Nabeel Qureshi’s story is incredible. The first several chapters of Qureshi’s testimony details his life growing up in a devout Muslim family. The reader will learn about the Muslim faith, but perhaps more importantly, he will grow to genuinely like Qureshi’s Muslim family. Too often, we fail to see people of other faiths as individuals – or even as human, but Qureshi’s family is filled with good people. His parents were loving, responsible, and interesting. Amid this backdrop, Qureshi, an honor student, grew into an outspoken apologist for Islam.
What follows is essentially the story of Qureshi leaving his Muslim faith in favor of Christianity. It is a gripping account of a young man engaging the Quran and Muslim literature in a search for truth. There are two aspects of his story that really impacted me. First, was his Christian friend David. Despite their different faiths, the two forged a fast friendship. In that relationship, is a lesson for all wanna be Christian evangelists and apologists. David didn’t just share his faith with Nebeel, he befriended him. His evangelism came packaged in the form of a true and lasting friendship. The two men’s lives became intertwined with one another. For years, they debated and engaged one another’s faith. There’s a lesson in that for all of us when engaging others for the sake of the gospel.
Secondly, it was incredible to see the Bible through the eyes of Qureshi whose journey from Islam to Christianity wasn’t an easy one. It came at great cost:
“These are the costs Muslims must calculate when considering the gospel: losing the relationships they have built in this life, potentially losing this life it- self, and if they are wrong, losing their afterlife in paradise. It is no under- statement to say that Muslims often risk everything to embrace the cross.”
Qureshi stood to lose everything he loved for the sake of the gospel; his family, reputation, friends … yet the beauty Jesus trumped everything:
“I could not put the Bible down. I literally could not. It felt as if my heart would stop beating, perhaps implode, if I put it down. I ended up skipping the whole day of school, but I really had no choice in the matter. The Bible was my lifeline.”
To hear the words of someone encountering the truth of God’s Word for the first time touched me and reminded me why Scripture is so precious. It changes lives. Certainly, it changed Nabeel Qureshi’s life. His story is one you should read.
DYING 2 SELF 