 MCC's new Ramadan Muslim story series. Today, we have Brother Thomas. You're joining us from where is it again? I'm in Peoria, Illinois. And you took your shahada with MCC, at MCC? And if I remember correctly, when was that? Yeah, that was the summer of 2018. Okay, okay. I guess this kind of gets started with us. Can you just tell us a little bit about your background? Like where you come from a little bit? And been sort of what led you to Islam and your shahada story to whatever extent you're coming? Yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas kind of right on the state line, so between the two. And yeah, I grew up in a mixed religious family. My mother is Jewish. My father is Christian. And so I had some experience and awareness of both traditions. But neither was really pushed. Like I didn't ever have to make a choice, but kind of had both of those be a part of my tradition as I was growing up. And I came out to the Bay Area when I started college at Berkeley. And around that time, I'd been interested in philosophy and started to become more and more interested in spirituality and started studying and learning about Islam. And it really made it really made sense to me. And so while I was a student, I had privately made shahada, but I had not really been connected to the community. And so that came a little bit later and then around just around the time that I graduated, I'd been going to Taliq meetings and we made this connection with MCC. And so having the public shahada was a really big milestone for me at that time. It was really memorable for me and my family and some of my friends who were able to come. It was the first time my parents had been to the masjid before. And they're really blown away just by the beauty of the ceremony and the hospitality that was shown. And so it was a really amazing experience. Yeah, that is a convert myself. I've seen a decent number of shahadas. And I don't think I've ever seen one beside yours where the family was there. It's definitely, unfortunately, I suppose, a typical experience to have mixed religious, you know, a non-Muslim family be so accommodating and sort of accepting somebody's conversion. It does a little bit like, were they out here at the time? It just so happened to be, did it work out that way? Or were they just? Yeah, so I was right around the time of my graduation. So that worked really well because they had come up from, they're living in Southern California. And so they were already in town and my parents, my sister, and I was engaged at the time. So my fiance and her family were able to attend as well. Like subsequent to your shahada, how's it been with your family and, you know, moving back to Kansas City? What's the experience been like for you as a Muslim? It's been good. I've moved back to the Midwest, not Kansas City though. I would love to go back sometime, you know, this is where I grew up, spent my childhood and everything. But overall, you know, it's been a really great experience. After moving to the Midwest, spent about a year in Cleveland. And then my wife and I, we got married by this time. We moved to Peoria, Illinois. And the community here has been really welcoming. And, you know, I was looking for work and I had some experiences as a teacher and they offered me a position teaching at the middle school and high school, the Islamic school here that's associated with the Masjid. And that's been a really incredible experience for the last almost two years now. Well, I guess this is the Ramadan series. I asked, what was your first Ramadan kind of experience like? Do you remember, I guess this would be 2018? Is that it? I think first Ramadan would have been 2015. Oh, wow. So you were already kind of... Yeah, I will admit I kind of went part of the way into it and that first couple of years I didn't pass from water. That's something picked up more recently, but I did do the fast with food, Hamdallah. And, you know, it was really amazing. You know, I felt the power of having that kind of daily state to kind of have a greater mindfulness and, you know, interestingly enough, I actually was back in Kansas then. I was visiting some friends in Lawrence, Kansas at the time, so I had that connection came back in as well. And it was a very memorable experience, definitely. That's interesting to kind of phase it in. I've heard other people say that that's something beneficial not to try to take it all in at once, but to kind of make steps towards it, to acclimate yourself. So you say you started with the water fast and then sort of worked your way up to... No, the other way around. Oh, yeah, I guess. Yeah, I won't say it was like a deliberate strategy. I think I can't remember exactly, but I'm not sure I understood that I was supposed to be fasting from water also. So, you know, I got to know some more Muslims and learned for the process. But Hamdallah, you know, I think it was helpful to have the gradual aspects of it as well. And that's sort of your first after Shahada, the Ramadan, did anything change, kind of? You started going to Iftars or anything like that? Yeah, definitely. It was definitely a milestone in