 All right, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim Again, I just want to thank sister Ember and brother Majib for taking time to joining it join us tonight And I think where you were you were leaving off. I wanted to ask you a question. Yeah You one thing that you said that I thought was interesting was you said that Is it me thinking about? Okay, better. Yeah, so you said that You were kind of describing like a deeper sense of like kind of Contentment or relaxation that you kind of felt after I said things them But you also said that you're still facing a lot of the same challenges. Yeah, so what's What's the same about those challenges and what's different if anything well, I Guess as like a westerner you you're so Programmed for certain things to be okay, right? The no clothes like the very skimpy clothes at like 12 13 years old The kind of stuff I watch the kind of stuff like I consume You know or still also kind of That's me We'll switch And then and then also for me too because I have been Because I have always been on my own That sometimes my first thought isn't a lot or my first thought isn't like well This is God's plan my first part thought is like how am I gonna fix this like what did I do like what? What do I do? How do I make it better? You know, so? as much as I am Learning all these things there are times where just I have it My first thought is it initially? Honolulu and and it's almost kind of beautiful though because then it does remind me Because at first I'm like no no no wait, you're supposed to just trust like it's okay like You know like having financial problems like money is nothing You know in this life money is not I'm not taking money with me and like what Jenna has for me When I get there is more than anything this life could ever have and Also like just like little bad habits like stuff you watch stuff you you consume like things that In a Western society are so normal for us that when you learn Islam You're like no like this is not like the jokes they make the the things that portray this the stuff They say and so those kind of like little habits as well. I call it trash TV, you know Like my trash TV like you I'm trying to break those as well So yeah, it's it it's got a lot of perks But then it also has a lot of reminders of like things that I still need to work So, how do you balance between like you're trying to make progress you want to do things better? But you also don't want to be like too hard on yourself or burn yourself out or I try not to Beat myself up, but I also tried to list like when I'm feeling Really really bad like oh man, I'm not doing something, right? I try to listen to a lot of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him like stories or YouTube things and Something will always pop up where it reminds me like Women didn't get into the hijab till like 15 years in you know, or you know The prayers for all five prayers really didn't get established till eight years in and like small things like that So I tried to remind myself that our Prophet peace be upon him told us to be patient like told us it's okay to you told me the story about one of the Companions right who had his own vices and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him never treated him differently and so I I try to look for the Prophet in ways of how I should kind of think or Ease on myself or relax on myself a little bit when I'm beating myself up if I make a mistake like I listen to a rap song or On some days I'll catch myself kind of cussing more than I have been the last couple days because that's also something I'm trying to like, you know cut out and then I'm like, oh man You're messing up. You're messing up or for me. I'm still trying to establish my prayers five times a day So there is a moment there was like well if I miss one I just might as well not pray at all But then I also try to remember myself or remind myself that Allah loves loves his servant that repents So I try to hold heartedly just repent, you know and ask for forgiveness and astaghfirullah I'm praying and you know someone finally told me like how I'm supposed to like give my du'a's at the end You know I'm supposed to Call my call a lot by his names then all my astaghfirullahs and then be very thankful and then praise the prophet peace be upon him And then go into so things like that just just help and and reminding myself that I'm only eight months in like I'm gonna make a mistake I might learn something that might not be 100% correct and I just try to give myself a little bit of grace That's beautiful And the brother would you for you the same question so or I guess a different question So seeing her except go through that journey go through that that fight and that you know Sort of difficult experiences afterwards and then that's a hundred and come into Islam How did that how did seeing her go through that effect effect you affect your faith to me? It just makes me deep inside just really happy, you know If I can if I can be just a little bit of help if I can be just a little bit of guidance That's the world to me, you know and to see her flourish and to see her work her way through You know life and be the person that she is supposed to be or the person that she's gonna become that is so Enlightening, you know even for me it