The Islamic Bulletin Volume X IX No. 24 Page 5 Muslim rapper, relates himself to many different types of people through his music. In the film, Hamza dedicates his personal struggle for self-improvement for the sake of Allah and declared jihad on his old ways. Jihad, he explains, is just a struggle and does not include any kind of violence. He considers himself a Mujahed, someone who is engaged in struggle, because he believes it to be his obligation to help other drug dealers through self-empowerment and education. Not only a hip-hopper, Hamza is also a spiritual counselor that gives Dawa for Islam. However, his main goal is to promote unity of humanity and human brotherhood. Bad habits such as drugs, anger, greed, jealousy, among many others cause people to become enemies. By studying and teaching the life of the Prophet (S), he believes we can all have more mercy towards one another and become better people. Though hip-hop is not the conventional way of Dawa, it seems to be the best way for him to reach his message to the people he is trying to help. Read his moving and touching conversion story in detail under “How I embraced Islam.” HOW I EMBRACED ISLAM PUERTO RICAN-AMERICAN RAPPER HAMZA PÉREZ’S JOURNEY TO ISLAM I personally went to see “The New Muslim Cool” screening in San Francisco, CA. Although I did not meet Brother Hamza Perez at this screening, I was honored to have met him previously at Latino Day in a San Francisco masjid—Masjid AlSabeel on Golden Gate Avenue. So naturally, I was very much looking forward to this awesome screening. I believe “The New Muslim Cool” is a first of its kind. Not only are we inspired by Brother Hamza’s spiritual journey to Islam, but with his life, his mission, and his music to reach Muslims and non-Muslims alike. My personal favorite quote from the trailer of “The New Muslim Cool”, “You are a single dad, now you’re married, so you’re a married man, you’re Muslim, you’re American, you’re Puerto Rican, you’re from the hood, you’re an artist, you’re a rapper…sounds like America’s worst nightmare!” For many American Muslims around the country, he is the exact opposite—Brother Hamza is on a mission for our future. Q: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself—where you were born and your background. A: I was born in Brooklyn, NY. I grew up in a housing project across the street from a Masjid. My mother began to raise me there. After I got a little bit older, we moved to Puerto Rico, and thereafter we moved back and forth between Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your religious upbringing. A: Yeah, my mom was Catholic. But, my grandmother in Puerto Rico was Baptist. During my 1st and 2nd grades, I was in Catholic school. Q: Can you tell us about your conversion to Islam. A: I had an Ecuadorian friend named Louie. We grew up together, and then we got involved in selling drugs together. I kept searching for happiness as a young person but I couldn’t find it. I tried the life of the streets and drugs but that just made me more depressed Even though we made money, it did not give us the taste or satisfaction of happiness. So, you know, we came real like down. One day, he walked by the masjid, and he was sitting on the steps and began rolling up a joint, and a Muslim brother approached him and asked him what he was doing there and started talking to him about Islam. And he ended up becoming a Muslim. We knew this mosque because we grew up down the street, but, like I said, the Muslims never came out to our community, so the only thing we knew about them is that they killed goats. So, in the community, they were known as that’s the place where goats are killed. So we were familiar with the building but not really with what goes on inside. Louise ended up becoming Muslim and was missing for 40 days. He went with Tabligh Jama’a (the community of teachers of Islam). We were from the streets, you know. We were Latinos; we didn’t know anything about Tabligh Jama’a. All we heard was that some Pakistanis and Arabs had kidnapped him. What the heck was he doing with them anyways? We are all Latinos. Sometime later, I saw this Muslim brother I went to school with. He was African-American. I saw him in the store, and it was like, “Yo Yo man, you know my friend Louie?” He said, “No man, I don’t know any Louie. I know a Luqman.” I started laughing at him. I thought he was talking about some Jamaican stuff. So I told him to tell Luqman that I’m looking for him. So one day, I was smoking and I was with the people sell drugs with, and Luqman came dressed all in white with a sheikh named Iqbal. We were playing dices, drinking, smoking. He was with a Pakistani brother from Tabligh Jama’a. And I saw that both of them had nur (light). They had like this spiritual light. I could see the transformation in him. I knew that something seriously had happened in his life. So I left the other people who were drinking and smoking and walked towards them.So, right there, the sheikh asked me if I believed that there was only one God. I said, “Yes.” And then he asked me if I believed in the Prophet Mohammad (Salla Lahu ‘alaihi WaSalaam—Peace on him) was His Messenger. I had heard of the Prophet Mohammad (Salla Lahu ‘alaihi Wa-Salaam), but I saw the light in the character and face of my friend Luqman, so I believed it. So I took Shahada (testament to faith/conversion to Islam) right there in the middle of the street. My brother then took the Shahada. Q: How did your parents react to you accepting Islam? A: My family was initially upset. But it has been tempered by gratitude that my brother and my new faith has gotten us off drugs
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