I Walked 1000 Km To Find God! - Revert Story of a French Singer! @LEGACYB2BPODCAST
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How was your life in regards to faith? What did you believe in? I tried many other types of spirituality like Reiki, Shamanism. I was talking to God while walking and I was asking him to, you know, to manifest himself in my life. and I thought I was becoming more holy, I was becoming more holy. And suddenly the Adhan started to play. And I was like, Wow, this is powerful. This is amazing, you know? I loved it, but I thought, it's not a religion for me, so good for them. I thought it was a religion for Arabs. Assalamu Alaykum brother Julien. Thank you for accepting our invitation. We are happy to have you with us. I want to start with who is Julien Drolon.
Can you tell us briefly about yourself? Bismillahirrahmanirrahim Assalamu Alaykum Ahmed and the whole team of Towards Eternity. Thank you for inviting me. Alhamdulillah, I'm from France. I'm 40 years old. It just happened that I've been searching for God all my life. I wanted to become preist when I was young. I was born in a Catholic family. All my life I've been trying to find God in many different type of experiences. And slowly, you know, I started to discover about Islam. How was your life in regards to faith? What did you believe in? I was a Christian because my family baptized me when I was two years old.
And then I at some point thought I should become a monk because I really like religion I thought it gave sense to my life even as a kid But then after my family didn't really encourage me so much to pursue that they more encouraged me to become a Buddhism like a Buddhist. So I started to practice meditation and it really helped me to calm me down and things like that. And then I tried many of other type of spirituality like Reiki, which is a type of healing or Shamanism. I try to get interested in all type of religion. What was the thing that made you question your beliefs? Was it an event or a thought and when was it? So there was a time.
I was a singer for a couple of years in the Philippines. It was a dream of mine and I remember very well. I was in Hong Kong. I just finished a gig, a concert in a festival, and I played in front of my favorite singer. I met him and he came to my concert, so I felt very humbled and I was thinking There must be something is not right in my life. I didn't know what it is, but I thought, I'm not upon the truth. Suddenly something made me realize I have a good life and everything. But there's something missing in my life. I know I don't live my life the right way. I could not say what it was so that was a trigger.
And I decided to walk 1000 kilometer from the border of Spain towards the west coast of Spain. It was a 1000 kilometers journey It took me 30 days. It was a great experience because I started to try to reflect about God. I met a lot of Christians along the way, so I think that was a big event because I was talking to God while walking and I was asking him to, you know, to manifest himself in my life. I wanted to find him. And I believe that walking was part of the process. At the end of your journey, how did you feel? Could you find God, really? Sadly, after walking 1000 kilometers, I really remember very well. So you expect to be a bit more pure and holy, right?
So I just arrived in Santiago de Compostela. I attended the ceremony and there was a Brazilian guy who came towards my way in a bicycle and kind of like scared me And I told him an insult in Brazilian and he also replied to me something bad. ....I just walked 1000 kilometers I thought I was becoming more holy. So after this event, I realized it's not enough to walk. You need to walk with something that is giving you the guidance to not hurt other people's feeling. When did you first hear about Islam? The real time, I think I really heard about Islam is with 9/11 when actually I started to pay attention to Islam.
So the first person that told me about Islam, very openly and the first person I remember is a taxi driver. When I was in Abu Dhabi, I had to wait for a flight to catch to the Philippines. I had 6 hours to kill and I thought I should not stay in the airport, I rather check the landscape. I didn't know about Abu Dhabi, so I asked the taxi driver, what can I visit here? And he said there is this big white masjid, huge masjid So I said, Let's go. And on the way to this masjid, he started to play the radio and there was this song that I really loved and this music I really loved in my ear And I said, What is this music? It talks to my heart.
I told him that and he stopped the car and he said, Brother, this is not music, is the Quran. And he start to preach to me about Islam he said, You know, I really hope you can become Muslim. You and your family, and save yourself from the Hellfire. And I told him, hold on a minute, you know, nobody is going to go to hellfire. What is this? So that was the beginning of the journey where for the first time of my life, a Muslim engaged me in a very nice way, actually What was the thing that affected you the most before you became Muslim? I think what affected me the most before I become Muslim is to live in the south part of the world, because I'm from the north, I'm from France.
