It appears that UFC legend Royce Gracie has converted to Islam. Gracie had a meeting with Eddie Redzovic (bjj black belt founder of Team Redzovic in Chicago) and Islamic leader Shaykh Uthman Ibn Farooq, and during this meeting, accepted Islam as his religion.
#MMA legend and first #UFC Champion, @realroyce Royce Gracie accepts #Islam with Shaykh Uthman ibn Farooq and Eddie @thedeenshowtv ‼️ الحمد لله
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This was quite a surprise, as 10 days prior, Royce Gracie had posted support for Israel in their conflict with Palestine, which gathered much backlash in the Muslim community. BJJ black belt Idriz Redzovic, cousin of Eddie Redzovic, set up the meeting with the Imam.
Idriz Redzovic stated:
Before all the people come on here and start hating about Royce Gracie IG post on Isreal stance last week, he went on show to hear the other side of the story, the Palestinian side. He ended up taking his shahada. Allah is the best of all planers. Be patient and wait to see the show that airs soon on the deenshow before you say something wrong. We are Muslim and should not act like others that are not.
Royce accepts Islam as his religion:
“I don’t drink. I don’t eat pork. ”
– “So, so, so you’re Muslim already. You have the Muslim belief.”
– “I got let my beard grow. Yeah, it looks good. No, it’s in fad nowadays, right?”
– “As a Muslim, you don’t have to have a beard. It is a waj. It’s an obligation. The prophet ordered it. But the core of what makes a Muslim is your belief, what we call a belief.”
– “You as Royce Gracie, you believe that there is none that should be worshiped except one God, yes? Correct. You believe that that God sent Messengers, yes? Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad. You believe they were Messengers, yes? That’s a Muslim.”
– “That’s it. That is… I can go to Mecca now. Now you can go to Mecca. We’re going. We’re going to do your testimony, and then we’re going to go to Mecca together. How’s that? We got to go to Mecca one day. We’ll do it in… Insha’Allah.”
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A person becomes a Muslim by declaring their faith in the oneness of God (Allah) and the prophethood of Muhammad. This declaration is known as the Shahada, a statement which translates to “I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” This declaration is made sincerely, with a firm belief and understanding of its meaning. Additionally, new Muslims often learn the basics of Islamic beliefs, practices, and ethics as part of their conversion process.
