June 6, 2007 by editor.

You recently published an autobiography entitled: “From Darkness to Sunlight”. What do you mean by “darkness” and “sunlight”?
 
If you read the book, you will notice that there are a number of areas that can be interpreted as “From Darkness to Sunlight”. I grew up in a very poor family, even though we never went to bed hungry. Thank God my grandmother pretty much took care of us. I lived in Brooklyn, NY and I came from a very dysfunctional family. That could be termed darkness for me. My mother and father never spoke one day in my life. I grow up with a lot of bad people in the city of Brooklyn. That could be interpreted as darkness. But now that I have become a Muslim, I have 1.4 billion people in my family, and that’s the sunlight.
 
Another form of darkness – when I was 16 years old, I spent time in prison for a felony. But Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, made it possible for me to come out from prison, so that could be a form of sunlight.
 
Being able to become a gifted basketball player in New York and being able to become an NBA player for 10 seasons, that’s also sunlight.
 

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.
 

Posted in Interviews, Spring 2007 Issue, Youth | Print | No Comments »

April 1, 2007 by editor.

Interview By Khalid Lazaar

MultiMedia: Watch Video Performance of Al-Anwar Al-Muhammadiyya at Muslims of America Conference, Seattle, WA. May 2005.

All praise is due to Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, the Cherisher of the worlds. May peace and blessings be upon the most virtuous of all creation, the Seal of the Messengers, Muhammad. May mercy be upon his family, companions and followers until the Day of Judgment.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “None of you has complete faith until I am more beloved to him than his parents, his children and all of mankind.” Love of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is the cornerstone of our faith. There is no limit to this love and it may be expressed in any manner in accordance with Allah’s Sacred Law (shari’a). The more we know the exalted status of Muhammad, peace be upon him, in the sight of Allah, the stronger our attachment to him will become. Whether by following his teachings and his way of life, loving what he loved, or letting the heart flow with poetry about him, we are strengthening our love of him. Islamic cultural heritage is rich with many magnificent and varied expressions of the noble love of the Prophet, peace be upon him. The Poem of the Cloak (Qasidat al-Burdah) is considered one of the best literary works expressing the love and the high status of the beloved Prophet, peace be upon him. The writer of the Poem of the Cloak, Imam Al- Busiri, said:
Leave aside what the Christians have claimed for their Prophet –
Then praise him as you like, but do so wisely.
Ascribe to his essence what you wish of honor,
Attribute to his exalted status what you will of greatness!
Truly, the Messenger of God’s bounty
Cannot be overstated by two lips and a tongue.

Praising the Prophet, peace be upon him, is thus transmitted to us through generations, every generation doing its best to preserve the heritage of love. Islamic singing (nasheed) is a means of keeping this heritage alive and vibrant in the hearts of Muslims. Pursuant to this goal, MERCY has conducted an interview with Mr. Sa’id Lazaar, a member of the up and coming Chicago nasheed group Al-Anwar Al-Muhammadiyya, on the group’s experience and on the art of praising the Prophet, peace be upon him.

To begin with, could you please introduce the group to the general public?
 

First of all, on behalf of my colleagues in the group, I would like to thank MERCY Magazine for this opportunity to communicate with the general public. The Al-Anwar Al-Muhammadiyya group was founded in the year 2000 in Chicago. It now consists of 7 members who are of Moroccan nationality. However, this does not necessarily mean that participation is limited to Moroccans. We welcome anyone who possesses the talent to join the group. The name of the group can be translated as The Light of Muhammad or The Muhammadan Lights. The name indicates the genre of the songs that we perform.

Can you bring the reader a bit closer to this type of song?
 

Well, all the songs, or nasheed in Arabic, are about the love of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the praise of the Creator. The goal of nasheed differs entirely from that of a regular song. It focuses on addressing the soul of the human being and building bridges of love between the heart of the listener and the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Nasheed usually gives a physical description of the Prophet, peace be upon him, or it describes his noble virtues, all for the purpose of strengthening our love for him, which is a major pillar of faith (iman).

