"WHY ARE MUSLIMS CONVERTING TO CHRISTIANITY?"
Yesterday I came across an intriguing X message posted by Dr Malouf @RealMalouf about a guest on our Roman Catholic "go to" podcast by Matt Fradd, suitably titled "Pints With Aquinas". Matt has often interesting long form talks on the issues of faith and theology with guests from a variety of backgrounds. Matt himself is a gracious host who enjoys good whiskeys and heavy cigars while trying to get the maximum out of his interlocutors. The X message posted by Dr Malouf screamed at me promising an ex Muslim would explain "why so many Muslims are converting to Christianity" (link). Suitably intrigued, what followed was two and half hours of one the most entertaining narratives I heard in a long time. The ex Muslim, named Ismail Youssef, also known as 'Ish of Arabia', turned out to be a great storyteller with a fine sense of humor along the way. Judge for yourself.
April 8, 2025 Matt Fradd: From Muslim to Catholic: Islam Is the Heresy of Heresies (Ismail Youssef).
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
03:00 Growing Up as a Muslim
08:03 Family’s Commitment to Islam
12:23 Questioning Islam
25:30 Engaging with Other Religions
30:17 Questioning Muhammad
35:05 Reevaluating Muhammad’s Life
45:48 Unraveling the Truth of Islam
50:07 Aquinas’ Perspective on Muhammad
51:50 Departing from Islam
1:00:50 Parents’ Response to Leaving Islam
1:03:10 The Journey Toward Christianity
1:10:35 First Experience of the Mass
1:13:15 Discovering Prayer
1:17:40 Embracing Christianity
1:32:09 Leaving Everything Behind for Christ
1:38:40 Why Catholicism?
1:40:43 Why Muslims Are Converting to Christianity
1:46:16 Influencing Muslim Conversions
1:50:20 Advice for Muslims
1:55:04 The Qur'an's view of Jesus
2:01:06 Viewing Islam as a Heresy
2:04:50 Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?
2:11:16 What Islam Gets Right
2:13:20 How to Evangelize Muslims
2:15:15 Polygamy
2:15:50 Is Islam Inherently Violent
2:16:40 Misunderstandings Among Catholics About Islam
2:18:10 Is There a Sense of Sacramentality in Islam
2:19:39 Deciphering the Mystery of the Trinity
2:23:30 Lessons Catholics Can Learn from Muslim Devotion
2:30:30 Conclusion
A few clarifying words as well as a comment or two are in order. Readers may have noticed Islam and Muslims are a subject hardly touched on in these pages. This is not because we think it is irrelevant. On the contrary.
There was a time, a few blogs ago, that we went deep into the matter. So much so that we felt at some point we had exhausted the issue to the point of losing interest entirely. After all, the theology itself hardly rises to the interest of say, the Gnostic Gospels.
As much as we enjoyed the story of Ismail Youssef's conversion to Christianity, the debate with Matt Fradd on theology, was shocking to say the least. Specifically its highly speculative nature. In Eastern Orthodox circles so much uncertainty about basic theological questions is simply unheard of.
One wonders what the 'papal protestants' have been doing the last ten centuries or so. I may have missed something in the conversation, but it sounds to me like the entire doctrine on the Trinity passed by the Vatican unnoticed. Is there anything they know for certain at this stage?
To answer the initial question, if true that so many Muslims are converting to Christianity, this seems to be indeed the case. This is of course a blessing and a great hope for humanity. Ismail answers the question at the 1:40:43 mark.
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