Few topics fuel as much disagreement between people as religious debates. Whether it is a matter of principle or habit, faith disputes are deeply emotional. What is more, most of the debates originate between similar religions. Both Islam and Christianity are representatives of Abrahamic religions, yet their distinctions are so important to their followers that they are ready to emphasize their vision of the prophets, God, and other tenets as the only true understanding. Unsurprisingly, such a viewpoint invariably leads to the denouncement of other teachings and beliefs. Probably, the most evident example of religious debates is Christian-Muslim animosity.
Christianity and Islam have a long history of both philosophical and physical clashes. As devout followers attempt to spread their religion to other people, substantial theological debates take place. Their ultimate goal is the conversion of as many people as possible into the corresponding religion. It is widely believed that the more a person is sure of their beliefs, the less they are likely to change them. It is all the more surprising to hear about stories of such people who actually have reevaluated their faith and converted. Nabeel Qureshi was such a person who had transformed from a devout Muslim denouncing Christianity and the Bible into a confident Christian who criticizes Islam. His book “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus” offers a reevaluation of Muslim beliefs in the light of the Cristian dogmas.
The book showcases the conversion of an individual as a linear process. The premise of the book is counterintuitive – after all, it is expected that a faithful follower who seeks understanding will strengthen their own beliefs. What makes this book so eye-catching is the subversion of this stereotype. There is nothing surprising in the person whose belief system is not fully formed to change faith and become a stout supporter of another religion. However, when the individual at the question is already spiritually confident, their conversion provokes shock. One of the key themes of Qureshi’s book is that the level of self-confidence is irrelevant, as comprehensions can be shattered.
The first stage in the process of conversion is an assuredness in one’s righteousness. Qureshi was born into a family of devout Muslims who teach their children the importance of following Islam. His parents warned him about the possibility of being attacked by the Christians. As a result, they have raised him and instilled reactive responses in him. When Qureshi did find himself in a theological debate, he was ready and refuted the opponents’ arguments. However, he did not stop there, as he himself started attacking Christians, forcing them to reconsider their beliefs. All the more surprising is the outcome of his struggle against the promotion of Christianity.
The second stage is accepting the possibility of one’s mistake. Many situations require people to approach problems with logic and rationalization. When they find convincing explanations, they adopt a certain viewpoint. This is not the case with religion, which many people take at face value. One of the most common ideas is that a person has to believe and accept the ideas that they cannot explain. For example, the concept of Trinity is complex, and many Christians cannot adequately explain how God can be one in three faces. Yet, they believe this idea without actually comprehending it. Subsequently, blind belief is not the same as conscious faith. This explanation also constitutes the second theme of the book.
The third stage is the actual search for the truth. The conversion would not have been possible had Qureshi not been intent on ascertaining truth. It is important that his enthusiasm for religious debates was fueled by his desire to understand the true meaning of the Bible. It is a striking difference to many people who are willing to prove others wrong and seek evidence that actually reinforces their beliefs, thus creating confirmation bias. It is an unconscious mindset, which compels a person to view all ideas, which contradict their established viewpoint in a negative light. As soon as they are able to identify some weak points in the evidence, they will start to overemphasize them without analyzing the evidence objectively. As a result, an otherwise solid argument does nothing to persuade the person to change their opinion but rather reinforces their flawed understanding. Qureshi displays such bias by explaining how he had viewed certain passages in the sacred texts.
One of the most contentious points in the Christian-Muslim debate is the status of Jesus. Both religions acknowledge him, yet whereas Christians equate Christ with God, Muslims believe that he was not God. During one of such conversations and explorations of the sacred texts, Qureshi begins to understand that there is more support to the theory of Christ being God. Whereas previously, he had assumed the Muslim explanation of God’s status, which points to verses in the New Testament. He convinces a Christian girl that at no point does Jesus explicitly state that he is God (Qureshi, 2016, p. 85). However, later Qureshi realizes that only a miraculous event such as the resurrection of an executed man could amass so many followers to Christianity. As a mortal man could not rise from the dead, the only explanation left for Qureshi was that Christ was God, and he had been wrong all along (p. 141). The ability to acknowledge one’s mistake is another key theme of Qureshi’s book.