motivates me like I said earlier. It's like oh I got a you know It should remind me. Hey, I'm gonna go pray. Oh shoot. I gotta go pray, you know, so to me. It's also a very strong reminder like you know, I See something in her, you know what there's another person that I see something in to that I can work on that person as well to and help them better their life, you know, so there's a lot of aspects of her becoming a Muslim and Somebody else that I've converted the other person that I've converted, you know that It's you know, obviously, you know, I'll have the like of the blessings, you know from Allah itself, but you know to me Just seeing them grow into the person that they are really the person that they really are is just To me it's an accomplishment How do you feel if did you feel like the slam or your faith or does these experience of the last eight months? How is it effective your like your martial arts you're fighting? Well, it's really taught me to I obviously didn't win the tournament right and and on the last fight She finished me in like a minute in that fight I felt like I wasn't even in control of my own body and as soon as the fight was over Something like all over me was like now your face will be tested because you turn to Islam Everyone was like, oh when you turn to Islam like all split you're gonna win You're gonna all this stuff and then Allah was like no you struggle with your faith So let's see you have faith when the biggest opportunity the most money possibly could have ever made is taken from you Now what you know, and I think that it pushed me farther into Islam It actually made me made me want to get closer to God and deeper and more involved But as far as my martial arts, it's helped me take some emotion out of it. Um It also made me is it is making me Because fighting only lasts for so long right you can only be an athlete for so long and as fighters We almost Identified with fighting and that's why you see some of your favorite fighters who get close to retire me like man Why can't this guy just hanging up like I'm watching my favorite fighter Just get demolished by the front because we literally Identify with it is our way of life and now that I have Islam the only way of life I have is a lot like that is everything else is secondary. Nothing else matters the the person I fall in love with The money I make the career at the end of the day The only thing I live for is to get closer to God to be a Respectful and amazing servant to God and to you know Make sure my hereafter is something sweet and you know something not so yeah It's just helped me kind of separate what it's reality But yeah, so so it's that and because as a fighter to you can I'm seven and six as a MMA fighter, right? So that means I've won just as many as I've lost and I've had beautiful Head kick knockouts. I've had beautiful knockouts. I have like I have like a I don't know It's probably like an 88% finish rate, but I also have a hundred percent being finished rate, you know, so With something like that it can make your emotions go up and down because this is your life, right? You've spent your entire last ten years trying to be the best in the world and might not be yours, you know, but Whether fighting was to bring me to a million dollars or world title fighting was meant to bring me to Allah And that's what my fighting was for and at the moment I started to convert I started meeting a bunch of amazing Muslim fighters like Mark the Beck, you know At these these guys who are from different countries whose whole life is Islam and it just it's like now like not only am I a fighter, but now I'm a fighter That's a part of Islam like now we're like in our own little group. So whether I win or lose or whatever It's all it's all okay. It's all it's all good in which is something I didn't feel Before I had Islam before it was like I lost. I'm a loser. I'd say it like I'm not getting out of bed I'm not doing anything like everyone's gonna have a bad day because I'm having a bad day and now it's like It's cool because look it's brought me to like these amazing events like these amazing things like I've put on Multiple all women sister events at the gym. I'm doing my first self-defense here So even if at the end of my career because I you know, I just turned 36 So there's only so much I got left at the end of it fighting has brought me to way more beautiful things and Beautiful people and all through like Islam now, you know, like I was telling you the other day of my Instagram I lost like soon as I started posting about my support to to casa of Palestine. I lost thousand followers in like two days but then I went up like Like 2000 I'm just like I gained like 12,000 followers of just the woman in just a couple months You know, so yeah Islam is done so much for me when it comes to my fighting That's a beautiful beautiful reflection about how like sometimes be like, oh, if I begin What's my everything is gonna and then you were tested and it seems like you knew you were being just I've had people I really won't say his name. He's a super famous fighter And he literally messaged me like I can't believe you as a woman want to be a must-love And in my head I was just like wow like Like you're contradicting you like you are such an evil person like you are like from your