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A review by mahletreads
No God But One: Allah or Jesus?: A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi
5.0
where do i even start? let me begin by noting, i couldnt read this book without my heart mourning from time to time with the reminder of Nabeel's passing. but I found solace knowing he found Jesus and that our spot in heaven is not guaranteed by our works but by the work of Jesus and the mercy and grace of God. i will(!!) see him one day in heaven and for that, i am forever grateful
its impossible to research something with 100% objectivity because we will always be biased but Nabeel took an honest approach reflecting on not only his faith, but on the objective truth of it- can it stand up to historical scrutiny? sure, people can be sent from God and God can inspire books, but can it be proven?
i, too, read this as objectively as I could. When Nabeel would make statements of Muhammad's character and life such as him stating that apostates should be killed for leaving Islam, not only allowing sex slavery but encouraging men who were hesitant to partake in it, him consummating his marriage with nine year old Aisha, and declaring women to be mentally deficient to men, I googled and googled trying to disprove them. My friends would tell me of Muhammad's good character so I didn't want to believe he would do and say such things. a lot of people like to take the Bible out of context and state it says something it doesn't say, so I took these points with a grain of salt and read the full sections in the Quran and in the Hadiths that they come from so that I could understand them better (though, I will say, context in the Quran is not as important as it is in the Bible due to the way it was put together, but I still decided to give it a shot).
and my goodness, jaw DROPPED. there's no way to disprove what he said cause..... he literally said it. I want to ask my Muslim friends if they know about these things, and if they do, how do you defend it? like genuinely, im not trying to be smart or anything, I just want to know. but I also know that when Muslim's have questions, they get a response of "because Allah says so" or something like that; there is not a lot of encouragement to seek out these answers as objectively as possible.
also, lol its cool that I know a lot of terminology used in Islam now like Hadiths, Imam, Injil, Sharia, and Tawhid to name a few.
I learned a lot about Christianity too which I found surprising. there is always so much to learn.
anyways here are some memorable quotes:
"How can God be just if he is willing to forgive serial killers and genocidal dictators?... According to Christian teaching, sin is not just doing something wrong. It is a rebellion against God, the Source of Life. Death is not a punishment for our actions as much as it is a consequence. God does not execute us for jaywalking; we get run over by a truck while jaywalking" (love this one omg, God doesn't condemn us to hell, we condemn ourselves)
"I prefer the constructive dialogue of giving each text the benefit of the doubt and discussing the merits of what they are asserting, rather than reading the texts inimically and accusing them of contradictions wherever possible"
"This was my first time opening the Quran for personal guidance instead of simply reciting memorized portions of it or asking an imam for help"
"Even though the Quran affirms that both the Torah and Injil were inspired, Muslims are not encouraged to know either of them in any detail, so instead of reading the Bible on its own terms we read it through the lens of the Quran and Islamic teaching"
"If Allah saved Jesus from the cross while making it look like Jesus died, as most Muslims believe, then Allah is responsible for the disciples' proclamation of Jesus' death and resurrection. Therefore, Allah started Christianity, a false religion that has kept billions away from Islam. Worse, Christians believe Jesus is God because of their faith in his resurrection, yet the Quran tells us that people who believe Jesus if God will go to hell (5.72). Could I really believe that, just to save Jesus from the cross, God deceived the disciples, letting them proclaim that Jesus is the risen Lord and thereby sending billions of people to hell?"
