# “My Hindu Girlfriend Led me Back to Islam” - Emotional Life Story of @The Sunnah Guy

- Language: en
- Published: 2026-08-26
- Canonical: https://blog.towardseternity.com/en/blog/my-hindu-girlfriend-led-me-back-to-islam-emotional-life-story-of-at-the-sunnah-guy
- Source video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-xPS0uZY7c
- Channel: Towards Eternity

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

---

I had a girlfriend, she was a Hindu. My family became all religious, I didn't wanna be religious, I actually hated... ...religion that would control me. I wanted to live a free life, but then my father is too strict, so he used to wake me up for fajr (dawn prayer) every single day. And I used to go downstairs, splash my face, and jump back into bed, I never used to pray. I did this for five years. I felt really ill. I was vomiting, vomiting, vomiting. I felt I was gonna die. I said, "Ya Allah (O Allah), forgive me." I fell into doubts. Shaitan (devil) was in my ear every second. What if Islam isn't true? And then I was like, I need to do some research now.

I was like, is this the thing that I have been neglecting my whole life? Assalamu Alaikum (peace be upon you) brother Shoaib Hussain, also known as The Sunnah Guy. We're very happy to have you with us at Towards Eternity. And I want to start with, who is Shoaib Hussain? Can you tell us briefly about your life? Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh, my brother. Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah), it's an absolute pleasure to be here. So my name is Shoaib Hussain. I am a Pakistani male from the UK. I was born into a family who wasn't extremely wealthy, just a normal average family born in the UK.

Honestly speaking, going from a young age, I was always kind of had early exposure to rebellion against my parents. Long story short, as I grew older, my family became all religious. I didn't wanna be religious. I actually hated the idea of religion that would control me. I wanted to live a free life. And I discovered Islam at the age of 16. And I've spent the last 16 years of my life preaching the message of Islam in a way where I can help and impact as many people as possible. Can you take us back to those days before you were, you had this awareness before Islam, the environment you were in, what kind of interests did you have?

I remember a time when I was in school and I had this non-Muslim kid getting bullied by the Pakistani Muslims. And I said, "That's not right. That's not right," 'cause my school was majority Pakistani. I looked at what they're, they're kicking his bag for no reason. They're bullying him. I said, "That's not right. How can they do that? Why has he done to you?" So for defending him, I got bullied. And I got bullied in primary school and I also got bullied in secondary school as well because I was different. And then later on, when I was five years old, that's when my father started to find religion. And that's when he became strict, very strict. But I didn't like that strictness.

I didn't like the harshness. I was forced to pray, but I didn't like that because I said, "Wait, I've had freedom with my auntie, I'm used to that. I don't want this. I don't, I don't like this." My father was so committed, after school, every single day for two hours, from the age of eight to the age of 14, right? Six years, I would go to a madrasa (Islamic school). I went there, I would sit there, I'd get bored out of my head, and I couldn't wait to leave when that clock strikes 6:30. Wallahi (by Allah), I still remember how that clock looked. It was a silver clock. I used to look at it like that.

I was like, "6:30 when it comes, oh my god, I can leave now." So in school, that was my escape away from my father. My father used to say to me, "Pray, make sure you do wudu (ablution) at school." I never did. I always skipped it. I always missed it. I didn't pray for four, five years. My father thought I was praying. Why? Because I was used to rebellion. It was part of me. It's how I grew up. He didn't know any of this. And I guess that's part of where there is a conflict because inside my heart there's this moral kind of light that wants to do the right thing, 100% do the right thing, but then my father is too strict, so he used to wake me up for fajr (dawn prayer) every single day.

And I used to go downstairs, splash my face, and jump back into bed. And I never used to pray. I did this for five years. He thought I was praying. He didn't know I was speaking to girls. And all of that was happening behind his back. My mother, Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), she knew a little bit. So she would hide sometimes things from my father because she didn't want me to get beaten up. This is in 2008. At that time, Peace TV was very popular. So it was the first English channel that would speak about, you know, dawah (invitation to Islam) and Allah and His Messenger and it was on Sky TV. May Allah bless Dr. Zakir Naik. So she would put on Dr. Zakir Naik.

And Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), when she would put on Dr. Zakir Naik, every time she was like, "Look at him. Watch him. Look, look, watch him." And she used to say to me, "I wish that you are like him one day." And I would walk away and I'd be like, "My God, you wish I'm like him? My God, please. That's never gonna happen, never." Can you take us to the point where you say, "Wait a minute, what am I doing with my life?" And when your life started to change? I had a girlfriend in 2010. 2009-2010. She was a Hindu. I fell in love with her. I thought "love," right? And then what happened was, one day, and this is after seven years of being in and out of relationships.

I was on the phone to her because it was snow, there's snow, so you don't go into school. So we come back after the Christmas holidays. So we didn't, and then I stayed on the phone to her. I stayed up awake, because we were both getting ready to go back to school. So I was speaking to her after fajr (dawn prayer). My mom was about to come into my room. She was about to go in, but she wanted to hear the conversation. And then she just stood there for 20 minutes, listening. I've never been caught before. And she just listened and listened and listened. And she went back to sleep. I went back to sleep.

I woke up and then my mother said to me, "Who was that on the phone?" I can't explain to you, bro, my whole body went hot and cold. "Who was that on the phone?" And I was like... I just tried making up any old excuse, etc. And then I burst. I let it all out. Seven years of frustration. I said, "You will never understand what love is. You don't know what it is," da da da da da. I burst in front of my parents, both of them. And I thought my father would hit me, but he stayed silent. I then burst out and I cried so much that day because I was heartbroken. Because I was like, okay... My mom, my mom saw that she was a non-Muslim, she asked what's her name.

And I said the name and my mom was like...! So my mom started screaming, screaming. "She's non-Muslim. What did I do to raise you like this?" And da da da da. I then basically had time to think. I didn't change straight away, 'cause all I would do was go and listen to emotional music. And go and hang out with my friends. And my friends would be like, "Bro, it's fine, don't worry, bro. You got her, bro, don't worry, bro. She's with you, bro, she's a good girl, bro." And then I told her. I said, "Look, my parents have found out. I need you to become a Muslim if we wanna do this. Convert to Islam." And she said, "I'm sorry. I can't.

I'm not going to go against my mother's religion." And Wallahi (by Allah), I remember this, it was just back and forth. It was like for several days, you know, telling her, and then I was like, I need to do some research now. I need to convince her, I can't just tell her, like, you know. I need to convince her that Islam is true. So then I go onto Google and YouTube, I type in, "How to convince a Hindu that Islam is true." Wallahi (by Allah), I remember, I remember googling this. And the person that shows up is Dr. Zakir Naik. And this time, I actually listened to him. After the years of my mom trying to force me to listen to him, this time I was interested to listen.

I then put him on and I just kept watching all of his lectures. One after the other, after the other, after the other, after the other, after the other, continuously. The moment he started speaking about the embryo, the Big Bang, that science in the Quran. My jaw dropped. I was like, but my jaw, because he was saying that on Peace TV as well when the TV was on, but I wasn't listening. I was hearing, I wasn't listening. But you know when I started to listen, and I actually focused and paid attention, I was like, "Is this the thing that I have been neglecting my whole life? Is this what I have been falling asleep on? Have I been neglecting this?" Subhanallah (glory be to Allah).

I was like, "Oh my God." And then I had a good two, three weeks to just think about everything. I fell really ill in those two, three weeks. I had food poisoning where I thought I was going to die. And then I remember going to the prayer mat and I just fell into sajdah (prostration). And I just said, I made wudu (ablution) and then I made a prayer. And then I just said, "Ya Allah (O Allah). Ya Allah (O Allah), forgive me, forgive me for everything." Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), it was, it was all beautiful because it matched up perfectly with when I started watching Dr. Zakir Naik's videos. Then I started being convinced that Islam is true.