terms of just my becoming more connected with the community, meeting more Muslims and, you know, just before getting married too. And so having, you know, Muslim in-laws and my wife and doing a lot more, you know, celebrating Eid together and going to the Masjid when visiting and things like that. Absolutely, yeah. I know that I've heard a lot of people who have been kind of on the path and getting started and do sort of just fast on their own and sometimes even like in secret from their family. Wow, yeah. Which definitely sounds like it can make it a lot harder. And so having that community support sounds like was an added benefit once you got that way. Yeah, it was definitely was. And I guess, speaking of community support, I also have to ask, what was it like for you last year, the first COVID Ramadan with a quarantine? I know everybody had their struggles with it and if you could share like what that experience was like. Yeah, it was tough. And I think especially being teaching, you know, it's always something that's probably the most challenging part of the year for the students to especially, it's like right before finals and everything with the season to it right now. And so adding COVID on top of that was definitely an added challenge and also that isolation of not going to school, but we started doing e-learning around then and yeah, it was, you know, I gave less homework, I think we all tried to take a little more time for prayer and contemplation and reading Quran and a little less of an intense focus and also had my students do some reflections just on Ramadan to think about everything that was going on. That's, you got any kind of plans for this year? I know we're slowly easing back out so people are getting a vaccine but we're all still somewhat quarantined and now we have a little bit of experience, I guess. Yeah, you have a particular Ramadan plan for this year? Um, nothing unusual, I suppose. I do want to, you know, I've been learning Arabic because I've been practicing and just reading the Quran and so, inshallah, I think this is a vague plan. I'm kind of formulating off the spot but the intention of becoming a plan is I want to, you know, really use the time, inshallah, to deepen my knowledge of Arabic in the Quran, in particular, some apps and some flashcards that I've been using and practicing the writing too. So, inshallah, this will be a good opportunity to really focus on that. So, as a teacher, would you be your suggestion to other new Muslims who, you know, a lot of us, I'm still struggling to learn Arabic as well. So, with your educational background, be very interested to hear what apps you plan to use and how they may do a little mix of writing and also reading, yeah, what tips could you share with the rest of us as far as your learning approach? Yeah, I'd be happy to share some. I think the first two things that I did that really helped were just memorizing the letters, learning how to, when you get the letter recognition down, it makes it easier to start to spot read the words. And the thing that I found the most helpful with that was there's a website. I can share the link as well, it's corpus.kuran.com and there's some apps, phone and otherwise, that have this feature that you can kind of click any particular word and it'll show you the roots and you can see all the usages of a word in the Quran. And so what I like to do is I like to just, as I'm reading the English translation, I'll be like, hmm, I'm interested in this idea. I want to see how it was expressed in the Arabic. And so that for me is a helpful way to just practice reading and getting more familiar with the vocabulary. And so that was what I started off doing. And then as I've gotten more into practicing just writing Soras that I'm memorizing to help with prayer. And I also started using an app recently that has all the words in the Quran. And so just going through those flashcards and practicing those as well. That's been my method up to this point for the most part. So I think I might take you up on some of that flashcard sounds like a good idea. I haven't thought of. Cool. Well, then I guess as far as you know, I know we're coming from a non-Muslim background. We have further on the Christian side. It's Christmas or Easter, you know, Jewish side, I guess Passover, Hanukkah. Yes, getting into Ramadan and Eid and how have you kind of like mixed the sort of celebration aspect with still being connected to your family. It looks like you still have a pretty good relationship with them and maybe still sort of celebrate with them, even if not exactly right. And then still doing your own thing and maybe roping in the family a little bit on your celebrations. I just wondering how that's gone for you. Yeah, so when my parents have their holiday observances, you know, I'm still still there visiting sometimes before COVID or we'll meet online and just do our best and it's a, you know, it's a nice opportunity for sharing like during Passover this year, they're always interested to hear more about connections with Islam. And so I told them some parts of the story of Musa and Fyaron and Bani Israel and in the