"As a Muslim, I wanted to base my beliefs not on blind faith, not on what appealed to me, and not even on my family's heritage. I wanted to ground my faith in reality"
"When we consider the gospel, we find the deep secrets of the world unfolded. We find a triune God because of whom love is eternal and absolute, who did not need the world but created it out of an overflow of his low. In him, Yahweh, we have the Father who loves us unconditionally, who offers us extravagant grace, who runs to us when we turn to him, who makes us with a purpose and orchestrates all things for the good of those who love him"
I will definitely read this again. I encourage everyone to research your beliefs for yourself not just because someone told you that "it is how it is because it is how it is" (confusing sentence I must say). don't deny history and don't deny the divine. don't read answers through the lens of what you only want to believe; be as objective as possible, test what you learn and see if it holds true
its impossible to research something with 100% objectivity because we will always be biased but Nabeel took an honest approach reflecting on not only his faith, but on the objective truth of it- can it stand up to historical scrutiny? sure, people can be sent from God and God can inspire books, but can it be proven?
i, too, read this as objectively as I could. When Nabeel would make statements of Muhammad's character and life such as him stating that apostates should be killed for leaving Islam, not only allowing sex slavery but encouraging men who were hesitant to partake in it, him consummating his marriage with nine year old Aisha, and declaring women to be mentally deficient to men, I googled and googled trying to disprove them. My friends would tell me of Muhammad's good character so I didn't want to believe he would do and say such things. a lot of people like to take the Bible out of context and state it says something it doesn't say, so I took these points with a grain of salt and read the full sections in the Quran and in the Hadiths that they come from so that I could understand them better (though, I will say, context in the Quran is not as important as it is in the Bible due to the way it was put together, but I still decided to give it a shot).
and my goodness, jaw DROPPED. there's no way to disprove what he said cause..... he literally said it. I want to ask my Muslim friends if they know about these things, and if they do, how do you defend it? like genuinely, im not trying to be smart or anything, I just want to know. but I also know that when Muslim's have questions, they get a response of "because Allah says so" or something like that; there is not a lot of encouragement to seek out these answers as objectively as possible.
also, lol its cool that I know a lot of terminology used in Islam now like Hadiths, Imam, Injil, Sharia, and Tawhid to name a few.
I learned a lot about Christianity too which I found surprising. there is always so much to learn.
anyways here are some memorable quotes:
"How can God be just if he is willing to forgive serial killers and genocidal dictators?... According to Christian teaching, sin is not just doing something wrong. It is a rebellion against God, the Source of Life. Death is not a punishment for our actions as much as it is a consequence. God does not execute us for jaywalking; we get run over by a truck while jaywalking" (love this one omg, God doesn't condemn us to hell, we condemn ourselves)
"I prefer the constructive dialogue of giving each text the benefit of the doubt and discussing the merits of what they are asserting, rather than reading the texts inimically and accusing them of contradictions wherever possible"
"This was my first time opening the Quran for personal guidance instead of simply reciting memorized portions of it or asking an imam for help"
"Even though the Quran affirms that both the Torah and Injil were inspired, Muslims are not encouraged to know either of them in any detail, so instead of reading the Bible on its own terms we read it through the lens of the Quran and Islamic teaching"
"If Allah saved Jesus from the cross while making it look like Jesus died, as most Muslims believe, then Allah is responsible for the disciples' proclamation of Jesus' death and resurrection. Therefore, Allah started Christianity, a false religion that has kept billions away from Islam. Worse, Christians believe Jesus is God because of their faith in his resurrection, yet the Quran tells us that people who believe Jesus if God will go to hell (5.72). Could I really believe that, just to save Jesus from the cross, God deceived the disciples, letting them proclaim that Jesus is the risen Lord and thereby sending billions of people to hell?"
"As a Muslim, I wanted to base my beliefs not on blind faith, not on what appealed to me, and not even on my family's heritage. I wanted to ground my faith in reality"
"When we consider the gospel, we find the deep secrets of the world unfolded. We find a triune God because of whom love is eternal and absolute, who did not need the world but created it out of an overflow of his low. In him, Yahweh, we have the Father who loves us unconditionally, who offers us extravagant grace, who runs to us when we turn to him, who makes us with a purpose and orchestrates all things for the good of those who love him"
I will definitely read this again. I encourage everyone to research your beliefs for yourself not just because someone told you that "it is how it is because it is how it is" (confusing sentence I must say). don't deny history and don't deny the divine. don't read answers through the lens of what you only want to believe; be as objective as possible, test what you learn and see if it holds true