And then I started slowly preaching to my friends at school, and they started mocking me. So I pushed my friends away. And then Allah gave me a really bad illness. I was ill for like six days. I was vomiting, vomiting, vomiting, vomiting. -Physical illness? -Physical, physical illness. I felt I was gonna die. I couldn't hold myself in. I couldn't hold myself together. And then after that, I said, "Ya Allah (O Allah), forgive me." And I was so, so emotional in that. And I said that day, I remember this, bro. "I will never, ever miss a prayer." And that was the day where I made that vow to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala (most glorified) and I made that choice. And I never looked back since.

And Subhanallah that's when my life truly changed. When I realized, you know, this religion is actually true. It's actually true. Like Subhanallah, Allah is real. The Prophet (peace be upon him), he's real. He's an actual prophet of God. God communicated to him through the angel Jibril (Gabriel). The Quran is the word of God. What? And that reality hit me. And I was like, "Wow, what the hell have I been doing my whole life?" So Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), that was when I changed. How did your friends react to your new self, your new identity? I started to tell them that things were haram (forbidden) and that we need to pray. And they laughed at me.

Laughed, like chuckling, laughing, mocking me. And we have this thing called the prom. The leavers' graduation prom. Everyone dresses up nicely. We hire limousines, we go to London, and we smoke shisha and have a bit of fun, and we come back. My friends hired a limousine, and I started practicing Islam a few months before that. I started praying, I started changing. And my friends basically said to me, like, "You have to come." I said, "I don't wanna come anymore, because I need to pray my salah (prayer).

I need to pray salah, like, I'm not going to miss my salah." They go, "Don't worry, you won't, you won't miss your salah." And then what ends up happening is, I was in the car, and fajr (dawn prayer) time was about to end. And I remember they dropped me off, and I went home and I prayed fajr late. But they dropped me off 20 minutes from my house. So I had to walk. I said, "Why not drop me off at my house?" They said, "Oh no, no, we can't, we've got to get the limousine back, it's booking time," blah blah blah. Wallahi (by Allah), I walked back. I was in a tuxedo. I was 16 years old. The sunrise has just happened.

I said, "I don't want to see these guys ever again in my life." What happened after, like, you went into college after that? And how did you grow in your religion, in your faith? When I left school, I then went into a football college. So you play football and you study. I was one Muslim amongst like 45, 50 other non-Muslims. I was bullied in college for my religion. He says, "If you want to be a true Muslim, you need to implement Surah Al-Asr (Chapter of the Declining Day)." "Aamanu wa amilus salihati watawa saubil haqqi watawa saubis sabr." "You need to believe. You need to do righteous deeds.

You need to call people to truth, and call people to patience." You cannot be a true Muslim if you do not call people to good. I was like, "Okay, I have to give dawah (invitation to Islam). Dawah is fard (obligatory)." But you've got no strategy. I'm 16 years old. I'm delivering dawah boxes, I'm standing up on the bus, giving reminders. I'm just literally doing whatever I think is right. And then I just get mocked, and taunted. And these guys just take the mick out of me. They mock me, mock Allah, mock His Messenger. And then Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), like, something happened in my life where I fell into doubts. Shubuhat (doubts). I was walking home one day and I had a thought.

I had a thought that changed my life. The thought was, "What if Islam isn't true?" Like shaitan (devil) was in my ear every, every second. So that was probably the hardest period of my life. I started developing an eye irritation. I got like, I had a dry skin on my eye because for those few years, I would cry every day. Thinking that I'm, I'm a non-Muslim. Because I asked the question, who created Allah? I couldn't get my head over it. I would go into sujud (prostration) and I would then think, "I'm praying to a brick wall. There is no God." I'd get up from sujud (prostration) in mid-salah (prayer), then I feel my pulse.

