Interview by Jawzi Lardjane

Mr. Samuel Shropshire is a former Christian Quaker leader from Washington, D.C. who found Islam
in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and decided to stay here while continuing his humanitarian works abroad.
For many decades, Mr. Sam has been an environmentalist and a human rights activist; and since
joining Islam, has vowed to continue his works while enlightening the legacy of Islam in promoting
human rights, pacifism, interfaith dialogue, and in the preservation of the environment.

He founded the Muslim Voice for Peace and Reconciliation, a non-profit organization certified by
the U.S. government and by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs. It implemented interfaith and
environmental projects around the world. He has been to as far as Havana in Cuba, and to Hiroshima
in Japan to convey the true message of Islam and fight stereotypes surrounding the religion. We met
him at the Corniche in Jeddah, in his well-gardened home next to a Masjid where he found Islam,
and we asked him some questions about Islam and its role in the contemporary world.

al-Salam alaykum Mr. Sam, I am glad to be with you today to speak about some global issues
facing the Muslim world and beyond. As an environmentalist and human right activist who has
been promoting human and environmental rights for decades, our readers would like to learn
how you discovered Islam, and what attracted you most to Islam.

Thank you Jawzi, I came here to Saudi Arabia to work on a special project involving the Quran. I
had been an ordained minister of the United Community Church, but most recently a member of the
Annapolis Friends Meeting which is a Quaker group in Maryland. I had 15 years of theological
education from high school to university, three different graduate schools. I had no knowledge of
Islam, I didn't know what it was, I've heard of the Quran, I read parts of the Quran, but I didn't know
what it was, really. I didn't know who Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was, I've heard very
negative things about him. When I came here, I began to learn very positive, wonderful and beautiful
things.

Some students at the United States Naval Academy said if you go to Saudi Arabia, we will not be
able to help you, you may be kidnapped, you may have your head cut off, and they were showing me
videos of people being beheaded, and they said this is Islam. When I arrived here, I didn't know what
to expect. After three days, I needed to buy food, so I walked outside, I passed a house, and the
people in the house came out to me and said where are you from, I was nervous, and I said: I am
from America. They said: Please come in, have tea or coffee with us, and they said Ahlan wa sahlan,
welcome to Saudi Arabia.

I went to the supermarket, people would ask me where I was from, and I would say I am from North
America, they would say where in North America, I would say I am from United States Washington,
D.C. and they would reach out and greet me, this was not what I was expecting. Sometimes I had
tears in my eyes because of the love of people here for me, not as a Muslim, I was not a Muslim, but
an American.
One day, I heard the adhan, and I went to the Mosque. It was Maghreb prayer time. I stood there
knocking on the door, the muadhin came to the door, and he said: may I help you? I said: yes, my
name is Samuel, I am a Christian from the United States, is it okay if I go inside the Mosque, and he
said: Ahlan wa Sahlan, and I stayed in the back of the Mosque for three days, every time there was
an adhan I would run to the Mosque and I watched God's servants. After days, the muadhin taught
me al-Fatiha, then my life has changed.

I had studied Hebrew in graduate school because the old testament of the bible was much of it
written in Hebrew, so I wanted to understand Hebrew, but I only studied it for a short while. The
Jews read from right to left, so did the Arabs. I was reading the Quran in English to make
corrections, suggest corrections. A lot of the corrections that I suggested were wrong because I didn't
understand the meanings of the Quran. Then they would correct me, sometimes we discuss two
words for two or three hours, and I began to understand the Quran, my life changed drastically
especially when I came to two words at the beginning of every Surah, al-Rahma'an al-Raheem, God
the Most Merciful, God the Most Gracious. These two words al-Rahma'an al-Raheem changed my
mind.

But down to the basics what attracted me most to Islam, love of the people in Saudi Arabia for me as
an individual, it was their love that brought me to Islam.

You have been living in Jeddah since December 2011. What are your impressions of Jeddah
and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

I am Jeddawi! I love Jeddah. This is where I came to Islam, just down the street here. I went to
probably six or seven major cities in the south to the north. I want to go to other places as time
permits.

I learnt so much from being here. There were many things in the bible that I never understood, for
instance, Prophet Isa peace be upon him in the Injil, said when we arrive at the great judgment, God
is going to separate sheep from goats. Now I understand why Prophet Isa peace be upon him said
when we arrive in heaven, God will separate sheep from goats, you know anybody could look like a
believer they can sound like a believer, but when we stand before God, he will separate the true
believers from the non-believers. In front of God, we are not saved by works, we are saved by faith,
this is what the Quran teaches, but it also says the faith will produce works, so God will see what
we've done, and He knows who truly believed and will bring us to Him.

The other thing I read in the bible that came alive to me here is what Prophet Daoud peace be upon
him said in the Zabur (Psalms): I rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than to dwell as
sinful for a short period. Well, what is a gatekeeper? I've never heard of a gatekeeper in America, but
here I came, and most of the houses have small rooms next to the gate of the house, and Prophet
Daoud peace be upon him was saying: I'd rather live in this tiny room and honor God with my life
than to live in sin. What a beautiful lesson.