heart Like really saying how you feel and here I am just living my life trying to get close to God and better myself And it really let me know like it was a big realization like people who Down talk Muslims or talk bad about Islam or all like they just really don't know like the Amaziness that comes from being a Muslim or in Islam or this amazing uma that we're all now a part of like I've been through a bunch of groups in my life and never in 36 years have I felt more welcomed more loved more accepted more honored more Just everything then when I became a Muslim and I got to meet like all these amazing sisters and all these amazing brothers are part of this So It's been a nice eight months really it's been a very clarifying eight months We're honored to have you Um, we can open it up for questions and answers now Um There's a brother back back there as an athlete um What would you say like Helped you like get through trust times and like what motivated you to become you know the best possible fighter you can be Through the tough times, which what really motivated me was my brothers. So like I said earlier I have three brothers and uh, they all go through their own struggles and My family we weren't supposed to make it like I wasn't supposed to make it. I was supposed to be the one that Ended up on drugs in prison five kids eight different baby daddy, you know and um And so to be able to win or lose tough days or whatever to just know that I make an Impact on people's lives just helps me keep going all the time So doesn't matter how rough the training gets doesn't matter how low, you know Fighting is not a rich sport. So if you guys are like, oh, I'm gonna be a fighter because I want to make all this money like some days and sometimes it's not like that so it's a struggle in but God now helps me get through my rough days and also just knowing that Getting through rough days that there are people watching that are younger than you and they want to see you Succeed through your rough days. So yeah, I hope that answered the question Well when things would happen still after I converted like bad things was Making sure that To pray it out, right? Everyone was like in prayer like cry to God that was and so at first I was very reluctant to do so And then when things started to go bad or I needed to have faith I would it's even that like right now I just pray to God and I cry to God and then that helps me And it really does help me build my faith because every time that happens Something inside of me is like, uh now you feel that like you're okay. Like do you feel like I've got you You're protected and I think that every time I feel that a little bit more Like look you looked to me even when things got rough It it makes my faith stronger. It makes me feel better It makes me feel like no matter what I'm gonna get through it Even if I don't win a bell or even if I don't get all these things or what I'm gonna get through it because my faith is growing After you converted, did you ever affect your family? Like Like how can I explain like did you teach them a little bit about Islam? I do. Yes. I do try and um one of my little brothers lives with me and he's so cute Like he'll go grocery shopping and he'll buy like beef hot dogs or like beef like Breakfast sandwiches or I've seen that I don't even eat corn dogs, but he bought beef corn dogs You know because he knows like pork is not good and um, so yeah, I do Yeah, I do I try to as much without like trying to like shove it down their throats because Like I said, my family's not very religious But I do try to involve them my mom too. My mom will ask all kinds of questions You know, like, oh, why do you do this? Why do they cover? Why do they have their scarf on like, you know Alhamdulillah, like you say it all the time. What does the Alhamdulillah mean? You know, you say a stuff will my brother go, oh, here she goes Astaghfirullah through the house Astaghfirullah. So yeah, I do try to to give them little little doses where I can Yeah, and um when you converted since you were trying to also build up your faith. Are you planning to? um So hey, um Are you planning to start? Fasting because I know Ramadan is actually coming up. Yeah, I'm going to participate in Ramadan this year. I am I have not Pre-fasted Until then I know I have this month read. That's why I was asking you what Shaban was right because I just learned about the the month before Ramadan Um, but I am I'm going to fast We're gonna do it and this is where I'm hopefully gonna click kill some bad habits too of like the music or tv shows I watch and things like that. I have amazing people helping me through it because I'm like, I'm all alone I got no family. I've got people that invite me like you can come over to dinner Break your fast with me break your fast. So yeah, I am going to participate in it and I'm extremely excited And then I have questions for mr. MJ Is that a money? This was mainly about when you talked about it first that You were going to get smuggled into America. I think I might have misheard it But how did you get to America? Uh on an airplane Because I might have misheard it like you were saying stuff about smuggling and I was like, wait Are you saying you got smuggled into America? I'm like In a suitcase in the airplane I'm just kidding. Uh, no, uh, we