Left to right in photo above: Daniel Shayeste, Nabeel Qureshi, and Abdu Murray 

June 2015 – “Five times a day,” Nabeel Qureshi said, “I would stand beside my father while he recited the Quran.” Qureshi’s voice filled with emotion as he continued: “I can still hear his voice in my mind, the cadence as he recited.”

What is it like to discover all you have embraced as true is a falsehood? How would it feel to have a cherished faith disproven? Imagine the devastation one would feel. Yet, when Jesus knocks, He opens even the most firmly secured doors. Three Christians joined AFA Journal to testify to the power of Christian truth that transformed each one from a devoted Muslim to a passionate evangelist of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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A perfect religion
Daniel Shayesteh was truly radical in following Islam. By age nine, he was “a famous boy” where he lived in Iran, and by his university years he was leading terrorist training camps and overthrowing the government.

“I was invited with two others to start the revolutionary army in Iran – the name for that army was Hezbollah,” he told AFAJ. “The goal of that army was to take over Israel, and then spread Islam to the world.”

In a series of events, the Shah was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Islamic law ruled the country, a colleague of Shayesteh became president, and Shayesteh was running for the Islamic parliament. Then, Shayesteh found himself on the wrong side of a sudden coup by Hezbollah.

Taken to prison, Shayesteh waited on death row for his execution. He talks little of that time, saying, “It was a place where you beg to die,” then adding, “but God had another plan for me.”

Shayesteh escaped to Turkey, where his doctoral thesis comparing religions, cultures, and philosophies uncovered startling evidence that the “values of Christianity are superior in every aspect.” However, Shayesteh’s Islamic objection to Christianity stood against that idea.

“From childhood, I was taught Islam is the last and perfect religion, so Islam should dominate and there should be no other religions,” he explained.

Ironically, it was not philosophy that finally brought Shayesteh inside the doors of a church, but the search for a business partner who had swindled him out of a sum of money. When church members offered help in his plight, Shayesteh kept coming out of desperation to get his money back.

“Nice people, funny ideas,” was his initial response to the Christians. “But their messages brought back my university studies, and I was amazed, above all, at how practical Christian faith is. God cares to have personal relationships with people, and He is their Savior. Deep in my heart I desired to have a relationship with my Creator, but Islam doesn’t give such an opportunity. It caused me to begin reading the gospel. In three months I had read the gospel twice through, and then I gave my heart to Jesus.”

Shayesteh now witnesses to the greatness of the gospel message and the dangers of Islam, with TV, audio recordings, and web resources in the native languages of Middle Eastern Muslims.
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Father and son
Nabeel Qureshi’s story began very differently. Born in the U.S. to a peaceful Muslim family of Pakistani immigrants, Qureshi inherited a legacy of Muslim evangelism. The name Qureshi identified him as a descendant of Mohammed’s tribe, and his mother’s family had been Muslim missionaries for generations.

“At age three, I first memorized a chapter from the Quran, Sura 112, which essentially said: ‘God is not a Father, God is not a Son,’” he told AFAJ. “I had very intentional training as a young Muslim and was prepared to respond to people who shared the gospel.”

However, Christians rarely spoke of their beliefs to him. He was in seventh grade before he met a friend openly claiming to be Christian.

“Christians didn’t interact with us much,” he added. “No one invited us to church or to a Christian home. No one talked about Christian faith or identified as Christian. That was very different from my experience as a Muslim. Islam was part of our identity, whereas Christianity seemed very incidental to Christians.”

That did not change until college, when he became friends with David Wood, a former atheist. For once, Qureshi encountered answers to his well-rehearsed challenges. One by one, his arguments crumbled, and he was forced to reexamine his beliefs.

“David showed me reasons to believe, and evidence confirmed Christianity,” he said. “But there was a huge price to pay – the social cost of giving up family, friends, and hurting my family and their position in the community.”

Knowing the pain he would cause his family became his greatest challenge to accepting Christ. As it turned out, the concept he had denied from age three is what became most compelling in his decision.

