From Darkness to Sunlight: An Interview with NBA Star and Legend, Zaid Abdul-Aziz

My education that I have taken in the university is sunlight, coming from the darkness of public schools in Brooklyn.
 

These are four examples of darkness to sunlight.
 
Was your early life a typical reflection of the African American community under the oppression of racism at that time? How did that environment affect you?
 
The four examples I gave you of coming “from darkness to sunlight” are just a few. There are five or six other examples in the book that I speak about. One of the examples was me, coming from a predominantly black society in Brooklyn, coming to Iowa which was a predominantly white society.
 

How did it affect me? It did affect me enormously, culturally more than racially. Even in terms of friends, now I have friends from all types of races and religions. They might not have embraced the Islamic faith but they are good people. So I try to be kind to them to let them know that this is what Islam is. I try not to be closed. I try not to be in the darkness. I try to make my actions speak louder than my words. I try to care for people, and love people from all types of races, nationalities and religions.
 
In the religion of Islam, our Prophet, grace and blessings be upon him, was surrounded by Jews and Christians, and he treated each one of them in a good fashion. Some of them even embraced Islam and some of them didn’t. But even if they did not believe in what the Prophet was saying to them, they loved him too. And I feel it is our responsibility as Muslims to be caring for all other creatures.
 
 

You brought up a good point. One of the challenges Muslims face in America, or in the West in general, is how to breach the gap between their identities as Muslims and as Americans. And you have succeeded in that. You have made a great contribution to this country and to your religion at the same time. How can Muslims become better Muslims and better citizens at the same time?
 
We just have to do the basics. Just be kind and considerate. Be concerned with your neighbor, feed the poor, and help people. Make Islam visible. Make it something positive that people want to become. They say that 75% of communication is non-verbal. What we say from our mouths is not actually what people see – it is your actions. There was no one as kind as our Prophet, may peace be upon him, so why can’t we try to be kind like he was?
  
Coming back to the life journey, after the difficult childhood times, you were selected to play basketball at Iowa State University, and from there you began your NBA career that lasted for 10 consecutive years. How would you describe these years?
 
When I wrote my book, “From Darkness to Sunlight”, one thing scared me, which was that anywhere along the way I could have blown it. Anywhere in my life I could have run into severe consequences. Things like… I was sitting with kids injecting heroin, and then when they would ask me, would I want some?  At a young age, I didn’t do it. Me saying no to myself. God didn’t want me to do it. Like in college, when I played I never got a major injury. I didn’t skip my courses, I graduated 6 months after my due date. I never had a bad attitude which could have prevented me from being drafted to the NBA. But in each step along the way, God, subhanahu wa ta’ala, helped me. Each step of the way God was there. And it was up to me to find God. And I finally did in 1975 (1974 to 1976). That was the period where I started studying and I found Islam to be the true religion.
 
How did you find Islam?
 

I was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. It was a cold Milwaukee day, it was about -10 degrees, and there was about 2 feet of snow. Practice had just ended. At that time I was a Catholic and I had a cross around my neck. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came over to me while I was shooting free throws. He whispered to me and said: “What’s that?” I said: “What’s what?” He said: “Around your neck, what’s that?” And I had a cross on. I looked down, and God subhanahu wa ta’ala let me know that I was wearing an ornament, a crucifix, and couldn’t explain the meaning of it.
 
Was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a Muslim at that time?
 

Yes.  So, during the next couple of days I went to the Milwaukee library and I started studying the different religions, and I found the Qur’an. The Qur’an just spoke to me. I said, “This is the way!”  For instance, I was asking myself: “If Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven, what about people who lived before Jesus?” Then I said: “There would have to be somebody else to have that mission, just common sense, because Jesus wasn’t there yet.” So I started thinking about questions like that, and then I said: “Yes, there were prophets before Jesus, and they came with a Message. Since Jesus wasn’t there, then their Message was Tawheed, Oneness of God. Whatever message people followed at that time was the straight way. And that’s what Jesus said, that was his message: following the path of all the prophets, whatever that path was at the time.
 
 How was people’s reaction to the news that you converted to Islam?
 

Back then, people didn’t know what to say. Even to this day, when I tell people, “Zaid Abdul Aziz,” they don’t know who that is. Then I have to say, “Don Smith,” and then it makes sense to them. It was almost like Don Smith just disappeared and then there is this new guy, Zaid Abdul Aziz, because people didn’t understand. That’s why in my book I put “The Life Changing Journey of Zaid Abdul Aziz (Don Smith)”, only to let people know that those two people are the same human being, but a different person.
  
Later on, you went to Saudi Arabia to coach the national team and some other teams, and you had payment and treatment problems with some teams. Was it a shock to receive this kind of treatment from people in a country representing the belief that you had just embraced?
 
That was a tough time for me. But you know, when I look back, this was one of the best times in my life. I did have a chance to go to Medina and Mecca and make Umrah. The problem I had was a civil contractual problem that can happen anywhere, even here in the US.
 
 

How was your Hajj experience?
 

Some elders say that, if your Hajj is accepted, you’ll never be the same again. And after doing my Hajj, I haven’t been the same again. When we are invited, it is God who is inviting us. Being in the desert of Saudi Arabia, giving up the comforts of the world, and performing rituals with people from all over the world… it will affect you tremendously.

What are the key things that you want people to learn from reading your book?
 

I would want them to know the Mercy of God, subhanahu wa ta’ala. That He would take a kid from Brooklyn, NY and protect him and give him the miracle of being able to play in the NBA not only one season, not two seasons, but 10 seasons. Somebody took a survey of who becomes an NBA player and came to the conclusion that only 1/30th of a percent of those who try actually become NBA players. They say that becoming an NBA player is harder than becoming an astronaut.
 

That’s what I want people to see, that everything is possible. We just let God guide us and try to be good people.
 
Is there any last thing you would like to say to our readers?
 

I just want to thank Mercy Magazine for this interview. I wish you all success. It is a great endeavor for its team to undertake and to spread this beautiful message of Islam not only to Muslims but to all people.
 

This entry was posted on June 6, 2007 at 4:28 am and is filed under Interviews, Spring 2007 Issue, Youth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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