I got we got smuggled from afghanistan into pakistan Somehow and then over here my uncle um had landed in afghan from afghanistan here and uh, they you know at that time You know seeking asylum and stuff like that over here Then they sponsored us to come to this country. So and the sponsorships were a lot easier back there And then um, you said that at one point in your life You got led into parties and other things that you shouldn't have. How did you get out of this happen? my wife Yep Yes, you know, we you know once once I met my wife then a lot of things changed you know and um I didn't go out with anybody I didn't party with anybody but you know, that was my My my party partner, you know everywhere we went I went with my wife Anytime I did anything I did anything with my wife anything I did I ran it through her You know, so happy wife happy life Sometimes And then do you guys both Live in LA because I think when you guys were talking you guys, uh, you guys were saying something about And then where's your gym? Yeah, that's a few minutes away. Yeah, that's a double right here. Yeah And mj is opening a new gym in blackhawks. So uh, humbly laugh for that Like it now there will be two so there's csa the regular which is like more fight related Crossfit here in like seven minutes away. And then mj is going to open a bigger more commercially Kind of 24-hour fitness slash fight gym in blackhawks. So now we'll have two places Semi-close and then in your gym. Oh, what do you teach? Do you only teach like kickboxing and boxing? I teach the kids five to 14. I teach them Muay Thai I also teach crossfit and then I run the morning programs, which is adult So it's going to be boxing and Muay Thai in the bad classes And I also will jump in and teach a little jiu-jitsu every now and then I wanted to say something on that part. Um, there's a lot of sisters here. So, um You know, we A lot of parents a lot of mothers and fathers have always approached us and said, hey, you know, I want my daughter to train But I don't want them, you know with other people or the crowd or You know, my daughter wears a hijab my, you know, I don't want her to be Involved in such things and I always tell them, you know, it's important especially in this day and age You know that you learn to defend yourself. You learn to protect yourself You learn to do those kind of things, you know, and with us you know We protect you that way, you know, I've had multiple multiple fathers come to me and say, hey, I really want my daughter to train I really want her to learn how to defend herself But I don't want her in You know, partnering with another male. I don't want her partnering with this and you know, we're very accommodating to that and I just want to let a lot of the parents know And it's a good thing that if you work to get your kids into martial arts It's very important that you get into because of the day and age that we live now You know, so they can learn how to protect themselves. So they can learn how to defend themselves and their family So don't be afraid to walk into a gym because you are a hijab, you know Don't feel afraid because you're Muslim and you're not welcome, you know Go into those places feel comfortable You know, do your thing learn how to defend yourself because in Islam, we also have to take care of our health as well, too It's very important that we take care of our health So don't ever be afraid to walk in there and don't ever if if it's not our gym Walk into a different gym and just say, hey, I want to learn but I also Need to be, you know Not be around the normal people. I don't want to be touched. I don't want to be, you know It's like that as a respect factor. So that's also why I started doing my, um, women's events So, um, I try I know we're doing the first one here at MCC, but I've done a few at CSA which as soon as Ramadan's over I'm going to start doing them at CSA again They're they're completely free and I just offer them as often as I can So, you know, if it is something that you ladies are interested in but don't necessarily feel comfortable walking into a regular gym You know, make sure you guys get my instagram or anything like that And I try to keep it posted when I do do them on my instagram So, you know, you all are always more than welcome And then when is the one here at MCC? It's on sunday, but I believe it's full. Yeah, so it's on sunday I believe it's full but inshallah it goes well then when you're just gonna have me here every day Don't worry guys. No Leave it at someone here All right, I'll come back to you sister. Go ahead young man As-salamu alaykum. Wa alaykum as-salam I just have a question like in general. Well, what is like the hardest thing and like, what is the hardest thing? What what what are you trying to become pro? The hardest thing about becoming pro is the is the the the stuff that you don't see the Not being able to pay your bills to not especially if you don't have any family helping you out But the cold nights alone the the not having enough food in the fridge the The early mornings the the broken down car. I know a lot of fighters who are homeless Actually, they sleep in their cars in the parking lot Those are the hardest parts about becoming pro because it's something that like your conor Mcgregor's don't talk about