Answering Jihad- Nabeel Qureshi

I first encountered Muslims at school, but like my Christianity at the time it was in name only, they were not practising Muslims but had names like Ali, Mohammad and I was called Stephen. My first real encounter with a Muslim as a Christian was at college. A friend of mine Salma,  who I met whilest we were both on the same course at college. She was warm and caring and I was interested to learn about her faith. I remember that I was surprised that Jesus was a leading figure in the Qu'ran, our conversations were always respectful and cordial. Part way through the college year Salma left to get married and I didn't see her again for a few years when she shouted me from across the street, she said hello but advised me she couldn't speak otherwise she might get into trouble with her dad who was walking in front. For me it represented a clash of cultures, not mine and hers, but  hers a British Muslim woman,  practicing her faith in her country.

In the same town as Salma and I come from, 4 people have recently been arrested for Syria related terror plotting.
During my theology degree as part of the Exploring Other Faiths Module I read the Qu'ran and I did find that at its source it was violent. It didn't make me wonder why Islamic terrorism exists but why people like my friend Salma are peace loving and why various world leaders after terrible acts of violence could turn around and say Islam is a religion of peace.

In his first book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, Nabeel  Qureshi answered that for me. He discovered as a Muslim that Mohammad had been sanitised. For him it was a very tumultuous event that he had to work through emotionally, weighing up the cost of everything he knew.

In this book Nabeel  explores that a little further, one of the things he points out is that most Muslims are not Arabs and therefore whilst they can recite the Qu'ran they cannot understand it. Instead they have been taught by scholars from their traditions to trust them in what the Qu'ran and the Hadiths say and mean,  Muslim scholars have for centuries reworked these difficult passages to make them say something else.

Nabeel compares what is happening currently in Islam to what happened at the Reformation, rather than trusting in the scholars to interpret passages for them people are now going back to the sources, they are readily available online and in their native languages. Unlike the Reformation though as the sources are violent it leaves people with a dilemma, apostasy from Islam, apathy or radicalisation. If we are to help them avoid radicalisation as Christians we are called to love our Muslim neighbours, to build relationships with them and to show them a radical alternative which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This will be hard for them as it was for Nabeel but we have a Gospel and a Lord who loves at great cost.

I was shocked how up to date this book is, I got the Kindle version on the 8th of March and at the beginning of the book it is mentioning events that happened up to the start of this year. In spite of that it doesn't seem rushed but it feels urgent. It's not about a political response its about a loving response to people who have a zeal for (a) god but need to know the real God.

I've read a few books on Islam but they have been clinical this is a book written by someone who was loved and reasoned from Islam to Christ and so it is engaging revealing not only a love for Christ and his Gospel but a genuine love for Muslims, even for those radical ones.

God Bless

Stephen <><