Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity

Human do not need to do anything extraordinarily to write a great book as long as the power of God shines through. I have read a few Christian testimonies, autobiographies and biographies. Some write better than others but every one of them without exception is a good read. When the power of God is coming through the pages, it is guaranteed to be a good story because God cannot write bad stories, given God can only do wonders! The gospel may be the same but everyone's salvation is unique because our God is a personal God. Philippians 2:12 says that we have to work out our own salvation. This book records the journey that Qureshi made. Our stories may be different but all Christians are brought to the same place - that is, at the foot of the Cross, broken, crying, wailing, utterly helpless but eternally grateful for the message of grace and God's mercy. The cost of the Cross is not to be taken lightly but the weight of the truth and Christ Himself give us the strength to bear it. This book is no exception as a wonderful testimony but it has much more to commend for. Qureshi's quest for the truth was sincere. His journey leads us into the heart of a Muslim trying to reconcile his Muslim upbringing with the truth of Christ. He gave God a fair hearing, let evidence speak and let reason take hold of his mind. Yet his heart is not ready to go where the mind is. That takes time, the Holy Spirit and personal encounters with God. When Christ became irresistible to Qureshi, it was hard and very painful as the step tore him apart from the life he had always known and the family whom he loved. It was very moving. Qureshi documents his journey of finding out the facts of both Christianity and Islam, not from a viewpoint of a know-all scholar but as a genuine seeker. This part of the book is very informative, as I have never known what and how a Muslim is taught. It gives me insight into their belief system and the resources that are available to them. It does improve my understanding of Muslims and how they think. How Qureshi places the details of Islam in the context of his personal quest for the truth makes the presentation of Islam digestible. It has never become onerous in this book. Instead it is fascinating. This book therefore is very helpful for us all indiscriminately as we are bound to meet some Muslims in our life. This book reveals some of the key prejudices they have been taught and programmed against Christianity. Those were the arguments that Qureshi needed to take down himself to reach the truth. His experience therefore will prepare and equip us to reach out to Muslims. This is a must-read for every one. At the start of the book, Qureshi described how lonely he had been at school until he went to college. He wondered why no Christians approached him to talk about Jesus if they believed Him and were prepared to see to him go to hell, does it mean that Christians do not love him? That really gets me. Because of my ignorance, I never know how to approach them. I often assume that they are devout and therefore they are certain of their faith. The implication of challenging their faith is also too huge. But this is a wrong assumption as devout Muslims can be in turmoil inside as Qureshi's experience has shown us. If they are to question their faith, they almost certainly have to do it alone as the tradition does not allow them to question. It would be a real support for them if there are Christians whom they can turn to outside their circle who can act as a sounding board and understand their struggle. Finally I think we have to see how courageous Qureshi is in writing all these down. His finding leads him to the conclusion that he cannot build an objective case for Islam. In a society that stresses tolerance, we probably would hesitate to criticise Islam. I wonder if he has received death threats as a result of this book and what was his parents' reaction when this book was first published? For us, we don't need to speak it, but will we have the courage to give this book to a Muslim friend, say? Will that be welcome or will that be offensive? To an open minded Muslim, this book is a dynamite. This therefore is a marvellous tool that can be used in many ways. The question is if we have the courage to do so. May God guide us.

This is an excellent book. For anyone wishing to learn about Islam and also Christianity, this is a must read. It shows very clearly how little Christians are taught about their faith these days. The book shows how many believers in Islam are taught by their parents as well as what they learn through their faith leaders. As the author demonstrates, Christians are rarely able to debate the error Muslims understand about Christianity because Christians don't know themselves and their parents may not even be churchgoers to turn to for help or advice. It was an eye opener to learn that many Muslim's living in the east, believe if you live in the west you must be a Christian, therefore, if people in the west seem to have low morals and bad attitudes that must be what Christianity teaches and allows. The author was fortunate to meet with a Christian who not only knows his bible but knew exactly where the error in the thinking of the author stemmed from and was able to gently and kindly advise Nabeel not to simply believe what anyone (including himself) told him but to find out for himself what was right and what was wrong. He simply asked Nabeel to prove his point or disprove the Christian message. As the author sought for himself to find ways to dispel what Christians believe about Jesus and the Christian message, he became more uncomfortable with what he was finding out about his own faith. The author is a man who knows how to research a subject for himself. His research took him on a four years journey which became increasingly difficult as the evidence he found proved his Christian friend’s faith was grounded on historical facts and eye witness accounts written down whilst those people still lived. It was a journey which left him in no doubt at all that Jesus is indeed, the way, the truth, and the life and no one gets into heaven except through Him. Nabeel is going to heaven.

