Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics

An Armenian Christian in Iraq once gave a book on the Christian martyrs to his Muslim neighbor.

He read it, fascinated, even though it was illegal for Christians to speak about their faith to a Muslim, or try to convert them.

Inspired by the bravery of the martyrs, he decided early on to dedicate his life to what was dear to him: the freedom of his people. He began to resist Saddam Hussein’s government.

He was imprisoned and tortured repeatedly.

Throughout his ordeals he never forgot the book on the Christian martyrs.

While fighting with coalition forces against Hussein he met an American Christian and they fell in love. Wanting to marry, his only condition was that she not try to convert him to Christianity. She agreed.

Yet the stories of the martyrs he had read so many years ago never left his thoughts. He began to research his Muslim faith, trying to find answers to the questions he had about life and God.

No matter how much he researched, no matter which Muslim scholars he read, he was not satisfied, the questions remained. He began studying Christian theology. He began to read the Bible in secret, embarrassed at first, then increasingly in the open. Eventually he had his answers.

He converted joyfully to Christianity, still recalling the witness of his Christian neighbors and how it was they who had planted the seeds of faith in him when he was still a child.

Later, moved deeply by the Mass, he and his wife both converted to Catholicism.

The conversion of Daniel Ali is inspiring. His desire to explain Islam to Catholics led him to co-author an important book with Robert Spencer:

Inside Islam gives you a solid understanding of Islam’s unique teachings, including:

The Islamic view of God
The role of Jesus in Islamic theology
Islam’s controversial theology of jihad, or “holy war”
Why Islam’s strong beliefs are so attractive to secularized Western societies
The role of women in Islam
Inside Islam is an essential resource for anyone who wants to know more about this historic religion and the beliefs of the people who follow it.

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