He met Jesus while searching for Muhammad

Al Fadi, originally from Saudi Arabia, had initially considered joining the jihad under the banner of Osama Bin Laden, whom he greatly admired. On the advice of his parents, he decided instead to go to the United States to finish his studies and encourage conversions to Islam, in order to please Allah and earn his place in paradise. But through his contact with Christians, Al Fadi discovered the Christian faith and the profound transformations that Jesus brings about in the lives of believers. Through his theological research and personal experiences, Al Fadi gradually came to realise the truth of the Christian faith, challenging his initial convictions.

Emna Mizouni, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Reasons to believe:

Al Fadi was a fervent Muslim. By the age of sixteen, he had memorised half the Koran and led prayers at the mosque.

Al Fadi came from a wealthy family. He did not migrate to the United States for economic reasons; his intentions were clear: to bring "miscreants" to Islam.

Al Fadi's conversion to Christianity was partly based on intellectual considerations: seeking to strengthen his Muslim faith, Al Fadi spent six months analysing in depth the foundations of Islam and Christianity, comparing the Koran and the Bible. During his study, he realised that a number of historical facts contradicted what was said about Jesus in the Koran. By reading the Bible, Al Fadi came face to face with the true person of Jesus, who deeply moved him.

His conversion was also based on his experience of Christianity, in particular the benevolence, love and righteousness practised on a daily basis by the Christians he met: "I felt like a spiritual dwarf compared to them, that something was missing."

Al Fadi was attached to his Saudi culture; his conversion and media exposure came at the price of social death in his country of origin.

Decades later, Al Fadi is still a missionary, travelling the United States and the world to proclaim the Gospel. His conversion was not a temporary spiritual turnaround, but a profound and definitive reorienting of his beliefs and life.

Summary:

Al Fadi grew up in Saudi Arabia. A fervent Muslim from an early age, imbued with strict Islamic teachings, he felt privileged to have been born in the heart of Islam. The fear of Allah marked him from an early age: terrified of Allah's judgement and hell, Al Fadi quickly understood that his salvation depended on accumulating good deeds.

Guided by the belief that prayers, donations to the poor, fasting and jihad were ways of increasing his chances of entering paradise, he developed an admiration for Osama bin Laden, his hero, from the age of fifteen. Al Fadi was then considering jihad in Afghanistan. He memorised half the Koran, which he was able to recite by heart, and at the age of sixteen was allowed to lead prayers at the mosque.

His parents put the brakes on his plans to join Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, and urged him to continue his studies in the United States. At first he was reluctant to go to "a land of miscreants", but he eventually agreed, seeing it as an opportunity to convert Americans to Islam and be rewarded by Allah. So he left Saudi Arabia with this objective in mind, keeping his Muslim faith firmly with him.

Once in the United States, Al Fadi was welcomed by a Christian family as part of a programme for foreign students. This warm contact was the catalyst for a disconcerting reappraisal of his convictions. Al Fadi discovered, for example, that what he had been taught about the falsification of the Bible was inaccurate. The image of Jesus that had been presented to him as part of his Muslim faith was also contradicted by historical data. "I was taught that their Bible is corrupt. YetI felt like a spiritual dwarf compared to them; that I was missing something." He realised that, in the book he had always trusted, the Muslim discourse on Issa (Jesus in Arabic) was in fact altered, as were the events of the latter's life. This realisation marked the beginning of a profound change in his beliefs.

Al Fadi was disconcerted not only theologically, but also in terms of human values : "It was very disconcerting for me because I wondered where they had got this moral value from." Contrary to the image he had of Westerners, the vibrant faith, spiritual fervour and moral uprightness demonstrated by the Christians he met were a source of amazement and inspiration. The kindness and love practised on a daily basis by this family shook Al Fadi's prejudices, leading him to question his Muslim faith:"I already realised that Islam was perhaps not the religion I had grown up thinking it was." These profound doubts shook his convictions, but Al Fadi chose to persevere in Islam.

His convictions wavered after the attacks of 11 September 2001, perpetrated by the jihadists of his hero Osama bin Laden. Shocked by the scale of the crimes, Al Fadi suspended his religious practice for a time.

Al Fadi then undertook an in-depth analysis of the foundations of Islam and Christianity. Initially motivated to highlight the supposed flaws in Christianity, he immersed himself in a comparative study of the lives of Jesus and Muhammad, seeking to strengthen his Muslim faith. However, after six months of intensive research, his efforts led to an unexpected revelation: Al Fadi had fallen in love with Jesus. "I looked at the Koran and compared it to the Bible. I examined the person of Christ and, after six months, I fell in love with this Jesus. I couldn't resist the irrefutable evidence, the conviction of the Holy Spirit in my heart and the Gospel message I kept hearing. The God of the Bible loved me and had sent his Son to die for me. The God of the Koran never did that for me. The Holy Spirit simply gave me the courage to get down on my knees, pray and ask him to become my Lord and Saviour. What an immense relief, because never before had I felt such freedom as I did at that moment."

Al Fadi recalls the statement he made that day: "I love you, Lord, to follow you, but I don't feel any pressure from you to do things, because you have already accomplished everything for me."

Pascal Joran, apologist for the website www.veritedelafoichretienne.fr

Beyond reasons to believe:

The profound coherence of Christianity, imbued with spiritual richness and beauty, transcends cultural and temporal boundaries. This captivating vision of life, supported by powerful theological arguments, has exerted a remarkable influence on minds and hearts, attracting people from all walks of life, including those from Muslim traditions.

The Christian faith, acting as a mirror of Christ and a spiritual beacon, is revealed in the transformed lives of its followers. These living testimonies, reflecting the light of faith, can deeply touch those with an open heart, transcending cultural and religious differences. The universality of this Christian experience testifies to its intrinsic strength, and its appeal to all those seeking a coherent and profound understanding of spirituality.