Part 1 in a two-part series about a young Muslim man’s quest for true religion.
Sohail had grown up believing that Islam was the one true religion for the world.
But he felt troubled by the petty injustices he saw among his fellow Muslims in Nahrayn, a South Asian village. One day, he realized that he didn’t know a single person who would do anything selfless for anyone else.
All the good Muslims must be in the Middle East, near the heart of Islam, Sohail thought. If I can just get there, I’m sure I’ll discover true Islam.
He secured a work visa in a Middle Eastern country. It pained him to say goodbye to his parents and siblings for an unknown period of time. But he looked forward to befriending Muslims who practiced pure Islam.
Arriving in the Middle East, Sohail found work at an electronics company. He put in long hours for his boss, and at the end of every week, he wired most of his pay from a bank to his family in South Asia.
But one day, the transfer seemed to take longer than usual. Then several security guards strode over to him and grabbed his shoulder. “We want to talk to you about the counterfeit money you just deposited,” one of them said.
“I don’t know anything about counterfeit money!” Sohail answered. “I work for an electronics company. Call my boss. He’ll confirm it!”
When the guards called his boss, the man responded, “Sohail? I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Sohail was arrested, thrown in a cell, and chained to an inmate named Bashir. Bashir was also from South Asia, and his crime was allowing his foreign passport to expire.
When Sohail shared about the charges he faced, Bashir replied, “That’s really unjust. I’m going to pray and fast for God to fix this situation for you.”
Whatever, Sohail thought. I’ve never met anybody who put himself out for someone else.
But when the guards gave them their meals, Bashir left his plate untouched. He really was fasting.
Meanwhile, Bashir shared how he had discovered Jesus Christ. Like Sohail, Bashir had grown up in a Muslim village. But then he met a follower of Jesus who showed him care and kindness. When he heard the Gospel, Bashir was immediately drawn to the One who was willing to lay down His life for others.
Bashir fasted for a whole week, until the officers came and unlocked Sohail’s chains. “You’re free to go,” they said.
Sohail’s charges were dropped once it was discovered that his boss had been dealing in counterfeit cash. The man had hired another South Asian to replace Sohail. The new employee had taken his counterfeit bills to the same bank, where the same cashier alerted the same guards. Instead of arresting the new employee, the police visited the electronics shop where they discovered the boss’s hidden stash of fake cash.
Even though Sohail was cleared of wrongdoing, he was still expelled from the country and sent home.
As he flew out of the Muslim heartland, Sohail thought about how he’d utterly failed in his search for true Islam. But he wondered about Bashir. Perhaps there is something purer than Islam, he thought as he recalled how Bashir fasted and prayed on his behalf.
Back in Nahrayn, his hometown in South Asia, Sohail’s relatives told him about all he had missed while he’d been in the Middle East. Uncle Amir described the devastating earthquake that had struck the previous year. Amir also told Sohail about a foreign man named Michael who had come to help with the disaster relief. Amir had served as his right-hand man in all the relief projects.
“He brought his family to live with us here in the village,” Amir told Sohail. “They dressed like us, acted a bit like us, and spoke our language. They follow Jesus, and they really did a lot of good for us.”
Is this what all followers of Jesus Christ do? Sohail wondered. Do they all try to help others?
Meanwhile, in the nearby capital city, Michael was desperate for evidence that his ministry had made a difference. He and his family had just moved back to the city after completing relief projects in Nahrayn. He’d shared the Gospel with many, especially with Amir, his closest friend in the village.
“Here’s something interesting that Jesus said,” Michael often told Amir when sharing a truth from the Word.
“The Quran says that as well,” Amir would reply, even though they both knew that the Islamic text says nothing of the sort.
Michael left Nahrayn discouraged. Months of hard work, prayer, and dead-end conversations had resulted in no discernible spiritual fruit. He felt like a complete failure and desperately wanted to give up.
Instead, Michael committed himself to a week of prayer. Every day, he walked around his neighborhood crying out to God, “Lord, I believe You were working among the people of Nahrayn before I arrived. You were working during our time there. And You are certainly working there now. I would be so encouraged to meet one person You have shown Yourself to. Please show me that You have not given up on that village.”
Discover how God answered Michael’s prayer by the end of that week. Click the button below to read Part 2 of Sohail’s journey of faith.
Original article: frontiersusa.org/blog/article/sohails-journey-of-faith-part-1
Main photo by Yasser Abusen