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Finding God at Rock Bottom Almost Similar to the Experience of Cat Stevens
By Mihar Dias June 2026
There is a reason why stories of religious conversion continue to fascinate us long after the theological arguments have been exhausted.
The latest comes from Penang, where a former gang leader, loan shark and self-confessed hater of Islam found himself kneeling in prayer in a modest Indonesian home and experiencing something he could not explain. https://newswav.com/A2606_x4qehm?s=A_qFuLXp4&language=en
Not a miracle.
Not a vision.
Not a sermon.
Simply peace.
For Ooi Chooi Beng, now known as Ben, the journey from secret societies to dakwah work sounds almost too dramatic to be true. A child bullied in school. A teenager seeking protection from gangs. A young man intoxicated by money, influence and criminal power. Then a husband slowly exposed to a faith he once despised. https://newswav.com/A2606_x4qehm?s=A_qFuLXp4&language=en
The striking part is not that he embraced Islam.
The striking part is why.
He was not threatened.
He was not pressured.
He was not bribed.
He was not persuaded by sophisticated theological debates.
Instead, he was treated kindly by people who had every reason to reject him.
His future Indonesian father-in-law invited him to perform ablution and follow the motions of prayer. Nothing more.
That simple act achieved what years of arguments could not.
When Ben placed his forehead on the ground, he described feeling his burdens disappear. https://newswav.com/A2606_x4qehm?s=A_qFuLXp4&language=en
Anyone familiar with the story of former pop superstar Yusuf Islam, better known as Cat Stevens, will recognise the pattern immediately.
Cat Stevens was one of the world's biggest celebrities. Fame, wealth and adulation surrounded him. Yet he spent years searching for meaning before eventually embracing Islam in 1977 after encountering the Quran through his brother. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/sep/27/yusuf-cat-stevens-desert-island-discs-islam-fatwa-playing-guitar
Like Ben, he often spoke not of intellectual victory but of inner tranquillity.
Both stories expose an uncomfortable truth about modern society.
Many people are not suffering from a lack of information.
They are suffering from a lack of peace.
The modern world offers endless distractions but very little contentment. We have become experts at accumulating things while remaining amateurs at understanding ourselves.
Gang leaders, corporate executives, celebrities and politicians often discover the same thing eventually: power and money can buy comfort but not serenity.
That may explain why conversion stories continue to emerge across cultures and generations.
What outsiders often dismiss as religious zeal is sometimes a search for emotional and spiritual equilibrium.
Ben's story carries another lesson that Malaysians should pay attention to.
His hatred of Islam did not originate from theology.
It originated from childhood experiences.
He associated his bullies with Malays and Malays with Islam.
In other words, prejudice was born from personal pain.
That should concern all of us in a country where ethnicity and religion are often bundled together into neat political categories.
Children are not born hating races or religions.
They learn those prejudices through experiences, narratives and perceptions.
The remarkable aspect of Ben's transformation is that kindness ultimately dismantled beliefs that anger had built.
His wife's family did not attempt to win an argument.
They demonstrated a way of life.
That is often how genuine persuasion works.
Not through force.
Not through politics.
Not through social media battles.
But through personal example.
There is also a cautionary element.
Conversion narratives are frequently celebrated by one community and viewed suspiciously by another.
That misses the point entirely.
The real story is not that a Buddhist became a Muslim.
The real story is that a troubled man became a better man.
Even Ben himself seems less interested in religious triumphalism than in personal transformation.
The former gang leader who once commanded more than a hundred followers now dedicates himself to helping others find direction.
Whether one shares his faith is almost secondary.
The more important question is whether society creates enough opportunities for redemption.
Modern culture loves stories of success.
Religions often specialise in stories of salvation.
The difference is significant.
Success changes circumstances.
Salvation changes people.
Ben lost money after embracing Islam. He sold his house. He sold his car. He struggled financially.
Yet by his own account, he gained something he never possessed when he was wealthy: peace.
That is a difficult proposition for a materialistic age to understand.
After all, if happiness could be bought, the rich would never be miserable.
If peace could be purchased, celebrities would never seek spiritual retreats.
And if fulfilment came from power alone, gang leaders would never abandon their empires.
The implications of Ben's story extend beyond religion.
It reminds us that human beings are not merely economic creatures chasing wealth.
We are meaning-seeking creatures searching for purpose.
Sometimes that search takes us through universities.
Sometimes through careers.
Sometimes through heartbreak.
And occasionally, as Ben discovered, it begins when a man who has never bowed to anyone finally places his forehead on the ground and discovers that surrender can be a form of liberation.
That lesson transcends faith.
And perhaps that is why stories like his continue to resonate.
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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