Customer Reviews

Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found this book to be an excellent read and very hard to put down. It chronicles the intertwining lives of several Muslims who converted from Islam to Christianity. All of their stories were different; but, very inspiring to read about. The book takes you back and forth into their lives as each life story unfolds and several become connected to each other. I was touched deeply by this book. It was very well written and you feel as if you are right there living through the persecution with them. Those who practice religion freely need to be there in a much stronger showing of support for the persecuted. This I am certain of.

Although I've known of Brother Andrew for years, I had never read anything he's written. Secret Believers popped up on my Amazon "recommended for you" list because I had ordered Joel Rosenburg's Epicenter and Journey into the Mind of an Islamic Terrorist by Mark Gabriel. Impulsively, I hit my Amazon Prime one click, and the book promptly arrived at my door.

I was interested by the fact that the authors state upfront they've fictionalized the lives of many people in the Islamic world, weaving their stories and personalities together to create a true-to-life picture that shelters the real subjects from harm. Secret Believers starts slowly; it takes a while to explain all this and to establish characters. Nonetheless, I found myself unable to put it down and literally finished it the day it arrived.

I had never thought much about the Christians who are born into Islamic societies. Additionally, it had not occurred to me that there would exist a major chasm between these Christians and Muslims who convert to Christianity--people whom the book terms "Muslim background believers." Because of Brother Andrew's reputation and because of stories I've heard coming from Islamic countries, I believe this book is based fully in truth, and I was deeply moved by the characters' struggles and triumphs.

The book gives a better comprehension of the severe penalties Muslims face when they choose Christianity. It is almost incomprehensible to Christians living in the United States to realize this type of persecution still exists. Pastors will relate to the immense task of shepherding as new Muslim believers are in need of "safe houses", employment, and doctrinal training in their new faith. I felt myself drawn to continue reading this book even when I did not have time in my schedule to do so. My admiration for the perseverance and testimonies of these MBBs has increased tremendously.

Being born in Baghdad and also being Christian. With my parents having lived there most of their lives along with generations before them, these stories ring true. I am also an Assyrian American, and I have grown up hearing how Muslims have treated Christians even to this day. There are Assyrian Christians having their heads cut off in Iraq today and tortured because of what they have believed for centuries, even before Islam became a religion, because the God of Isreal revealed Himself to them. Seems like He is revealing Himself to these Muslims now too through dreams, visions and not to say the least, Christ's followers like Brother Andrew.

Praise God Muslims are starting to see the Light literally. I haven't bought this book yet, but am planning on today. I've been getting excerpts from the book's website and see the reality of what's going on today in the Middle East. Once a beautiful place where people used to tour and visit back in the 50's, with 5 star hotels, and Americans visited with warm greetings from the natives. The best taught and educated would come from Iraq. Iraq has come to ruin because a religon wants to force their cruel ways on people and only Jesus has the power to make it stop and is doing so. This book and the people's testimoy is only the evidence.

I'm happy a book like this is out! The truth always rises to the surface! And that is Christ's truth. You can only oppress for so long. There is a God who Loves dearly all His Creation and wants to see no one perish into hell. Anyone interested can find the website to Secret Believers and see for themselves before buying, but it is worth the buy! Open your minds and hearts, because the Truth always prevails!

I couldn't put the book down. Not only do I admire Brother Andrew for his courage to speak out on a time-sensitive issue such as he covered in his book, but I also deeply appreciate his conviction to challenge other believers to reach out to instead of alienate their Muslim neighbors. It challenged me to follow his example and to be a better follower of Jesus' command to "go into all the world" and "make disciples of all nations".

This was a book with a bit of a slow start, but after I got into it, I couldn't put it down....literally. Parts of the book brought tears to my eyes. I read God's Smuggler a couple of years ago, and I plan to read other books by Brother Andrew. His life's testimony challenges me to go all out for what God has called me to do.

Brother Andrew, author of the classic GOD'S SMUGGLER, and veteran author Al Janssen open this insightful look into the plight of Christians in Muslim cultures with the Arabic translation of Paul's words in 2 Timothy 4:7. We know that verse as "I have fought the good fight." The authors inform us that the last three words of that verse are rendered in Arabic as "the good jihad."

The "good jihad"? As Andrew and Janssen point out, to Western ears that sounds like an oxymoron; we associate jihad with a holy war waged against those who radical Muslims call "infidels" --- meaning Christians, as well as members of other faiths and secularists and anyone else who has committed an offense against Islam. But the very purpose of SECRET BELIEVERS is to call Christians everywhere to join in the good jihad --- a prayer effort to bring Muslims to faith in Jesus Christ.

Instead of telling us about the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries --- specifically, Muslims who profess faith in Christ --- the authors wisely show us what that persecution actually looks like through a fictional account that comprises more than three-quarters of the book. The story they present focuses on the lives of a number of MBBs --- Muslim Background Believers --- based on real people who have converted to Christ and have chosen to remain in hostile Islamic countries in order to bring God's love to other Muslims.

Among the people we meet are Butros, Brother Andrew's contact in an unnamed Islamic country where the story unfolds; Ahmed, who comes to faith in Christ through the influence of his MBB friend Zaki; Father Abuna Alexander, a Christian priest who has to come to terms with Muslims-turned-Christians whose presence threatens the safety of his congregation; Salima, a young woman whose family isolates her when they discover a Bible in her room; and Mustafa and Hassan, who become the target of radical Muslim extremists.

Through the stories of those believers and others, the authors reveal both the hunger for Christ's love and forgiveness that exists among Muslims and the hatred for Christians that exists among extremists. As has been his approach since he first began smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain in the 1950s, Brother Andrew emphasizes compassion over fear and hostility toward those who persecute Christians. In the nonfiction portion of the book that follows the fictional story, he and Janssen --- who serves as communications director for Open Doors International, which Brother Andrew founded --- offer a four-pronged response to the growth of Islam and the threat posed by Muslim extremists. Not surprisingly, the challenges focus on love, forgiveness, the imitation of Christ, and prayer and sacrifice --- which to Andrew and Janssen are anything but nice-sounding Christian words. They're calling for a good jihad, remember. They're in a fight, and they know it.

For whatever reason, I didn't expect the fictional portion to be as absorbing as it was. I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself caught up in the stories of the people and the hardships faced by Christians --- former Muslims as well as others --- in Islamic nations, in this case in the Middle East. And the call to jihad, with its focus on loving Muslims into the kingdom of God, is a message Western Christians can't hear often enough.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford

What an enlightening book. Everyone in the free world should read this and appreciate the freedom of religion that we have. We live here in this culture and never give a thought to how people in other parts of the world live and what they have to deal with, especially if they are Christians in Muslim countries. I have added the Muslim countries to my daily prayer list. I only wish I could do more.

This book does an excellent job telling the story of the commitment and sacrifice of Muslim-background believers, and the pressures that they face daily from their families and friends and cultures when they choose to follow Jesus, the One who loves them. Well worth reading...

This book really touched my life. It made me think about how I live my life before others. The challenges issued pertain not only to how to live before Muslims but also the world in general. If they cannot see the difference in the lives of believers, how can they know the gospel?