You know as much once they get like super super famous But yeah, I think that those are the hardest parts and it's just being like, okay, like this is just a moment in time It's not the rest of time. So like let's just keep moving I also have one more like How do you like the students who like? Who who don't really want to learn and I still try to teach them something um well Those ones you have to threaten to hang them from the rafters by their toes if they're children and they usually shape up pretty quickly no, I'm just kidding, but um Do you just have to remind them like hey, you know your parents pay if they're kids That's like you have to remind them like hey your parents pay a lot of money for you to be here and Since you are here like let's get the most of the hour Right, like you don't want to spend the whole hour with me yelling at you or barking orders at you Or telling you to stop doing this or that so you know I just try to remind people or even like some adults or Teenagers right because the teenagers come to the gym and usually their parents are forcing them to be there So those ones as well I try to just remind them like don't waste your hour You might as well learn something while you're here and you never know you might be able to take it with you the next day You're welcome So I'm rake, um, I don't really have a question. I just wanted to give a testament to how amazing Your gym is I have two of my kids go to csa one of them Uh does boy tie and boxing with mj and one of them does crossfit A daughter and a son And it's a very good gym. They're very respectful of everyone and if you're thinking about it Yeah, for sure look them up and I did also ambers woman's event and it was amazing So anytime that opportunity comes up. I highly recommend our sister. She's my new islam buddy She's been hitting me up like hey come with me to the sisters event Like, you know, like what do you need? Like it's been sending me like stuff to help me Um translate the cut on and stuff. So also, thank you very much for that But yeah, so the sisters are amazing with me at all times and I'm very appreciative of it It's not way consistent very well, I can smell thank you so much for sharing with us It's so amazing to hear your story. Um, they look at you ease and in your journey. Thank you I was just wondering do you have any recommendations for hijabi work out wear or like kind of I'm not dressing modestly in the gym. So, uh, this is a new realm for me I don't necessarily wear the hijab when I'm out yet like outside. Um, but um I have been trying to switch from like your tiny little gym clothes to more modest stuff And there's a brand called hyah H a y a hyah that makes these really beautiful long Um, like shirts, but they're they're not like you still see like a little form You know, they're not like they don't look like just like long abayas Um, so I really do like that brand But honestly, I've just been big shirting it up like some nice like loose pants Something comfortable and you know, I don't feel like just because Other women at the gym don't want to wear no clothes. Like that's what you have to do to fit into a fitness environment Because it's not true, you know Being fit and working out is not necessarily about how you look It's about how you feel and it's about being healthy and strong and being able to defend yourself if you need to and Just to feel good in your own skin. So don't ever let um, society or the way The western world thinks is beautiful Determine you from stepping into a gym, right? You go in there and you you be your authentic self no matter what These are being funny. Um, okay. So I do have one question. This is remember, uh, real quick And I'll hand it over so you have a public profile We have a lot of bullying that happens in public schools here in the tri valley in the progressive bay area There's a lot of bullying going on. How do you do with the online bullies? How do you do with the comments? How does it get to you? Don't read them. Don't pay any kind of attention to them. Like honestly, like don't get into arguments online I know like for me because I'm very uh, I speak up a lot about gaza and what's happening in palestine And so I get a lot of very hateful Evil things said to me or I've been in some like really nasty arguments Um, or even like a fighter like I said, I've been knocked out a few times in seven and six So people always like to hit low blow like oh, well, you should just stop hiding because you suck at it Well, it's like you're just behind your computer, you know So what I would say is like don't even waste your time with it like young people, especially Do not argue with your classmates online Do not like use the internet as a way to socialize or like get back at each other And if people are trying to bully you online block and delete like that's our motto at csa block Delete and block and just keep it moving Yeah, let's not Well, like so Are you fighting or are you retired or you will be fighting? Oh, I'm still fighting I have a couple years left and uh, a humbly laugh because I'm no longer with pfl It will give me an opportunity to fight here regionally locally. So my next fight hopefully will be in may At the sap center in san jose So I already told coach k. I said i'm gonna have the umma there. I think better