Imagine growing up a Muslim all your life and being taught Muslim beliefs all your life and having that thoroughly interwoven with your family life. Your family wants you to grow up to be a good Muslim and one who will share the perceived truth of Islam. This was Nabeel Qureshi's life until he went on a trip once and met a friend who happened to be reading the Bible and for the first time, he encountered someone who actually could give some pushback to what he said. Nabeel began a quest to show his friend the truth of Islam. Instead, as the book title shows, he ended up bowing his knee to Jesus Christ. I wish to give a disclaimer at the start. While I do seek to avoid bias in a work, I know many of the people involved in this book. I consider Nabeel a friend of mine. I know David Wood as well and consider him a friend and I know his wife too. (I know Nabeel's wife too, but she isn't mentioned much in the book as his wedding is more part of an epilogue, but she is a wonderful woman.) Nabeel also shares about his time that he spent with Mike Licona and Gary Habermas. Licona I am related to by marriage and Habermas is a friend of ours as well having introduced me to Mike's daughter and then having married us. I ask the reader to know I am striving to go by content. Nabeel's book is just a fascinating book to read as it is full of good information, but it is also written in an exciting story fashion. Nabeel draws you into his family life and how he grew up and he explains Muslim terminology along the way. Nabeel grew up in a family that had great respect for religion and at the same time, they were a family that many of us would not mind having as neighbors. They were grieved by the actions of 9/11 and often were just trying to raise up their children in the Islamic faith out of their great devotion to it, including Nabeel's Dad going with him to a church play when a friend invited him and joining him for a dialogue with Licona and Habermas. The family was one with great love for Nabeel. Nabeel then goes on a trip and meets a friend there who his mother can tell is a good young man Nabeel should spend time with. That friend turns out to be David Wood and that is where the story really kicks off. When the two friends got to their hotel room, Nabeel saw David reading the Bible. Nabeel was quite stunned seeing as he'd never seen someone read the Bible as it were, for fun. (How many of our lives could be different if some people saw us reading the Bible?) This led to Nabeel going to his evangelism to try to convince David that the Bible had been changed. The problem for Nabeel was that this time, it didn't work. David had his answers ready asking Nabeel where he heard that claim before and if he could give examples. Still despite their religious disagreements, the two managed to maintain a strong friendship. Nabeel saw this as absolutely essential for his conversion. It was the kindness that David showed him in powerfully, yet gently, answering his questions and asking good ones of his own that got him thinking. David eventually invited Nabeel to join him to meet Mike Licona and Gary Habermas for a dream team meeting to discuss the historical Jesus. Nabeel brought his dad for the first one he went to and his dad presented the swoon theory. Nabeel saw his Dad as one of the most powerful debaters he knew. And his star fell that night. This started Nabeel looking at the data for Christianity and he had to admit it was convincing. The evidence for the resurrection is especially powerful, but Nabeel is not convinced as he tells David. Islam has much better evidence. David's up for the challenge and says there's another meeting of minds at Mike's house before too long and it's not just Christians, but seekers of all paths that are there. Why not come? In fact, Nabeel can come and give a case for Islam. Nabeel is thrilled with this and goes to give his presentation only to find out that his case doesn't really stand up with Mike asking Nabeel how he knows the stories about Muhammad are accurate. So Nabeel goes back to his studies again and this time decides to study Muhammad. He does not like what he sees and this from Muslim sources! When he looks at modern sources, they ignore these problematic passages and looking online doesn't provide him much comfort either. Maybe the Koran can stand up better. Turns out for Nabeel, it didn't. This left him in a tailspin wondering what exactly he should do. That's when he prays for God to show him what to do and as commonly happens in the Muslim world, Nabeel gets dreams. These dreams are incredibly convincing and end up with Nabeel finally converting. You might think I've told you everything. I really haven't. The content of the book and watching how the dialogues take place are everything. This is a book that is one that you do not want to put down. The chapters are brief enough that you could read one in a small sitting and then save another one for later. You will also not get bogged down by a lot of complex terminology. There is also a lot of good humor thrown in. I read some of the book in a very public place and as it turns out, started laughing out loud at a number of parts. Most importantly, Nabeel ends with a real look at grace and what it means for evangelism and this is something I know he lives out. He also shows the pain that this had on his family to which we should all seek to pray for Nabeel's family that they might come to see that God has revealed Himself in Jesus. Knowing Nabeel personally, I know that he prays for those who are outside the fold, including people in ISIS, and there can be no doubt that his family is on that list. Reading the book in the end will give you a greater wonder and appreciation of the grace of God, which I'm sure would please Nabeel. In the end, there are also several smaller chapters written by people like Mike, David, Gary, and others. These give the reader a little bit more information and insight into Nabeel. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is an excellent, enjoyable, and informative read. In Christ, Nick Peters Deeper Waters Christian Ministries