Quran. And we had some nice discussion about that because there's, you know, there's a lot of connections and similarities and it's not told the exact same way, but there is a lot that is the same. And yeah, that's, as far as the Islamic holidays ago, you know, my parents are always interested to learn more about them and they'll wish us Eid Mubarak and they always love to see our Eid pictures and things like that. So that's nice too. It's great. You've been able to kind of hold on to both and it's just it's a really great story and definitely inspiring. I mean, certainly my family isn't pretty accommodating as well, but it definitely doesn't sound like it's very typical, you're particularly loving and close family. So yeah, it's just it's really great to hear. I suppose my next question would be for any new Muslims, you know, this may be their first Ramadan coming up. Do you have any sort of suggestions or advice as to what the best approach would be? Just do it do the best that you can and don't be hard on yourself if it's tough. But I think you'll find that, you know, there's a lot of blessings and it gets easier after the first couple days. That's something that's true for me every year, every year the first few days are always the hardest and yes, good opportunity I think for reading the Quran, spending time with that if you're finding a challenging, waking up earlier going to bed late to have Sahur eating a little bit in the morning. That's really helpful too. If I guess if you could go back in 2018, 2015 you just get started. I don't know if you could imagine that you'd be teaching at an Islamic school now. However, many years later, would there be anything you tell yourself kind of in your various phases along the way that you wish you'd had known or anything like that? That's a good question. I might have to think about the broader question. As far as having seen myself teaching, you know, it's really been, you know, it was a hard time finding a job in Cleveland but Alhamdulillah, it felt like I was in the right place at the right time and I'm really grateful to the Muslim community here in Peoria for extending that offer. You know, they're looking for a social studies teacher and does what I had studied in school. So it worked out really well. So social studies, sort of like history and sort of contemporary-ish politics and what not is, suppose you get interesting questions from your students, is it mostly out of school, young people are mostly born Muslim kids, right? And I'm sure that you can provide a sort of particular perspective on social studies at large. What's the intersection of that? Like working with people who are sort of born and raised Muslim and then coming in from the outside and teaching them a little bit about this country and the history and all that. Yeah, it's been really interesting and rewarding being, you know, I studied a lot of American history. So that came into play with like the middle school social studies and some of the civics class and the US history class and I like to tie in, you know, Islamic themes because there's a lot of principles and surprising amount of connections and, you know, both in American history, there's a Muslim history going back hundreds of years and I think it's really valuable both to make sure we're learning, you know, the true history of this country and not sugarcoating some things. And at the same time, looking at the valuable contributions Islam can make to uplifting and helping people in this country and helping us understand how do societies work? How did a law intend for societies work and becoming educated about that? I feel like such an important part of our role as Muslims to help establish justice and be witnesses to injustice as well. So long, I guess is there any anything when you were sort of first studying Islam back when you were in school and first kind of exploring any sort of part of that history that kind of jumped out to you and drew you in a little bit. I know for a lot of converts, it's the autobiography of Malcolm X. Yeah, anything like that for you? Yeah, Malcolm X definitely huge influence on me and both learning more about his story and kind of thinking about foreign policy and wanting to see an end to all the wars that are going on. You know, making the connection and seeing, you know, how both how Islam is misrepresented and how much value it can bring is a foundation for, you know, establishing justice and orienting us in the world from Malcolm X's struggle to the big issues of our time today. Many of them are the same issues that he was fighting for. That's interesting. I've heard that story before where people get exposed to Islam through the media and the negative kind of portrayals and then researching and then like, oh, wow, this is actually great. And then, you know, Hawkins Hawking, you know, we're up into it. So yeah, I was always seeking knowledge. I feel like it's really important and there's so many ways. I think when you learning more about the Dean that you can find ways to make it relevant to many different parts of your life. And like the business class that I teach, I love talking about