• Arnoud van Doorn, an ex-politician: a member of a right-wing Dutch party, and an ex-atheist who converted to Islam told us how the media brainwashed him about Islam.
• Intro
• Who is Arnoud Van Doorn
• How was your life in regard to faith?
• How did you first learn about Islam?
• Were there any projects that you were involved in Against Islam?
• For what reason you felt an attraction toward Islam?
• First thing that softens your heart toward Islam?
• How did you feel about all the false propaganda against Islam?
• How did you take your shadah?
• How did you feel when you took your shadah?
• How did people around you react when you converted to Islam?
• What was the Major challenge that you faced after Islam
• Anyone inspired by you after you became a Muslim?
• What inspired you the most about our Prophet? (p.b.u.h)
• What projects are you doing right now?
• If you had just one minute, what would you say to the whole world?
#FormerAntiIslam #AntiIslam #PoliticianToMuslim #HowHeAcceptedIslam #IslamJourney #ConvertToIslam #FaithTransformation #IslamicAcceptance #NewMuslim #JourneyToIslam #IslamicFaith #InspiringConversion #SpiritualJourney #BelieveInChange #EmbraceIslam #MuslimTestimony #IslamicStory #FindingFaith #InterfaithDialogue
• Intro
• Who is Arnoud Van Doorn
• How was your life in regard to faith?
• How did you first learn about Islam?
• Were there any projects that you were involved in Against Islam?
• For what reason you felt an attraction toward Islam?
• First thing that softens your heart toward Islam?
• How did you feel about all the false propaganda against Islam?
• How did you take your shadah?
• How did you feel when you took your shadah?
• How did people around you react when you converted to Islam?
• What was the Major challenge that you faced after Islam
• Anyone inspired by you after you became a Muslim?
• What inspired you the most about our Prophet? (p.b.u.h)
• What projects are you doing right now?
• If you had just one minute, what would you say to the whole world?
#FormerAntiIslam #AntiIslam #PoliticianToMuslim #HowHeAcceptedIslam #IslamJourney #ConvertToIslam #FaithTransformation #IslamicAcceptance #NewMuslim #JourneyToIslam #IslamicFaith #InspiringConversion #SpiritualJourney #BelieveInChange #EmbraceIslam #MuslimTestimony #IslamicStory #FindingFaith #InterfaithDialogue
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NewsTranscript
00:01You know, when I was a member of this anti-Islam, of this Islamic political party, and this political party PVV.
00:08We do not want more, but less Islam.
00:12So I rather would have no Koran at all.
00:16Shut down mosques and ban the Koran.
00:20Basically, they had brainwashed me in a person that was anti-Islam.
00:24Their major point, fighting Islam.
00:27Of course, that was something that I supported.
00:30Maybe I hated the religion.
00:32I thought sincerely that the religion, that Islam, was a threat for society, a threat for our freedom.
00:38Do I have a problem with Islam?
00:40Yes, I do have a problem with Islam.
00:42Of course, now I feel really sorry for that.
00:45But I was involved in some of these projects.
00:47Yes, of course.
00:51Assalamu alaikum, Brother Arnaud.
00:52Thank you for accepting our invitation.
00:54I want to start with, who is Arnaud van Doorn?
00:57Thank you for inviting me.
00:58It's an honor to be here.
00:59Well, my name is Arnaud van Doorn.
01:01I'm 56 years old.
01:02I'm a Muslim, alhamdulillah, since 2013.
01:05I was born and raised in the Netherlands, in The Hague.
01:08I have a Christian background, raised as a Christian.
01:11I became active in politics.
01:13I became a member of the Dutch anti-Islam political party called PVV.
01:17But I converted to Islam in 2013.
01:20Alhamdulillah, almost 10 years now.
01:22I'm here in Istanbul by invitation of Helis Media.
01:25They are doing a project.
01:26They are interviewing 100 converts from over 40 countries.
01:31And I'm one of them.
01:32So it's a great honor for me to be here and to be able to do this interview in this great city.