My DNA, my race comes from the North But if you look at the map, you cut it in two. 90% of the Muslim world is in the South , You have Africa, Middle East. You have Southeast Asia, India, Pakistan, it's all in the south. So because of my work, I travel in all these countries, I traveled in all these countries So I was in in the heart of the world. And the Adhan was going on in most of the countries that I visited. And it always made an impact on me. Like, I remember one day I was playing soccer in Tanzania with some Africans and suddenly the Adhan started to play and I was like, Wow, this is powerful. This is amazing. You know, I loved it.
Then I went to Cyprus, same the Adhan was playing in Nicosia, and it impacted me like I felt pulled. But I thought, it's not a religion for me, so good for them. But I thought it was a religion for Arabs. How were you convinced that Islam is 100% true? There are two reasons why I believe that Islam is 100% true. One is just a fact because the Quran is the word of God. And I realized that and I never knew that. Actually, a lot of things that has been said in the Quran has been discovered only now or a few decades ago. I could not believe that I, actually the Quran proved itself to me that it can only be the word of God.
It can only come from God and not the Prophet Muhammad (saw), but one is because by experience, I experienced some miracles So I'm going to share one with you. So I was searching about God and I was praying to God. And as I was making that prayer as a Christian, still, there were some words on YouTube about one ayat about the Quran about the rain, and at the same time I was reading that ayat it was started to rain in front of my window for 10 seconds, literally, like just like that, really only in front of my window, not everywhere. I was living on the thirtieth floor when I saw that on that Ayah I understood, Allah (swt) gave me the answer I wanted and I started to cry.
I was like, I felt so blessed, you know? that Allah (swt) cared to show me, no brainer. That's it You want an answer, you want rain. Here you go. You want sun. Here you go. So you took your shahada right after this rain incident? I would say the defining moment of my conversion It is the speech of Yusuf Estes, an American preacher? that I had the chance to work with and meet after that explained to a black brother on YouTube, What is the difference between the Bible and the Quran? Why he is saying the Quran is the word of God and not the Bible and he explained so well that after 30 minutes I took my shahada. So how did you feel when you took your shahada?
When I took my Shahada, I felt like a billion dollar. I felt like if someone comes to me and say, look, you just became Muslim, right? Yes, I will put 1 billion in your bank account. But you have to say in front of everybody, you're not a muslim. I would tell the people, sorry, I can't. I don't want this billion. I'm richer than that now. The truth is so expensive. How did your family and the people around you react to your conversion? I knew it's not going to be a good news for my family. I knew that it's not going to be so much appreciated. But I didn't care. When I told my mother I became Muslim, she said to me, that was the worst thing I could tell her.
But Alhamdulillah, she changed her mind because I think she realized that there are a lot of beautiful things in Islam and she realized I became a better person. Islam makes you a better person. After becoming a muslim, did you have difficulties in praying five times a day and fasting other practices of Islam? After becoming Muslim, it took me maybe a month to pray five times a day. First one twice, and then slowly. And the hardest one is Fajr, the first prayer in the morning. but after I got into the rhythm and I never really gave up this practice, I always tried to pray five times a day. You heard that you have performed meditation in a mosque.
What are the differences between meditation and prayer, and how did you feel? The main difference between meditation or Buddhist meditation and praying is that when you are meditating as a Buddhist, you try to empty your mind. but when you medidate as a Muslim, you try to do tadabbur you try to reflect on life, on Allah (swt). So it's I would say it's like the difference is it's a more engaging way to meditate. It's a proactive way, which means you are not trying to empty your mind, but you're trying to fill up your mind with goodness and good thoughts towards Allah (swt), towards your Creator. and you try to reflect upon who you are, who is Allah (swt) and try to connect.
