Testimony of Farooq Ibrahim
I was raised in a typical Muslim
family, where we would go to the
mosque on Fridays and on special
occasions; fast for the month of
Ramadan; and celebrate the typical
festive holidays of Islam. When I was
a teenager, I completed the recitation
of the Quran; and that in essence was
a confirmation of the duty of a Muslim
youth. Later, in my teen years, I was
not satisfied with just reciting the
Quran in Arabic; a language I could
only read, but not comprehend. So my
father got me a Study Quran by
Abdullah Yusuf Ali and also a copy of
the Sahih Bukhari Hadith collection. I
studied it for a short while during my
late teen years.
After I finished my twelfth year of
schooling, I started studying
engineering at an Engineering College
in Karachi, but desired to study in the
United States. My desire was to go to
one of the best engineering university
in the US. I had aspirations to do
wonderful things for my people and
country. Unfortunately, I was not
admitted to my first choice of
engineering university. Then in
August of 1973, I came to the US and
started in a community college. I
lived a typical life in the States;
spending time in getting my education
and holding onto part-time or full-
time jobs so that I could afford to put
myself through college. My parents
who were still in Pakistan helped, but
there was not enough money to
support the family and my education
here. After a short while, I got
plugged back into the local Islamic
community and was involved with
other Muslims in the study of the
Quran and Hadith and its applicability
in the local culture. After getting my
2-year associates degree from a
community college, God in his mercy
and grace provided for me to get into
my choice of engineering university
as a transfer student with an
academic scholarship. By the time I
had completed my BS degree, I had
veered away from the daily practice
of my faith, and focused my life's
interest in the academic and secular
things in life. After working for a
short while to gain experience and
decide what I wanted to do for
further studies; I chose to get my MS
degree. Once in the work place, I
started doing what most typical men
do in the US culture - start planning
and working my way to the top of the
corporate and financial ladder. I
married a woman who had grown up
in the States, had children, and life
was typical and stressful. My eyes
were focused on making a name for
myself and getting all I could out of
life - my earlier aspirations to do
wonderful things for my people and
country disappeared.
Then in March of 1987, I was in a bad
accident and was very badly burned,
while some others were killed. I had
to take time away from work to
recover. During this time, I had to
face my mortality and deal with my
blind ambition. I started to consider
what legacy I was going to leave
behind, and where was I going to go
when I die. I wondered if I was
spared from death for a purpose?
Being a Muslim I believed that I
would end up in heaven; but because
of my life being the way it was - not
actively performing the duties of a
Muslim, I feared that I may perhaps
be penalized in hell for a while? I
then started again looking into the
Quran and Hadith and Islam to find
answers. This times my zeal to know
my faith was fueled with the
knowledge that there had to be a
purpose to life; I was spared and had
been given a chance. I wanted to
know this Quran - which I believed to
be the revealed word of God for all
eternity, and the Prophet of Islam -
his life and teachings. By this time I
was back on my feet, starting to go
back to work, but now I decided to
take a job in the company that
required minimum travel, so I would
be spending a lot more time closer to
home and with my family. I adjusted
my priorities, and side stepped onto
the slower track, away from the fast
lane of the corporate world. Later on
during this time, I was challenged by
my Christian friends that Jesus was
the only way to Heaven and that the
Bible was the revealed and
uncorrupted word of God.
So this challenge ignited an even
greater zeal to study the Quran,
Hadith and the life of Mohammad to
prove Islam to be the true way and
Christianity to be a false hope and
Jesus being merely a man and not
God. My desire was also to teach my
children about Islam and to raise
them Muslim. I spent the next few
months studying the Quran and
comparing it to the Bible. I compared
the lives of Jesus both in the Quran
and the Bible. Also compared the life
and teaching of Mohammad and that
of Jesus. I checked into the early
history of Islam and Christianity and
the sad but unfortunate atrocities
committed by both religions, and the
reasons why. I also read articles by
others who denied the existence of
God.
I reached a point where I was not
sure how to deal with some of the
difficulties in the Bible that were very
unclear such as:
1. Why four books to present the
"gospel" and not one, as Quran
teaches of one gospel.
2. The whole issue of Sin and the
need for shedding of blood and a
Savior.
3. Jesus being God and Man and the
whole concept of the Trinity.
4. Did Jesus really die on the cross
and was he resurrected or not?
5. How could followers of Jesus
commit the atrocities that are part
of the church history such as the
crusades?
But also in my quest to use the Quran
as my standard, and the teaching and
life of Mohammad as a model for life,
I had some significant difficulties, for
example:
1. The whole concept of
"abrogation". That God chose to
reveal verses in the Quran that
supercede earlier revelation in
the same Quran. How an eternal
revelation of God could have such
time bound revelation seemed at
odds with the nature of God.
2. The inconsistency of the messages,
for example facing Jerusalem and
then Mecca; or fornication being a
sin, but one can have sex with
many slave women that have no
legal marriage status; tolerance
and peace message of earlier
revelation, but the command to
fight all unbelievers in later
revelation.
3. The need for revisions of the
Quran to standardize it and
ordering the burning of all the
older copies. Why this need to
leave no trace of what the edited
version did not contain and why.
4. The unequal status of woman
compared to men in area of
marriage, rule of law, social
etiquette, modesty, etc.
5. Treatment of non-Muslims in the
community and the command to
Jihad.
At this point, I reached a place in my
