Real Life Ministry
A podcast for Christians living in America. Talking about the constant struggles that we face in life. Teaching and educating the followers of Jesus Christ to Live Free and Live Strong.
Real Life Ministry
A Former Muslim Explains Why Grace Wins: Special Guest: Al Fadi
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A Saudi-born Muslim trained to resist Christianity moves to the United States and gets shaken, not by an argument, but by a couple who simply shows up with kindness. That small, steady love becomes the crack in the wall, and it starts a long journey of questions about Jesus, the Bible, and what “mercy” really means.
We sit down with Al-Fadi, Bible teacher at Arizona Christian University and founder of CIRA International (Center for Islamic Research Awareness), to talk through his story and the ideas behind it. He explains what it’s like to grow up near Mecca in a Sharia-shaped environment, why many Muslims assume the West is “Christian,” and how geopolitics and Islamic ideology influenced generations, from Afghanistan to modern extremist recruitment. Then we get personal: his struggle with language and belonging, the surprising integrity of born-again believers he met, and the moment Matthew 5:44 “love your enemies” hit him right after 9/11.
Along the way, we compare Islam and Christianity with clarity and respect: Quran vs Bible on God’s compassion, conditional mercy, and assurance of salvation; why Paul is often blamed for “inventing” grace; and why testimony and Scripture can open real conversations without hostility. We also share practical ways to love Muslim neighbors, ask better questions, and offer a Bible in a way that is courageous, patient, and grounded in the gospel.
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Welcome And Guest Introduction
SPEAKER_01Welcome to Real Life Mentor, where we are dedicated to teaching and encouraging Christians to live free and live strong. Your host today is Ryan Rice, a Bible teacher, a pastor, entrepreneur, and a writer. Join us as we dive into various topics and how they relate to faith, values, and making a positive impact in America. Let's dive into it.
SPEAKER_02All right, guys, welcome back to another episode of Real Life Ministry. Today on the line I have Al-Fadi. Al-Fadi, thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_00You're welcome, brother. Thank you so much for this uh wonderful invitation.
SPEAKER_02Well, uh Al-Fahdi is a former Muslim who was raised to oppose Christianity, but whose life was radically transformed after encountering the truth of the gospel. After coming to the United States, a simple act of genuine Christian love began to challenge everything he believed, eventually leading him to faith in Christ. And today Al-Fahadi is with us on the program. And he is a passionate teacher, a speaker, and founder for Center for Islamic Research Awareness International, where he equips Christians to better understand Islam and to share the gospel with clarity, confidence, and grace. Man, that is quite an under uh endeavor that you are doing. Thank you for your work.
SPEAKER_00You're welcome. Praise the Lord for it.
SPEAKER_02Are you now? Where are you? Are you teaching in a local university college?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I do. I wear so many hats, but they're all focused on ministry, whether each and Muslims directly or equipping people to reach Muslims. So teaching at a local college is one of those hats.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. And what is that local college?
SPEAKER_00Uh Arizona Christian University.
SPEAKER_02Okay, fantastic. Fantastic. Yeah, that that is that is, and what do you teach there?
SPEAKER_00Well, I teach a number of courses in uh Bible studies. Like, for instance, I teach uh survey of Old Testament, New Testament, theology of Old Testament, New Testament. I sometimes even, and I'm thankful for the school to allow me to do this, we compare the Bible to the Quran, and my goal is always to help these young generations to be cultural transformers and aware of the issues that they're dealing with. Wow.
SPEAKER_02Wow, that is that is fantastic. That is so good. Well, uh, Al, to get us started, can you briefly just share a little bit about your backstory and how how you first got to the United States and and uh what it was like when you arrived?
