Famed American comedian Dave Chappelle has finally opened up about his conversion to Islam. Additionally, the comedian opened up about how religion drove his career.
“It’s a beautiful religion.”
We’ve known as far back as 2005 that renowned comedian Dave Chapelle is a Muslim by faith. Back in 2005, he had told Time Magazine that he was a Muslim. He also said that he doesn’t openly speak about it because he felt people could try equating his personal flaws with Islam.
“I don’t normally talk about my religion publicly because I don’t want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing.”
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In fact, he’s even worked with known Muslim comedy acts such as Allah Made Me Funny.
Dave Chappelle talks faith
Now the comic is opening up about his faith in an interview on the Netflix series, ‘My Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman‘. he talked about wanting some meaning in life and how Islam helped him with that.
“I wanted to have a meaningful life, a spiritual life, not just what my hands can hold, … I felt like I’ve always had this notion that life should mean something.”
He found meaning in his life through comedy. But it was his faith that allowed him to use his comedy for a greater purpose. He even shared his favorite bit of Islamic history, the origins of Zamzam water.
“The thing that comforts me about it is the idea that all of this is from a singular source and the source is ultimately kind. And even though we may not understand the intentions of this source, we are all connected and bounded by it.”
Dave Chappelle also said that he’d like to visit Saudi Arabia one day to see the location where Zamzam water was found.
Converting to Islam
The 46-year-old recalled his journey to converting to Islam. Like many other Muslim converts, it’s the behavior of certain Muslims that compel non-Muslims to find out more about Islamic teachings. Chappelle says he was inspired by Islam when he was a 17-year-old in Washington, DC, during his visits to his local pizza shop.
“The pizza shop was across from my house and it was, like, all these Muslim dudes that worked in there.”
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That’s how he started asking questions and learning about Muslims and Islam.
“I used to go in there and crack jokes. And I am also a naturally curious guy and I would ask the owner questions about his religion and the guy was so passionate about it. It was very compelling. I liked the perspective of it.”
You can watch that segment of the interview here:
