Naeem Fazal: A Muslim's Earnest Prayer

 Naeem Fazal: A Muslim's Earnest Prayer

“We grew up Sunni Muslims, and so we weren’t radical or extremists by any means. We were definitely conservative. We would fast during the month of Ramadan. Friday prayers were normal. My sisters would cover up.” Naeem Fazal lived in Kuwait.  He studied the Koran diligently. “I can recite passages of the Koran, because there was a value in memorizing the Islamic scriptures,” Naeem says.

While his life was grounded in the Muslim faith, a chain of events took place that set Naeem on a new spiritual journey. His older brother had an opportunity to study in the United States. “A year later, he came back, and he was different. I knew something was up. That’s when he actually told us that he was Christian. I remember that day, because I threatened to kill him.”

Even though Naeem resented his brother’s change of heart,  he decided to visit him in America. “I hopped on a plane and came to the U.S., and that’s when I got confronted with Christianity.”

Three weeks after arriving in the United States, he went to see a movie with his brother.  It was a Christian film. He recalls, “Here I was confronted with this whole new concept of a whole new religion. But it was more than a religion. In that movie, I realized that maybe there was something else out there.” Naeem was confused and  began to question his Muslim faith.

“So I remember praying, and I wouldn’t even call it a prayer. It was more of, ‘I don’t know who’s up there. If You’re real, show me.’ “After that, I had another conversation with my brother. He told me that this God that he was talking about, who came down in the form of His Son Jesus, would pursue me and do whatever it takes to have a relationship with me. I remember making fun of him. I said, ‘Well, will He just come down if I just ask Him?’ And my brother said yes. I remember at that point, I went, ‘This is ridiculous.’ But in my head I was thinking, ‘If this is true, then why don’t You reveal Yourself.’”

That night when he was going to sleep,  he sensed what he describes as an evil presence filling his bedroom. The door finally opened. “I looked up, and the room started to look really strange -- more like death. What walked in was this demon, this thing that I couldn’t even explain. This thing starts walking toward me and somehow communicates that it’s going to kill me. It stopped right on my bed and just disappeared.”

He ran down the hall to his brother’s room. His brother said, "The only person that I know that has power over demons and angels is Jesus.’”Naeem returned to his room. “I said, ‘Jesus,  I don’t know who You are. I can’t call You the Lord of my life. I can’t call You Savior. I can’t call You any of these things, because at this moment, I’m afraid. I’m scared. I need help. If You will help me, then I will give You my whole life.’ The next moment I found myself sitting on my bed with my eyes open, starting into this presence. I can’t even explain it. It was the presence of Jesus. This peace was so aggressive. It invaded every single thing, every part of me. I felt like it communicated to me saying, ‘Your life is not your own.’ And I believed it.”

He finally understood all that his brother was trying to tell him. 

Naeem says, “I wanted to do everything possible. The first month or so, I must have prayed the sinner’s prayer or accepted Jesus like about eight or nine times. I just wanted to make sure.” As a Muslim, he learned the Koran and knew a lot about Allah but did not have a relationship with him.“It makes total sense now,” he says. “It only makes sense that God would come to us in the form of a man, a human, to be able to relate to us, but also to redeem us and to have relationship with us.”

In the years that followed, Naeem ministered to college students and met his wife, Ashley. They now have two beautiful children, Asher and Nurah.  Naeem challenges those in the Muslim faith to make a specific prayer if they really want to have a relationship with God.

“When Muslims talk with me and we talk about our differences and why I converted, my challenge to them is this. Why don’t you consistently for two weeks or so sincerely seek this God, this Jesus. He’s able to take a person, radically transform them and give them a purpose beyond their imagination. That’s exactly what God did to me. God wants a relationship with them more than they do. So God’s going to pursue them. All they need to do is just ask.”

Sources: cbn.com

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Shedding her Muslim Identity

Shortly after her father died, Amara and her older brother left their village in the Somali desert to live with their uncle in the city. The family thought it would be a positive change for teenage Amara but they weren't expecting the results that occured!

Shortly after moving, she began to speak with her new neighbours. To her surprise,  she learned they weren't Somali - and they were Christians. 

She had always thought (as the TV and movies portrayed) that Christians were evil and drunkards but these Christians weren't evil, adulterers or immoral at all. The Christian family welcomed Amara into their home even sharing meals with her. She noticed before each meal they thanked God in such a casual way...they sounded like they were talking to their father. "It was different than what I had seen on TV," she said. "Sitting with them and listening and seeing it, I realized I wanted it. That's how I wanted to pray, except at the end when they said 'in the name of Jesus'. That part I struggled with."

The family began talking to Amara about God and religion, using the Bible to correct misunderstandings she had about Christianity. Wanting to learn more, she asked for a Bible to read in secret. "The Quran says the Bible has been twisted and distorted, yet as I read the Bible, I was drawn to it, convinced of it. But I thought, even if this is true, there's no way I can accept it...I'm a Somali. I will be killed. I won't have a life. I won't be married. I will be without a family."

Understanding the possible consequences, Amara began to question her uncle and brother about the Quran. The questions made them angry. Her brother made her watch several Islamic videos to draw her back but they had the opposite effect. One video said she couldn't be friends with Christians. She challenged her brother which only angered him more. "You are shaming us," he yelled and beat her. She was then sent back to her mother in the village.

When she arrived back. Several sheiks were waiting for her at the local mosque. For 5 days they chanted passages from the Quran and spit upon her and made her drink their spit for 'purification' purposes, believing they were removing the devil from her. "I didn't want this life they had planned for me, my heart was completely against it." She decided to run away. She put on her headscarf and hurried to the bus station. She got the last ticket and with beating heart boarded the bus. Two hours later the bus broke down. In her anxiety she remembered the prayer her neighbors had taught her 'in Jesus name'. So she asked God to prove if Jesus was real to give her protection and safety. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a whisper in her ear "I am real and true. You should believe in me". When she turned no one was there! Then she heard shouts the bus was fixed. 

Amara returned to the city and started a new life and eventually got married. She and her husband moved to Kenya where they ministered to ex-Muslim Somali believers. In 2015 her husband was arrested on false charges but released on lack of evidence. They now live in a Safe House and do much ministry in Somali communities there. 

Despite everything she's been through, Amara said she knows she's now on the right path. "I am a Somali Christian, a contradiction. It hasn't been easy, especially those first years moving from house to house. The threats. The loneliness. 

FOLLOWING CHRIST COST ME EVERYTHING, BUT IT WAS WORTH IT"

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