In a powerful story of redemption and grace, the former Imam of Mosque who hated Christians embraced the Gospel after Jesus Christ miraculously raised him from the dead and offered him a dramatic message.
Bibles For Mideast, an underground ministry dedicated to distributing Bibles and establishing house churches across the Middle East, shared the story of Munaf Ali, a devout Muslim who regularly promoted and preached the teachings of the Quran.
One day, Munaf got into an argument with the gospel team of Bibles for Mideast over the divinity of Jesus Christ and the credibility of the Bible. When the missionaries attempted to give him a Bible, he cursed at them. That night, a mob of Muslim extremists arrived at the ministry, shouting "Allahu Akbar" - "God is Great". However, the team moved their shelter and and fled before any harm could come to them.
A short time later, Munaf was traveling home when he became extremely sick, falling to the ground. While unconcious, he saw demons coming to him to take his soul, and he shouted, "get lost, you cursed demons of Allah. You have no right to take my soul".
However, the demons responded, "No. It's our right to take your life. And you will be with us" before forcefully taking his soul and turning to leave.
Suddenly, Christ Jesus appeared before him along with a huge number of angels, causing the demons to flee in terror.
"Listen my son," Jesus told Munaf. "First Adam...disobeyed God and sinned against Him under the pressure of Satan. The gates of heaven were shut down because of his sin. I am the second Adam, the Word of God and Messiah Jesus, Son of the Most High. I was born of virgin Mary as a sinless Son of Man to redeem first Adam and all of his kinship including yourself from sin and death. And I was crucified and died...as a ransom for all for your sins to make you the children of God and citizens of heaven".
Jesus said again, "I was risen from the dead and opened the gates of heaven to bring you back to the eternal glory...Have faith in me and be my witness. I give your life back, for I am the authority of giving life."
When Munaf Ali opened his eyes, he saw his family trying to lay down his body on a table for washing and shrouding before the burial. They were shocked when he stood up and described his miraculous experience, accusing him of being possessed by an evil spirit.
While Munaf was dismissed from the mosque he once led, his family, moved by his passion, joined him in embracing Christianity. Bibles for Mideast is urging the Christian community to continue praying for Munaf and his family, as they were forced to leave their native land due to ongoing persecution.
Munaf's encounter with Jesus Christ brings to mind the story of the Apostle Paul, who, according to the account provided in the book of Acts, was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of Jesus Christ. However, after experiencing a dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul emerged as one of the greatest missionaries of all time, spreading the gospel throughout the Roman Empire and writing 13 books of the Bible
A number of reports have emerged of Muslims becoming Christians after dreaming of Jesus. Last year, an ISIS fighter, known for his brutal killing of Christians, converted to his victims' religion after dreaming of "a man in white".
Apologist Nabeel Qureshi told The Christian Post dreams are significant to Muslims: "In Muslim cultures, generally speaking, people don't see themselves as being able to commune with God," he said. "Communion is a very Christian concept and the idea that Christ has torn down the veil - in a lot of cultures the veil is still up. In Islam, for example, people don't expect to have God talk back to them personally, as the Holy Spirit isn't living in them. They ask God for guidance through dreams; that's like the one way that Muslims expect to hear from God."
"For someone to reach out and ask, 'God, can you tell me about you?' Or, 'If you're Jesus, can you show me a dream?' That's not strange at all... That's kind of what Muslims do," he added.
