Converted to Shia Islam on July 2nd 1999 at the age of 17 Learned Quranic Arabic in the year 2000 Independently studied Islamic books full time from the year 1999-2007 Filmed a documentary for al-Anwar Hussain TV entitled The Journey of the Spirit in 2011 Made the pilgrimage to Iraq for Ziyarat Arbaeen; Visited Najaf and Karbala in January 2012, November-December 2015 and November 2016 Authored several books entitled; The Suffering of the Ahl ul Bayt and their Followers (Shia) throughout History, Christians who defended and died for Prophet Muhammad and his Family, Mystery of the Shia, A Study Guide for Logic and Prophetic Gems. Spoken at several events in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and London. Founded an online library on Facebook in 2013 entitled; Shia Books for Free Download that now has close to 70,000 members Started studying Howza classes in March 2013 at Imam Ali Center in Springfield, Virginia. His teachers include Sheikh Mustafa Akhound, Sayed Abbas Shamsudin, Sheikh Saed Ali Kulayni and Sheikh Muhammad BagherNejad. 2013 & 2014 filmed several short videos about Imam Hussain (as) for Stand with Dignity in New Jersey Co-founded Yasin Publications in January of 2014 Co-founded a program to send free books to prisoners in March 2014 entitled; 2nd Chance Books Filmed a documentary for Ahlulbayt TV entitled Faith Behind Bars Received his turban from the hand of Sheikh Ahmad al-Haeri on the martyrdom of Muslim ibn Aqil (ra) / Day of Arafat in 2016 View all posts by Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau