Muslims Pay a High Price for Accepting Christ

Issue Date: September/October 2007

When we win a Muslim to Christ, we need to know what a serious step he is taking.  He usually is outcast by family and sometimes even his life is threatened or taken.  Here is an excerpt from a testimony received at Chick Publications:

My family is Muslim and I grew up attending the mosque near our home. I was taught Islam in school and read the Qur`an. I had a strong desire to become a Muslim elder (sheikh) and entered the madrassah (Islamic college). I started memorizing the Qur`an in its entirety and studying Islamic history and law. I changed from a moderate Muslim to an eager follower of Muhammad. I learned and believed the Islamic doctrine of the Caliphate, that the Caliph (Arabic for "successor" to Muhammad) is the Muslim leader who must rule the whole world according to what the Qur`an and Muslim tradition teaches.

I learned that the Jewish people are the enemies of Islam and that Christians are polytheists. I befriended a Christian Lebanese with the intent of converting him to the true faith, Islam. One day, he invited me to a conference in Tripoli and when I entered the hall I was immediately aware that the meeting was about Jesus. Defensively, I spoke to the people about my Muslim beliefs. When they gave me a gospel, I threw it on the ground.

But that meeting raised many questions in mind. The next day, I went back for another night of meetings. The evangelist preached that the wages of sin are death which astonished me. I was particularly amazed at his message because my view of Christians was that they worship many gods and are therefore Kufar, infidels.  That night, I let the evangelist pray for me but I still didn`t agree with him about the deity of Jesus.  Nevertheless, I could not get these people out of my mind and continued attending their meetings in secret.

One day, I decided that I wanted what these believers had and I accepted Jesus as my Saviour and Lord. When I declared my faith openly to my Muslim community, they rejected me. My family started tempting me with money and wanted to arrange a marriage to a good Muslim girl; anything to get me to return to Islam. When they saw that my decision was final, they made me stay in my room for long periods to keep an eye on me. They thought I was bewitched and invited sheikhs to our home who laid hands on me and recited Qur`anic verses to influence me to return to Islam.

But through it all, the Lord gave me His strength.   Since my community was determined to kill me, thinking they were doing a service for Allah, I had to leave home. I`ve been estranged from my loved ones for four years, living in the Beirut area. Although living on my own in a city of 1.5 million people gives me some anonymity, it is still not safe.  I have been arrested and jailed four times by the Lebanese authorities for evangelizing both Muslims and nominal Christians on the streets of Beirut.

During each incarceration I have boldly shared the gospel with my jailers and with the police investigators. I give God the glory for giving me boldness, peace and protection in prison!  After every release, I return to the streets where I continue to serve Him through evangelism including sharing my testimony with strangers and distributing Bibles and literature. My greatest joy is seeing people come to know the same Lord and Savior I know and love.


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