I picked this book more out of curiosity after reading the reviews. I am a non-muslim and a non-Christian so I did not know much about either religion. So, I hoped reading this book will give a peek into both of these major religions in the world. Nabeel Qureshi did not disappoint me. I could divide this book into three sections. (i) The authors life as a Muslim, defending his religion by questioning the Christian faith (ii) His extensive research on the fundamental truths of Islam (iii) His moment of Truth and embracing Christianity. All three parts are done very well especially the first two sections and the final section shows his commitment to follow his heart no matter at what cost. Briefly, The author being born as Muslim gives an excellent outlook of his religion. I was so captivated in knowing the different Islamic terms of praising Allah and invoking Allah in all the acts, the names of the five prayers a Muslim does, the direction in which the prayer is offered (pointing towards Medina) and so on. Coming to the authors life, he is raised in a perfect Muslim set up and follows the traditions so impeccably and he is encouraged by his parents to consider himself as an ambassador of his religion. He holds this dear to his heart. Being an Americanized Muslim, he runs into many of his Christian mates and while ascertaining the superiority of Islam over Christianity, he questions their faith by pointing out the general claims of Muslim against Christians. The challenge he poses as a Muslim to his friend who is a Christian is that 1. Jesus was not crucified (they have the swoon theory or the substitution theory). 2. His resurrection (gains no validity if Jesus had not actually died by the crucification). 3. Divinity of Jesus (He is the son of Man, so he is a mortal man). Apart from this the author poses challenges to his Christian friend about the triune theory (Father, Son and the Spirit) and finally how it is possible that our sins are washed away by one man’s (Jesus) Crucification in the cross. Well, he gets convincing replies to all the above queries from the gospels with historical evidence which he could not deny. Failing to nail Christianity by these queries, he moves to ascertain the superiority of Islam by bringing out the sanctity of Prophet Muhammed, and the Holy Quran. But when he tries to speak about the Prophet he realizes he knew nothing about the prophet’s life except what he was taught and that doesn’t answer many of the questions his Christian friend had. So, when he does an extensive study of Prophet’s life, and the Holy Quran, to his horror he realizes that the life of Prophet Muhammed is not sanctified as he was portrayed and the Quran he was taught is a filtered one (and not as he was told, that it is not altered to this day and carried forward from Muhammed) Like a methodical scientist, he questions, examines every bits and pieces and the final picture he gets about Islam shatters him. The final section, I would say, his acceptance to Jesus and the emotional upheavals he suffers requires courage. Only a person who is courageous, who is willing to follow the call of the heart, one who is willing to die to know the Truth can make a decision like what the author has made. He boldly proclaims his new faith much to the Chagrin of his family. By going against his original religion in which he was born and to his new-found faith, he asserts his intention to follow the Truth no matter at what cost. This indeed requires tremendous will power and emotional strength which the author portrays so touchingly. As a human being, I could resonate with his emotional upheaval. But he overcomes that by his Love to Jesus. A wonderful book.

Really a good read. Nabeel Qureshi describes with honesty and precision the journey that brought him to christianity. Even as an atheist I have appreciated this book for the sincerity with which it is written. I also had no problems whatsoever to understand it even though I am not an English native speaker.

This testimony by Nabeel is most important to anyone who is looking for the truth about God, Jesus and any other religious god. It is using his voyage from Islam to describe a journey that can be followed by anyone who is seriously searching for God and His truth. That journey will lead to Jesus and then to peace that surpasses all or any previous understanding. Unlike a trance or drug, that peace remains with you forever and your soul will rest. I encourage everyone, non-believer and believer to read, travel on and experience Nabeel's journey. The reader will find Jesus and life will become different and worth living.

This wonderful book is a must read for Christians who want to know more about Muslims and their religion; it's also a must read for Muslims who want know why on earth a Muslim would turn to Jesus! A fantastic, genuine and amazing book. I just finished it and I will reread it. It reads very easily. I hope many Christians and Muslims are going read it.