# From Night Club to Islam - 23yo Entrepreneur Converts to Islam @thomdefilet

- Language: en
- Published: 2026-08-26
- Canonical: https://blog.towardseternity.com/en/blog/from-night-club-to-islam-23yo-entrepreneur-converts-to-islam-at-thomdefilet
- Source video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W4plsSFEJc
- Channel: Towards Eternity

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

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I grew up in the West. I saw these people being lost, following their desires. They said, like, this is the way it is. There is no God. There is nothing. Just accept it as the way it is. Thinking like, there must be something behind it. Religion didn't make sense until I was embraced to Islam, So, the only people that could relate to me at that time were the Muslims. They were waking up early for Fajr. I was waking up early for my business. A lot of these brothers also said, "You are already a Muslim." "You believe in something higher, you believe in al***ol is bad. All these kinds of stuff.

You're already a Muslim." But back in the days I refused it, because I didn't felt that white people could be Muslim. Back in the days, I thought it were Arabs. He said, before you make the decision, do a little bit more research on other religions as well. Because he said, "You will even be more convinced." And I was like, well, that's real faith. Assalamualaikum warahmatullah, Thank you so much for coming. We are really happy to have you with us. Thank you very much, brother. Can you tell us briefly about your life, please? Thom J. Défilet. I'm 23 years old. I'm from the Netherlands. I grew up in a tiny town in the Netherlands. Part of my family's Christian, part of my family is atheist.

So I grew up with a lot of questions in life. Alhamdulillah, at some point Allah (swt) guided me to Islam. Just right before I turned 21, I reverted to Islam, Alhamdulillah. And since then my whole life changed, man. How was your life in regards to faith? What were you believing in? So, like I said, I was raised up in a very tiny town in the Netherlands. They said, like, this is the way it is. There is no God, there is nothing. Just accept it as the way it is, you know? That's how most people are thinking in the place where I come from. So I grew up more like as an atheist. A part of my family on my mother's side is Christian.

So I learned a little bit about Christianity, but it didn't really felt right at that time. I mean, I was raised up asking a lot of questions in the beginning, then being silenced by my environment by just saying "Accept what it is." I just started questioning life at the very young age. I just started questioning like, what is the meaning of life? Eventually we will die. I had people around me, you know, leaving this life, passing away. I see a lot of people that are successful. A lot of people are not successful. I saw so many things. So I started questioning life at some point.

So I've had a long period of time where I was just asking questions, looking in all corners of life to find the answers. I've had different stages in my life. I think in the beginning I was an atheist when I was very young, but it was purely because of my environment. At the older age, when speaking about being 13-14 years old, I'd more call myself as someone who believed in something higher, but I just couldn't find the answer. I believed in something, but I didn't know what it was. I remember asking my teacher. Like, in the middle of the night, I was thinking like, you have all these stars around us. We are like, floating on a planet in Earth, you know? Like, what does it even mean?

The universe is huge, and why is this happening? What is the meaning of it? And I remember asking my teacher this when I was literally ten years old or something like that. But then, I was silenced. This is just the way it is, you know, this is how it works and accept it. But the older I grew, the more older I got, the more I started thinking like, no, it's not the way it is. There must be something behind it, you know? Biggest inspiration at that time, how Islam was introduced to me, were by the Muslims themselves, from the place that I was coming from. There was just a small group of Muslims that, I don't know, could really relate to me even back then, back in the days.

The first seeds that were planted of Islam was when I was 15-16 years old, and I decided, I want to build businesses, I want to make something out of my life. But no one back in the days was doing that when at school, when I was 15-16 years old. They were all partying, drinking, all these kinds of stuff. But I didn't want to do that because I knew it affected my business. So the only people that could relate to me at that time were the Muslims. The only people that were not drinking, were waking up early. They were waking up early for Fajr. I was waking up early for my business. And somehow I was really related with that small group of Muslim brothers at the age of 15-16 years old.

