Nabeel Asif Qureshi (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

apologist Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

. Raised by a devout Muslim family from the Ahmadi sect, Qureshi converted to Christianity as a university student following several years of debate with a Christian friend. After earning his

doctorate in medicine A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

from

Eastern Virginia Medical School Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) is a public medical school in Norfolk, Virginia. Founded by grassroots efforts in the Southeastern part of Virginia known as Hampton Roads, EVMS is not affiliated with an undergraduate institution and co ...

, he subsequently completed a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in religion at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and M.Phil in Judaism and Christianity at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, becoming a Christian apologist with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) from 2013 until 2017. Qureshi authored three books: ''Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity'', ''Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward'', and ''No God But One—Allah or Jesus''. In August 2016, Qureshi announced that he had been diagnosed with stage IV stomach cancer. After a year of treatment, he died on September 16, 2017.

Background

Qureshi was born in San Diego, California to Pakistani Ahmadi Muslim parents who immigrated to the United States. His father served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

throughout Qureshi's childhood, ultimately becoming a lieutenant commander before retiring. Qureshi described his childhood home in positive terms, stating that his parents "modeled love for others and love for country". In 2001, Qureshi attended Old Dominion University in Virginia and served as the president of the Pre-Medical Honor Society. He also studied Islamic apologetics and engaged Christians in religious discussions. After one such discussion with a Christian at Old Dominion University, David Wood, the two became friends and began a years-long debate on the historical claims of Christianity and Islam. According to Qureshi, Wood encouraged him to research Christianity and Islam in an equally objective light. Qureshi recounted that he had been happy with his faith and with his Muslim community and did not want to leave it, but he ultimately converted to Christianity after years of dialogue with Wood. He described his conversion as "the most painful thing eever did" because he subsequently lost most of his friendships and relationships with fellow Muslims. Qureshi was married to Michelle. The couple had one daughter, Ayah, born in August 2015, and named after a Christian martyr.

Public profile

Education and career

Qureshi chronicled the story of his personal conversion in his first book, ''Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus'', which became a ''New York Times'' bestseller, and was awarded the Christian Book Award for the categories of both "Best New Author" and "Best Non-Fiction" of 2015, the first time in award history. Afterwards, ''Christianity Today'' heralded Qureshi as one of "33 Under 33" in its cover story on emerging religious leaders in July 2014. Qureshi attended medical school at the Eastern Virginia Medical School after graduating from Old Dominion University. After completing a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

(M.D.) there, Qureshi decided to spend his life studying and preaching the Christian Gospel and became a speaker for the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. He subsequently completed master's degrees in apologetics from Biola University and in religion from Duke University. He earned an M.Phil in Judaism and Christianity at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and was working on completing a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in New Testament studies at the University of Oxford whe he died in 2017. Qureshi lectured to students at over one hundred universities, including the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Biola University Biola University () is a private, nondenominational, evangelical Christian university in La Mirada, California. It was founded in 1908 as the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. It has over 150 programs of study in nine schools offering bachelor's, ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, and the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

. "He participated in 18 moderated, public debates around North America, Europe, and Asia." In 2015, Qureshi debated at Wayne State University with Muslim scholar

Shabir Ally Shabir Ally is a Canadian preacher. As of 2020 he was the President of the Islamic Information & Dawah Centre International in Toronto. He is best known for his contextual interpretation of the Qur'anic verses, and justification in similar expres ...

2010 arrest and apology from city of Dearborn

On June 18, 2010, Qureshi was arrested at the Dearborn Arab Festival along with David Wood, and Paul Rezkalla on charges of "breach of peace". The city of Dearborn later determined that Qureshi, Wood, and Rezkalla had been "engaging in a peaceful dialogue about their Christian faith with several festival attendees" but that the arrest had been made based on misinformation from some of the festival workers and attendees. Soon afterwards, Dearborn mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr. released a statement defending the arrests, saying, "The real violation of First Amendment rights occurs with Acts 17 Apologetics trying to imply they were the victim, when the real violation is their attack on the City of Dearborn for having tolerance for all religions including believers in the Qur'an." Qureshi, Wood, and Rezkalla were acquitted shortly afterwards when video evidence indicated that, during the festival, they were being asked questions by a small crowd of Muslim teenagers and were not disturbing the peace. After their acquittal, the three filed a separate civil suit against Mayor O'Reilly, police chief Ronald Haddad, 17 police officers, and others, with American Freedom Law Center advocating on their behalf. The court ruled in favor of Qureshi, Wood, and Rezkalla, finding that