like Islamic principles of economics and how to run business and and all the different areas of sectors of the business, different kinds of businesses and how it applies to each of those. And so I think that I mean, maybe one thing to do if you're new to Islam and studying the Dean is also in addition to learning about the practices of worship and reading the Quran also studying the history of history of Islam and how are maybe whatever your profession is or what your interests or hobbies are that you're interested in developing see how those have what their Islamic history is might be really interesting and could be worthwhile to that's a great piece of advice. Is there any particular like sort of sources that you go to again for your man leaning on you as an educator or would you think are good access points for new Muslims to learn about Islamic history? Yeah, I mean, there's such a vast literature basis. I'd say it's depending on what you're interested in. I mean one one that just pops my mind on one of my other passions as well as the social sciences is environmentalism environmental issues. I love gardening and have been teaching gardening club here at the school. There's a book by Abraham Abdul Mateen called Green Dean and so that's an example of the kind of intersections that I love to learn about is how what are the environmental principles of Islam? How how have those been practiced in Islamic history and how can those be applied to dealing with environmental issues we face today? And you know, it's pretty general. I think that all across the sectors of the economy there are ways that we can bring more environmental stewardship to what we're doing. So that may be a good general resource, but I don't know depending on what you're interested in. There are a lot of books out there. You can find online or at the library or ask people at the masjid and they may have some sources or recommendations as well. Like you said, there's so much scholarship out there can be a little bit overwhelming. I think especially like where do I start where do I start where I start? Yeah, like your advice is like pick something that you're already passionate about or interested in and knowledgeable about and then find something that directly relates to that. Absolutely. Yeah, you put it really well. That's what I was trying to say. You said it in Green Dean. I'm actually check that out. I'm a bit of a so-called tree hugger myself. Cool. Cool. So we all want to make a prayer for you. So everyone repeat after me and say mashallah. Mashallah means as God wills. And it's what we say be seeking God passionately petitioning God to protect Thomas and to protect Thomas' family. And so we all say that asking God to imbue blessings in everything that Thomas does every step of the journey in his career, in his education, in his family and otherwise. And I want to tell you and Lynn and Uncle Richard and Lucy that if Thomas does this stand thing right, then you will see him to be a better son and a better brother. And if you don't see him to be a better son and a better brother, come tell me. And if you see anything weird, then he's not doing Islam correctly. I'm serious. I mean that because you can be a beautiful Muslim and a beautiful American and it's very possible. Right. And so anything that you see, Thomas hopefully is a man of judgment and good character and wisdom. You can have that and we're here to facilitate because we are part of a human family and we only want you to be a happier mother for you to be a happier father and a happier sister and we mean that and that's real. We want happiness for all of you. And so this is an anonymous moment. We go on our journeys in life where we have intellectual awakenings and emotional awakenings and final spiritual awakenings and this is a moment that's very simple. Thomas has studied Islam. He knows what this moment means. He knows that he's affirming in his heart that there is no God worthy. No one worthy of worship except Allah, which is the Arabic word for God and that the final messenger that God sent to us, Muhammad peace be upon you. And so we're going to say it in English and in Arabic and then some great and then get some dinner because we haven't eaten for 16 hours. Good time to take your shahedan. Start the fast. But step by step, this is a coming into Islam. It's not an event. It's a process. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. And we need to give you water. We need to cheer you up, you know, and make it beautiful. Hopefully, you'll play some music on the side while you're learning that marathon and make a beautiful journey. I mean, I mean. Any questions? Well, Richard says he already sees the positive things that his son has brought to his life. Long life. Repeat after me. We'll do it in English. We'll do it in Arabic three times. I bear witness and I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. Except the Lord. It's the final messenger of Allah. I bear witness, I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except God, except God is the final messenger of God. No Arabic. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.