“For the first time, I went to the Quran, not for liturgical purposes, but to see what it said for my situation,” he said. “And there was nothing there. Then I turned to the Bible, and I could just feel that it was alive. That was the tipping point in my faith.

“There was a vibrant, loving God in Scripture. My whole life I had been taught God does not love sinners; unconditional love is not found in Islam. But in the gospel, God is a Father, the best Father ever, who loves his son or daughter regardless of sins committed and does whatever He can to save us.”

Qureshi is now an itinerant speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. His emphasis is on historical evidence for Jesus and the Bible.   
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Tradition on trial
Lebanese-American Abdu Murray grew up witnessing to non-Muslims and quickly discovered he could shoot down most arguments.

“I was able to poke holes in the average Christian’s beliefs,” he told AFAJ. “I would ask, ‘Why are you Christian?’ Most often the reason was tradition. My follow-up was always, “Shouldn’t you believe it, not rely on someone else’s belief?”

During his university career, two Baptist men came to Murray’s door, and he was “all too happy” to invite them in and begin evangelizing them. They returned week after week, winning Murray’s respect and developing friendship.

“I could tell they didn’t come because I was a project,” he shared. “They came because they got to know me and like me, and wanted to see me in heaven. And I wanted to see them in heaven, so I continued trying to show them Islam was true.”

Murray set out to make his case by uncovering a contradiction within Christianity.

“I took a Bible from a Gideon on the street corner,” he said. “I tried to convert him, but it didn’t work, so I took the Bible to find ammunition.”

Turning through that Bible, he read Luke 3:8, where John the Baptist says, “Don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!”

“In other words, being a child of Abraham isn’t a big deal when it comes to salvation,” Murray explained. “Like I’d been telling Christians, tradition isn’t good enough. Suddenly it occurred to me that no one had ever asked why I was a Muslim. And right then I knew the real reason was tradition.”

He decided to test Islam alongside Christianity and every other worldview, confident that Islam would be the champion. After nine years, his confidence in Islam had faded into the distance.

“I probably found answers in half that time, because the answers were easy to find, but the consequences were hard to accept,” he said. “For a Muslim, the gospel means running the risk of losing culture, family, identity. But I realized that whatever the consequences might be, the truth is worth it.”

Murray is now an adjunct speaker with RZIM and founder of Embrace the Truth, a ministry equipping Christians for evangelism and engaging non-Christians. 

As with Qureshi and Shayesteh, Murray’s biggest contention with Christianity became its most persuasive appeal.

 “I realized everything I wished was true in Islam is actually true in the gospel,” he said. “That’s when I gave my life to Christ.”
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When telling  Muslims about Christ

1. “Be a friend,” Murray urged. “Sharing the gospel with a Muslim is not a preach-and-walk-away thing. Being involved in the life of a Muslim considering Christ – and standing by them when they pay the price – is a steady commitment.”
2. “Challenge them as I was challenged,” Shayesteh said. “Ask, ‘Why are you not united with your god now? Why are you not saved now? What confidence can you have about your future life?’”
3. “Do not be afraid,” Qureshi said. “You have not been given a spirit of fear but of power and love. Even if Muslims were our enemies, it behooves us to share the gospel, because we are commanded to love our enemies.”  

Read more about witnessing to Muslims in “Not the Same,” AFA Journal, 4/15, online at afajournal.org.  

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RZIM conference on Islam
Qureshi and Murray , along with other experts on Islam from around the world, spoke at the 2015 Understanding and Answering Islam Conference hosted by RZIM. Each year, the conference takes a different focus in discussing foundational differences between Christian and Muslim beliefs. While Islam is approached with respect and compassion, eagerness for Christian evangelism and zeal for the gospel pervade the event in a way that renews enthusiasm for the Christian faith. Learn about the 2016 Understanding and Answering Conference and other events at rzim.org, or by calling 800-448-6766.

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Daniel Shayesteh The House I Left Behind
exodusfromdarkness.org
719-271-5227

Nabeel Qureshi Seeking Allah Finding Jesus
rzim.org
800-448-6766

Abdu Murray Grand Central Question
embracethetruth.org
888-848-7884