Whereas the Buddhist meditation is more but in a way, when you're Buddhist, you try to empty your brain to let the truth comes out, you know? So it's a good methodology to do that, but then you have to fill it up with good thing there's no point to empty your brain to fill it up with alcohol again the next weekend or with other stuff. Did someone become Muslim after your shahada? By your means? So a few people became Muslim. After I become I took my shahada. The best story is my Japanese friend Koki. He is a brother I met when I was 18 years old in Australia. We entered into a scheme business together. We lost some money and I told him, okay, you lost money, it's okay.
But if you don't accept Islam you're going to lose much more and he started to listen to me And he came to Malaysia, he took his Shahada and we flew. His wife who was Filipina non-Muslim at the time. we flew her over, she took her shahada and they married in my house Do you think you would be able to find Islam if you didn't travel that much? I think it's definitely much easier because of the life I had I traveled in 50 countries. I speak four languages. So because of my traveling, it played a huge role. So when I go to Muslim countries, I realized these people are great people and they have a lot to offer to the world.
And I realized the legacy of Islam is huge and I want to be part of his legacy. And speaking of this legacy, what kind of projects are you doing right now? So right now, we are focusing with Halis Media The media production that I run on a very beautiful project about Prophet Mohammed (saw) it is our second documentary It's called The Last Hope, and we're inviting one hundred converts from 40 countries to give us some interview to talk about what is the relation they have with the Prophet (saw). everybody has a different love for the Prophet (saw). We love him for many reasons, for justice, for his manners, for his courage.
So we want to have some intimate interviews to know how the Prophet Muhammad (saw) impacted each convert in a different way The legacy of the Prophet (saw) is so huge and there are so many to take from it. That's why we need many people. That's why we're inviting all the converts who are available to give the interviews and hopefully is going to keep continuing. And we hope that we can release the film in 2023, Inshallah. And finally, what would you like to add as your final comments? We are about to go through difficult times. They are rumors of wars, rumors of new disease, rumors of this and that. And I just want to tell the people, don't lose hope.
That's why we called our new documentary, The Last Hope. The Last Hope being the Prophet Muhammad (saw), do not worry, we are all the Ummah of the Prophet’s, We all belong to his ummah and things are going to be fine. Even though we're going to go for tribulations, we should always be optimistic. We should always be positive because we have the best prophet of the entire world He is the best. He's the most beloved of Allah (swt).
Can you tell us briefly about yourself? Bismillahirrahmanirrahim Assalamu Alaykum Ahmed and the whole team of Towards Eternity. Thank you for inviting me. Alhamdulillah, I'm from France. I'm 40 years old. It just happened that I've been searching for God all my life. I wanted to become preist when I was young. I was born in a Catholic family. All my life I've been trying to find God in many different type of experiences. And slowly, you know, I started to discover about Islam. How was your life in regards to faith? What did you believe in? I was a Christian because my family baptized me when I was two years old.
And then I at some point thought I should become a monk because I really like religion I thought it gave sense to my life even as a kid But then after my family didn't really encourage me so much to pursue that they more encouraged me to become a Buddhism like a Buddhist. So I started to practice meditation and it really helped me to calm me down and things like that. And then I tried many of other type of spirituality like Reiki, which is a type of healing or Shamanism. I try to get interested in all type of religion. What was the thing that made you question your beliefs? Was it an event or a thought and when was it? So there was a time.
I was a singer for a couple of years in the Philippines. It was a dream of mine and I remember very well. I was in Hong Kong. I just finished a gig, a concert in a festival, and I played in front of my favorite singer. I met him and he came to my concert, so I felt very humbled and I was thinking There must be something is not right in my life. I didn't know what it is, but I thought, I'm not upon the truth. Suddenly something made me realize I have a good life and everything. But there's something missing in my life. I know I don't live my life the right way. I could not say what it was so that was a trigger.