01:37How was your life in regards to faith?
01:39What were you believing in?
01:41I'm raised as a Christian.
01:42I've been to a Catholic school and Catholic sport clubs and everything.
01:46My father was practicing Christian.
01:48I went to church on Sunday, sometimes during the week.
01:51But I'd never felt really like 100% comfortable.
01:54It was more like a routine.
01:55I was supposed to do it, but I missed something.
01:58Maybe now, deep in my heart, with the knowledge that I have now,
02:01even from a young child, I felt something was missing.
02:03A few things I really didn't understand.
02:05How can like three gods, how can Jesus, Esau, the prophet,
02:09how can he be the son of God?
02:11It didn't make really sense, you know?
02:12And there were some other things that I really, it was strange to me,
02:15like, you know, the blood of Christ and the body of Christ,
02:17you know, all this ceremonial things during when you are in church.
02:21For me, it didn't make sense.
02:23I couldn't explain why exactly, because I was very young at the time.
02:26But I felt something was missing.
02:27How did you first hear about Islam?
02:29What was your perception of this religion?
02:31I heard about Islam as most people in Western countries, by media, by politicians.
02:36Islam, you know, as the threat, as the cause of 9-11, and oppressing women,
02:41and all the terrorist activities.
02:42And the problem in the Netherlands, in Western Europe,
02:44is that people don't study Islam for themselves.
02:47They just believe the media, they believe politicians, so did I.
02:50So what I knew about Islam was only, it was negative, it was dangerous.
02:54Maybe I hated the religion.
02:55I thought sincerely that the religion, that Islam, was a threat for society,
02:59a threat for our freedom.
03:01You know, when I was a member of this anti-Islam, of this Islamic political party,
03:05and this political party, PFF, their major point, fighting Islam,
03:10yeah, that was, of course, that was something that I supported,
03:13and I thought it was necessary, and I believed in it.
03:16Were there any projects that you were involved in against Islam?
03:19Yes, well, you had this famous movie, yeah.
03:22I'm not a producer of it now, a lot of people think that,
03:24because the movie was made before I became active in this political party,
03:27but I was with some other people responsible for distributing the movie,
03:31for promoting the movie on social media and things like that.
03:35So I was part of this organization and part of promoting the movie.
03:39This is one of the examples.
03:40Of course, now I feel really sorry for that,
03:42but I was involved in some of these projects, yes, of course.
03:45For what reason did you feel the attraction towards Islam?
03:48I didn't feel the attraction towards Islam right away.
03:50It's not like you wake up in the morning and you become Muslim, of course not.
03:54But I had some doubts about Islam, it didn't make sense to me.
03:56You see the media, you see politicians, and they all tell Islam is evil,
03:59and it's a threat for society, a threat for our freedom, and it's all evil and bad.
04:03But it didn't make sense, because, you know, 1.5 billion people in the world,
04:07are they all evil people, angry, dangerous people?
04:10More than one million people in the Netherlands, they're Muslim.
04:13Are they all evil and angry, dangerous people?
04:15So many people are Muslim, a lot of good people, nice and friendly people that are new personally.
04:20And they said you should learn about Islam, because your ideas about Islam are wrong.
04:24Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. But I started to learn about Islam, reading the Koran.
04:28I went to Damascus, spoke with an Imam, spoke to other Muslims, did some research myself.
04:33I went to the library. And the more you learn about Islam, the more it becomes clear to anyone, especially to me.
04:39But only during this period, the more you learn about Islam, the more it goes from my head to my heart.
04:45It felt like, wow, this is great, this is beautiful, this is, you know, answering some questions.
04:49All these people are wrong. It's a great religion. I feel this religion.
04:53This is answering my questions. And if you study Islam, then all these things, all the doubts that you have, they vanish.
05:00All the gaps are filled. All the answers, the questions that you have, they are answered.
05:05What was the first thing that started to soften your heart towards Islam?
05:09This is a question a lot of people ask me, and it's not like one specific part in the Koran, one specific ayah, no.
