By Bilal Guillaume Jeanpierre

Beginnings

My name is Bilal (born as Guillaume Jeanpierre) and I am a French convert. I came to this world on the 4th March 1986 and grew-up in a Christian family in the countryside of South West France. I used to be a free-thinker. My path towards Islam originated from my strong relationships with Muslim friends at school. Seeing my friends fast and being a guest at Muslim weddings and other gatherings gradually made me understand what Islam was all about. I have a lot of memories related to Islam. There was once when my mum welcomed one of her Muslim colleagues to our house as he needed an outdoor area to slaughter a sheep for Eid. I witnessed the preparation as well as celebration of Eid at my own house! My best friend, Khalid, also played a major role in leading me to Islam: he gave me a Jellabah (a long shirt) from Morocco as a gift when I was sixteen, which I now use to pray. I also remember once when I went to a Muslim wedding, one of the Muslims sharing the same plate with me could see that I did not know how to eat using hands. Thus he was so nice to put food aside for me, before savouring his meal. He thought of me before his own needs.

I also recall when my best friend told me that even men cry and it is okay to do so that that we should not be insensitive. As a matter of fact, now I understand that tears of love and joy are part of being a Muslim, in hope that these tears would reach Jannah.

At the age of 21, I left France for Birmingham (the UK’s second city) which has a large Muslim population, and I became friends with some Muslims from Pakistan and Egypt. I remember very well the warm hospitality of my Pakistani friends, who regularly invited me for dinner on various occasions. I saw the tremendous generosity of Muslims especially through one of my close friends, Taheir, who was always making himself available when I needed help.

I remember once that I was looking at a beautiful and pricey watch that he was wearing. He saw that I liked the watch and just gave it to me on the spot, without any hesitation. I could tell that this was a real act of generosity, coming straight from the heart.

I also became friends with a group of public workers from Egypt. On Christmas Day, I offered a box of chocolates to them. As they were surprised and touched by my gift, one of the workers, Ahmed, took my address and few weeks later, once he went back to Cairo, sent a package which included a tasbih, prayer hat and other gifts. After almost 10 years of wait, I am now using the gifts that Ahmed gave me.

Guidance

I officially moved to Singapore in March 2009. When I arrived, I did a tour of the Island and visited Jamae Chulia Mosque in Chinatown. One of the volunteers gave me a tour and shared some knowledge about Islam. He left me with a very good impression of the religion, that I simply could not forget. In 2012, Khalid, my best friend, gave me the French version of the Quran, which he got from MCAS (Muslims Converts Association of Singapore). These were more signs from Allah leading me slowly on my spiritual journey. All these gifts collected were nicely put in a corner but not used yet. Through the years, I slowly learnt about Muslim ethics and traditions. In 2014, when I met Nadiah, who is now my wife, she started to share with me many things about Islam. She was the one, through Allah’s will, who pushed me to find out more about the religion and motivated me to go to Islamic classes at MCAS. The Solat class truly inspired me and guided me to the right path. It was the real start of my love for the religion. Thanks to Allah and through my Solat teacher, Brother Sameer, I slowly realised my purpose of life. Islam has increased my level of emotions and sensitivity and I was ready to embrace the Deen.

I made tremendous changes in my life when I started to apply the Islamic values that I had learnt. As you can imagine, it has not been easy as I had to adapt my lifestyle to a lot of new concepts and had to give up many of my bad habits.

ATTENDING REGULAR ISLAMIC CLASSES HAS BEEN HIGHLY BENEFICIAL. IT HELPED TO UNDERSTAND AND JUSTIFY ALL MY NEW ACTIONS AS WELL AS TO GROW SPIRITUALLY.

I became dedicated to adopt the “way of life” and to learn as much as I could. I attended classes, read books, watched videos, spent time talking to different Ustaz & Muslim friends. Of course, the learning path had to be structured: not too little nor too much. Thanks to the beautiful values that the religion carries, Islam made me become more sensitive. Reading the biography of our Prophet ﷺ, listening to songs or watching videos about Him ﷺ made me cry on several occasions.

Being more than ready to live my life as a Muslim, I decided to convert to Islam in October 2015. I was born again… now as a Muslim.

The road that leads to a certain level of Iman is a long one. Many converts are willing to build their knowledge too fast and things can get confusing once the learning process is not stable or is too hectic.