Growing Up Under Saudi Islam
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I mean you did allude to that. You said I grew up a Muslim uh and basically uh was raised to uh be antagonistic to Christianity, but you just described Islam. Uh so I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, and the minute you mention Islam, of course, right now they're celebrating the uh uh you know the feast of sacrifice in Saudi because of the pilgrimage. Saudi is the hub for Islam. Muslims believe the origin of Islam itself happened there, and the Prophet of Islam was born there, and the message itself initiated from there. So I was born um on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, not that far from Mecca, that holy city and the holy mosque that Muslims face daily when they pray. And Saudi really is one of those unique Islamic countries that they apply Sharia law to their constitution. So they don't follow civic law, they follow Islamic law for the most part. I mean, uh they rarely uh deviate from that. And you would see signs of Islam at every corner in Saudi. Now I know people are saying lately Saudi is becoming very open-minded and they're modernized. Uh, trust me, uh, brother, uh, modernization, open-mindedness does not mean at all tolerance and deviation from the faith itself. So uh they are still focused on the faith and they have been going after people who are using this openness to openly share gospel and bibles because they don't tolerate these kinds of things at all. So that's the culture I grew up in. And um, it was in the 70s, 1970s, when, if you recall, of course, 1979 to be specific, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan and the Iranian Revolution also took place. Both events were uh actually uh earth-shattering for the Muslim world. Uh the uh Iranian revolution uh was basically a challenge to the Sunni domination because Islam has multiple branches, but the two most dominant ones are what we call the Sunni and the Shia. Iran represents the Shia side of it, and that prompted uh Saudi and other Sunni uh uh countries to begin to really bombard uh the Western world with uh building mosques, furnishing mosques, and feeding these mosques with uh Islamic teachings uh that 30 years later it made ISIS uh recruitment so easy because they were able to recruit many second and third generations who were even born in Europe. And the second event, uh, as I mentioned, which is the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, back then it was the Soviet Union, and we had a nickname for the Soviet Union and for America. We call them the two great Satans of the world. So now Muslims wanted to go to Afghanistan and fight against one of these great Satans, and that was the uh uh the preemptive, I should say, or the pretext for Al-Qaeda later, because bin Laden, who was from my country, from Saudi, was one of those people who ended up going there. And I honestly thought deep and hard about going and joining that group, but I was still a teenager, and I uh studied what the Prophet taught about jihad and her rewards, and it was so exciting, you know, to think about it that way. But then I also came across some of his teaching that if you're a young teenager, you need to get permissions from your parents. And of course, I didn't have the heart to tell my mother I want to go and die. Uh, and at the same time, when I try to really beat around the bush about earning good deeds by going and serving these fighters, my mother can smell blood, and she forbade me from even thinking about that. So I left that idea behind and I continued with my education, and then I graduated from uh college and I got a uh uh basically the opportunity to come to the States to pursue my graduate degree in engineering. And it was at that time, for the first time in my life, that I left an Islamic country and I came to a Western country, and Muslims, by the way, in general, they assume Western countries are Christians. So when they meet someone from the West, they assume you are Christian. Now, you and I know to be a Christian that means you're born-again follower of Jesus. To a Muslim, it doesn't mean anything. They don't know the difference.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00They just think you have inherited a religion called Christianity. And that was my first encounter with Christians, uh, up close and personal, if you wish. And uh within the first month, actually, I struggled with English, even though I studied English most of my life. It was the conversational English spoken on the street that I struggled with. The use of idioms was a challenge for me. I mean, people say, What's up? And I will lift my head up actually to see what is up there, you know?
SPEAKER_02Or it's raining, cats and dogs.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. So stuff like that. And then that forced me really to seek help, to seek conversational partners. And it was through the school where I was connected with a couple, and I began to have this conversational engagement with them, but little that I knew that they were born-again Christians, and that was their ministry and their heart to serve those who are from a Muslim background. And that was the beginning of my journey to knowing Christ.
SPEAKER_02What was it like being in their home,
Meeting Christians Who Loved Well
SPEAKER_02experiencing that kind of kindness and love?
