Testimony
Ikram* lives in North Africa, and like everyone else around him, he grew up as a Muslim. When he turned eighteen, he began to follow one of the strictest forms of Islam, Salafism. He believed that Salafi Islam was the only pure form of Islam and that everyone else was displeasing God – even other Muslims. After turning to Salafism, he lived with tremendous hatred towards others.
In time, he began to discover some of the realities about Salafism that shocked him and caused him to become more of a moderate and gentle Muslim. But as he continued to study and practice Islam, he found himself questioning what was taught. Ikram ultimately rejected many teachings of Islam.
A few years later, Ikram realised he was a Muslim, not because of personal conviction, but because all he knew was Islam. His family and community were all Muslim and he lived in a Muslim country that was influenced by Islamic laws. Following this awakening, he began to read and study the Qur’an through an academic lens, not as a holy book, but as the subject of a research project.
At first, he was constantly terrified; afraid that God would punish him for what he was doing. But soon, he began to discover scientific, linguistic, and even historical errors throughout the Qur’an. He found the courage to explore other Muslim texts, like the hadiths. After studying for about a year, with everything he had learned, he made the decision to leave Islam forever.
But Ikram was longing for truth, hungry to know the real God. He went on to study other religions – Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and others. Initially, he wasn’t interested in studying Christianity because he was taught that Christians worshipped three gods, and he was convinced that there was only one God. But as he continued his search to truly know God, he decided to learn about Christianity.
Once he began searching, his passion to learn more kept growing. He admired Christ’s character and teachings such as the counter-cultural command to, ‘love your enemies.’ After spending a lot of time reading, watching, and questioning Christianity, he still had doubts, but his longing for truth persisted.
One day, Ikram cried out to God, ‘Who are you? I want to know you! Do you not see that I am looking for you? Are you God? Shiva? Buddha? Jesus? Please tell me! Who are you?’
Two days later he had a dream. In it, he saw a person dressed in white who gave him a piece of paper. On it was text which read, ‘You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’
When he awoke, those words echoed in his mind. He thought perhaps it was a saying of Aristotle or another philosopher. He was shocked to find out that those were the words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John. Ikram saw this as confirmation that Jesus truly was the Lord.
Jesus continued to visit Ikram several times in dreams and it led Ikram to commit his life to Christ and go deeper in his bible studies. He began to sense the presence of God in his life. God revealed Himself as a personal being, perfectly loving, willing to teach Ikram every day how to love Him with his whole heart and how he could love others.
Ikram enrolled in a discipleship course run by PALM (Preparing Arab-world Leaders for Ministry), and has now completed four courses which have helped him to learn more about God and grow as a disciple. He has since been baptised.
Ikram’s story shows that God’s grace will find those with open hearts, regardless of their background or where they live. Praise God that the perfect love of Christ can transform anyone’s life through the power of the Holy Spirit.
*Name has been changed to protect identities and stock images have been used. This testimony was initially shared in a PALM ministry update and has been edited with permission to share with LINK readers.
