Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus - Nabeel Qureshi

Published by Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2018 (2014).

This is a very well written and interesting book. It tells the life story of Qureshi, raised as a Muslim in the UK, his faith journey, and eventually his conversion to Christianity. The book is written in a style that greatly appeals to my way of thinking; Qureshi debates and seeks logical answers to his questions, engages in apologetics, and - importantly - holds no animosity towards his former religion, despite now disagreeing with the evidence for it.

Coming from a Christian perspective, I appreciated the way Qureshi explained Islam and what it holds dear. For example, from Qureshi I learned that "In our culture, dreams are carefully considered because, as a well-known hadith teaches, "The dreams of the faithful are prophetic." In fact, dreams are the only means I know of by which the average Muslim expects to hear directly from God." (page 65). He also is not afraid of pointing out elements within the practice of Christianity (as opposed to its beliefs) that can hinder someone coming to faith: "There is a simple reason I never listened to street preachers: they didn't seem to care about me. It wasn't that they were annoying. I found their passion admirable, and I appreciated people who stood up for what they believed. Rather, it was that they treated me like an object of their agenda. Did they have any idea how their message would impact on my life? Did they even care?" (page 120).

His journey to faith is a slow one, but enlightening. The amount of signs God gave him to point him in the right direction are encouraging, and the challenge for Christian readers is to engage with other people. Know about them. Care for them. It cost Nabeel Qureshi dearly to come to Christianity. We should never underestimate that cost. After all, Jesus calls us to take us our cross daily.

Completed 6 September 2019.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Various Picture Books

Image
As I said in my review of Peter Rabbit's Storytime Collection , I am wanting to find a way to acknowledge the books I read to Ezekiel without adding individual picture books to my reading list - I feel that would dilute it a bit much. So in this post, I've decided to look at a group of picture books all together. I've picked five picture books that I like (with a notable and noteworthy exception), and also asked Elise for five picture books she is  enjoying reading to Ezekiel. It's interesting (and helpful for this list) that our lists haven't overlapped at all this time around. So, here are ten picture books (plus one bonus 'book') that Ezekiel has been exposed to in the first 7ish months of his life: Karl's List Bunnies on the Bus - Philip Ardagh and (illustrator) Ben Mantle. Published by Walker Books Ltd: London, 2020 (2019). This is one of my favourites among our current picture books. A group of bunnies hijack a bus and hurtle through the town on th
Read more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image
Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book is e
Read more

In a Free State - VS Naipaul

Image
Published by Picador: London, UK, 2001. First published 1971. An odd book, containing three different narratives (along with separate prologue and epilogue narratives) all on the theme of feeling displaced in a different culture and environment.  The first main story is told from the perspective of Santosh, an Indian servant who moves to America, only to find himself questioning his life choices. The next story follows a West Indian man who travels to England to support his brother, only to become disillusioned and eventually murder someone.  The third main narrative - which is the longest and also the titular 'In a Free State' - follows follows two English expats - Bobby and Linda - as they road trip south through a progressively more war-torn African nation. On the way we learn a lot about each character - mostly through their conversations - and witness their interactions with each other and those around them. As with many of the  Booker books I have read, there is an occasi
Read more