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, whether in your in their home or whether with them meeting at a restaurant or going to places, I can tell that they were different than the other Christians. What I meant by that is I'm thinking all Americans are Christians. So why are these particular, this particular couple look different than them? Kindness, love, um, gentleness, and and it definitely began to uh force me to rethink my understanding of Christianity. Now I wasn't doubting Islam, I was just wondering if there is something that I did not learn enough about Christ and Christianity.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I've heard some Muslims describe, you know, like the disappointment in learning about Allah and not finding him to be compassionate or loving. Um is that true? Would you say that's true? Like when you compare, you know, the God of the Bible, the Old Testament, New Testament, and our scriptures of the Bible, compared to the Quran and the writings of Muhammad. Is there a God of compassion and care and forgiveness in the Quran?
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, obviously, the God of the Quran presents himself as a most compassionate, most merciful. However, you need to figure out when you qualify for this. You only qualify for this when you serve him well and he is pleased with you. So you have to do certain parts in order for him to accept them. So, in other words, his love, compassion, mercy are not free for you. You have to earn them versus the God of the Bible. Wow, despite the fact, while we're still sinners, Christ died for us. That's a big difference between the two. And at the same time, the God of the Quran, his love is conditional and is not guaranteed to last forever. I mean, he can love you today and hate you tomorrow. Uh so uh Muslims are always unsure about their place in his thoughts. Is he really loving me all the time? They judge the love by the blessings they receive, but they also judge the trials as if it's cursings from him, and they question that as well.
SPEAKER_02You know, I'm studying right now in the book of Acts the story of the Apostle Paul, whose name is Saul, up until later in as the scriptures unfold, Saul being his Hebrew name and then Paul being his Greek name. But, you know, it's very interesting because he encounters the power of God and the grace of God despite any effort of his own doing. And it really highlights the grace of God in pursuing people and how his life is not all put together in order to meet and experience and encounter God, but his he's actually an opponent of Christians. And would this be found very surprising to uh a Muslim to encounter God in such a manner like that? Would this would that be such a foreign concept? Or how would, from a Muslim perspective, how would they perceive that that story of one of the greatest, if the greatest conversion of all time, you know?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Let me give the perspective about encountering God. There are many stories, by the way, of Muslims who have visions and dreams of Christ. So this is it it is foreign to them, but it has transformed them, and many of them came to Christ as a result of this. I myself was prompted towards the end of uh my search uh through a dream that I had of God on judgment day asking me, why did I reject his son? Because I've been attending church at that time, not because I wanted to leave Islam,
Mercy In Quran Versus Bible
SPEAKER_00but I wanted to learn a little bit more about Christianity to see if I can become an effective Muslim evangelist, if you wish. And it was through the preaching that God touched my heart, and then I had this dream, uh, which meant I died and I'm standing before the throne of God for judgment, and he was asking me why did he reject my son? I didn't know what to say about that, and then finally it dawned on me, after having the same dream a couple of times, that this is the God of the Bible, putting me on the spot to make a decision, Christ or nothing.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_00And um, so you hear stories like this. Now, incidentally, about Paul, Muslims, you're gonna hear in general that they accuse Paul. They say he's the one who was an imposter, he claimed to be a prophet, sent by uh by God or by Jesus in this case, and they claim he's the one who invented Christianity, invented the salvation by uh by grace, he's the one who invented the cross and the forgiveness of sin. Ironically, you know, the Quran actually acknowledges that Paul was one of the messengers that Jesus sent, albeit not directly in the Quran, but the commentators mentioned Paul by name. And the second thing is that how can Paul invent Christianity when, as you stated it correctly, he was persecuting Christians, yeah, thinking that he is serving God, actually.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. What Muslim writings are referring to the Apostle Paul?
SPEAKER_00It's a lot of them. I actually did a whole show on this and a whole teaching on that one time. Uh, I'll be more than happy to email you that list, but all of it is in Arabic. But uh, technically speaking, a lot of classical Islamic sources do reference him. In fact, I want to mention one name. Uh, it may not mean a whole lot to your uh viewers at the moment, but hopefully they will go and write it down. One of the greatest commentators who is known as a very devout Salafi, meaning uh the father of the Wahhabi movement, his name is Ibn Kathir, was in the 13th century. He quoted the conversion of Paul from Acts 9 verbatim, actually. Verbatim.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Yeah, that's interesting. So kind of the classical Muslim views of Paul, the Quran and other kind of the Quran doesn't mention Paul by name, though, uh but other writings do, I would assume.
