Nabeel Jabbour - The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross: Insights from an Arab Christian

I am pleased to recommend The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross, by Nabeel Jabbour. By stepping into the shoes of Muslims and looking through their eyes, Jabbour helps Christians understand them in these troubled days, love them as God does, and express their witness more relevantly.

J. DUDLEY WOODBERRY , dean emeritus and senior professor of Islamic studies, Fuller Theological Seminary

Unfortunately many Christians follow the confrontational approach with Muslims rather than an approach of compassion, understanding, and love. This is why when I read Nabeel Jabbours book, I recovered a sense of confidence in myself as a Muslim who is a follower of Christ and began to get rid of my feelings of guilt for coming to Christ from such a stigmatized background. Indeed some of what I read, written by my western Christian brothers, contributed over the years to making me feel like a cultural convict, because they kept undermining the thing by which I culturally live my worldview which in no way takes away from my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

DR. NORDDINE AL ARABI , professor; author

I am delighted to see this book get published. I wish every Christian in the West could read it, as it adds a dimension of grace to the debates currently being waged over Islam. I know of no other book like it.

JIM PETERSEN , missionary; author

I know of no better book that demonstrates the impact of an authors unique background and experiences. Equally important, I know of no book that more insightfully and penetratingly addresses the invisible perversions of understanding that arise when Westerners try to understand the Arabs and the Muslims. Page after page will take your breath away!

DR. RALPH D. WINTER , chancellor, William Carey International University

What Nabeel Jabbour has written is very important at a time when anti-Arab and anti-Musli sentiments run so high in Evangelical circles. What you read here will help you to see things in the Middle East as an Arab Christian does. It is likely to impact you in ways that are unexpected and necessary.

TONY CAMPOLO , PhD, Easter University, St. Davids, PA

This book offers vitally needed bridges of understanding and compassion between different worldviews, theologies, and historical experiences. As Dr. Jabbour states in his introductory remarks, this is a book intended to help Western Christian readers better comprehend Muslim perspectives and beliefs and thus dispel commonly held misunderstandings and dehumanizing stereotypes.

DR. PHILIP ZIMBARDO , professor emeritus, Stanford University; author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil; also known for his 1971 Stanford Mock Prison experiment

One of the finest and most insightful books on the beliefs and cultural context of Islam. Every Christian seeking to understand the Muslim worldview and the relationship between East and West must read this book.

ALI ELHAJJ , director, The Bethlehem Christmas Project

Why do they hate us? Nabeel Jabbours timely book tells us why and what we can do about it.

JAMES FOX , British film actor, The Servant ( 63), Remains of the Day (93), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (04)

This book needs to become a required reading for all students at all seminaries in America.

ADEL MALEK, engineer and pastor of an Arab church in California

Meeting Ahmad, his sister, and his father in the pages of this book will change your view of Muslims and yourself. Changing your view will change your attitudes and your actions. I highly recommend The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross.

MARK D. FUTATO, Robert L. Maclellan Professor of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

Nabeel Jabbours important book will open your eyes to the real world of Islam, not the one so often caricatured in the media. Deeply biblical with study and discussion questions, the book is based on a lifetime of dialogue and witness to Muslims. This book will warm your heart and fire your soul to reach the other children of Abraham for Jesus.

REVEREND STEPHEN SIZER , author

NavPress is the publishing ministry of The Navigators, an international Christian organization and leader in personal spiritual development. NavPress is committed to helping people grow spiritually and enjoy lives of meaning and hope through personal and group resources that are biblically rooted, culturally relevant, and highly practical.

For more information, visit www.NavPress.com.

2008 by Nabeel T. Jabbour

A NavPress resource published in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from NavPress, P.O. Box 6000, Colorado Springs, CO 80934-6000.

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ISBN 978-1-60006-195-0

Cover design by The DesignWorks Group, Charles Brock, www.thedesignworksgroup.com

Cover image by Shutterstock

Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.

Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version,NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. (Some quotations may be from the earlier NIV edition; copyright 1984.)Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Other version used is THE MESSAGE ( MSG ). Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Also quoted is The Noble Quran: The First American Translation and Commentary by T. B. Irving. Copyright 1992, Amana Books. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jabbur, Nabil.

The Crescent through the eyes of the Cross : insights from an Arab

Christian / Nabeel T. Jabbour. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-60006-195-0

1. Apologetics. 2. Christianity and other religions Islam. 3. Missions to Muslims. I. Title.

BT1170.J33 2008

261.2'7 dc22 2007035272

ISBN 978-1-61521-512-6 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-60006-557-6 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-61291-955-3 (Apple)

Build: 2017-02-08 13:29:59

To

our prayer partners,

who have journeyed with us over the years.

Your partnership is invaluable.

FOREWORD

During the years Nabeel and Barbara Jabbour lived in Cairo, Egypt, I visited them regularly. Their home was on the third floor in a three-story apartment building situated in a residential part of the city. A small guest room had been constructed on the roof of the building, a stair climb up from the Jabbour apartment. That is where I would stay. It was a perfect place, very comfortable except for one thing. Every morning at the crack of dawn, I would hear an electronic click just outside my door. There would be a bit of static, and over a microphone I would hear someone clearing his throat. Then the call would begin with