Nabeel Qureshi Kevin - Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Study Guide: A Former Muslim Shares the Evidence that Led Him from Islam to Christianity

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Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Study Guide

Copyright 2016 by Nabeel Qureshi

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ePub Edition March 2016: ISBN 978-0-310-52668-1

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CONTENTS

I AM TRULY HONORED and excited that you will be engaging in this study guide and its companion video. They are intended to complement my book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, which I hope you have read or are reading as you go through this study. In my book, I try to take you past the stereotypes and misconceptions of Muslims by bringing you into my home and childhood, where I had loving parents who did their best to raise me according to their Islamic faith. My goal is to introduce you to the hearts of Muslims, not just their minds. Of course, the hearts and minds of devout Muslims are connected, and it is their faith that leads them to see the world the way they do. That is why I also explore the beliefs of Muslims and how those beliefs shape the practice of their lives.

There was a turning point in my life: I became best friends with David Wood, a Christian who loved Jesus and was willing to have conversations with me about Christianity and Islam. We didnt just talk about religion, though. We went to classes together; joined clubs and organizations together; spent time in each others homes. We were real friends, and in the context of that friendship, I was able to trust what he had to say about Christianity and understand how it could be the true religion, a potential I had thought impossible before. At the same time, we investigated Islam together, and he helped me see many faults in its foundations that caused my faith in it to crumble. After years of friendship and hours of him praying for me, I finally encountered Jesus, as three dreams and a vision led me to open up the pages of the Bible, and I gave my life to Christ.

This study guide is designed to help you do what my friend David did for me. It starts by introducing you broadly to Muslims, then by helping you understand and defend Christianity, especially where Muslims tend to challenge the Christian faith. It will also equip you to understand Islam and, when the time comes, to explore the significant fault lines in Muslim beliefs with your Muslim friends. The last session is designed to give you specific tips and suggestions on how to meet new Muslim friends and show them hospitality and love.

But, as you will see in Session 1, every Muslim is a distinct, individual image bearer of God! My journey is not reproducible, and your Muslim friends may need a very different path. Consider the information in this guide as tools in your toolbox to be used as you follow the Lords leading. In addition to those tools, this study guide will also help get you in the right frame of mind by directing you to scriptural principles, personal reflection, and the example of Jesus.

For that, I am greatly indebted to Kevin and Sherry Harney, whose names you will find on the cover of this book. They are not just random people who collated this information; they are dear friends who follow Jesus so closely that I would trust my life to them. More than once, when confronted with a dilemma, I have picked up the phone and asked Kevin for his help, and my wife has done the same with Sherry. Every time, they each pointed us to Jesus and filled us with the hope of Scripture. They are incredible people of God who understand my heart and my thoughts and they happen to be among the best in the world at writing study guides! For these reasons, I have no doubt you will find this study guide a robust resource filled with direction for prayer, stories to contemplate, Scripture to consider, and also methods to help you remember and apply the information I teach in my videos. All to the greater glory of Jesus and for the love of our Muslim neighbors.

Once again, I am honored that you would engage this video study and excited by the potential the Lord has to work through it and through you. Jesus is amazing; there is no one like our God! People need to know about Him, and not just so they can be in heaven, but so they can have a relationship with their unconditionally loving Father here and now. So they can be filled with the Spirit and transform this world. I pray now, to the triune God of heaven and earth, that He will equip us to reach the world for their sake and for His glory. In Jesus name, amen.

NABEEL QURESHI

THE QUOTATIONS interspersed throughout this study guide are excerpted from the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus and the video study of the same name by Nabeel Qureshi. All other resources, including the reflection questions, session introductions, and between-session materials, have been written by Kevin and Sherry Harney in collaboration with Nabeel Qureshi.

When you hear the word Muslim, what comes to your mind? Do you picture a very specific kind of person? To understand Muslims we must reflect on one simple and profound truth: they are people. And every person is unique. There is no one-size-fits-all description for any group of human beings, including Muslims.