Pray for this young shia muslim student. He accepted his first ever own personal copy of the Bible in the fall of 2023. It was a humble gift from our family, a Bible our oldest son had used previously, given from us to Ali.
He was nearly in tears even as he accepted it, and he kissed it, this young student. He immediately began reading it beginning in Genesis and gradually reading both Old and New simultaneously.
Just six months later, he has already read a significant amount of the entire Bible, both Old and New. And so, here was a simple question for this young student today, and his thoughtful and insightful response.
Ali, what do you honestly think about the Bible?
“Depends on which testament. The Old Testament seems very similar to the Quran in the sense that it’s a story of the prophets and their messages. They all came with the same message to worship one God and do good, but it also seems to follow the story of the children of Israel a lot. It’s a great read and gave me lots of insight on my own religion and helped me better understand some of the prophets that weren’t spoken about a lot in the Quran.
“The New Testament is a little more complicated. The first three Gospels seem like genuine teachings and writings of Jesus’s life (John tends to tell a slightly different and more serious tale than the first three). Then acts is just a continuation of Luke, so I somewhat consider it a gospel of sorts. The rest of it seems more to follow the lives of the rest of the disciples and Paul. And although it’s relatively consistent, there’s a few teachings I find in the rest of the New Testament that somewhat contradict what Jesus actually taught.
“Overall the Bible is and feels like a holy book, although I hold the Quran to a higher standard. It’s definitely a great book to read and a life based on Jesus’s teachings is a complete life in my eyes.”
Wisdom in the WORD 