(answering-christianity.com)
Brothers in Jesus Christ, I want to convey to all of you the spiritual journey that I have experienced, which made me leave the Grace of Salvation from our Lord Jesus Christ to the confused world of Islamic religious rituals. It is not my goal to offend Muslims, but I feel the need to convey this to spread the truth about the Lord Jesus in the hope of awakening confused Christians not to do the same things I did in the past by converting to Islam and also to explain to all Muslims why I return to the loving hands of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I pray that you will read these words of mine with an open mind and heart.
I embraced Christianity from a young age. My mother has always been a devout Roman Catholic. Regardless of whether or not she agrees with Catholic theology, I admire her faith. It was this faith that led me to attend a Catholic school as a child, and also to be an altar boy assistant at Sunday Mass services. When I grew up, I started serving as Usher and dreamed of becoming a Roman Catholic priest. I want to serve God with all the abilities I have. During these years of studying religion, I began to question what I was following as a Catholic because of the many dogmas and traditions that were not listed in the Bible.
I began to feel that the Catholic church felt that they had the right to interpret the Bible as they saw it. I don't understand how someone can study the Bible and believe that Mary is the virgin mother of our Lord Jesus because in fact, Jesus is the mediator between God and humans. Praying to Mary and other saints is unnecessary and is an absolute violation of Commandments 1 and 2. However, I do not aim to condemn the Catholic Church or Catholics because they are Christians too. But I feel the need to convey this to explain the background of why I left the Church. It was years later that I realized that my confusion about the Christian faith lay not in Christianity itself, but in the Catholic interpretation of Christianity.
This is evident in my many writings on Islamic propaganda which clearly shows the background to Catholic teachings rather than the original teachings of the Bible which became clear after I had spent time studying them.
Several years after I left the Church, I embraced Islam and became Muslim, then changed my name to Issa Ahmad Khalid. I started writing campaigns against Christianity in promoting Islam. I was deeply influenced by the teachings of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, to the point of making the same criticism he did. This clearly makes a lot of Muslims feel good, especially since I was a devout Catholic.
With my new Muslim name, I spent several years becoming an influential Islamic figure in the local Muslim community. I preached in many mosques and even appeared twice on TV shows with other local Muslim leaders. I am ashamed to say that at that time I loved to make Christians angry with the content of my sermons. I have taken an even more controversial stance to insult and denigrate the Christian faith to the best of my ability without holding back at all. I call the Bible a pornographic book and immoral. I spent hours rummaging through the pages of the Bible for further insults. I even interpreted verses out of context that any knowledgeable Christian would understand to support my writing because I imagined writing the article for an ignorant layman. Even so, I have to admit that all my bad aims towards the Bible will prove the reason for my return to the Christian faith.
CONFUSION WILL BE ISLAM
There are many things that confuse me with Islam in the end. Not only the behavior of Muslims but also with Islamic teachings and literature as well. The foremost factor above all else is the character (traits, behavior) of Muhammad which I previously considered to be the greatest among the Prophets of God (Allah), and the recipient of God's last revelations for mankind as believed by Muslims as stated in the Qur'an.
I read a lot of Islamic literature until I finally believed that Islam is the most perfect religion, and also Muhammad is the embodiment of God's perfection. This Islamic literature uses the Bible as a tool and reference to show the validity of Muhammad's prophethood and Islam.
On the other hand, Muslims (myself included) continue to say that the Bible has been corrupted, but on the other hand, we use the same Bible to prove Muhammad's prophethood. This is clearly total hypocrisy not only on my part but on the side of all Muslims who continue to do this. I quoted Bible verses beyond their original meaning in order to distort their contents to support Islamic ideology and interpretation. This was no different from a fraudulent archer. If the honest archer will aim first and then shoot the arrow precisely, the fraudulent archer shoots the arrow first and brings the target closer to where the arrow is located. It does not need to be explained further that there is no proof of Muhammad in the Bible as Muslims, including myself, previously said. All the pieces of evidence for the existence of Muhammad in the Bible are mere Muslim writings. Here are some examples: "Divine speech against Arabia." Isaiah 21:13.
