Using my real name
I have been using Abu Da’ud as a pen name. In a few months I will reveal my name and use it for speaking events and books that come out later (I am working on a few).
The reason for the change is that I have been asked to speak publicly to people who know me or know people who could quickly identify me.
Lord willing, I will put my name into the profile on this site, and my Twitter and Facebook accounts, all of which will continue to be used.
May the Lord bless you all.
Keywords, my name
Seeing Christ in a friend or relative powerfully testifies to Muslims
The powerful simplicity of seeing Christ in her mother led a Muslim to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Her story is in Discipling Muslim Background Believers. She is MBB5, and her salvation story, in her own words, is below.
The faith of my mother. I saw the persecution that she endured and her faith. My father had said to my mother to choose between her religion and her marriage. And God gave my mother the word. She was very afraid of leaving the house (we were seven children from my mother). She had accepted to stay with him because if she left, she was afraid. She said eventually that she preferred Jesus and he gave her a paper of divorce. When my father left, we were in the house of a friend. We needed to find a place to live because my mother didn’t have any money. She had fifty dollars and that was going to be very difficult to make last. For one year we lived with a friend, and after that we had to leave and live with the sister of my mother. We had two rooms for the eight of us to stay in. Some of us were outside, some in the living room. My mother cried and prayed and then a friend of my mother proposed a house that cost sixty dollars. God never left us with nothing.
If my mother with all her persecution held onto Jesus there really was something there. If she had stayed Muslim and it had all been good, that would have told me that it was okay, but she preferred Jesus and that really touched me. Someone who would choose to suffer with her seven kids like that. It really strengthened my faith.
Keywords: Muslim, salvation story, Muslim ministry, endurance, persecution
Addressing MBB misconceptions about Christianity
When a Muslim begins to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, his or her discipler will often encounter difficulties because the MBB has misconceptions about Christianity. The solution seems simple – teach them the truth about Christianity. While that is the solution, the issue for the MBB is that their whole way of doing things has shifted from trying to be good enough to know God and get to heaven to trying to relate to Him — but they know little of Him. They are often very disoriented.
The disorientation comes partly from not knowing how to live because the Quran prescribed so much of their life. Without it, they have to completely re-orient their lives. For instance, the Quran and Hadith describe how far up the arm one must wash before prayer. The Bible does not. It is silent about pre-prayer washing. MBBs have asked me if they needed to wash before prayer, and to what extent. It was troubling them — they wanted to do things correctly. I showed them scripture about the importance of having a clean heart, and that God’s focus was on the inside rather than the outside.
I thought that the conversation might end there, but was surprised when it ended hours later. We covered topics such as righteousness, salvation and justification by faith, peace with God, submission to God, Christ in us, mercy, grace, God’s nearness and many other topics. Christianity is multi-layered and its concepts are often built on each other, so small things may lead to the need for much explanation.
Disciplers may not have time to fully explain topics to MBBs. MBBs also often have critical questions about things that they need to know very quickly. The MBB often cannot seek advice from a discipler at the moment they need the answers. When an MBB consults the Bible, their misconceptions often prevent them from proper understanding, leading to improper actions.
I was an MBB and have interviewed hundreds of MBBs about their salvation experiences and life after salvation. My book, Discipling Muslim Background Believers, is a useful resource for correcting MBB misconceptions because its handbook format and cross-referencing allow an MBB to quickly reference important topics. The biblically -based topics are written with sensitivity to MBBs. A discipler or an MBB can quickly find answer to the MBB’s questions, removing both disorientation and misconception.
Keywords: MBB discipleship, misconceptions, disorientation
I welcome your questions, both now and later
What would you like to ask me or have me share about, whether about my life, discipleship, ministry to MBBs and Muslims, or anything else?