So that's how I got introduced to Islam at a young age. How did you first hear about Islam? Alhamdulillah. I didn't grew up with really having bad thoughts or negative association with Islam. No one could relate with me when I was younger, 15 or 16 years old, everyone was partying. Everyone was gaming, following their desires, everything. But there was just one group that constantly were just relating to me. I mean, they were also not drinking, for other reasons than what I was believing at that time. They were also waking up early. They were waking up for Fajr, but I was waking up because I wanted to grow my business and learn about life and all these kinds of stuff.

So, I think the moment when I was really attached to them, I started to be really attached to them. And even at some age, when I was 16, 17 years old, I remember that my dad said like, "Why are you only hanging around with Muslims, you know, Moroccans and Turkish people?" I was like, "I don't know. I just feel better with them. They have common beliefs, they have common thoughts." And even back then, a lot of these brothers also said, "You are already a Muslim." "You believe in something higher, you believe in al***ol is bad. All these kinds of stuff. You're already a Muslim." They said this. But back in the days I refused it, because I didn't felt that white people could be Muslim.

Back in the days I thought it were Arabs. I thought it were, you know? But, Alhamdulillah. Every single day, every single year, I learned more about it. At some point, Allah (swt) opened my heart. When I started my business when I was 16 years old, the first couple of months were pretty simple, but at some point I started to hit more successes. Because I was really dedicating to that journey. So at the age of 17, I already was making like 2K a month. At some point I started making even more, which was very good for my age at that time. I started traveling, I started doing these amazing things. So, I felt like I was on top of the world. I had everything at some point.

But at some point I started making mistakes in my business. I started spending more than what was coming in. And at that moment when I was pushed back down to my knees, I also moved back from Amsterdam to the city that I grew up in. As Towards Eternity, we need your support. We are a charity organization that aims to spread the message of Islam to the entire world in ten languages. With your support, you can help people convert to Islam, give up harams, start praying, wear hijab, learn to read the Qur'an and so on. And get your share from all these good deeds, Inshallah. Donate to Towards Eternity and don't miss this golden opportunity.

I remember that the Ramadan came up when I was like, really at a low point in my business. I was really experiencing all these negative thoughts and Ramadan was there. So, a few brothers said like, "Hey, let's just join us for iftar, you know, let's have a meal together." And I really enjoyed that. We had conversations to deep in the night about the meaning of life, and that was all I needed at that moment. Because I was actually feeling really horrible of all of the things that I just experienced in my business and all of that. But they gave me so many insights and I was asking them very critical questions. But every question that I asked them was giving me more faith back in life.

It was giving me more purpose, more meaning. And I started seeing the lessons that I actually needed to learn. So the other day after that, they said, "Hey, you can join us again for iftar." And I said, "Okay, but then I need to fast as well. I mean, I cannot join you for Ramadan every single day, but then not fasting." So I started joining them on fasting during the day. During the day we started meeting up, having all these beautiful conversations. So at my lowest point in life, Islam... It's not the first time that Islam got introduced to me, but maybe that's all that I needed from Allah to open up my heart. So the first Ramadan I saw also a little bit as a challenge.

So I was like, okay, if you're fasting, I want to do it as well, but I see it a little bit as a challenge. Just to have it done once in my life. And they were praying five times a day, then I was saying like, okay, if you pray five times a day, I'm going to do meditation five times a day. I'm going to meditate. And if you're reading Qur'an, I'm going to read self-development books. I saw Ramadan also as a moment to just clean myself up and really focus on leveling up and bettering myself. Just like how the Muslims were doing that as well. But I was still not doing it for the religion or for Allah, but I was doing it for my goals at that time. But it was great.

I learned a lot during that Ramadan. But I didn't accepted Islam back then. I started to continue with my life. A lot of ups and downs happened again and again. And then next year, when Ramadan was there again, my Muslim brothers were texting me, "Hey, Ramadan is starting next week. Are you joining again?" And I was like, why not? Because the Muslims at that time were actually the only ones I really had a close connection with, these brothers, just a very small group of brothers. I was like, if they are eating only in the evening, let's join them again. But that time I also said, "Give me a Qur'an." "You can give me a Qur'an, I will read it a little bit." And I started reading them.

