Christian Convert Nabeel Qureshi Says There Is No Basis to Claim Muhammad Is a Prophet
Qureshi's New Book, 'No God But One: Allah or Jesus?' Reveals Historical Evidence for Christianity vs. Islam
While Muslims believe that Muhammad is God's messenger and that the Quran is the eternal manifestation of God on Earth, Qureshi argues that scientific errors in the Quran and the immoral character of Muhammad should make truth-seeking Muslims question the Shahada, the Islamic creed declaring the belief in the oneness of God and Muhammad as His prophet.
"When you look at the records, they are late, unreliable, they are heavily filtered, and they don't allow for one to conclude that Muhammad was a prophet," Qureshi said. "The same with the Quran. There is no good reason to think that the Quran was inspired. There are scientific errors, there are grammatical mistakes, etcetera. On what basis can a Muslim proclaim the Shahada? There is none."
Qureshi told CP that his decision to embrace Christianity happened over time and required a "tectonic shift" in his thinking. One of the main realizations came to during his studies was the fact that the Jesus died on the cross, which he says is contrary to what the Quran teaches.
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He said that historical evidence makes a strong case for the belief that Jesus was crucified on the cross.
"Historically, the evidence is extremely strong," Qureshi said. "When that happened, I thought, 'Wait a minute, the Quran very clearly says something that goes against all the weight of history on that issue.' That was a turning point in my mind."
He said that he was also taught as a Muslim that the deity of Christ was "invented" hundreds of years after Jesus' death. However, Qureshi argues that Apostles like Paul and James would not have been willing die for their faith if they truly didn't believe that Jesus was God.
Having grown up in a Muslim family, Qureshi's decision to convert to Christianity when he was 22 years old did not go over well with his family, friends and other Muslims.
He told CP that his first death threat came just weeks after his conversion, in the form of a note left on his car. Qureshi also said that one of his Muslims friends told him that under Islam, he was obligated to kill him.
As Qureshi's family and friends cast him aside for years, he told thousands of Christians gathered on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in June that he even asked God to kill him after he converted to Christianity because his life became so hard.
Slowly, Qureshi is beginning to have a relationship with some members of his family again.
"The first seven years were really, really difficult," he said. "The last few years have been a bit better, but I think some of that has to do with the fact that I have a daughter now."