watch out. It's gonna be van after van of the just So, uh, yeah, like i'm still fighting. I still got a couple years left You know, we want to give give these last couple years a good little run, but yeah, i'm still in it awesome just to follow up Since pfl has bought velator any chance to you going back to pfl and competing Yeah, so, uh, I I didn't get re-signed Which is cool because they're going through so much transitional stuff There's a good chance a lot of my weight class is going to sit on the shelf for a year Um, and i'm going to earn my way back They told me to win some regional titles come back with that and hopefully when I do that next year They'll have my weight class back for that million dollar tournament because they're not doing that this year for the feather weights And um, yeah, I'll get my my second shot to win a million dollars So, yeah, yeah Sonic this is a question for both of you. Is there any martial arts class for women almost the women and girls? Well, right now. I'm just doing kind of special events. I don't have anything specifically on the docket I am trying to get coach and mj to let me permanently do one on Sundays, but you know, we're working on that And so right now I just last year. I think I did four Six of them and it's something that I am trying to do a little bit more I am going to wait till after ramadan just because I don't know what I'm going to feel like during ramadan I don't want to put too much on my plate, but hopefully I'll get something more consistent So at least I'll have something that will be tailored just for women and girls The other thing too, like I said earlier. Yes, if you you know, I know we're here But other gyms, I don't know about but to us if you want to send, you know, your female to us We will take care of them, you know, we will help protect them We will help them not partner with somebody that you don't want them partner with So if you want to send them to to us, we will definitely take good care of them So they're learning the same thing as everybody else does Without having to be with everybody else so We have we have we have two girls with hijabis. We have other females as well two that are muslim You know, uh, not as modest, but you know, but they're there So, yeah Hi, what's your favorite thing that you've learned about Islam so far? Um, I'm really enjoying right now learning about the prophets all the prophet stories Which is something that I was always like really curious about right like growing up you here Like there was adam and eve, but it was like but then what you know, like okay adam ate the apple Okay, well what happens then so right now? I think my favorite thing to learn about Islam is the prophet and I am having fun learning a little bit of arabic Even though it's it's not great It's not great at all But you know learning my prayers and stuff like that and just like learning du'a like if I learn a du'a And I remember it by heart like it just makes me so happy So those are just kind of some things that I'm really like enjoying about Islam right now Salam alaykum alaykum slum I wanted to welcome you to the faith and express how happy I am to see some person convert to Islam and I also have a Comment and a question. Okay. Thank you. My comment is uh My comment is you've mentioned numerous times that you've met a lot of wonderful muslims and Have a lot of new friends who check in on you and ask how things are doing for you I also wanted to bring to your attention That you're also going to meet a lot of not so wonderful muslims throughout your journey You're going to meet a lot of people who are going to lie to you and be dishonest and be deceitful Muslims are a population of over one billion people who are human beings sometimes the devil gets the best of us So please just keep in mind that Islam as a religion is perfect But muslims who follow it and practice it are not perfect. So please if you ever feel Mistreated by any muslim Please don't let that Make you start to hate Islam. Thank you. I do appreciate it. So you can't see it now But I do have a lot of tattoos So I am covered in tattoos like my home face in that because all covered in tattoos and I get a lot of What are you going to get them removed? Like you have to remove them Like you cannot be a muslim with your tattoos and I'm like, well, they're not They're permanent. They're not going anywhere, you know, but thank you I really do appreciate that because sometimes you're like, wait, am I supposed to get them removed because that's going to hurt like a lot Yeah, thank you. Yeah, and one more comment and a quick question is the second comment I was going to make is Like if you ever ever have a question or if you ever have some kind of doubt the intellectual doubt or spiritual doubt Please don't ever hesitate to reach out to someone who's knowledgeable who can answer your questions Muslims who've been Muslims all their life or even people who have a phd in Islamic studies There's been cases where they've turned atheists or they've even converted to a different faith despite all the knowledge they have about Islam and history and the Quran and its meanings and stuff like that so Yeah, faith goes up and down and if you ever have a question, please don't hesitate to reach out There's no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to