I had a lot of questions. That moment, I started to have two feelings. One feeling said, hey, Islam is really interesting, and I want to know more about it. But on the other hand, I had a lot of thoughts in my head as well that try to refute it, like try to neglect it, or try to ask really critical questions about the religion. I've looked into, at some point, into many religions, But all of the religions were giving me weird feelings. It didn't make sense. From philosophical beliefs that really were not having a clear foundation all the way to, I mean, Hinduism. I've had very good conversations with a lot of different religious and different ethnicities.

But I never could really relate to the principles, or to the belief or the concept of God. So wherever I looked and whatever question I asked, religion didn't make sense until I was embraced to Islam. I started realizing that there must be one Creator. There can't be multiple. Because if the Creator is all knowing, all powerful, all these aspects, then how can there be multiple? Because if there are multiple, if they don't agree with each other, that's not the concept of God. So a lot of religions don't make sense. Philosophical beliefs or things like that, don't believe sometimes in a Creator. For me it makes sense that there was a Creator, because of the intelligence behind everything.

All these kinds of steps that I followed that brought me closer to Islam. I even remember at some point when I was convinced and I was like, "Okay, I think Islam is the thing for me." And every single evening we're having these beautiful conversations. I remember that one Muslim said to me, "Okay, you believe it's the truth? But how much have you really looked into other religions?" Because we don't only say it's the truth. He said "Every religion says it's the truth, right?" And I was like, yeah.

He said, "Before you make the decision, do a little bit more research on other religions as well." Because he said, "You will even be more convinced." And I was like, "Wow, Subhanallah." That's what it means. I mean, that's real faith, right? If you can say like, "Look wherever you want in this planet Earth, and you will still come back to us, and even more convinced." And I did that, I did that. I started asking a little bit more questions on Christianity. I knew some Christians around me. I started looking into some other religions for a couple days and a couple weeks, even.

But the more and more I started reading, the more I was like, "Yeah, Islam is the truth, Islam is the only truth." Alhamdulillah. So what was the main thing that convinced you that Islam is 100% the truth, that this is it, this must be the truth? When people ask me the question nowadays, like, "What really made you realize that Islam is the truth?" I always say two things. One is the creation in and of itself, the universe around us. The fact that we have so many different creatures, you know, animals here. If you plant a seed, it will grow into a tree with different fruits.

We live in a universe that is endless, a universe that is unlimited how huge and how long it is, at least for what we can observe. We are just a tiny dot in the universe, floating around. If you look at the perfection of the creation, the purpose of the creation, and the intelligence around it, then I really realized that there must be something behind that, a Creator. If there is a creation, there must be a Creator. And I think, on the other hand, the second thing that made me really convinced that Islam is the truth is the societal aspect. So I was seeing when I was younger, I grew up in the West. I saw these people being lost, following their desires.

I mean, especially nowadays with social media, for example. A lot of people disagree with each other, different opinions, even within households itself. The mother believes in one thing, the father believes in the other thing. You have two children that have complete other beliefs about life. It's really separate, really individual. People are just following their desires and their ego. So who is determining the rules? Who is determining what is good and bad?

And then I really saw and this was something that I like, realized pretty early in my life from observing the Muslims, is I realized that if you have rules or a book that is coming from something higher and you believe in it all together, then society is much more peaceful. I saw that the Muslims were so united. If there was a problem in their family, they were not arguing and fighting. No, they were like, okay, let's look at the Sunnah, let's look at the Qur'an. And then I was like, wow, that's beautiful, right? There are just rules that we are living by and that brings so much more peace.

I mean, sometimes boundaries and rules are much better than freedom, because freedom will let you follow your desires blindly. I remember someone when I was younger, when I started to get more interested in Islam, he said, "If there's no God in your life, then your ego becomes God." So, you start following your desires. But in Islam, we learn that following your desires and the temptations, it's coming from Shaitan. Maybe it feels good right now in the moment to follow your temptations and your desires, but eventually it will lead to destruction. That's why gambling is haram in Islam. That's why al***l is haram in Islam. You know, zina is haram in Islam, all these kinds of things.