SPEAKER_00That is right, yes. So Islam has multiple sources for authority. The first is the Quran, that's the word of Allah. The second is what we call the serah and the sayings of Muhammad, meaning his biography, his life, and his own sayings, known as hadith. And the last source is uh scholars, whether it's commentary, uh, commentaries in the Quran, jurisprudence, you know, and legal judges. So Muslims respect authority. I like that about them, but at the same time, they don't realize they're actually following a man-made religion all along.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And so they think they would see Paul as somebody who kind of hijacked like Christianity
Dreams And Paul Change Everything
SPEAKER_02and turned it into something that's uh incompatible with Islam?
SPEAKER_00That is correct. They would argue that Jesus' message was compatible with Islam, and Paul hijacked it.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Wow. Okay. I I did not know that. That's that's really interesting. So for you, like how did you how did you get into like what was the conversion moment for you, or what was the process, I guess? I know that yeah, you were starting to read in the Bible and particularly drawn to the Gospel of John. Talk to us about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so so basically after meeting this couple, I changed my major and I ended up moving to a different city and a different university. And I didn't bother really to update my records with this couple. They didn't know where I went, they don't have any way to communicate with me. And I continued with my education, got my degree, I even got a job offer uh in the US, and I continued to work and start to build my American dream. And uh at the same time, I start to meet more and more born-again believers, and one particular couple also uh was focused on sharing the gospel with me. They invited me also to their home. I started to compare them to the previous couple, and I can see there is a lot of similarities between them. And now I am able to master these idioms and I'm able to have deeper conversations. And I remember uh basically raising a lot of Islamic objections against the gospel, against Christ, against the Bible. But this couple was so gentle, so kind, they would listen to me, and then they will give me their evidence why they believe in the Word of God, why they believe Jesus was crucified. And the list can go on and on and on. And that began to really more seeds are being planted, and it was between uh 1995 until almost 2001 when really my faith was being shattered. As an engineer, I cannot build anything uh on uh basically sandy foundations, I have to build it on solid foundations. Uh, it was kind of interesting when I read what Jesus says in Matthew 7. I'm like, wow, he was an engineer for sure. Uh and uh and then uh, you know, I realized that these people, this couple, are standing on solid foundation. Nothing I'm throwing at them is shaking them, and yet everything they're saying sharing with me is shaking me up. And that uh basically caused me to uh leave my faith as if like I became agnostic for a while, and then I agreed with them to go to church for the first time, and that's when I start to hear the preacher uh preaching from the gospel of John, and then September 11 happened, and I hesitated to go that day because I knew uh that weekend, I should say, because I knew that the hijackers were Muslims, and 15 of them were from Saudi, and the people at the church knew fully well that I was a Saudi and a Muslim. So I'm like, how are they gonna feel about my presence? You know, but my friends assured me that no one will say anything to me, and I'm thankful I went because as a result of this, I heard from the gospel of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, about loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you. So that was basically uh the verse that I can say was Daniel that sealed the coffin for me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so what was that verse? What was you said it say it again?
SPEAKER_00Oh Matthew 5 44, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Boy, that is so good. And you are did now. Did you say uh you were born where?
SPEAKER_00I was born in in Saudi Arabia.
