Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity by Qureshi Nabeel

Author:Qureshi, Nabeel [Qureshi, Nabeel]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2014-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

A MUSLIM AT CHURCH

WHEN WE ARRIVED HOME, Ammi met us at the door. She was curious to know how the meeting went. I debriefed her on our conversation, emphasizing that we were able to get our point across. But given that Abba was still hesitant to speak and that I was anxious to leave the room, I doubt she was convinced. As soon as I could, I excused myself and made my way upstairs.

The room at the end of our upstairs hallway was originally designed to be a large closet or laundry room, but when Abba had the house built, he asked the builders to extend it into a full-size bedroom. He made it his library, lining the walls with bookcases, each full to the brim. Whenever I wanted to study literature on religion, I would go to the appropriate section of Abba’s bookcase, pick out some books, and flop down on my stomach to start reading. It was something I often did for fun.

But I was not thinking about fun that day. I was on a mission to resolve the tension that was growing in my heart and mind.

I pulled out the books we had about Jesus, almost all of which were written by Muslim authors and scholars. I began systematically sifting through the literature, looking for information that I could use to respond to what I had just heard.

It was then that I noticed something for the first time: the books Abba had on Jesus’ life were all polemical. They started with a conclusion, found facts that supported their position, and then made their case. As Gary had pointed out about Abba’s argument, the treatments were not careful or fair. They did not grapple with counterarguments, which left the cases they made untested and brittle.

Even though I had seen our arguments fail multiple times, I now became convinced it was because we had poor methodology. Eastern authors were able to make passionate cases that compelled the heart, but Western authors thought more systematically and linearly, equipping themselves with excellent counterarguments and more tempered positions. Perhaps if I employed Western methodology with Eastern passion, I would be able to craft the most compelling and defensible case of all.

It was time to become more systematic about my approach, but I had no idea how to start. Just then, David called. I flipped open my phone.

“Nabeel!” he started, cheerfully. “What’d you think of the conversation?”

“I’m still processing it. I think I need to learn about methodology.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

“I dunno. You got any ideas?”

“Actually, yeah. I noticed you didn’t want to leave at the end of the conversation, so I asked Mike and Gary if they had another opportunity to talk. Turns out they were planning on doing lunch tomorrow, and they wouldn’t mind having us along. It’ll be after church, where Gary is the guest preacher. Wanna join us? You could ask them all about historical methodology, and . . .”

“Whoa, wait.” My brain did not compute his suggestion. “You want me to come to church with you?”

“If you want.

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