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

had violated their constitutional rights and that there was no basis in law for their arrest. In 2013, the city then settled the suit. As part of the settlement, the city was required to issue a formal apology and maintain that apology on their website for three years. Mayor O'Reilly accepted the verdict, pointing to their court's decision that the arrest had been unfounded. Robert Muise, speaking on behalf of American Freedom Law Center, praised the decision and called for the festival attendees who had supplied the incorrect information leading to the arrest to also be held accountable. As a result of the events of the events in Dearborn, Acts 17 Apologetics became focused on "free speech, sharia in the West, and Islam." This led Qureshi to leave and start Creed 2:6 ministries, which focused on sharing the gospel. Qureshi joined Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in 2013.

Commentary on international Muslim terrorism

Following the 2016 Brussels bombings and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Qureshi wrote an op-ed in ''USA Today'' stating that, from his perspective, Islamic terrorism stemmed from a literal interpretation of the Quran, specifically Surah 9. He further wrote that he believed this to be the most accurate understanding of the Quran but noted that most Muslims do not subscribe to this interpretation. When Muslim writers responded critically to this assessment, Qureshi wrote another op-ed for the ''Huffington Post'' stating that he appreciated the response to his initial article and welcomed dialogue, adding, "Such public dialogue and discussion is the key to moving forward and addressing the roots of jihad." He developed this position further in his second book, ''Answering Jihad'', and discussed his views during an interview with ''Fox News''.

Cancer diagnosis and death

On 30 August 2016, Qureshi announced that he was in the advanced stages of stomach cancer. He took to his Facebook page to inform fans and followers of his illness saying the prognosis was dismal. He wrote, "This is an announcement that I never expected to make, but God in His infinite and sovereign wisdom has chosen me for this refining, and I pray He will be glorified through my body and my spirit. My family and I have received the news that I have advanced stomach cancer, and the clinical prognosis is quite grim. Nonetheless, we are going to pursue healing aggressively, both medical and miraculous, relying on God and the fact that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." On September 8, after having undergone several months of treatment, including the surgical removal of his stomach, Qureshi posted a video on social media that he had been placed on hospice care. In the same video, he encouraged followers to engage in respectful interfaith dialogue, saying, "As you consider my ministry, I hope it leaves a legacy of love, of peace, of truth, of caring for one another. That's my hope and my purpose behind this." During his illness, Qureshi was working on completing a

in New Testament studies at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He died of stomach cancer on September 16, 2017, at the age of 34. Two months later, Qureshi's father, a practicing Muslim, posted a video thanking Qureshi's followers for their support and prayers for the family following his death.

Featured dedication

Nabeel was featured in a 2018 documentary, '' American Gospel''. ''American Gospel'' was created in response to the

Prosperity Gospel Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, or seed faith) is a religious belief among some Protestant Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are a ...

movement. The film was dedicated to him, since he died from cancer before it was completed. In the film, he discusses the importance of sharing the Good News of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

with others. Author Mary Jo Sharp dedicated "Why I Still Believe: A Former Atheist's Reckoning With The Bad Reputation Christians Give A Good God" (published in 2019) to both her father, Robert Prall and her friend, Nabeel Qureshi.

Works

* ''Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity'' (Zondervan, February 2014) * ''Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward'' (Zondervan, March 2016) * ''No God But One—Allah or Jesus'' (Zondervan, August 2016)

References

External links

*
Official websiteSeeking Allah, Finding Jesus Posted by S ApologistArticles by Dr. Qureshi for Ravi Zacharias MinistriesEvidence for God's Unchanging Word
Ministry of Dr. Nabeel Qureshi and Prof. Faouzi Arzouni {{DEFAULTSORT:Qureshi, Nabeel 1983 births 2017 deaths 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Protestants Alumni of the University of Oxford American Christian writers American people of Pakistani descent American Protestants Biola University alumni Christian apologists Converts to Protestantism from Islam Deaths from cancer in Texas Deaths from stomach cancer Duke University alumni Eastern Virginia Medical School alumni Former Muslim critics of Islam Old Dominion University alumni American critics of Islam American male non-fiction writers Christian critics of Islam

Background

Public profile

Education and career

2010 arrest and apology from city of Dearborn

Commentary on international Muslim terrorism

Cancer diagnosis and death

Featured dedication

Works

See also

References

External links