IT IS NOT A SPRINT BUT A MARATHON AND IT REQUIRES A LOT OF PATIENCE AND WISDOM TO BECOME A BETTER MUSLIM.

When I converted, it was difficult for me to let my family know about it. I could not find the right words to properly explain why I became a Muslim. However, my love for Allah became stronger & I just moved forward and decided to tell them without fear of the outcome. Interestingly, my father respected my decision and shared with me his stories of Muslim colleagues who were always mentioning to him that he had the right values to be a Muslim and that he should start looking into Islam. My mother, who is a pious and very loving person, was happy to hear that I finally become more pious. She knew Islam through her Muslim colleagues and was glad that I embraced the religion as it made me stop drinking alcohol. In her perception, mainstream religions all have positive impacts.

Sweetness of the Deen

Through my learning journey in Islam, I started to be fascinated by diverse aspects of the “Deen”. The richness of Islam’s teachings is a real treasure, which leads to the purity of our hearts.

The first time I met with elder Muslims, I could feel a certain aura of calmness being transmitted by them. The tranquility when they talked and patience in their actions always struck my mind. I felt that there was room for improvement for myself in my quest for inner peace, so that I could elevate myself to the same state of mind as them. I am right now trying my best to reach inner peace. As a Muslim, I understand that carrying the right behaviour would improve relationships with non-Muslims and inspire more people to embrace Islam. This would lead to a world with harmony.

It seems like the expression “sharing is caring” probably came from Islam. The brotherhood being a strong part of the religion and notion of care for each other, are the basis of a peaceful world, where jealousy and anxiety can be abolished. I still recall once when I went to the mosque during Ramadan to break fast. There was a Bangladeshi brother next to me, who smiled at me and gave me most of his food with sincerity. This can’t be forgotten and was a good illustration of love and compassion.

Have you ever experienced poverty? Indeed, tough experiences make us stronger, but wouldn’t it be better if we could avoid all of that? Giving back to society by feeding the underprivileged or educating people around us (among other acts of generosity) are also key areas covered in the Holy Book, the Quran. Generosity in Islam is one of the fundamentals of the religion. Even if we are starving and that the person next to us is also hungry, we should share our food. We cannot let people around us live in difficulty. It is interesting to note that charity & generosity in Islam is very vast. Due to these values, on diverse occasions, I myself have received the right tools to learn the Islamic religion through the gifts of Qurans and Books etc.

Wherever we go in this world, Islam carries the same universal ethics. Of course, certain aspects vary, accordingly to cultures, traditions and schools of thoughts. What attracted me was the global and unique message of Islam, which is consistent everywhere. When I went back to France for vacation as a convert, I felt the same atmosphere inside of the mosque of my countryside, as when inside of the mosques in Singapore.

Living a simple life is encouraged in Islam. Respect nature and get closer to it, heal yourself using prophetic medicine & be content with a life without excess luxury, etc. These are traits that have been showcased in the religion by our Prophet Mohammad ﷺ. He lived a very simple life, sacrificing himself for others and rejecting lavishness. He was satisfied with his closeness with Allah and his community. As Muslims, we are encouraged to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Allah decided to give me the privilege to be Muslim. I embraced Islam in hope to find my real purpose of life. I always asked myself: what is the real meaning of our existence? How are we supposed to live and why do we die? What is next?

These types of questions were answered by Islam. All things that I have learnt through this religion have been positively impactful. These teachings created a better life for me, a life full of generosity, humility, calmness and love… Love of the people and most importantly love of Allah and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In Islam, we all learn that our mother is the most important person in our life, and that our duty is to always be caring for her. The same responsibility applies to the rest of the family. These ethics of tremendous kindness have conquered my heart. I decided to change and started my quest of reaching inner peace by starting to build a stronger iman.

However, what was even more amazing to me was the fact that in Islam, we respect all human beings at the same level. Everyone is equal, regardless of nationality, social background, skin colour and so on. We all remain creations of God and all of us need to show some love and form of respect to our Creator and this is done by executing the five pillars of Islam and through many other noble deeds.

Islam is more than a religion, it is a lifestyle! I believe that the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ should be studied by all humans, irrespective of their faith. We should follow his example and apply his rulings and advice as much as we can, to be able to live a balanced life where love and true happiness are goals.

Even though we are all different, we are also all similar. We need to fight for the expansion of peace and harmony for a better tomorrow. Islam is the vehicle that leads to this achievement.