SPEAKER_02Saudi Arabia.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02No, and then what's your relationship with uh like Iran? Like I saw you wrote an article giving some insight, obviously, about yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, uh I I mean uh I'm glad you brought this up because I am also a fellow at uh the ideological defense
9/11 And Loving Your Enemies
SPEAKER_00institute, IDI, and uh I'm fascinated by religious ideological politics. Yeah. Iran represents, of course, the Shia Islam and specifically the Twelvers. And in my article, I was just talking about the fact that uh any deal with Iran is going to be a wash, it's just a matter of time, because they are driven by an ideology, they're not driven by politics.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00Their politics is shaped by their belief system. So, Iran, of course, is across the Persian Gulf from Saudi. I mean, it's it's right there geographically, but ideologically, it's been fascinating to see how these people are willing to go all the way to the grave for the sake of their ideology.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I uh I wrote a book called Thinking Biblical about the geopolitical Israel, Iran, and America's future. And um, I did three chapters in there on um Islam and kind of a little bit of a comparative analysis of Christianity and and the Quran and uh teachings um of Muhammad and uh all that. And it was really fascinating. And um just as I was studying it and uh, you know, in this conversation as you're talking about, like with Iran, you know, when woven into their ideology, based on what I understood, was that they want to usher in this kind of global uh kingdom, uh, I think it's called the caliphate, and and where it's by conquest. And so if their ideology is that they want to see this happen and and bloodshed is just part of the process, then it's hard to make any kind of deals.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. It's an eschatological, uh, basically, ideology, focus on end times and bringing in a specific person known as the 12th Imam. They believe in the return of Jesus, but Jesus is secondary to this man. Uh, so they almost took like the three figures in the book
Iran End Times Ideology
SPEAKER_00of Revelation and changed roles for them, technically.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and so I w what do you how do you encourage folks that are maybe young Muslims that are living in America, they are and I and I I think you know distinguishing maybe for our listeners to maybe the difference if you see one uh between like a Muslim and an Islamist, um but for young Muslims that are not practicing Sharia law, but they're growing up in a household where um the Quran, they're visiting a mosque, um they're trying to keep some of the teachings and the fast, and uh but they're living in America. What would you say to them in regards to exploring the Christian faith?
SPEAKER_00Right. So let me say this first. Uh I I you know I appreciate uh the fact that you mention Islam and Islm. Uh, I mean I'm I'm sure you've heard about the Marines, and I love this motto. Every Marine is basically a marksman, and every Muslim is an Islamist. That's basically how we ought to look at it.
SPEAKER_02Every Muslim is an Islamist. Is that what you say?
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_00Every Muslim is an Islamist, but you have devout Islamists. I'm using the term Islamist just to uh uh allow people to uh understand what it is because uh it's really something foreign that was added recently. It's just Islam. There is one Islam, there are the devout Muslims, that's what the uh media call them Islamists, and there are the cultural, mediocre, I'm sorry, modern Muslims uh who don't practice things uh you know all the time. Right. Even the modern Muslims, the nominal Muslims, I call them the enablers. They enable those devout to do what they do because how often do you see the modern Muslims or the open-minded Muslims rebuking these things collectively? Uh rarely that you see something like that, because they know these so-called Islamists or devout Muslims are following everything by the letter, by the book. So here's what I would tell uh those who are not really practicing Islam well. I would say, you know, it's a matter of truth. You know, uh, you are in the West, hopefully, or even if you're living back home, you can access media these days, you can access social media. It's a matter of truth. Ask yourself, why are many Muslims like myself leaving Islam and following Jesus? What is it about Jesus? Because even the Quran elevated the status of Jesus, even the Quran called Jesus sinless, even the Quran calls him the word of God, even the Quran called him the spirit of God. So there is something special about Jesus, and his offer is always available up until the last second of our life. He's never gonna uh basically turn his back on you. His love is eternal. Once you're his, you're his. No one can snatch you out of his hands. And uh what do you get to lose? I mean, I guess that's my question. What do you get to lose to explore uh what Jesus can offer you? But believe it or not, brother, uh, it's devout Muslims that are easier to follow Jesus than non-devout Muslims, because the devout Muslims understand the value of pleasing God, and then they see something in Jesus, just like Paul. You know, I love the encounter between Jesus and Paul in Acts 9 3. This is Paul, the religious guy, the Pharisee, who's been persecuted people in the name of God, and then the Lord appears to him and he says, The first question Paul asks, Who are you, Lord? Yeah, you know, religion has no relationship with God. This is the difference between following Jesus and worshiping a God, technically speaking. So my invitation to them is really do your homework, ask the Lord to reveal himself to you. Read the Bible, read the scripture. If you, especially if you're in the West, you even have an advantage now to be able to access the Bible versus if you're back home, you have risk involved in doing so.