There are many other things that came alive here in the desert, some of the Christian songs I sang as
a child: My lord knows the way through the wilderness, and all I have to do is follow and walk into
the desert. I have been to many deserts in my life, but now I see what the song means.
Since finding Islam, you have been delivering lectures and projects around the world to convey
the true message of Islam. You told me that the 21st century is the century of Islam in America,
so what are your expectations for Islam in general and in the United States in particular?

Let me talk about my own country, America is in a great need for a great spiritual awakening. It is
not going to come through Christianity; it is going to come through Islam. When people understand
what Islam is about, that Islam leads to living a holy life separated from materialism, a life that we
understand as a temporary here. The Quran repeatedly said this life is only an illusion, to prepare our
way for Jannah, we have to get in the straight path and stay in the straight path. When people
understand what the message of Islam is, I believe that millions of Americans will be kneeling and
crying before God, and come running to the faith of Islam.

As a child, my mother used to take me to the church, and after the church, she would take me to the
library, and they have beautiful pictures of desert and the holy lands, she told me: Sam you have to
worship the God of Abraham, my mother would repeat this over and over again. There are eighty
million who were taught what I was taught by my mother as a child they were taught to believe in the
God of Abraham. If I explain to them the way I have explained it to you, they will understand what
Islam is. Only God knows what wonderful things are in store for Islam in America

How many nations have you been to since coming to Islam? You told me about an experience
you had in Cuba with people of other faiths. Please describe that meeting.

We have been to more than 50 countries since we founded the Muslim Voice for Peace and
Reconciliation. In Cuba, I was asked to speak to groups of Jews, Christians, Muslims and atheists,
communists. This was organized by the Muslim World League branch in Cuba. There is one man
who helped us there; he is the director of the MWL branch in Cuba, his name is Imam Yahya Pedro,
he assisted me in organizing the interfaith dinner. I have been to Cuba three times, and he has been
with us directing us each time, showing us where to go, with whom we should be meeting and
talking,

I wrote up a speech, it was twenty minutes long, I was going to read it, and when I stood up in front
of these people, God put the words in my mouth. I threw the message that I prepared away, and I
said now I know what it feels like when Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him entered Madinah.
There were Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and they were there greeting him because there was
confusion, they were fighting one another, and they thought He would bring peace to Madinah which
he did, he dictated the Madinah declaration which guaranteed freedom for all faiths. This was one of
the first human rights documents ever written.

I described this to the Jews, to the Christians, and the communists who were sitting there. My
interpreter for me was a Jewish lady, and she spoke fluent Spanish and English, and I talked about
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him that He was a mercy to mankind, and she said she needed to
stop just a minute, she asked for tissue, she was crying, she never heard this about Prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him.

I am so happy to be able to go throughout the world and describe the truth about Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him, a great man of mercy and compassion for the human race, he not only loved
humans, he loved animals and plants, he was an environmentalist, of the true sense. So, Muslims
should be involved in the environment today as far as being involved in interfaith work. We should
be promoting environmentalism, we should be promoting anti-war, Muslims are peacemakers.
You know when I speak to groups like this one in Cuba I put behind me in the wall a projection of
the six pillars of faith, I got the Jews and Christians sitting in front of me, and I said how many of
you Jews and Christians believe there is only one God, and they all raise their hands and say yes we
all believe in this, I said how many of you believe in angels, they all raised their hands and said we
believe in angels. I said: how many of you believe in prophets from Adam, Noah, to Jesus. Jews
don't believe in Jesus but believe in all other prophets, so most people were raising their hands, how
many of you believe that someday we are going to sit in front of God, he will judge us for the good
things and the bad things we have done, the great judgment before God and everybody raised their
hands, then I said: how many of you believe when God says something is going to happen is going to
happen, and everybody raised their hands.

And then I tell them this is Islam, this is what the Quran teaches : Say: 'O People of the Book! come
to common word between us and you; that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners
with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah.' (3:64).

And then I explained to them that we believe that God is only one being, we don't believe in father,
son and the holy spirit, the Jews don't believe that either. We believe Muhammad is the Prophet of
God, and I explained to them why the Quran is the word of God. You can't stand in a meeting like
that and say okay if you want to pronounce the shahada, raise your hands. They have our website,
our email address. In Israel, i.e. Palestine, 50 Jews recited the shahada. God called them, not me.

We also went to Hiroshima, and I took two imams with me. We found out we were in ground zero, it
was in Hiroshima peace park, this is where the bomb was dropped, and this is not permitted in the
Islamic morals of war, we are permitted only to fight defensive wars when somebody is attacking us,
and even then we can't do what that bomb did.

During our five regular prayers in Hiroshima, we prayed for an end of nuclear weapons, and we
signed agreements that we agree with the United Nations declaration to end nuclear weapons, these
weapons should not exist, they should not exist in the hands of any country.

Your Excellency is an expert on human rights and the environment. How has Islam
contributed to your views towards human rights and the environment?

