# Former Jazz Singer's Amazing Revert Story from Christianity @mrfontain

- Language: en
- Published: 2026-08-26
- Canonical: https://blog.towardseternity.com/en/blog/former-jazz-singers-amazing-revert-story-from-christianity-at-mrfontain
- Source video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPwtX0iokuI
- Channel: Towards Eternity

This is the cleaned transcript of the source video. The speech is unaltered.

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How was your life in regards to faith? What was the thing that made you question your belief? Around seven years old, I was like, What? you know, this is like a light bulb moment when I realized, I don't believe in this faith. Me muslim? I am never gonna be a muslim? What are you talking about? America and other countries were going into Iraq and Afghanistan. I remember watching it on the news. Yeah, let's go and get these Muslims. You know, I was kind of like cheering them on... Because I'd never been properly introduced to Islam and had never learned the true teachings. Assalam Alaykum, Brother John, thanks for coming. We will be having an interview with you Inn Sha Allah.

To start off with “who is John Fontain? And can you tell us briefly about your life?” Yes. So my name's John Fontain. I'm a convert to Islam. I converted in 2008. Before Islam, I was a jazz singer. I was also studying diamonds and working in Africa. So I'm from Manchester, the famous city. you know, a mixed upbringing. I went to school, college, and then I started to get into business and singing as well. How was your life in regards to faith? What were you believing in? I was raised and born and raised as a Christian, so from a very young age, I used to go to church. I went to different types of churches.

I also went to evangelical churches as well, which is a very different religion to Protestant Church of England religion. I was also into music, so I started to play the church organ, I play the ukulele banjo. I played the trumpet. So, I was very musical from a very young age. So, in my teenage years I got into singing. So, from the age of 14, I was singing. And then when I became around 16, 17... I started to sing professionally as a job. Singing in jazz clubs and cruise ships and football in Manchester United's ground in different places. It's fun, you know, in my time before Islam, I felt like has got to the peak of where I could be in the music industry.

You know, I wasn't going to be the number one singer in the world. I didn't have the, you know, the dark, handsome looks of a jazz singer. And when I was singing in some of these clubs, I just thought, well, I've done it. It was like I had reached my goal and it was it was an empty feeling, you know, when you've made it, you know, you've tried to work so hard to succeed in a particular field. and then all of a sudden you're at the top of where you can be, and then what? Am I going to do this for the rest of my life? It is not fulfilling. So this is why I started to look into business as well. I started to study diamonds. I that's when my journey took me to Africa and on to different things.

What was the thing that made you question your belief? Was it an event? Was it a thought? and when was it? That's an interesting question. From a young age, the age of about seven years old. I remember being in Sunday school, in church. We had to write a song about God and my song was called Jesus and God. And that was the chorus. It was like a rap. I had some verses. I still remember the verses. I'm not going to sing it now. And I remember the pastor, one of the youth workers, he took the piece of paper and changed the words. So originally that my song was "Jesus and God" and the pastor changed it to "Jesus is God." And around seven years old. I was like, What?

, you know, this is like a light bulb moment where I realized that I don't believe in this faith. I do not believe Jesus is God. You know, my concept of Jesus was that he's a man as a human being, as a prophet of God. And there's no way I was going to accept that Jesus is God. So this was the kind of the first instance where I started to question, well, what is the right religion? Because I did believe in God, and my concepts of God was what my concept of God is today. We can't imagine God, you know, He's one. He's something beyond our comprehension. But there was no way I was going to accept that Jesus is God. So this is shocking for me from a young age. I knew, you know, what's going on.

You know, all my family, my friends, my community, they're all following this religion. And it doesn't make sense. It's very eye opening. When did you first hear about Islam? I would say the first time I started to hear about Islam and think about it as a religion was 9/11. I remember I was in school, I was in a woodwork class. I was making my GCSE product of a rocking horse. And there was a lot of commotion. We had the teacher got the 9/11 incident on the laptop and we were shocked, you know, that somebody had flew a plane into the World Trade Centers and all I heard was the Muslims, Muslims, Muslims. And from then I went home and I was watching the news.

And I remember when America and other countries were going into Iraq and Afghanistan. I remember watching it on the news. Thinking, yeah, let's go and get these Muslims. You know, I was kind of like cheering them on, not knowing anything about Islam, all I thought I knew was that Islam is a terrorist religion. These people are evil. And that was kind of my first introduction. For what reason, did you feel the attraction towards Islam? Initially, I was looking into Islam online. I was watching YouTube when YouTube first came out, coming across some different videos. I also at the age of 18, I traveled to Senegal in West Africa. And for those who don't know, Senegal is a muslim country.