And I was like, "Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), who created that?" And then I would cry with khushu (devotion/humility), with iman (faith). And because of the contrast, feeling like I'm damned to hell, feeling like there is no God, feeling like I should just stop my prayer now, and then going into a state where it's like a lifeline. It was a back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth. Bro, my life was up and down, man. Like my head was just spinning. My heart was everywhere. And then I heard a hadith (prophetic tradition) that settled me. Wallahi (by Allah).

The Prophet (peace be upon him), he said that the hearts of the believers are in the hands of Ar-Rahman (The Most Merciful). He turns them as He wills. And then another hadith, the heart of a believer is like boiling water. It's always up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down. Your iman (faith) is up and down, up and down, always. "Falyas'alillaha an yujaddidal eemana fee quloobikum." "So then ask Allah to renew iman (faith) in your heart, constantly." I used to receive comfort after hearing these things. I was just practicing Islam by myself. And I would listen to lectures. So I would listen to people like Sheikh Bilal Assad. And then I remember I would just find people.

Like I used to listen to a lot of Nouman Ali Khan, his Quranic... I'jaz al-Quran (miracles of the Quran), his miracles of the Quran. That kept me so good, man. Wallahi (by Allah), may Allah bless Nouman Ali Khan for what he did. That was Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), like massive for me, massive. I went to conferences, events, classes, lectures. I went to meet a sheikh. Sheikh Naveed Aziz, who came from overseas. He's from Canada. And he came to the UK to deliver some lectures.

And I said to him, "Sheikh, I'm struggling with these waswas (whispers)." He said, "Find a brotherhood." And then I said, "Sheikh, like I can't find, there's no brothers around me." He said, "Then go and make a brotherhood." So then, in my sujud (prostration), I used to make one dua (supplication). "Ya muqallibal quloob, thabbit qalbi alaa deenik" "O Turner of the hearts, keep my heart firm upon Your religion." After that now, I have a second dua (supplication). "O Allah, help me to establish a brotherhood in my local town." That was my second dua (supplication). 2011, November. And then in February of 2012, my father knew this auntie from Melbourne, Australia. They were Facebook friends.

She sent me a message from Sheikh Bilal Assad. Now imagine, bro, I've got no Muslim friends, I watch Sheikh Bilal's all of his lectures, everything online. And now, I receive a video message from him. "Assalamu Alaikum (peace be upon you) Shoaib, you know," and then he said, "you know, the sisters told me a lot about you." Bro, I felt like, what? Sheikh Bilal knows me? You know, and then he says, "you know, you're my favorite in the UK, and my duas are with you akhi (my brother)." That was it. I just cherished that video for the rest of my life. I cherished that video for the rest of my life. I kept that video in my heart. That was 2012, bro. He does not know who I am.

He just making a random video. Subhanallah (glory be to Allah). And that video helped me so much, bro. And I felt so special. And after that Subhanallah, like, that would push me to give more dawah (invitation to Islam). So I set up the-- we had a dawah stall. It died down, I set it up again. I started getting the brothers, we started giving dawah. Then I just became so passionate about giving dawah, more and more and more and more and more and more. And I remember I couldn't wait to leave college, at the end of 2012, in July. I couldn't wait to leave college. I left college, and I was like, I'm doing dawah (invitation to Islam) full-time.

So then I just, I literally did dawah like three times a week in the town center. I would stand there by myself sometimes just handing out leaflets, talking to people. We had about over 170 people take their shahada (testimony of faith) in one year, but they all left. So we realized that we need some infrastructure. We're inviting people to a home with no furniture. So then I started to build the brothers, develop the brothers, build them up, and start to speak to young Muslims, etc.

Take them out for football, take them out for food, bring them all together, get them to volunteer, take them to events and conferences, and we'll get in our cars and drive and go away on retreats and do all of these things. Maqsad (purpose), the purpose, the objective is the same, help save people from the fire of hell. And then COVID happened. That's when I was at the crossroads. I always wanted to come online. I always wanted to impact more people. I always wanted to have impact. I always wanted to share the message of Islam with more people. I always knew that if more people knew about this message, you know, more people would be saved from the hellfire.