learning about the foundations of your faith and its evidences absolutely, I really do appreciate that because Honestly, the people in my life I hit them a question in a long time and I think that even my questions sometimes get there like it was born Muslims Especially gets their wills turned in they're like, oh, hey, I haven't thought about that in so long But thank you very much and I absolutely will and the question I had and this is a Little bit of a completely different topic was do you recommend any general supplements for increasing fighting performance at the gym It's the way you eat, right? You got to make sure you eat healthy and get a lot of sleep But just stay up on your natural like your everyday vitamins your vitamin c your fish oils your creatine your Things like that, but honestly when it comes to fighting your nutrition and your sleep are going to be number one Um, so my friend wanted to ask this question. So I'm asking this for okay And um, what was your family's reaction to your conversion? They were they were okay. I didn't get any kind of backlash. I didn't get anything I think one of my little brothers was like Okay, like all right, like are you happy and I'm like, yeah, I'm very happy. They're like, okay Well, we're happy for you, you know, um, but my family is very supportive Especially because I the way I did grow up and like I said, like I wasn't supposed to be a success story I was supposed to be like one of the ones that didn't make it And so I think that my family is just happy as long as I'm not Messing up or you know in dangerous situations anymore. So yeah, I've been so I'm lucky I've been supported through my fighting and through my conversion So I'm a little yeah, I'm so happy to have you as part of the old one now And uh, something that I realized that you mentioned earlier was how now being a Muslim You don't really relate to like the jokes that you hear the show the shows that you watch It doesn't really hit the same because you realize that's a Muslim how like And I just wanted to ask how you deal with that and sometimes feeling like Somewhat of an outtider like you don't relate to these jokes. You don't really Enjoy like some of the things in this dunya now. Do you like manage that? What is your mindset when it comes to that now? It's different It is different or like like we'll just take music for instance Like I used to love me some hip-hop rap in which I still really enjoy hip-hop rap and stuff like that But then when you just like hear the stuff that they're talking about and you know Like like you can play that on Spotify, but I can't play my palestine song. I stop, you know, but um It is it is interesting, right? So I am still in this kind of new New transition where I'm asking a lot to like introduce me to more people who are more Doing what I'm doing, you know So I have been fortunate enough to like the the the m's that's what we call them because both their names are Mara Um, they helped me a lot and so I've just been trying to to get new friends Of the uma and like kind of surround myself more with like Muslims Then just like everyday people and that way I can You know talk about the prophet peace be upon him talk about the faith talk about Islam and feel okay about doing so So it is still something I'm learning, but yeah, it's it's it's a learning curve for sure Uh, who is the greatest fighter in the history in your opinion could be Could be Could be and I didn't I'm not even saying that because he's a muscle like no like literally it's could be You know, but if we're talking women ronda rousey Yeah So star amber when you were in new york last year shortly after your conversion Um, you know when you do the weigh-in and usually wearing pretty skipping clothes That's the thing with mma. How do you maintain your modesty in such a female? I don't know Well in the the last the last fight I did Not the one against lorisa, but the one against marina I actually asked them for the the weight cutting curtain So that you they usually only bring the curtain out if you're gonna miss weight and the commission was giving me a lot of like Grief about it. They're like, well, you haven't even weighed in I'm like, I'm trying to be covered so can you just pull out the curtain please and um That part is Hard because like with an organization like pfl. They don't really give us an outfit choice So like if they were going to resign me this year, I was going to ask them for at least a t-shirt You know like like something that covers just a little bit more um And yeah, so that part is is kind of like you don't really know like how to like You just do what you can so like with the weigh-ins like I didn't weigh in in my my underwear my bra Like I normally do like I asked for the curtain and I think with someone who's a revert like me who Modesty has never been the case right western societies like The little or the better and um, so I just take it like small steps Small so that like when's the last time you see me in a sports bra? You haven't since I Converted, you know, so I just try to make these small changes where I can and it might not be the For the Hadam police that you know, we call them on the internet. It might not be what they want right now But you know, we got to all make it in our own time I Was