Why do we need nasheed to instill the love of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in the heart? Is it not sufficient to follow his teachings, learn about his characteristics, read his biography, and so on?
 I agree that following the teachings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and learning about his life and characteristics are essential to increase our love of him. However, we live in a world where the struggle between good and evil is taking place. Evil is doing its best to deviate mankind from guidance. Evil insinuates that the path of religion does not allow joy and happiness in life, to the point that people cannot even relax or enjoy themselves by listening to music. We, in the Al-Anwar Al-Muhammadiyya group prove such a claim to be false by competing in the musical arena and producing nasheed that is at once musically appealing, uplifting to the soul, and soundly based in the rich Islamic tradition. We use nasheed as a means of proving this accusation false and removing the veils that prevent people from seeing the faith of Islam as it truly is.
 

Even though there are so many talented nasheed groups, we still see that the majority of Muslim listeners resort to other types of songs. Why do you think that is the case?
 

Unfortunately that is true. The contribution of the Islamic nasheed needs to be backed up by other institutions that serve the same cause. We can say that the lack of tarbiya, or spiritual training, and attachment to the worldly life creates an unbalanced Muslim personality. In other words, materialism is more prominent in many Muslims than spirituality. Consequently, the listener wants to feed the dominant desire of his lower self (nafs) and disregards the needs of his soul.
 

How can Islamic nasheed assist in solving this problem?
 

Well, as I mentioned in the previous question, there should be some type of cooperation between different institutions that are trying to revive the faith of the Muslim nation (umma). Our part in the realm of music is to re-establish the proper balance between the material and the spiritual. While other types of music address and stimulate the base desires in the human being, our focus is to address what is noble and spiritually beneficial. We hope that this goal will also be a service to the larger society.
 

Can you share some of your achievements and some of the struggles that the group has faced?
 

Before I talk about our achievements, I would like to mention a very important aspect of our continued success; that is the role of one of our members. He is actually the founder of the group, brother Abdul-Haqq. He is a person who dedicated himself and spent from his own money to keep this group going and to reach where we are today. I would like to thank him for all of his efforts, as well as former members who contributed generously to laying the foundation on which we are standing today. I would also like to thank the members that will come after us because these brothers will play a very important role. We thank them and pray for them.
 

We consider all of our involvement in the Muslim community’s programs as achievements for us. We are also often involved in various mosques and communities, such as the Palestinian, Pakistani, North African and others. We were also honored by participating in various Muslim conventions in North Dakota, Seattle, North Carolina, Iowa and in our hometown Chicago. By the grace of Allah, we also perform at weddings, new birth ceremonies and other ceremonies.
 

We are thankful to Allah that we have been able to keep the group going despite some of the struggles that we are facing. Some of these struggles are connected to marketing this type of art in the U.S. and around the world in general. It is a very unique type of art that can seem strange at first to those who have only been exposed to music popular in the Western market.

We still consider ourselves an infant group, which means that we are currently depending entirely on self-funding and some donations from the events we have performed at. This money goes to airplane tickets, uniforms, instruments, and other expenses. Lack of funding is keeping us from moving to our highest level of professionalism. We believe that this group is for the entire Muslim community and we need their support, whether that be financially or through other means.

What are the goals that the group is looking forward to achieving in the coming years?
 At the present moment we are planning to switch our focus from being a local group to a national, professional group with new ideas and new songs. We are also working on making some recordings and trying to launch the group’s website. Another important step we are taking is to change the make-up of our group. Until now our members have only been Arabic-speaking but we are trying to change that by looking for new faces and discovering local talents who would be able to perform in English as well as Arabic. We hope this will be a fresh addition to the group and will attract a new audience as well. However, in order to achieve all of this we will need the continued love and support of our audience and the lovers of nasheed.

Posted in Interviews, Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him, Spring 2007 Issue, Community | Print | No Comments »