Afghanistan (MNN) — Obed, an Afghan Christian and partner with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, began his life in a Muslim family. He grew up watching various Muslim groups fighting each other for control of the country, each claiming to be the true version of “Islam.”
That’s why he went to an Islamic college and began to study the religion from an academic perspective. “I was very interested to know about Islam. I was thinking that this was my fate, this was my religion, and I wanted to know about my fate, about my religion.”
Crisis of faith
As Obed began studying, he noticed he was not allowed to ask any questions about what he was learning.
He dug into the origins of Islam and found a lot of confusion. Some leaders appealed to the Quran, others to Muhammad directly. And no one could assure him that Muhammed’s encounter with an angel happened or that anyone could have proven it.
He began to deconstruct his identity as a Muslim. “My idea was: there is only one God. But all these problems are created by these prophets. Maybe, they made some mistakes in the book. I was sort of fighting with God. At one point, I said, ‘There is no God.’”
One evening, Obed walked away from his mosque. But he continued searching.
Christianity
He began to learn about Christianity. He grew up believing that Jesus was the Messiah and a great prophet, in accordance with what Muslims believe.
But he had been taught a twisted view of what Christians believe. “Our view of Christianity was one of God, his wife Mary, and their son Jesus. We saw them as idol worshippers.”
His life was changed as he realized that Jesus is the final and complete Word of God.
(Photo courtesy of Rudolf Langer from Pixabay)