And I decided to walk 1000 kilometer from the border of Spain towards the west coast of Spain. It was a 1000 kilometers journey It took me 30 days. It was a great experience because I started to try to reflect about God. I met a lot of Christians along the way, so I think that was a big event because I was talking to God while walking and I was asking him to, you know, to manifest himself in my life. I wanted to find him. And I believe that walking was part of the process. At the end of your journey, how did you feel? Could you find God, really? Sadly, after walking 1000 kilometers, I really remember very well. So you expect to be a bit more pure and holy, right?
So I just arrived in Santiago de Compostela. I attended the ceremony and there was a Brazilian guy who came towards my way in a bicycle and kind of like scared me And I told him an insult in Brazilian and he also replied to me something bad. ....I just walked 1000 kilometers I thought I was becoming more holy. So after this event, I realized it's not enough to walk. You need to walk with something that is giving you the guidance to not hurt other people's feeling. When did you first hear about Islam? The real time, I think I really heard about Islam is with 9/11 when actually I started to pay attention to Islam.
So the first person that told me about Islam, very openly and the first person I remember is a taxi driver. When I was in Abu Dhabi, I had to wait for a flight to catch to the Philippines. I had 6 hours to kill and I thought I should not stay in the airport, I rather check the landscape. I didn't know about Abu Dhabi, so I asked the taxi driver, what can I visit here? And he said there is this big white masjid, huge masjid So I said, Let's go. And on the way to this masjid, he started to play the radio and there was this song that I really loved and this music I really loved in my ear And I said, What is this music? It talks to my heart.
I told him that and he stopped the car and he said, Brother, this is not music, is the Quran. And he start to preach to me about Islam he said, You know, I really hope you can become Muslim. You and your family, and save yourself from the Hellfire. And I told him, hold on a minute, you know, nobody is going to go to hellfire. What is this? So that was the beginning of the journey where for the first time of my life, a Muslim engaged me in a very nice way, actually What was the thing that affected you the most before you became Muslim? I think what affected me the most before I become Muslim is to live in the south part of the world, because I'm from the north, I'm from France.
My DNA, my race comes from the North But if you look at the map, you cut it in two. 90% of the Muslim world is in the South , You have Africa, Middle East. You have Southeast Asia, India, Pakistan, it's all in the south. So because of my work, I travel in all these countries, I traveled in all these countries So I was in in the heart of the world. And the Adhan was going on in most of the countries that I visited. And it always made an impact on me. Like, I remember one day I was playing soccer in Tanzania with some Africans and suddenly the Adhan started to play and I was like, Wow, this is powerful. This is amazing. You know, I loved it.
Then I went to Cyprus, same the Adhan was playing in Nicosia, and it impacted me like I felt pulled. But I thought, it's not a religion for me, so good for them. But I thought it was a religion for Arabs. How were you convinced that Islam is 100% true? There are two reasons why I believe that Islam is 100% true. One is just a fact because the Quran is the word of God. And I realized that and I never knew that. Actually, a lot of things that has been said in the Quran has been discovered only now or a few decades ago. I could not believe that I, actually the Quran proved itself to me that it can only be the word of God.
It can only come from God and not the Prophet Muhammad (saw), but one is because by experience, I experienced some miracles So I'm going to share one with you. So I was searching about God and I was praying to God. And as I was making that prayer as a Christian, still, there were some words on YouTube about one ayat about the Quran about the rain, and at the same time I was reading that ayat it was started to rain in front of my window for 10 seconds, literally, like just like that, really only in front of my window, not everywhere. I was living on the thirtieth floor when I saw that on that Ayah I understood, Allah (swt) gave me the answer I wanted and I started to cry.
I was like, I felt so blessed, you know? that Allah (swt) cared to show me, no brainer. That's it You want an answer, you want rain. Here you go. You want sun. Here you go. So you took your shahada right after this rain incident? I would say the defining moment of my conversion It is the speech of Yusuf Estes, an American preacher? that I had the chance to work with and meet after that explained to a black brother on YouTube, What is the difference between the Bible and the Quran? Why he is saying the Quran is the word of God and not the Bible and he explained so well that after 30 minutes I took my shahada. So how did you feel when you took your shahada?
