Nabeel Qureshi: A Muslim Covert to Christianity: Making Up Trinity in the Old Testament

Epigraph: O People of the Book, exceed not the limits in your religion, and say not of Allah anything but the truth. Indeed, the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a Messenger of Allah and a fulfillment of His word which He sent down to Mary, and a mercy from Him. So believe in Allah…

November 8, 2024

4–6 minutes

christianity, faith, islam, Quran, religion, trinity

Epigraph:

O People of the Book, exceed not the limits in your religion, and say not of Allah anything but the truth. Indeed, the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a Messenger of Allah and a fulfillment of His word which He sent down to Mary, and a mercy from Him. So believe in Allah and His Messengers, and say not ‘They are three.’ Desist, it will be better for you. Indeed, Allah is the only One God. Far is it from His Holiness that He should have a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. And sufficient is Allah as a Guardian. (Al Quran 4:172)

Nabeel Asif Qureshi (Urdu: نبیل قریشی; April 13, 1983 – September 16, 2017) was a Pakistani-American evangelical Christian apologist. Raised by a devout Ahmadi family, Qureshi converted to Christianity from Ahmadiyya as a university student following several years of debate with a Christian friend.

After earning his doctorate in medicine from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Qureshi subsequently completed a M.A. in religion at Duke University and an MPhil in Judaism and Christianity at the University of Oxford, becoming a Christian apologist with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) from 2013 until 2017.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Qureshi authored three books: Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity,^[4] Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward,^[5] and No God But One: Allah or Jesus.^[6]^[7] 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.^[1]^[2]

Qureshi was born in San Diego, California, to Pakistani Ahmadi parents who immigrated to the United States. His father served in the U.S. Navy throughout Qureshi’s childhood, ultimately becoming a lieutenant commander before retiring.^[8] Qureshi described his childhood home in positive terms, stating that his parents “modeled love for others and love for country”.^[8]

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.^[9] According to Qureshi, Wood encouraged him to research Christianity and Islam in an equally objective light.^[10] Qureshi recounted that he had been happy with his faith and with his Ahamdi 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 [he] ever did” because he subsequently lost most of his friendships and relationships with fellow Muslims.^[11]

Qureshi was married to Michelle. The couple had one daughter, Ayah,^[12] born in August 2015, and named after a Christian martyr.^[13]