Talking With Muslims In America
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I, you know, when you talked about what we would call Muslims or what many people in in the media might just call Muslims, uh, you know, being like a uh a loose version of Islam or whatever, but um, you know, like you said that they they might not be practicing the well, they're not practicing the law uh accordingly as they should, but they're almost complicit by just being quiet and not speaking up, as you made mention of, of evil atrocities, such as, you know, when uh Hezbollah, so these terrorist groups do these terrible things in the name of Allah, it's as if they don't say anything because they I guess they think it's that's right. They should be doing that, but they're not gonna do that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, either they think that's right, or sometimes they're afraid of saying anything negative because they can face a backlash over this from their own parents, you know, forget about the community, right? Your own family can really uh punish them for that, or they feel like I'm gonna stay in my lane and I just don't want to be involved in these kinds of things. But at the end of the day, unfortunately, um, you know, they give the impression as if they are the good guys and the others are the bad guys. I hate to say this, I know your listeners are gonna be shocked. The ISIS people, the Al-Qaeda people, the Al-Shabaab people, the Boko Haram people are actually the right guys and the good guys according to the teaching of Islam.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's crazy. It's yeah, yeah. What what would you say? How do you encourage and equip Christians to better understand and love their Muslim neighbors?
SPEAKER_00That's a great question. I mean, uh, first of all, I tell people you really don't have to attend a seminar to learn something about Islam. You have the Holy Spirit. We have the spirit of power, self-control, and uh spirit of uh power, love, and self-control. That's all you need, to be honest with you. I would say think of Muslims as people made in the image of God. Think of them as victims of their own ideology because they're entrapped in it, you know? And it's not that easy for them just to decide, okay, well, I like what I heard, I'm gonna leave Islam and follow you. No, they can't. It's a corporal community. They have to think about their parents and their friends and their uh job and their marriage and everything else. I lost everything, brother. Everything. I lost everything. My family hates my guts, they don't want anything to do with me. And uh, my friends just they keep mocking me every now and then. I mean, it's a vicious, vicious cycle that you have to go through. So I would say love on them. Try to be inquisitive. They love it when you're asking questions about why do you fast, why do you go to the pilgrimage, what is the value here and there, and then find bridges to connect him to Christ gently and lovingly, and focus on sin, focus on assurance of salvation, focus on forgiveness, share your own testimony because a Muslim cannot attack your testimony, that's your own testimony. Try to back up things from the scripture, offer him a copy of a brand new Bible, tell him if you like to read it, and let's have discussions over it. I mean, be always proactive. It's a go-to ministry.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's so good. And then what for those that might be listening in that are in the is uh the what is the correct way to say it? The Muslim faith or the Islamic faith? How would you say it?
SPEAKER_00I would say the Islamic faith probably is more appropriate to say, but again, Muslim faith is the same. I mean, but Islamic
How Christians Love Muslim Neighbors
SPEAKER_00faith, yeah.
