I want to take a minute to write this status for you guys, hopefully it will inspire you. Before I started the Corner Shop Show series, I was an R&B singer making music and also I directed another series I created called Mandem On The Wall which is now on E4 on Youngers. If youve watched all of my recent TV interviews, youll know that I was betrayed by the cast & crew & left with nothing and I watched as it all slipped through my fingers. I spent a year in depression. I stopped making music for a while. Coming from an Asian Muslim background I was already under the pressure from my family to find a good job and sort myself out. I was the only one in my family that pursued a media career and as we all know, the media industry is not a stable one and it takes luck to get somewhere in it. Soon after that, a cousin of mine went missing for 5 days and passed away at the age of 17. It was a big shock to me but it made me realise, there are many things in life that we take for granted or we become materialistic. I could be the most richest man on the planet but none of it is going to my grave with me. It also made me realise that when you die, people remember you for who you were and what you did. So I thought...what would people remember me for? What would they say about me? I made a prayer one night, and I asked the Lord All-Mighty to guide me out of this dark place, to guide me because I felt lost, and to give me success. And when I say success I dont just mean money, house and cars. I mean success in this life that benefits the next (after I die). After that, I decided to quit music. My music wasnt benefiting anyone anyway, I made stupid songs about love and relationships that people would probably get depressed over. I took down my old stage name and announced that I would be known as my real name Islah Abdur-Rahman. The word Islah in Arabic means to reform/to make a change. I wanted to live up to this name in my life and my career. The name Abdur-Rahman means Servant Of The Most Gracious (God) ... reminding me that wherever I go, whatever I do no matter how successful I become - I will always remain a servant of God. Praise Be To The Lord ... I ended up passing my degree with a 2:1. I picked myself up, started again and created Corner Shop. Now thanks to The Lord and the support of you guys, the YouTube channel has gained so much exposure. Its opened many doors for me in my career and weve been able to support a charity in Africa known as The Al-Ansari Foundation building water wells for villages and supporting orphans. And now ... a year into the project ... Corner Shop Show is officially on TV tonight at 7pm prime time on BRIT ASIA (Channel 824). This is only the beginning (God Willing). God has given me a second chance, His arms are always open. I took one step towards Him and He came running towards me. Thank you all for supporting me along the way. I hope this inspires you to pick yourself up and chase your dreams too. The most common cause of failure is to give up when faced by a temporary defeat. Youre not a failure. Youre a winner. Im going to end this status with a quote that I always remember: Sometimes people with the darkest pasts, create the brightest futures -Umar Ibn Al Khattab
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:31:02 +0000
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