When I took my Shahada, I felt like a billion dollar. I felt like if someone comes to me and say, look, you just became Muslim, right? Yes, I will put 1 billion in your bank account. But you have to say in front of everybody, you're not a muslim. I would tell the people, sorry, I can't. I don't want this billion. I'm richer than that now. The truth is so expensive. How did your family and the people around you react to your conversion? I knew it's not going to be a good news for my family. I knew that it's not going to be so much appreciated. But I didn't care. When I told my mother I became Muslim, she said to me, that was the worst thing I could tell her.
But Alhamdulillah, she changed her mind because I think she realized that there are a lot of beautiful things in Islam and she realized I became a better person. Islam makes you a better person. After becoming a muslim, did you have difficulties in praying five times a day and fasting other practices of Islam? After becoming Muslim, it took me maybe a month to pray five times a day. First one twice, and then slowly. And the hardest one is Fajr, the first prayer in the morning. but after I got into the rhythm and I never really gave up this practice, I always tried to pray five times a day. You heard that you have performed meditation in a mosque.
What are the differences between meditation and prayer, and how did you feel? The main difference between meditation or Buddhist meditation and praying is that when you are meditating as a Buddhist, you try to empty your mind. but when you medidate as a Muslim, you try to do tadabbur you try to reflect on life, on Allah (swt). So it's I would say it's like the difference is it's a more engaging way to meditate. It's a proactive way, which means you are not trying to empty your mind, but you're trying to fill up your mind with goodness and good thoughts towards Allah (swt), towards your Creator. and you try to reflect upon who you are, who is Allah (swt) and try to connect.
Whereas the Buddhist meditation is more but in a way, when you're Buddhist, you try to empty your brain to let the truth comes out, you know? So it's a good methodology to do that, but then you have to fill it up with good thing there's no point to empty your brain to fill it up with alcohol again the next weekend or with other stuff. Did someone become Muslim after your shahada? By your means? So a few people became Muslim. After I become I took my shahada. The best story is my Japanese friend Koki. He is a brother I met when I was 18 years old in Australia. We entered into a scheme business together. We lost some money and I told him, okay, you lost money, it's okay.
But if you don't accept Islam you're going to lose much more and he started to listen to me And he came to Malaysia, he took his Shahada and we flew. His wife who was Filipina non-Muslim at the time. we flew her over, she took her shahada and they married in my house Do you think you would be able to find Islam if you didn't travel that much? I think it's definitely much easier because of the life I had I traveled in 50 countries. I speak four languages. So because of my traveling, it played a huge role. So when I go to Muslim countries, I realized these people are great people and they have a lot to offer to the world.
And I realized the legacy of Islam is huge and I want to be part of his legacy. And speaking of this legacy, what kind of projects are you doing right now? So right now, we are focusing with Halis Media The media production that I run on a very beautiful project about Prophet Mohammed (saw) it is our second documentary It's called The Last Hope, and we're inviting one hundred converts from 40 countries to give us some interview to talk about what is the relation they have with the Prophet (saw). everybody has a different love for the Prophet (saw). We love him for many reasons, for justice, for his manners, for his courage.
So we want to have some intimate interviews to know how the Prophet Muhammad (saw) impacted each convert in a different way The legacy of the Prophet (saw) is so huge and there are so many to take from it. That's why we need many people. That's why we're inviting all the converts who are available to give the interviews and hopefully is going to keep continuing. And we hope that we can release the film in 2023, Inshallah. And finally, what would you like to add as your final comments? We are about to go through difficult times. They are rumors of wars, rumors of new disease, rumors of this and that. And I just want to tell the people, don't lose hope.
That's why we called our new documentary, The Last Hope. The Last Hope being the Prophet Muhammad (saw), do not worry, we are all the Ummah of the Prophet’s, We all belong to his ummah and things are going to be fine. Even though we're going to go for tribulations, we should always be optimistic. We should always be positive because we have the best prophet of the entire world He is the best. He's the most beloved of Allah (swt).