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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus summary
Nabeel Qureshi
A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity
19 mins
Brief summary
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus is a memoir by Nabeel Qureshi that chronicles his journey from being a devout Muslim to embracing Christianity. It provides a personal and thought-provoking exploration of faith, identity, and cultural dynamics.
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Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus
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Born into Islam
At dawn in Muslim countries, sonorous cries echo over rooftops and across sleepy villages, towns, and cities. The words are a statement of the core beliefs of Muslims everywhere:
“Allah is Great! I bear witness that there is no god but Allah! I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah!”
These are the opening words of the adhan, the call to prayer, but they are also a reminder to Muslims to dedicate their lives to Allah from the moment they awaken.
For many Muslims, these are the first words they ever hear. In accordance with a tradition going back to the prophet Muhammad, parents whisper them to newborns. When Nabeel Qureshi was born in 1983, his father spoke them into his ear, just as his father had 30 years earlier. For two decades, that proclamation of faith reverberated in Nabeel’s heart and mind.
Nabeel’s parents hailed from Punjab, a region in central-eastern Pakistan, but they had lived in the United States since the 1970s. His father served in the United States Navy; his mother raised the children. Both were Ahmadis – members of a nineteenth-century Islamic revival movement that reshaped the religious landscape in what was then British India.
Because of his father’s job, the family moved a lot, but the Qureshis attached themselves to the local mosque and Muslim community wherever they went. Nabeel, the oldest of three children, received a rigorous religious education. At the age of four, he began learning to recite the Quran in the original Arabic; later, he began studying the books of commentary in the family’s study. His father was an amateur apologist – someone who seeks to logically and persuasively justify their beliefs. It was from him that Nabeel inherited his love for theological debate.
It was a patriotic American family, but the Qureshis also saw themselves as outsiders. As Nabeel’s mother told him when he was 10, people would always see him as a Muslim first and foremost. If he excelled academically, people would remark on what an excellent Muslim student he was; if he became president, he would always be the Muslim president. That, though, was no bad thing: whatever else he was, she said, he would always be a Muslim. That was his identity and his calling. For the first twenty years of his life, he saw it that way too. Nabeel not only embraced Islam – he also sought to be an ambassador for his faith.
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What is Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus about?
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus (2016) traces a young man’s dramatic spiritual journey from Islam to Christianity. Packed with insights into the faith he grew up with as well as the faith he adopted later in life, Quereshi’s story will challenge Christians, Muslims, and all those interested in the world’s greatest religions.
Who should read Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus?
- Believers interested in interfaith dialogue
- Anyone questioning their own faith journey
- History buffs
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