When I was in Senegal, I was actually quite scared of Muslims, initially. Because of 911, because I had many misconceptions about Muslims. So actually going to Senegal opened my mind. I realized, number one, that there's African Muslims. I never seen African Muslims. So I was really interested in understanding how did Islam come here, you know? And when I went to Senegal, this was the first time I actually heard the Adhan. It was fascinating. You know, I was really happy to hear the call to prayer. I wanted to understand it. I wanted to understand the meaning. And I met some Muslims.

I came across a brother who at the time he was working in the hotel and he invited me to his house to stay in his house. So I ended up living with him for some time. I went to a muslim wedding, I went to a muslim funeral, and I witnessed him and his mother and his family praying. We ate together, sitting on the floor, and all these things were amazing to me. At that time. Did becoming a muslim cross your mind? But I wasn't convinced on Islam. So even though I liked the culture, I liked my experience. This wasn't enough to make me a muslim. This just sparked my interest even more to kind of It was kind of weird because I started to attack Islam by using Christianity.

even though I knew Christianity wasn't true. Culturally, I was still Christian. So I started to, you know, try to find problems of Islam, you know, spark discussion with some of the Muslims. But the more I researched, the more I questioned Islam, the more I was impressed about the teachings and the message of the Quran. And I guess I was willing to accept Islam when I say willing to accept Islam, I mean I was willing to give Islam a chance because the Africans were had a part to teach me about Islam. in Senegal, did you have any memory that you cannot forget? So I was 18 years old. This is five years before I converted. And while I was staying in the brother's house, who was a muslim.

His grandmother passed away and she was 105 years old and he was crying. He was sat on the bed crying. So I sat next to him. I put my arm around him and I said, you know, she'll go to a better place. And he said, I'm not crying because she's passed away. He said, she's a muslim. Said She would go to Jannah Inn Sha Allah. He said, I'm crying because she's a very old woman and I wanted her to meet you so that she can make dua that you will become a muslim. And that touched me. I thought me muslim? I am never going to be a muslim. What are you talking about? I didn't say that because he's you know, he's still upset that his grandmother passed away. But this had an effect on me.

I was like, why is this so important for this man? Why is he cry? He's just lost his grandmother. He's not crying because he's passed away. He's crying because he wants me to be a muslim. And that was something that made me think, wow, this guy actually believes he really believes in this religion. When and how did you accept Islam? I eventually accepted Islam when I was 23 years old. I was doing some research, but again at the time I was not willing to give up singing and I was not willing to give up certain things and I guess I didn't know how to become a muslim. In fact, I didn't know I could be a muslim.

I thought Islam was something you were born with, you know, something you inherit from your parents. I'd never known they were converts to Islam. It wasn't until when I was researching and I came across videos with people like Abdul Rahim Green and Yusuf Estes and other people converts. When I realized, Wow, there's actually a lot of English and American people who are accepting Islam and I can be a muslim. So that was something that led me to think, okay, now this is something I should look into. So who invited you then? I was in Egypt at the time and I went to a mosque and I asked my friends to teach me how to pray and he refused. He said, no. He said, You're not a muslim.

I said, Well, I believe, you know, I fasted Ramadan and I tried to pray. He said, okay, you have to say the Shahada. I asked him, What is the Shahada? So he told me the shahada and I became a muslim. I felt like a big weight was taken off my shoulders. I felt clean and Alhamdulillah I already believed. You know, it wasn't like the beliefs just came at that point. I've always believed in Allah. And then I went back to the UK. I tried to find a mosque and I was still scared to go to the mosque. I felt that the Muslims are terrorists, I still had negative feelings about Muslims. So I went to a place I thought it was a school, but it wasn't a school, it was a mosque.

And Subhanallah behind the reception there was an Englishman. I was shocked. You know, as a white man walking into a mosque, I was expecting to see Pakistanis and Arabs, and there's a white man, and he helped me, taught me the Fatiha. taught me the small surahs and taught me how to pray. Every day I would go there. He would teach me how to pray. He would listen to me, read the Quran, and there was some other brothers in the mosque. I would sit there having coffee and they were teaching me and that's how I started my journey. And how did your family and your close circle react to your conversion to Islam?

I think in the beginning people just thought it was a phase that it's not going to last long, he will grow out of it. And now, 13 years on, I'm still a muslim. Of course, many of them had concerns that Islam was dangerous and Muslims are terrorists, and I totally understand people having them concerns, you know, because all they know is what's in the media. And this is the this is the problem of the Muslims, because the Muslims are not educating the non-Muslims about the correct Islam. You know, so if the non-Muslims know about Islam, they won't have these these stereotypes and these concerns. So, yeah, it was difficult in the beginning. Lots of family and friends were confused and worried.

But Alhamdulillah now everything is okay. What was the major challenge you faced after becoming a muslim? The hardest thing for me was praying Salah. If you're not in the habit, the Salah is difficult. Because we're not used to spending that time five times a day to pray the Salah. One way, I dealt with this is I promised myself that I will never sleep at night unless I've prayed my five daily prayers. So imagine you're praying all five daily prayers at night before you sleep. This is not allowed, by the way. This is not permissible. Of course, as a muslim, you don't know when you're coming from Kufr and Jahiliyyah, and now you're trying to learn the Deen.