If you look at the consequences of following your desires and these aspects, it makes complete sense. And that's what I mean with Islam. Islam is the only religion that really, really stands for its beliefs and puts a boundary at like, we don't do this. We stand for what Allah (swt), what God has commanded us. And I didn't found any religion on this planet Earth that had such high level of faith and discipline and structure. Alhamdulillah. And how did you finally take your Shahada? What made you just take this final step? And how did you feel when you took your Shahada? I went through a journey of asking a lot of critical questions about Islam for years.

I've joined two Ramadans before I reverted. I knew four surahs before I reverted. I knew how to pray before I reverted. I was constantly asking these critical questions, like I said. So I wanted to know everything, I wanted to really be convinced that there is no fault in it or anything like that. So at some point I understood everything. I was going to my barber.

I remember I was at my barber, I was saying like, "Hey, isn't it prayer time?" "It's like, dhuhr right now, right?" It was like, "Yes, but..." He was like, "Are you Muslim already?" I said, "No, but I tried to pray five times a day, because I feel peaceful with it and I'm pretty close." I said, "I'm really, pretty close." Then he asked me something, which was the thing maybe that I needed at that time. He said, "What if you would die tomorrow?" "Or what if you would die today? Are you dying as a Muslim or are you dying as a non-Muslim?" And Subhanallah, that really made me think. And I didn't got an answer to that at that time.

But on my way home after I went to the barber, I was really asking myself, "Yeah, when am I dying? How am I dying? Where do I go?" I mean, death is the best reminder sometimes. And I remember giving my friends a call on my way home saying, "Tomorrow, let's take my Shahada, I want to do it. I'm convinced. Yeah, I'm convinced." And the next day was Juma. So on a Friday, mosque was completely filled. I was taking my Shahada in front of all these brothers over there. It was amazing in and of itself. The day was amazing. After that, we had lunch together. Everyone, of course, really happy giving me all the gifts and stuff. So it was a really peak moment.

But I remember that after my Shahada, the day of my Shahada, I went back home by myself and I looked myself in the mirror. I was seeing myself. And I was like, "Now I'm a Muslim." Now, I'm Tom and I need to call myself a Muslim." And I remember that this was an identity that I really needed to get used to. It wasn't asking these beautiful questions anymore and just observing the religion. No, now I was a Muslim. No, I'm not praying because I just enjoyed it once now and then. But now it's like a must. Now I need to pray every single day. And so, the journey before my reversion, before I took my Shahada, and after are really beautiful in and of itself as well.

And I was a little bit afraid of saying to people that I'm a Muslim. I had a phase of my life where I... It wasn't because I was really ashamed. I was really proud to be a Muslim. But I knew that other people were having other opinions about Islam. But Alhamdulillah, now I see it as something positive. When I walk on the streets or people see me or talk to me, and they know that I'm Muslim and they're asking, I talk with full pride about it. I see it also as an opportunity to give da'wah. You know, that's also why I created the channel at some point. It's just from another perspective. If you are a white, blonde guy talking about Islam, people are like, "What is...

How did this happen?" So yeah, Alhamdulillah. It's beautiful. And how do you see the difference between the time before Islam and time after Islam? I feel like I'm a newborn baby after I embraced Islam. Before I was referred to Islam, I didn't understand the purpose of life. I didn't understand the meaning of life. I was having all these questions. I couldn't have faith in something or like real support from something. I was just alone in this world trying to find the meaning. I really noticed that for myself as well. When I embraced Islam, everything got so much easier, better. It feels like you're completely new, you know? So what is the difference between then and now?

I think it's the peace that I feel in my heart, the tranquility. The faith, the tawakkul and the taqwa. You know, the fear of God and the trust in God. These two things completely changed my life. So what is the one characteristic you see in the Prophet (saw) that you admired the most? Subhanallah, it's really hard to say one thing. I mean, he's the perfect example for us, right? Our Prophet Muhammad (saw), in every aspect, he is the example for us. There is no other good example or better example. I mean, what I just admire the most about our Prophet Muhammad (saw) is that he always treated people with kindness. He always smiled to people.