In interpreting this verse, Muslims will try and convince everyone who wants to hear that this verse mentions Muhammad and the Muslim world as enforcers of Allah's law simply because there are Arab letters alone. No burden is placed on Arabia as the Islamic scholar Sheik Ahmed Deedat points out in “ Bible Combat Kit", But this verse only contains a warning prophecy against Arabia. If you read and study carefully based on historical information, the contents of this verse relate to the Dedan people who used to spend the night with the Arabs when they traveled in the desert, but now have to spend the night in the thickets because the Arabs will be driven out of the land. So obviously this has nothing to do with Muhammad.
Deuteronomy 33: 2
“God came from Sinai and rose up against them from Seir; He appeared to shine from the mountains of Paran and came from the midst of tens of thousands of saints; to His right is seen a flaming fire. "
This verse tells the journey of the people of Israel under the leadership of the Prophet Moses; as they left Egypt for the desert, to receive God's Commandments on Mount Sinai, to finally head to the Promised Land beyond Paran and bring God's Commandments. Muslims consider Mount Paran and the burning fire to be Mecca and the Qur'an, and that Muhammad when he entered Mecca brought with him 10,000 followers. Again, the problem for Muslims is the obvious historical fact that Moses educated the new generation of Israelites, after the old generation had died, about the journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land.
The word “tens of thousands of saints”, is describing an untold number. At that time, Jewish literature did not recognize the number zero, so they used the word tens of thousands (plural) to describe the enormous number of thousands. Also, Mount Paran is not located in Arabia, but in the Sinai desert. This verse clearly reveals nothing about Muhammad's coming.
"The villages that Kedar inhabit." Isaiah (Isaiah) 42:11
"Arabia and all the princes of Kedar." Ezekiel (Ezekiel) 27:21
Again, Muslims do not know the important historical facts in the above verses. It is true that one of Ishmael's sons was named Kedar, but using this verse to prove Muhammad's arrival is completely unfounded because Kedar was also a title for Arabia at the time of Prophet Isaiah and Ezekiel. Also Ezekiel makes it clear that he calls the local traders the princes of Kedar.
"For to you every vision has become like the words of a sealed book. You give it to someone able to read and say, read that. He replies, I cannot because it is sealed. You then give the book to someone who cannot read and say, read that. He replies, I cannot read. " Isaiah 29: 11-12
Muslims use this verse as a reference to Muhammad getting revelations in the Qur'an, despite the fact that he could not read. Muslims also think this verse describes the first Sura of the Qur'an "Al-Fatihah" (Preamble) and they forget that it was not the first Sura that was revealed to Muhammad. The verse of Isaiah above is actually about the prophet Isaiah's warning against the Israelites who oppose the word of God and follow false prophets (it fits Muhammad, the false prophet. –RiD)
Deuteronomy 18:18
“A prophet will I raise up unto them from among their brethren, like unto thee; I will put my words in his mouth; and he will tell them all that I have commanded him. ”
Here God tells Moses and the children of Israel that He will raise up a prophet from the people and lineage of the Israelites. Muslims use this verse as evidence of Muhammad's coming on a shaky foundation because the Ishmaelites (Arabs) are not brothers (biological) Israelites but cousins. The same word "brother" is also used in Deuteronomy 18: 7 and this clearly shows that the "brother" is meant here to be siblings (Abraham-Sarah lineage; Isaac) and not cousins (Ishmael).
Psalm 118: 22-23
“The stone that the builders discarded has become the cornerstone. It happened on God's side, a miraculous act in our eyes. "
Muslims claim that this verse describes Muhammad. But our Lord Jesus Christ quoted this prophecy in Matthew 21: 42-43 and stated that He was the fulfillment of this prophecy.
The "Light to Come" referred to in Isaiah 42: 1-2, 6-7 once again speaks of the Lord Jesus who came to earth 600 years before Muhammad was born.
