Why I Left Music | Short Film | #RunFromFire

Narrator:
…Narrated by Abu Hurayra…

I heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ say..

“My example and the example of the people is that of a man who made a fire, and when it lighted what was around it, moths and other insects started falling into the fire. The man tried (his best) to prevent them, but they overpowered him and rushed into the fire.”

…Run Away From Fire…

The ignorance of the insect can be shown as an example of humanity. Just as the insect is fooled by the bright lights of a trap that would eventually destroy it, man is also fooled by the bright lights of this world which would also destroy him.

Although many men have been fooled by the past, some have managed to run away from the fire before it consumed them.

Aiman: Former Club Promoter / Active Muslim Practicing For Over 3 Years
My name is Aiman, I’m 26..
And a couple of years ago I was a club promoter, dancer..
Big on social media and just everything that wasn’t right in life.

I was blinded by Shaytan (Satan)..
Like the glitz, the glamour..
I think to myself, being what I was..
Used to be a dancer..
Jumping in the middle of a circle and having all eyes on you..
And making people clap and cheer..
I thought that was glamour..
I thought that was..

Wow. What a rush!

Nour: Best Friend of Aiman / Active Muslim Practicing For Over 3 Years
My name is Nour, they used to know me as Noah..
Aiman’s my best friend, been mates with him since High School..
We used to go out together, do everything together..
The promotions, the festivals..
The whole lot..

At the time when you’re there..
You’re enjoying it..
The way the environment is..
The girls coming at you..
The lights..
The music..
Your heart pounding and..
You know, the goosebumps..
and the really good..
The really good feeling that everyone wants to search for.

Aiman:
And Shaytan did..
He beautified everything around me..
From women..
To money..
To acquiring more..
And he made it look so, so, so good..
That you wanted more..
And if you took a bit..
You weren’t satisfied..
You still wanted more..

And always thought to myself..
I can go out every night..
Wednesday to Sunday night and just party and hang out..
And meet people and socialise and I’m not hurting anyone..

When in actual sense..
I was hurting myself.

Narrator:
With a lifestyle of non-stop parties, music and dancing, it wasn’t long after until both Aiman and Nour soon came to realise the emptiness, hiding behind all the glitz and glamour.

Aiman:
Night in, night out..
You go out..
You think, you had a good night out..
But once you rest your head on the pillow..
You realise..
The emptiness that’s in your heart..
You know..
You just went to sleep..
And everything you just did..
Was a waste.

Nour:
I had a really big night..
I think the next day..
When I woke up in the hotel..
I just kinda stood for about half and hour and sat there..
And thought like…

Like..
Is this..
Like, is this it?

Like..
Is this..
What life is?

You know..
Like work Monday to Friday..
Go out on a Saturday..
And I thought at that time..
There has to be more to it.

Aiman:
The time came and I started to realise to myself..

What am I doing?
What’s the purpose of this?
Why am I..
Why am I in this scene anyway to begin with?
And when I started to realise to myself..
I actually sat down..
I still remember this day..
I just came back from a night out..
Went to sleep, woke up..
And I was sitting in my bed for literally..
No joke..
Half an hour at the most and just wondering..

…Aiman Visits The Cemetery / Islamic Burial Ground…

Aiman:
What happens when death comes?
Death itself..
When it comes and it takes you..
What happens after that?

…Quran Recitation…

Rivalry In Worldly Life Distracts You
Until You Visit The Graves
Q 102:1-2

Aiman:
And then that’s when I started to change..
And started to realise..
And I started to attend a lecture or two.

Nour:
At that time when you make..
When I came to make that decision..
I was planning to go to one of the really big music festivals..
That I had been to probably the year before..
And I had a ticket..
And I had with me..
And I think about a week before..
I was getting offers of over $500 for it..
Even some of my friends were coming at me with money..
After they found out..
That I put on Facebook or something that I didn’t want to go anymore..

But I knew..
I knew that the only way..
I was really gonna feel like I had let go was..
Was to burn that ticket..

So..it’s..
Yeah..yeah..so I burnt it..
One day after work..
Just went into the car park..
Threw it on the ground..
and
Got lighter off someone..
and
Torched it..

Probably the best feeling of my life..
Best..
One of the best feelings..
I’ve ever had till today.

Narrator:
Soon after making their change both Aiman and Nour realised that sacrifices were needed to be made and the Shaytan was going to wait for them at every doorstep.

Aiman:
One thing I realised about being in this scene..
Is one thing that Shaytan..
The Devil threatens you with..
Is..
Is being alone..

He threatens you..
That if you leave these people..
That you’re with in this circle..
You have no one..
Which is completely false..

At one point..
It was actually only me and Nour..
You know as mates and as brothers..

But then through Islam and as we started to practise our Deen (religion)..
We started to realise..
The brotherhood became bigger..

10 grew to 20..
20 grew to 30..
40 grew into an amount..
You can’t even explain..

You know..
Sometimes you go pray at another mosque..
That’s completely out of area..
And you meet someone..
That has seen you before you’ve seen them..

And they’re like..

Oh, I remember you brother…
You know, you were sitting at this talk..
Or..
I met you at this dinner..
I met you at this fundraiser..

It’s an amazing feeling..
Cause that person is coming up to me..

Just to say, hello..

He doesn’t want money from me..
He doesn’t want fame..
He doesn’t want entry into a place that he wants to go in..
He just wants to speak to me..

Because that’s what Islam is all about…
Love.

Narrator:
The sweetness of faith was slowly falling into their hearts and over the past three years, the fruits of their labour were beginning to pay off.

Aiman:
Alhamdulillah [All praise to God] by the will of Allah..
The past three, four years have been beautiful for me..
Alhamdulillah..
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala invited me to Hajj in 2011..
That was an experience that I will never forget..
I took my mother as well..
And Alhamdulillah..
I’ve been to a few countries around the world..
To spread the Deen (religion) of Allah..
Be France, New Zealand, also go around Australia.

Narrator:
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) taught us..

That the best of us in our days of ignorance, are the best of us in religion.

To understand what this means entirely, we only have to look towards what happens next in their journey.

Aiman:
Last year, me and brother Nour..
Actually went to one of the festivals..
One of the big music festivals that happen every year..
And we went there to call people to..
To not go in..
To save them..
Back in the day..
I used to actually call them to come to the festival..
To actually enter and enjoy and discounts and so on.

Nour:
And we thought..
We’d try to redeemed ourselves..
From what we were doing before..
Like calling to people to that environment..
So we thought..
We’d go to this and tell people to stay away..
Try to convince the people..
What they were getting themselves into..
Because we had been there..
And we knew what it was like..
We have experienced it before.

Narrator:
Aiman and Nour are not the first to make such a change and they’re surely aren’t the last. However despite their efforts, many Muslims are still sinking into the same traps and falling into the bright lights of this deceptive world today.

Aiman:
It burns the heart to know..
That my Muslim brother..
Sometimes Muslim sisters out there..
They’re still in this..
And it burns me to know..
That I can’t do nothing about it..
Except ask Allah to guide them..

Cause if we die in this state..
A state of ignorance..
A state of not caring..

What will our ending be?

So it’s a strong urge from myself..
Turn to Allah before it’s too late..

Just run away..
Run away from the fire..
Because it’s not worth it.

…Run Away From Fire…
And this worldly life is not but diversion and amusement. And indeed, the home of the Hereafter - that is the [eternal] life, if only they knew.
Q 29:64