Answering Jihad: A Better Way forward by Nabeel Qureshi

Answering Jihad: A Better Way forward by Nabeel Qureshi has been the best and most concise book I have ever read about the Muslim faith without being biased and harsh but honest and clear. I have read the Quran as well as other books about Islam, took world religion courses in university that have delved deep into Islam but found the Quran was at times difficult to read and understand, jumping all over the place and contradicting itself quite often (I read an English translation of it) and never understood why that was. Other books and religion courses never really dealt on controversial topics or ever tried to dig into something that could offend Muslim readers/ believers, even if it was true, so this book was completely new and enlightening to me.

Answering Jihad did a fantastic job of teaching me the beliefs, where they came from, why they are practiced as well as giving me the background knowledge to put verses and statements into perspective. Qureshi, coming from the background he did has good authority to be able to write a book like this and be honest on both fronts. The fact that he grew up Muslim knowing his theology more than most Muslims yet also had the courage to search for answers that lead him to Jesus gives this book a unique perspective that cannot be obtained from other authors.

To anyone who is curious why Muslims believe what they do and where it comes from, this is the book that will give you clear concise answers. The answers are historical and based on sources like the Quran or the Hadith and so are reliable and cannot be argued from a Muslim perspective. Many Muslims don’t even know themselves where some of their beliefs stem from and why they believe what they do, this will not only educate you about their faith but also educate you how to approach Muslims to get them thinking why it is they believe what they do and possibly point them in the right direction of ultimately finding Jesus as Qureshi himself found.

Thank you to Zondervan for blessing me with a copy of this book for my honest review of it.