just wondering How can how can you manage like between like professional life and personal life? um, well for me, I don't really have much of a personal life But fighting is is my life So I a lot of my friends are fighters a lot of the things I do are all fighting and when I first started fighting I did have to like like make a choice to Not have a bunch of the same friends that I used to have because they weren't really Benefiting like where I was trying to go So when you think about something like that, you got to think about like your goal, right? Where are you trying to get to are the people in your personal life getting you there? Or are they trying to bring you back from there because if they're not trying to help you get to your goals Or your personal life isn't helping you achieve those goals. You need to switch some things around So for me fighting and my personal life. They're kind of intertwined at the moment Yes, of course okay, um How is your journey with learning Arabic? Is it like easy or are you? No, it's so I Of course, like I said, I get a lot of help I for me just Listening to I'll ask MJ. I have another friend that I ask him a lot of stuff often as well and It's just keep repeating it like repeating it repeating it over and over and over again But um for me like I had to kind of learn like where the sound comes from Like, you know, it's got to come like deep from in your chest Where it's like Westerners you kind of talk in our mouth, you know, so That part's been interesting, but I do ask I have to ask like but then I also have to be like MJ Can you slow down please because I did not hear anything. You just said he's like what I just said that that's exactly what I said I was like, okay, can you not and then I also have to remember that um Like because he's afghan so his dialect is different to somebody who just speaks Arabic So kind of hearing it from two different people helps but that part's been interesting But we try we try we do it So when she asks me and I say as fast as I can because that's how I'm used to saying it And she goes can you slow down and when I slow down I mess up. I'm like wait. Did I say that? A lot of people like it. Can you help me with this like I'm like, no Next another person because that's not gonna work but uh, I do have an app on my phone called Nazma Nazma or something like that Which they say say the prayers for you and then you can read it And so that help that has helped me 100% like that app right there is I mean, it took me eight months But now I finally know my prayers will start to finish like by heart But yeah, so the apps help for definitely help Of course Um, I know you mentioned wait earlier um that you train a lot of people from different religions Now my question is like what inspired you to choose amber? I think um, I Nothing really inspired me, but I just saw a lot of I just saw something in her where I'm like, you know, I don't know I I have this thing about me where I see stuff in people and I usually just go with it So in her situation, you know I did see her struggle and I did see her and I'm like she's trying to do something So, you know to me, it's like why not come to this beautiful religion? Why not come to you know And if I don't tell her I feel like I failed If I don't tell her So it's worth a shot. Were you worried about crossing? No, I never worry about that stuff I cross the line all the time So no, I wasn't I was never yeah, no, I you know, I I till this day my own business partner. I tell him every single I remind him every single day. He was there I visited you guys at csa And he just kept telling his business partner that he should accept the slam and I was like You're gonna do it and I tell him every day and he kept being like no He's like you're a great guy, you know, and I just like with her brother and I told him you're next I'm gonna get you And I do I legitimately do and I'm like, hey, you're you know, why not cover what's wrong? I'm a Catholic. What does that matter? I I literally tell him just like that. So I mean catch me again No, I Earlier and when she was talking about it, you know When she was going through her struggles. I told her I said, you know what? I know you don't know how to pray But you know, what we believe in is one of the most important parts of the night Or the day of the night is kajud, right? And I said, please just wake up just look up and just say god Allah I don't know if they say Allah just say god help me, you know, tell him You know that that is a time where You know, like I was out and asked you, what do you want? What can I give you? And that's where when she did that, you know, that Ask Yes, you did Yeah, um, so I just wanted to say thank you to both of you for making time to come and for Sharing your stories with us and kind of just being vulnerable and telling us about Your whole life. Thanks for having us. We we both really do appreciate it because He we're in the heat. Well at least I'm in this with him, right? Like he helped me with Islam Like he is my my guide and so to be able to do this with him and for all you guys was amazing So thank you guys for having us for sure Yes, absolutely. Thank you guys all for being out here for us and hearing us And hopefully I'll see a bunch of you ladies on Sunday We're on exactly what I think