SPEAKER_02But uh for those that are in the Islamic faith, uh where could they go to a website and maybe see articles or things that they might explore the Christian faith through any of the works that you've created by chance?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, uh we get a lot of Muslims, by the way, coming to our YouTube channel. So my YouTube channel is called Sira C I R A, C as in Charlie, I R A International. Or people can Google it under my name, Al-Padi A-L-F-A-D-I. Uh, we have I have a lot of social media Facebook pages, we have Instagram, uh, I have also the same in Arabic, so there's English and there's Arabic, and many Muslims come in. Some attack, some actually ask questions. And the same thing goes for the Christians. They can go and watch the interviews we do with people, uh, learn from the stuff that we talk about, and hopefully it will be of help to them when they're building relationships.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm looking at it. You have 240,000 subscribers to CIRA International. That's quite quite a uh base of subscribers, and you have uh looks like 1.3,000 videos on there. That's a lot.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Yeah, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yeah, that's that's fantastic. I mean, I'm sure that's really, really helpful. So for all of you listening in uh and want to explore that, I know there's a there's plenty of digital trails and resources here, C-I-R-A International, uh and you can follow them uh on YouTube. They have uh quite a bit of resources there. That's that's fantastic.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then they can also, if they like uh podcasts, I have a podcast called Let Us Reason. It is on Spotify, uh among many other platforms as well.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's so good. Okay. Well, for someone maybe listening who feels far from God or resistant to him, um, maybe in any regard, you know, uh Muslim faith background or or not, but what hope would you want to share with them today?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Well, let me start by saying this. Um our God is a God of joy, a God of comfort, a God of love, a God that promised He will never leave you or forsake you, regardless of the circumstances that we go through. When I was a Muslim, I used to think that these negative trials are punishments from God until I accepted Christ and I start to lose everything. And guess what? I reverted back to that thinking, whoa my gosh, I must have left the true God of Islam and He's punishing me. And then people who are faithful Christians, born-again Christians, surrounded me and disappeared me and said, No, no, no, no. You're going through trials, the Lord is preparing you for something, and our God does not punish, He actually strengthens you. It's almost like you're going to the gym and uh taking protein, you know, and and uh he's uh building your muscles per se. So this is the God that we follow, he's a God of hope. Uh, I mean, when you're down, the the word of God is gonna lift you up.
Resources Hope And Closing
SPEAKER_00Uh, he's the God who says, uh, you know, I love what Paul says, rejoice in the Lord, and I say to you again, rejoice. In Islam, the God of Islam says, Do not rejoice, for I do not like those who rejoice. Literally, that's what he says in the Quran. I mean, my goodness, man. What kind of a God that wants you to be? Uh, I mean, he's like a Debbie, uh, you know, Debbie Downer, I guess, you know. He doesn't want you to uh uh to enjoy life at all. So the God that we worship is a God who is trustworthy. He doesn't change and doesn't change his promises. Just give him a shot and read the scripture, read the gospel at least, and see for yourself.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's so good. That's so good. All right. So any lasting kind of comments that you want to share with listeners might be able to follow you or find find out more information, anything you want to make mention of.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. People can always find me, like I said. Uh, they can uh subscribe to our YouTube channel, sirainternational.com, see as in Charlie, Ira International. They can go also and follow me on Facebook, same thing, either Al Fadi or CIRA. And um uh they can also check out some of our my articles, geopolitical articles, uh, and other type of articles on IDI. Um, and uh at the same time, you can listen to my podcast, Let Us Weason. But I encourage people to go to our website, sirainternational.com, and reach out to me by email. I'll be more than happy to interact with you.
SPEAKER_02Well, thanks for joining us. That's so good. So, well, guys, it's we've wrapped up. We've hit our time in another episode. I hope that you found this insightful and I would encourage you to share it with a friend, especially if you have a Muslim friend that may be uh spiritually open and interested in having some conversations and uh to discover some resources as well as a believer. What a great opportunity it would be. Is uh I know for me, I'm gonna hop on the YouTube channel and start watching videos and then hope to copy paste them and send them to some friends via text message just to check out and then have some candid conversations. And so uh Alfadi, thanks for being with us today.
SPEAKER_00You're welcome, brother. Thank you so much for this honor.
SPEAKER_02That's sweet. All right, guys, you can check us out and visit us at reallifeministry.us and remember to live free and live strong.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for listening to Real Life Ministry. If you found any of what you heard today helpful, please share it with others who may benefit. And if you would like to support the content that we put out, please consider making a donation at RealLifeministry.us. While you're there, check out some of our episodes. And together, let's continue to educate and encourage Christians to live free and live strong.