John 14: 16-17
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever. That is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because the world does not see Him and does not know Him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Muslims think Jesus spoke about Muhammad, but as all Christians know, Jesus actually spoke about the Holy Spirit. The verse clearly says that the Comforter will be with us forever. Muhammad is not with us forever, because he is dead. The verse also says that the world did not see or know the Helper, but Muhammad was seen and known by many people. The verse also says that the Helper will be with and live in us; Muhammad obviously could not do that because he was not a Spirit. Jesus clearly said that this verse speaks of the Comforter who is the Holy Spirit in the following verses:
John 14:26
"But the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, will be sent by the Father in My name, He will teach you everything and will remind you of all that I have said to you."
Once again we can read at John 16: 7
But it is true what I say to you: It is more useful for you, if I go. For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I go away, I will send him to you. ”
In this verse, Muslims think that Jesus spoke about Muhammad, but if they understand the Bible further, they will realize what Jesus said next about this prophecy when He was ascended to Heaven: Acts 1: 4-5 "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. "
Jesus clearly said something would happen in a few days and not 600 years as Muslims want us to believe. In fact, in the end the prophecy was fulfilled by the descent of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2: 1-4.
I could have continued to provide more and more examples, but these later seemed to make me vilify Muhammad and create bad relations with the Muslims. However, this new knowledge and the repeated worship of Islam made me realize that God's truth lies in the Grace of Salvation of Jesus Christ. Salvation does not lie in surrendering to Arabs who lived nearly 1,400 years ago and have hitherto been fanatically followed by Muslims. Many examples of testimony articles on www.answering-islam.org demonstrate this.
The most obvious thing is that Muslims live in fear of God or their fellow Muslims. As a Christian, I am not afraid of the threat of hellfire because I have submitted myself to the Grace of Salvation from the Lord Jesus. This is not found by Muslims because the Qur'an teaches that God saves who He Wills and curses whom He Wills. This makes Muslims wonder if they can finally go to heaven even though they have done many good deeds. Because of this kind of thinking, many Muslims have died in the name of God and Islam, calling themselves martyrs.
But the meaning of martyrdom in Christianity is very different from martyrdom in Islam. Muslims believe those who die in war for Allah's sake are martyrs. Christians believe that martyrs are those who died to defend their faith and refuse to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.
I TESTIFY
Apart from this testimony, I have made it clear to the Muslims whom I used to call my brothers and sisters that I am returning to my Christian faith. Sadly, I was ridiculed and insulted, as well as being threatened for being an open apostate. I was shocked at how fiercely I was attacked, but I only feared God and not people. Jesus taught us to fear those who can destroy the soul and not those who can destroy the body.
Ironically, among the Muslims I told about my apostasy there were people with Islamic websites. In the past, I contributed a lot of writing to Islamic propaganda on his website. But even though I have declared an apostate and returned to Christianity, my writing is still listed on the website. I asked him to erase my writing, but he just changed my name to my initials (AT) by stating that my writings were made by someone who just converted to Islam. His attitude is very hypocritical.
He didn't realize that by doing so he was also going against his own religion. Today in Muslim circles I am considered an apostate. Any Muslim who keeps in touch with me can be considered an apostate as well. Since my writings are still on his website, he keeps in touch indirectly with me, and this attitude goes against the content of many Hadiths about Muhammad.
I am not proud of my writings, and it will be something to be embarrassed about for a long time in my life. But I didn't know much about the Bible in the past and finally the true knowledge about Jesus Christ grew and I came back to Him. Hallelujah!
I pray that my brief testimony will enlighten those who read it, become soothing reading material for those experiencing similar things, and become a source of knowledge for those who choose to follow Muhammad or Jesus Christ.
I now live according to the Grace of Salvation from my Lord and my Savior Jesus Christ. I prepare myself for His return which can happen at any time. I now work for God, become a Pastor, and share my testimony with those who will listen.
To those who accuse the Bible of contradicting its own contents, I declare that this is untrue. The Bible contradicts the way of life of those who accuse such a thing. For those who are trying to correct the “mistakes” of the Bible, it's best to let the Bible correct you.
Knowledge is power, knowledge is power. If we have that strength, we can teach others. I want to think of myself as proof of that power thing. Thank you for your willingness to read my testimony. May God bless you through the Grace of Salvation from Jesus Christ. Amen!
[Source: http://pedson.blogspot.com/2013/11/muslim-masuk-kristen-kissa-ahmad-khalid.html]
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