I was excited when I read the Quran and especially when I studied the life of Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him, a man of great mercy to mankind. When He climbed the mountain of Taif,
people and children were attacking him and would come with rocks and stone him. Our Prophet
never picked up a rock and threw it back and never cursed anyone who cursed him, when the angel
of God came and said: Oh Prophet, just give me the word I will destroy these people, I will clasp the
mountain on them. And Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him cried out: No, don't do it. Someone
might repent! This is our Prophet; this is Islam.

There are many comments throughout the Quran as I read it about caring for animals, for plants; and
then we have the hadith, the Sunnah, which gives us a beautiful example of the Prophet caring for
animals and trees, we should be leading the environmental movement today, we should be leading
the anti-nuclear movement.

Peace and reconciliation are critical topics today. What could be your advice for Muslim youth
as social workers and peacemakers?
I am especially interested in Muslim youth; many Muslim youth today are leaving the faith; some of
them call themselves atheists. I asked them why we want to be like Americans, they have to
understand not everything is good about America, I love my country, it is a wonderful country, but
there is something that is not good, many youth in America today are leaving any kind of faith at all,
60 % don't believe in God, and Muslim youth sometimes think it is okay to be like them, they see
something on movies doing drugs smoking marijuana, doing cocaine, they want to be like them.

I want to scream as loud as I can: Muslim youth, God has a plan for your life, and he wants you to be
leading in this world, this world has big problems, we have global warming, rising water in the sea,
we must change our behaviors as human beings, God wants you to be environmentalist, He wants
you to be leaders in all these movements to help the earth, please stand up, the future is in your
hands. You are the future of Islam, you should be leading the environmental movement, you should
be leading the peace movement, you should be leading in business, in education, in culture and other
fields but especially in environmentalism, human rights, and peacemaking.

If you want to bring people to a better understanding of Islam, then act like a Muslim, a Muslim
environmentalist, a Muslim is a peacemaker, a Muslim is an anti-war activist, al-HamdulilAllah
that's who we are.

I have spoken in high schools in Australia, one high school where five students from that high school
went to fight with Isis. Why did they go? I asked the faculty, they didn't fully understand, but these
were dedicated Muslim students they contacted Isis online on the internet they wanted to do
something to make a difference, they didn't realize what Isis was doing, but they took off to be part
of something that sounds exciting. We want them to be activist and involved in something more
exciting today, we want them to be activist in peacemaking, in the environment, and in human rights,
they could be proud to do these things. There is nowhere in the Quran to commit suicide to preach
people to Islam; it takes away people from Islam. Talking Da'ish (Isis) talk is very evil. This is not
Islam; Islam is never aggressive in war; Islam is passive, always seeking peace.

In your opinion, what methods are crucial to confront the trend of Islamophobia?

For every negative act done by terrorists, we must do a hundred acts of kindness to overcome the
negative publicity. We must do kindness and love, and show it in the way we behave to our
neighbours, to others, to the people with whom we are working, we must do all these kindnesses to
overcome the negative publicity.

It is important to spread knowledge but even more important than spreading knowledge is spreading
our behavior, our proper behavior, showing love and kindness, to act with words, it is important to
talk, but it is more important to act. We can use social media, radio, television, but better than any of
those is our behavior, building friendships with other people when we see someone hurting we
should be reaching out.

It is happening in England, British Muslims build health clinics they are providing housing for the
homeless, they are providing job training skills for people who are unemployed, they are doing
things of practical needs, when people see that we care about them, then they want to know about
Islam. I am very excited about the future of Islam.

What are your current projects?

This is the WWPD program worldwide, What Would the Prophet Do ? We have 100 questions, and
each question will be made into a theme to be distributed on social media, for instance, how would
the Prophet, peace be upon him, do to someone who slandered him or hit him.

This is what we are teaching around the world, each one of this one hundred questions will be turned
into three pages, those three pages will show examples of the Prophet's behavior through the Sunnah
and Hadith, that will be a bulk in a manual that could be used for teaching, then each one of those
chapter of three pages into a five minutes video of teachings, but we need support to be able to
accomplish this, so now we are trying to organize better our organization.

For 2020, we are planning to visit our Uyghur brothers in China, and undertaking a missionary tour
in South America, In Sha Allah.

What are your suggestions to the MWL for promoting peace and prosperity around the globe?

First I want to thank the Muslim World League, you are in six continents including Australia, you
are working everywhere, it is a beautiful example of Islam, not just through words, but through
deeds, through works, and it is our works, our kindness, and our good behavior that will bring
millions to Islam.

Today we face global warming, we've reached the tipping point, and if we don't do something by
2030 to solve the problems the earth is facing then, it is going to be an international catastrophe with
global warming, drought, scarcity of water, we are going to see mass migration of billions of people
moving from one place to another, we can't handle this, we need to do something quickly. The Quran
teaches us to walk softly on the earth, to take care of our environment, to love God's creations.
Muslims need to pay intention and should be leaders. I support any efforts of the Muslim World
League to be involved in environmentalism, to solve the problems we are facing, we should be
number one in leadership, and I thank them all the MWL for what they are already doing.

Thank you Mr. Sam. Jaza'ak Allahu Kheiran.