study that I could no longer defend
the faith of Islam as it was clearly at
odds with issues of truth and
character of God as depicted in both
the Quran and the Bible. However, I
just was not ready to walk away from
Islam. Christianity had its own set of
issues, most of which revolved around
the person of Jesus. At this point, I
recalled from my childhood knowing
some of the tenets of the Indian
religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism
and Buddhism. In all of my study of
life and the sciences, it had become
clear to me that there was a great
creator and designer who had formed
the universe and us. So there was no
point in venturing into the philosophy
of the Indian religions. I found they
provided no answers that were
consistent internally within it own
teaching and externally consistent
with the world around us.
Even though I had issues with Islam, I
believed that there was a Creator God
that I could and should pray to for
answers. For me this was the God of
Abraham (Ibrahim). I felt "safe" to
pray to the God of Abraham as
Abraham is highly regarded as a
patriarch of Muslim, Jewish and
Christian faiths. So, I ventured, that
just as God had revealed the truth to
Abraham, I would pray to this God to
understand what was true and direct
me on the right path. As I continued
to regularly pray and meditate, I
studied the passages in the Quran and
the Bible on Mohammad and Jesus
and reviewed books and articles by
Muslim and Christian apologists.
Some weeks went by, as I prayed and
reflected on Mohammad and Jesus.
Finally, the evening of Good Friday of
1989, I was jogging and reflecting on
the importance of this evening for
Christians. Did Jesus really get
crucified as taught by the Bible and
some secular historians or was it some
big hoax as claimed by Islam? What
was this Sin that required payment by
blood? As I prayed I sensed a burden
lifted of me. I looked up, as it felt like
some heavy weight was gone. I then
looked down, to see if I was still on the
ground. There was no external
evidence, but in my spirit there was a
clear sense, and this particular phrase
came to life "Jesus is Lord" and
occupied all of my thoughts. I
responded in my mind, but what
about Sin and the Cross? Did Jesus die
on the Cross? The response in my
mind came back loud and clear -
"Jesus is Lord". I asked again, but
what about the Trinity and this
concept of three persons and one God,
and again, the response was "Jesus is
Lord". At this point, all that I had
read in the Gospel accounts of Jesus
came together. It was as if a veil had
been lifted. That is why the Jewish
Council had condemned him to death,
because he claimed to be God, -
blasphemy; that is why this Jesus had
authority to forgive sins; that is why
he told the Pharisees, before
Abraham was I am, etc. He truly is
God. Now the same old words in the
Gospel that seemed to be vague about
his deity, were suddenly crystal clear.
Jesus is God. His crucifixion and
resurrection were the ultimate calling
card of this God-Man. It all started
making sense, and I was at total peace
accepting Jesus as Lord. At this point,
I also realized it did not matter that
for so many years I had been a
Muslim, that my brothers, sisters and
some of my best friends were Muslim;
I now believed - Jesus is Lord, and I
would follow him. Soon thereafter I
understood what had happened to
me. Jesus talks about this topic as to
his real identity and what people
misbelieve about him in the Gospel of
Matthew 16:13-17: ‘Now when Jesus
came into the district of Caesarea
Philippi, He was asking His disciples,
"Who do people say that the Son of
Man is?" And they said, "Some say
John the Baptist; and others, Elijah;
but still others, Jeremiah, or one of
the prophets." He said to them, "But
who do you say that I am?" Simon
Peter answered, "You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God." And Jesus
said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon
Barjona, because flesh and blood did
not reveal this to you, but My Father
who is in heaven."’
That has been the start of a journey,
of getting to know my Lord Jesus
better, accepting him as my Savior
and his full payment for my sins. My
desire has been to live my life worthy
of my Lord as he empowers me.. My
Muslim family did not accept me at
first. They tried to convince me that I
was wrong; while I tried to challenge
them with the Truth of the Gospel
message. When they realized I was
convinced of my faith in Jesus being
God, I was considered an outcast.
Some time elapsed after which my
mom's desire to bring the family
together was resolved by them
respecting my faith. Over the years,
the mutual respect has resulted in a
closer bond between us, and they
have also been kind, generous and
supportive as a family. During these
years I also developed some very
close friendships with Christians who
challenged me as well as met some
new ones once I got involved with a
local church fellowship. I was
welcomed as a brother. Also in the
process, my character has changed
over time. Some of the traits that he
has exposed and dealt with me
include pride, arrogance, anger,
selfishness, and control among other
sinful traits. He continues to change
me from inside out to be more loving
and kind to all.
Today, over 15 years later, having
further studied the Bible, the Quran
and various books and articles on
Christian and Muslim Apologetics; and
having discussed with many Muslims
and Christians alike, I am sure of my
faith in the Lord Jesus and continue to
follow him, even more than at that
day he chose to reveal himself to me
and called me to him.

religion....opium of the masses

Glory to God!

i do realise some muslims do convert to christianity as lame as the excuse could be but this particular story is far from auuthentic...whats the source? Isnt it strange tha one who was once a muslim spelled muhammad as mohammad?

udatso: i do realise some muslims do convert to christianity as lame as the excuse could be but this particular story is far from auuthentic...whats the source? Isnt it strange tha one who was once a muslim spelled muhammad as mohammad?

I'm surprised that spelling ''mu and mo'' is so important to you. Don't you know there are differences in dialects? Why is quran called koran in some dialects? Why is Jesus called Isa in arabic?

Seek God with genuine heart and am sure you too will have the same testimony.

Thank you.