05:16It was the Islam itself, the life of the Prophet.
05:21You know, there's a book in the Netherlands, it is called Mohammed, and it's about his life.
05:27That was very motivating for me also, you know. For me, it was research, it was studying about Islam.
05:33And it was a very slow process from being very cynical, like, okay, we'll study about Islam, but, you know, they're all liars and it's not true.
05:42Oh, they are brainwashing me, you know, the talks in the mosque. Yes, they were very nice, but, you know, in my opinion, they were not honest.
05:48So, but the more you learn, the more you really do research for Islam with an open mind, that's very important, open heart, open mind, then you cannot deny the truth.
05:59So, finally, after a long journey almost from become, from a non-Muslim to a Muslim, it took me about a year to convert.
06:07But finally, it was clear for me that Islam is, it's a great religion, and I set the Shahada in 2013, alhamdulillah.
06:16How did you feel about the people that were making all those false propaganda against Islam?
06:20I felt misguided, basically. I always had the idea that in the Netherlands and Western Europe, the media, you know, they're honest, they're objective, and the same for politicians.
06:31They're honest, honest people, wise people, you know, they are here for us to protect us and to guide us.
06:36But I felt betrayed by them, because, you know, if you learn about Islam, then you also learn that everything they are telling us about Islam is wrong, it's negative.
06:45So, I was really disappointed because, basically, they had brainwashed me in a person that was anti-Islam.
06:52How did you take your Shahada? Can you take us to those moments?
06:55When I embraced Islam, I was 45 years old. I took the Shahada in a mosque. I was there a few times before.
07:02I had some questions about Islam, so they said, you can go to the mosque and you can ask all your questions.
07:07I said, no, no, no, I'm not going to a mosque because they probably hate me. I'm not welcome there. But I was welcome.
07:13They invited me. You can come in. They were very friendly. You got tea and everything. I spent hours there talking with people.
07:19And that was one of the things that was confusing for me because these people were supposed to hate me.
07:24How come they are friendly? How come they are so open-minded? How come they can answer all the questions that I have?
07:29That was one of the things, you know, towards me embracing Islam. I had to do it a bit secretly because if people knew that I was doing it, I could lose my job.
07:37I could lose my position. But I was very reluctant at the moment. And I said the Shahada in the mosque, but not in front of an audience.
07:44It was in a small office, me and not even the Imam, but one of the volunteers in the mosque that was basically guiding me as my mentor in this whole process.
07:53We said the Shahada, nobody else was there. So from the point that I started to learn about Islam until basically saying my Shahada, it was not like a few days, a few weeks.
08:04It took me about a year. It was a rollercoaster. Sometimes I was really motivated. Sometimes I didn't do anything about it.
08:10But during this period, it became clear that Islam is beautiful. And finally, alhamdulillah, I said the Shahada in 2013.
08:18How did you feel when you took your Shahada? Did you feel peaceful and relieved?
08:23Yes, definitely. Shaitan is always there. Even in the last few minutes, they were whispering, you know, no, no, don't do it.
08:29You know, your brain works, you know, stop until even five minutes before the moment that I embraced Islam.
08:34But when I did it, it felt like a lot of weight was lost. I really felt happy. I felt it's hard to describe.
08:43People that have done it, probably they know what I mean. It's like being reborn.
08:48How did the people around you react to your conversion to Islam?
08:51Well, they were shocked. To be honest, I made a mistake because this whole journey towards becoming a Muslim and embracing Islam, I did it by myself.
08:58Nobody knew about it. Only my mother and she supported me. She still supports me, by the way.
09:02My friends, my colleagues, nobody knew about my journey. So I was a little bit afraid at a certain point.
09:07Okay, now nobody knows that I'm going into this direction of embracing Islam. For them, it would be a shock.
09:13So I was really reluctant. I waited a few weeks to come forward.
09:17But the rest of the family, most of them, even my own brothers and sisters, there is a distance.
09:22It's not like they rejected me, but it's not like before. Islam is a subject that we don't talk about. It's very sensitive.
