men had 2.5 million dollars in cash in his briefcase and the other had almost the same amount in heroin. During the 80’s, this was one of the biggest drug busts ever. The police then asked for the owner of the club. I told them that I was the owner, all the while scared to think of what was going to happen next. The police then ordered me to come with them. They informed me that my nightclub had to be permanently closed. Everything after this was happening like one big blur. I had to go to court and try to keep my nightclub opened. No matter how hard I tried, though, Allah always knows better. He knew that I was ready to make a change and lead my life as a practicing Muslim. As it says in the Holy Quran, “But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not.” (Quran 2:216) During this time, Brother Mabruk and the others still came to visit me. And I had begun frequenting the masjid more often. I still would not say that I was a perfect Muslim, but I was getting better. Occasionally I would accompany the brothers when they went to visit other Muslims. Once, I accompanied Sheikh Mabruk and a few other brothers who went to visit a Muslim grocery store owner. That day, the grocery owner, who was apparently in a bad mood, lost his temper and said, “Why are you bothering me?” and spit in Sheikh Mabruk’s face. I was so mad, I wanted to punch him. But the sheikh held me back and cleaned the spit with his hand. He did not use a napkin. The Sheikh told the owner Jazakullah khair that Allah has blessed me with a brother who has ‘la illahah illalah’ in his heart and we left. Those words had actually had an impact on me. It was heart whelming to actually see and witness how important it is for Muslims to visit and remind other Muslims of the importance of salah and other Islamic duties. My life changed after that visit. You can never know what simple act you may do that will affect another person’s life. Sheikh Mabruk had the best personality; I have never met a person who had such qualities like him. In fact, whenever I hear stories of the Sahabah, I always think of him. When we returned to the masjid I was still mad. I saw the Sheikh making dua, and was thinking to myself, “Good, the Sheikh is making dua that the man’s grocery business fails or something terrible.” At maghrib time, the store owner came and was looking for Sheikh Mabruk. When I saw him, my blood was boiling. I said this is my chance to take care of him, but Sheikh Mabruk stopped me. What happened next made me realize that there is hope for each of us. The man kissed the Sheikh’s head and told him to please forgive him for what he did. The Sheikh told the grocery owner that he had been making dua for his guidance. As the grocery owner was leaving, he could not find his shoes. Sheikh Mabruk found them, then bent down and placed them on the man’s feet. What a beautiful thing that happened before my eyes. To make a long story short, the grocery owner sold his business and moved to Toronto. He now lives a very pious and religious life. How I began joining and traveling around with these brothers to give dawah was purely accidental. Once I went to the masjid to offer my salah. Visiting there was a group of brothers from Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Mabruk was there, too, along with some of the local brothers. He told me that they were spending forty days traveling around the United States. Traveling around doing what, I asked? He explained to me that these brothers came from Saudi Arabia to help remind the Muslims of their Islamic responsibilities. All the way from Saudi Arabia, I thought. Now, that was a bit silly. I’m sure they could have found people a lot closer to have done that. Anyways, was there even a need to do this? Wow, what a serious waste of time, money, and loss of work. Something I would never do. Sheikh Mabruk said to me, “Why don’t you spend time with them?” I told the sheikh, “There is no way I can spend forty days.” He said that they needed brothers to help drive so how about 3 days. They were going to travel from Denver to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and then San Francisco. So I told him that I would drive these brothers a portion of the trip, to Las Vegas. My hope was that after driving them, I would stop and do a little gambling. My intention was not to spend time with them but to gamble. I called my wife and told her that I would be gone for about 3 days—that I would be driving a group of brothers to Las Vegas. To my surprise, she was fine with it. On our way from Denver, one brother sitting behind me was reading Surat Yasin from the Quran the entire way. After arriving in Las Vegas, we prayed fajr, ate breakfast, and rested in the masjid. At dhuhr time, one of the local brothers came and invited us to rest in a room of a local motel. The owner was a Muslim and he had a motel connected to a small casino. Many of the customers were Middle Eastern. Many times, Muslims have forgotten Islam. I sincerely and wholeheartedly wish hedayah would come to every Muslim. I wish that Muslims would realize the Power of Allah, the connection that one could have with Allah and the feeling of imam (faith) in his/her heart. This is something that every Muslim needs. As practicing Muslims, we should also be well-wishers for the entire humanity. As Muslims, more than anybody else, we should realize that they have a treasure in their hands (Islam) and they should take advantage of it. So, I went with two of the brothers to visit the Muslims in the casino. Before going in, one of the brothers told me to listen only. Since I was new, and not knowing what to do, I just stood there watching and listening. I was so involved watching a man gamble, I had not noticed that the brothers had moved on to talk to another person. Anyways, while watching this man play cards, the dealer dealt an initial hand of two cards and the guy I was standing behind had a total of 16, so I told him nam nam (stand), “Take no more cards.” He turned and looked at me; I was wearing a white thobe like the rest of the brothers. So he told the dealer, “One more card.” He ended up losing. I told him, “Didn’t I tell you ‘nam nam’?” The man played another turn and took 2 cards. This time his total was 15. So I told him “Take another card,” but he refused and would not take another card. His next card was a two. He ended up losing to the dealer. So I asked him, “Why didn’t you listen to me?” He said, “La hawla wa qwata illa billah. ” (Expression said by a Muslim when he is struck with ““Are you a Are you a sheikh or a professional gambler?”
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