So I started 'The Sunnah Guy', and I just started making short Islamic movies. I was open to it. I was like, I think it would be effective. I remember watching the Avengers movie. And in the final part of the Avengers, I cried. And then although I cried, I was like, "This is so, this is so moving. Why is it having such an effect on me?" And then I realized, when we sit the brothers around the campfire, we tell the stories about the sahaba (companions). We give them reminders about the paradise and the hellfire. We see the brothers crying. I was like, Subhanallah (glory be to Allah). When you combine audio and the fire, the brothers, and the atmosphere, you can create impact in the heart.

You can drive that emotion. And Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), like, I then said to myself, "If you can do that in videos, I would love to do that." So then we had the ambition to make it in cinemas. And then I thought, "Why not? Why can't we? Of course we can." Me and my cinematographer, we sat, we spoke, we planned it out, we started adding four, five, eight, nine, more, you know, 12, 13, like it's loads of scenes now. And that was the first ever UK-based Islamic movie that was shown in cinemas. That was the first time Muslims prayed salah (prayer) in front of that silver screen in the cinemas in the UK. So it was a big, big moment.

I was invited to present one of Eman Channel's products, which is the Eman Academy on stage in Light Upon Light. Sheikh Bilal Assad was a guest speaker on that Light Upon Light conference. I got off stage, and then there was another speaker, and then Sheikh Bilal Assad came up. And then as he came off stage, I went up to him, I grabbed him. "I need to show you something." He was just like, "What?" So then I started showing him the pictures of his children from back in the day. Because the auntie, she didn't send me just a video, she sent me pictures of his kids. I used to watch pictures of his kids and be like, "Wow, these are his kids, wow." Videos of his kids reciting Quran.

He looked at me like, "What? How did you get these pictures? Even I don't have these pictures. Where did you get this from?" And Subhanallah (glory be to Allah), I then showed him that video that he sent me 11 years ago. And then he said, "Is that you?" I said, "Sheikh, that's me." That was 11 years ago. You sent me this video message, and then I told him my story and what happened, and how I was fighting doubts and shubuhat (doubts), and I was struggling and how he helped me. And me and him, we sat in a room, and we just started crying our eyes out. Subhanallah (glory be to Allah). And then a year later, I do a tour in Australia with Sheikh Bilal Assad, on stage.

Mashallah (God has willed it). In front of everyone in Melbourne and that auntie, she came onto stage with us. And I didn't know she was there. I got to meet her for the first time. Wallahi (by Allah) bro, life came, life just totally became full circle for me. The loop fully finished. If he, (peace be upon him), were to enter this room right now, what would you say to him? I'm trying, Ya Rasool Allah (O Messenger of Allah). I'll give it my best shot. That's what I'd say. Obviously after thanking him and kissing his feet and kissing his forehead, make dua for me, Ya Rasool Allah (O Messenger of Allah), that this is successful.

A little bit short questions and short answers, and then we have a little bit questions left. The thing that The Sunnah Guy enjoys doing the most? Making content that impacts people's hearts to get closer to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala (Allah the most glorified, the most high) and recognize their Creator. I love that. When I see that light in their eyes, when they recognize Allah, that, bro, nothing is better than that. The best decision The Sunnah Guy has ever made? Not giving up on Islam. Yeah. Wallahi (by Allah). Not giving up on Islam, and continuing to seek knowledge. Nothing, nothing's more important, there was no decision better than that.

The first thing The Sunnah Guy would do if he got into paradise, Inshallah (if God wills). I'd go up to the Prophet ﷺ and his companions, and I'd thank them. I'd thank Umar ibn Al-Khattab for sending armies to Persia, and I'd thank Khalid ibn al-Walid for his heroics in the Battle of Qadisiyyah, and I would kiss their forehead and kiss their feet, because they liberated my grandfathers from shirk (polytheism). That's probably the first thing I would do. Inshallah (if God wills). Your personal trait that you dislike the most? I would say I can be hasty at times. I have an obsessive personality, and that can go into the good and the bad. Yeah, those, those are the two really.