There's a hadith that the best, or the simplest form of sadaqah is just smiling at people, you know. Spreading the positivity. And I really believe that Islam is protecting our children. It's protecting society. And it's the best way to raise your children and to navigate your way, you know? It really made me trust the whole world again. For someone who's curious about Islam, how would you recommend to research Islam? Is it enough to write "What is Islam" on Google? No. If you type in "What is Islam" on Google, I think you will also find a lot of the things that are not true. You know, the news and all of these kinds of stuff.

What I did in the beginning is just going to people with knowledge, it can be on different levels. I mean, it can be just a friend that, you know, that knows about Islam, the basics of Islam. There are so many beautiful channels nowadays, such as your channel, you know, where you are really trying to make Islam more understandable for the people that don't understand it yet. And, I mean, online we have so many options. Yes, we have our phone nowadays you can just type things in and knowledge is accessible to your phone. Just get some books, get the right people around you, try to watch some beautiful channels like Towards Eternity and then it will be fine. You told that you're a science guy?

Yeah, you like science? You, as a scientific guy. Many people think that science is contradictory to religion, especially Islam. What would you like to say to those people? Research Islam and you will find that it's not true. I mean, I always was really a fan of science, but after Islam, it made me even more interested in science. It's not that it got less or whatever. It's like even more. Because now with everything that I see around me, it's like, Subhanallah, the creation of Allah is so complex. All of these different kind of research they do in science. This is the beautiful thing from science as well.

Of course, science can know that if you put one particle and another particle together, something happens. So they know, oh, if we do this and this, it makes this. But then still, what is the cause of that thing that happens? What is the cause of all, everything that happens in nature? You can research everything that happens right over here. If we plant a seed, a beautiful tree grows with beautiful fruits and all of that. We know scientifically that this happens when you put a cause and there is an effect. But what stimulates the cause? What stimulates this thing in and of itself in the beginning? The universe has a beginning, science proves that. It believes in the Big Bang.

In the Qur'an, it says as well that everything started from one atom. And then we exploded into more. The expansion of the universe is described in the Qur'an. A lot of things that were not proven by science back in the days 1400 years ago are in the Qur'an. The Qur'an is teaching us so much and it invites us to observe the universe. It invites us to look around. And I think a lot of scientists can learn a lot from that. Because the only thing they are looking at, everything that happens, you know, the particles and all of this, but they don't ask, like, what is behind that? What is creating all of it? That's Allah.

And if there was a chance to speak to all the non-Muslims in the world, and they're listening to you, what would you like to say to them in a few moments? If I would just give them one reminder, it starts with, remember that you will die. Most people just wake up and do whatever they need to do, work, kids, stress, wife, all of these things going on, money, struggles, everything. And people try to fix that, eventually realizing that they will die. And they spend all of their years blindly following their responsibilities that they had at that moment. I invite everyone to take one step back and observe your life, and observe everything that happens from a little bit more outside perspective.

You know, ask questions about life. Ask critical questions about life. Because you will die, and what happens? Life is a test for everyone. Every creature has its own purpose, you know? A cow produces milk. A bee produces honey. And every single animal that you see is really giving something. And having a purpose, is following their purpose. Every animal doesn't even have a brain to clearly think. They just operate based on their natural behavior. They are just having the fitrah. Every animal has their own purpose, but we as humans have a free will. We are the only ones in this universe from what we know right now, we have a free will. We can choose between good and bad. We're going to die.

Life is a test. We need to choose between good and bad, and then look a little bit at the creation itself. Realize that there is a Creator and then one plus one is two. And, you know, I mean, it's just... Ask questions about life and you will end up with Islam. I just invite you to ask critical questions. And I truly believe in my heart that everyone that asks critical questions in life will end up with Islam, Inshallah. If you open up your heart, if you pray, Allah will open up your heart. Brother Thom Défilet, Jazakallah khair for your beautiful answers and insights that you shared with us. We are really inspired by your story. And may Allah preserve you.

May Allah keep you on this path, on the right path. May Allah (swt) bless you and the whole team around this, because it's beautiful what you guys are doing. Please keep doing what you're doing.