09:28I feel the distance. I lost a lot of friends. Of course, I lost my job.
09:32What was the major challenge that you faced after Islam? And what sacrifices did you have to make?
09:37When I became a Muslim, I was a politician. But I was not working for this political party for the PFF anymore.
09:43Because during this whole period, it was already clear that it's not my place.
09:47But also for them, it was a shock.
09:49Well, if you become Muslim in this political organization, this political party, well, you just don't exist anymore.
09:54Well, after this became public that I became Muslim, I lost my job.
09:58And I lost a lot of friends. I lost some family members, a lot of colleagues, of course.
10:02So I had to move, sell my house, go to a smaller house. I had to sell my car.
10:06So my life was a little bit less luxurious. For me, it was not a sacrifice.
10:10So, you know, before that, I had a lot of money, a lot of vacations, expensive watches and a beautiful car and everything.
10:17It was everything nice and good, but, you know, it's only stuff.
10:20I felt an emptiness in my heart. But after embracing Islam, okay, I had less money, but I was happier than ever before.
10:26So it proves this stuff, this materialism, money and expensive cars, that is not filling the gaps in your heart.
10:33So, sacrificing in a way of materialistic things, yes. Sacrificing in losing friends and family, of course, that is a sacrifice.
10:40After all, I felt more happy than ever before.
10:42After you became Muslim, was anyone inspired by you and accepted Islam as well?
10:47I have an adopted son, Iskander. He embraced Islam quite short after me during an event in Dubai.
10:53He already was interested in Islam. He had been with me through the mosque and through some lessons and everything.
10:58And then finally there, he spoke to some important people during this week that we were there.
11:03And then he finally, alhamdulillah, embraced Islam.
11:06And I heard stories from other people. I cannot say they embraced Islam because of me,
11:11because they're guided by Allah. But maybe I inspired them to learn about Islam,
11:15to get some knowledge about Islam, to go to a mosque or something, or think about Islam, do some research.
11:20Probably, that's what I heard from a lot of people. I hope so.
11:23What impressed you the most about our Prophet, alayhi salatu wassalaam?
11:26He had a hard life. He faced a lot of difficulties with his own family.
11:30People throwing rocks at him and everything. And still, he didn't get mad. He didn't get angry.
11:35He remained the same person, patient, forgiving, friendly, smiling.
11:40Adab, akhlaq, everything. He stays the same person, despite all these difficulties.
11:44Despite all everything that was fighting against him. And for me, that is very inspiring.
11:49And that is what I'm trying to achieve, to at least try to live like our Prophet, peace people.
11:55What projects are you doing right now?
11:57We have some, in Morocco, some small projects where we are trying to help poor people, poor families.
12:03It's not specifically on Islam, but we try to help them that they can go to school, that they have, you know, material, school books and things like that.
12:12We get money from a lot of businessmen. And we work together to build some small houses for people that are living on the streets and things like that, small things.
12:21We organize events for young children. Also, of course, we talk about Islam.
12:26There are people there that know more about Islam than me because I'm not an expert, I'm not a scholar.
12:31They tell them about Islam, what you can do, how you can become a better Muslim. And so, it's like we try to combine the charity with Osat Dao.
12:39If you had a chance to speak to all the non-Muslims in the world, what would you like to say to them if you had just one minute?
12:45My message would be, don't listen to media, don't listen to politicians that speak negative about Islam.
12:52Do your own research. You're always responsible for your own knowledge. If you don't understand anything, do research.
12:58And it's very easy. There's a lot of content on social media. You can read a lot about Islam.
13:03Go to a mosque, speak to an imam, go to Muslims, talk about this religion and just don't follow like blindly what the media and politicians are telling you.
13:14Do your own research and then you will find out, Inshallah, that Islam is the solution and Islam is the truth.
13:19Brother Arnold, thank you for this beautiful interview. Hope to meet with you in future projects, Inshallah.
13:24Inshallah. I will be back, Inshallah. Thank you again for inviting me.
13:28Thank you again for joining us.
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