And then I realized that it's so difficult at the time to pray all of the Salah at one. that is easiest to spread them around. So I think this helped me spread the Salah in the right time. And of course when you grow in Islam you learn more about the religion, you realize that is obligatory to pray these present time. What impressed you the most about our Prophet (saw)? This is an amazing question. We look at the reality of the Prophet (saw). 1400 years ago. He came.

One man in the desert received revelation from Allah as well as the highest status a human being can be given, which is a prophet and the impact that he had on the world even to this day, and his followers who follow his Sunnah, follow his way. We tried to follow his way. The love that we have. Look, we're here today. We spending our wealth and our time on the Deen. We truly have imaan in this. And if just imagine all the followers of Islam, not just the ones that are alive today, but for the past 1400 years, preserving the Sunnah, preserving the statements and the actions of this man, and obeying the messenger of Allah, obeying Allah.

You know, and the impact that he's had on this world, that a third of the world currently follow the Prophet (saw). All you know, they're Muslims. You know, this is just the introduction. Seriously, when people reflect on this man and what he did and more importantly, the message that he was given, the solutions that the Qur'an has for humanity. You bring the Sharia, the law and the guidance from Allah and you compare it to any other religion any of any of a philosophy, any other way of life. Islam beats any other religion, our way of life and its wisdom. And it's also simple to understand. What was your purpose in your life before Islam and what is it after Islam?

Purpose and the goal is to see Allah, to be in paradise, being for those and have the opportunity to actually see our Creator. You know, that is the ultimate. And of course, after the see the prophets, you know, sitting with the Prophet Muhammad (saw) sitting with Isa (as) and all the prophets having conversations with them. You know, this is the purpose. before Islam, you don't I don't I don't think people really think about purpose of life. I don't think they make their own purpose. I didn't just. You just live in day to day. What projects are you doing right now? For myself, I'm doing some work in Africa, planning on building schools in Africa.

I'm also writing a book about the Islamic perspective of Revelation and the previous scriptures. I'm also writing a book about Atheism tackling some of the issues on Atheism. I also have a YouTube channel. I have a podcast called Young Smokes, so go and subscribe. Apart from that, just reading, studying, doing Da'wah and trying to share the message of Islam. If you had a chance to speak to all the non-Muslims in the world, what would you like to say to them? I would just encourage them to look into Islam sincerely.

You know, learn Islam from Muslims who have studied the religion, take some time out, read some books on Islam, understand what this religion has been so dominant for the past 1400 years, believes and no doubt Islam is very influential on the world. You know, we're talking a third of the world's population are Muslim. So this is something you just out of respect for your neighbor, our respect for your fellow human beings. You should learn about what they believe. Take some time and study and learn about the concepts in Islam and just be sincere to yourself. I would encourage all the non-Muslims to worship Allah, the Creator alone. That God that you make dua to when you're in need.

That God, you pray to, I should say when you're on the plane shaking, you got turbulence and you're calling out to the Creator. That's the God that Muslims believe in. That's the God that Muslims pray to. So ask that God to guide you. Put your head on the floor in your bedroom when you're alone. Just put your hand on the floor and ask the Creator to guide you. What was it like to say is your final comments? One thing I would say, it's just I would actually advise the Muslims who are watching this. Maybe you're not praying, maybe your salat is not on time, maybe you're weak in Imaan, maybe you don't have much knowledge about Islam. Try to learn more about Islam and focus on your Salah.

Make sure that your five daily prayers are on time. As a muslim, if you have your five daily prayers on time, pray correctly, you will see that your life will fall into place when your connection is right with your Creator. The Dunya is easy. This life is easy. Allah is Al-Razzaq. He's the one who provides. He's the one who protects. He is the all wise. When you have Imam in these things, when a calamity comes, you know that the all wise Al-Hakim is behind that. And someone like Iman comes through knowledge. It's not just through saying, I love the Prophet Muhammad (saw). Loving the Prophet Muhammad (saw). the proof of that is that you obey him and follow him.

Take it step by step, start with your Salah and things will fall into place. And I encourage everyone, whether you are Muslim, whether you are non-Muslim, to take Islam seriously, reflect on the Qur’an read the Qur’an, give Islam a chance, read about what Islam teaches, the pure, strict monotheism of worshiping only God alone. We don't pray to Muhammad (saw). We don't pray to anything. We don't pray to saints. We don't pray to anyone. We pray directly to God alone. Thank you for the answers was a beautiful interview So hope to see you and collaborate with you again Inn Sha Allah. JazakAllah o Khair, Salam Alaykum.