The last thing that you searched on Google? -Can I check? -Sure, sure. I wanna see what this is as well. Sunrise Istanbul time. Yes. You just arrived at night, so that's normal. Yeah. A funny moment where you felt extremely embarrassed, the moment that you could never forget? I was young, and I was in the masjid (mosque), and there was a conference in East London. And East London is like a two-hour drive from where I live. And it was the next day. And the imam (prayer leader) of our masjid (mosque) is a very, very strict, strict imam (prayer leader). And I needed a lift to the conference. And I was 17. I didn't know anyone who was going to that conference.

So after salah (prayer), I stood up and made an announcement. I said, "An amazing conference happening tomorrow. This sheikh is coming, this sheikh is coming, this sheikh is coming. And if there are any brothers that would like to go, please do let me know as a few of us are interested." The sheikh was the imam (prayer leader) of our masjid (mosque). He totally disagrees with those mashaikh (scholars). He publicly refuted them as well. So he goes to me, "Brother, this is not a circus where you can just get up and announce anything. Nobody is interested. Please sit down." In front of the whole congregation. And like, I went outside and I was like this.

Wallahi (by Allah), some of the brothers are like, "These things happen." I did manage to find a lift though, Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah). You know that even among Muslim youth there are those who cannot find their purpose in life and end up falling into drugs. Could you tell us what is going on in reality, and what these young people actually go through? You need to deal with the problem of young people lacking ambition and drive, not being able to be part of an advocating cause. The one of the biggest and best ways to channel that inner energy of young men in the West is to give them a focus on, on shaitan (devil) and his army.

Make them be passionate about saving themselves and saving others from the fire of hell. But what they need more than anything is an environment to find purpose. Friends who help them find purpose. But friends who are mission-driven as well. Go to the root cause. The root cause is they have a lack of direction and a lack of purpose. Give them purpose. Because what, once you give them purpose, they will give other people purpose. But if you just tell them, "Hey, just go and pray," hey, just fix it. That's the start. That is just turning the engine on. Don't just turn the engine on. Move the car forward.

There is a youth watching right now who says, "I am surrounded by harams (forbidden things), how can I save my hereafter at a time like this?" What would you say to that person? I'd give him a four-step formula. The most important thing that you need to do is connect with Allah (the most glorified, the most high). Have a deep and intimate connection with Allah (Allah the Mighty and Majestic). The second thing that you need to do is you need to have a relationship with the Book of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Whether that's in translation, or in a language that you understand. But read the Quran. Learn how to read it. Spend six months focused on that.

Then what you need to do is find a teacher, or someone that you can learn from. And sit with them, and study with them. And the last thing is you need to be part of a brotherhood, and be around people who are striving for the sake of Allah Azza Wa Jalla. And if I could give you one more last piece of advice, and that is that once you've established yourself, find purpose in helping save others from the fire of hell. Imagine that there is someone watching you, and while you were telling your story, he thought about his whole life. What would you like to say to that person, like, in one minute?

Habibi (my beloved), what you're going through right now, when you're older, this will just be a blip. The worry that you have in your heart right now, you need to give it to Allah Azza Wa Jalla (Allah the Mighty and Majestic). Nothing will ever feel comfortable and safe unless you build an intimate personal relationship with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that no one knows of except you and Him. That's it. Once you do that, go and establish yourself through anchoring it with a relationship with the Book of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Wallahi, without the Book of Allah, there is no safety on planet Earth. Go and seek knowledge.

And find the righteous companions, find good company and hold on to them, hold on to your righteous friends, because when you can do this, you need to make sure that you also do the absolute opposite. So when you go and connect with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, you disconnect from all those other things that are taking you away from Allah. When you go and establish and seek knowledge, you remove the vices of just being lazy and just watching Netflix. When you go and find righteous companions, you remove all the bad friends from your life as well. That's what I'd say.