Muslim Atheist Pursued by God

“I have some questions about Christianity,” my Muslim atheist friend Bader said to me. “Can I talk about them with you?”

He told me how he felt tired of the spiritual hypocrisy all around him. “So many things in my religion aren’t true,” he said. “So years ago, I gave up on Islam and secretly decided to become an atheist.”

At first, Bader felt like atheism had freed him from spiritual bondage.

But he couldn’t deny God’s existence for long. Bader knew there must be a God. He just didn’t know who He was or what He required.

“To anyone who asks, it will be given, and those who seek will find. So never stop looking for answers to your questions.”

“I’m so confused,” Bader said to me. “But I’m still searching. What’s strange is that I feel like I’m being pursued by this idea of God.”

“Can I tell you who is pursuing you?” I asked him. He nodded, and I continued, “It’s God’s Spirit showing you that He loves you very much—showing you that He wants to address your deepest needs and wants you to know Him better. God’s Word says that to anyone who asks, it will be given, and those who seek will find. So never stop looking for answers to your questions.”

“But everyone tells me I shouldn’t ask these questions,” Bader said. “I feel like a lost soul.”

“No, you are in a very good place because you’re asking these questions,” I encouraged him.

“But I will be tormented until I find the answers,” Bader responded.

“Never stop looking,” I repeated. “Some people think that God wants blind obedience from us. But if that were true, He would have made us robots. Instead, He gave us minds so we can ask questions about Him to know Him better. Don’t stop asking.”

Then I asked Bader what his wife thought about his questions of faith.

“I feel like a lost soul…. I will be tormented until I find the answers.”

“I can never discuss these things with her,” he said. “My questions bother her and the rest of the family. And now my kids are growing up, and I don’t know what to teach them. Please help me figure out what I should do.”

Since then, Bader and I have been studying the Bible together. We started with parallel passages that are also found in the Quran, such as the Genesis accounts of Adam, Cain and Abel, and Noah.

We’re also discussing how these passages point to a future Messiah who will come to redeem. Our conversations have been deep and meaningful, and soon we’ll begin reading about Jesus in the Word.

Please pray for Bader and others like him that are desperately seeking the truth of God. Pray they never stop asking questions until they find the truth of Christ.