The fourth stage is the apparently miraculous event or a series of events, which serve as the tipping point for the conversion of an individual. In Qureshi’s case, the event happened when he arrived at the jalsa in Britain. He wanted to find his friends but had no knowledge of their whereabouts. As Qureshi writes, when he found no Islamic way of praying for finding lost people, he “turned to God”, not Allah (p. 97). Immediately after, he saw “two streaks of color, one gold, and one silver, as if whimsically painted onto the sky by an ethereal brush”, which he interpreted as direction (p. 97). He proceeded and found his friends, which cemented his belief in God. Therefore, a supernatural event, which cannot be rationalized or explained with logic, is essential in conversion.
The fifth stage is basically the reversal of the first one – confidence that the new belief is the right one and the old one is wrong. At this point, the person experiences certain euphoria, which is also seen in Qureshi, who becomes obsessed with the Bible (p. 257). The difference is that the final stage of conversion accumulates the knowledge of both religions. Qureshi shows it when he starts to criticize Muslims’ view of Mohammad. As he researchers hadiths, the Quran, and other writings, he begins to view Islam in a negative light. The arguments of Christians that Islam is a violent religion, which promotes rape started to make sense to him (p. 230). As the view of Islam, which had been taught to him in childhood, crashed, Qureshi began to seek guidance in the Bible. The shift from the Quran to the Bible marked the end of Qureshi’s conversion.
Overall, there are five processes, which comprise the entirety of conversion. Qureshi started as a Muslim who believed wholeheartedly in Islam and was prepared to repel any theological attack from Christians. Yet, as he began to attack Christians, he encountered people who had similar viewpoints of Christianity. As Qureshi was intent on ascertaining the truth rather than proving the opponent wrong, he started to note inconsistencies in the Islamic texts. As he spent more and more time studying the sacred texts, he began to see both religions in a different light with more favor to Christianity. A similarly miraculous event was interpreted by him as the message from God, which ultimately solidified his belief.
Qureshi’s spiritual journey highlights another problem the theology – the inherent belief in the truth of the religion. The reason why the revelations about Mohammad and his teaching were so shocking to him lay in the cultural upbringing. The irony is that in the same way Qureshi attacked Christians for not understanding Trinity, he himself was deluded by the accepted societal interpretations of Islam. Up until the last moment, he is willing to resist the fight against conversion. Yet, he expresses his frustration and disappointment: “That was not the Islam I knew, astaghfirullah! My Muhammad was a liberator of slaves and a commander of saints, not a conquering captor leading an army of rapists” (p. 227). Qureshi’s dissonance is the result of society teaching Muslims to take The Quran, hadiths, Muhammad at face value, without considering what the verses actually say. In retrospect, this is the same fallacy that Qureshi accused Christians of.
Qureshi’s conversation has important implications both for him and his family. Qureshi writes that his ethnic background created difficulties in self-identification. Hailing from a Pakistani family, who lives in the United States, he felt confused. As he argues: “I had a third culture, and no one met me there” (p. 70). At the end of the book, he finds himself facing the prospect of conflict with the family on a religious basis. However, Qureshi’s belief in Christianity is so solidified at this point that he is willing to accept the familial outrage. Qureshi also notes that “parents made two things very clear about their stance toward [him]: they felt utterly betrayed, yet they loved [him] regardless” (p. 264). The theme of familial pressure on the child’s beliefs is probably the most important theme of the entire book.
Overall, there are five major themes Qureshi explores in his book. First, society pressures people to assume beliefs, which may be based on misunderstood texts. Second, any opinion, however strong it is, can be broken. Third, ascertaining the truth is more important than proving the opponent wrong. Fourth, acknowledging one’s mistakes is essential for the development of personality. Finally, different religions may argue about fundamental questions, but they can coexist peacefully. Ultimately, the books’ message is that everyone has a choice whether to follow the socially accepted dogmas, which may be wrong, or challenge them and accept other morals, which may be closer to the truth.
Reference
Strobel, L., Qureshi, N. (2016). Seeking Allah, finding Jesus: A devout Muslim encounters Christianity. Zondervan.