A Muslim Convert Talks About Jesus Christ and the Church
Leaving Islam is dangerous. It is done at the risk of one's life. Thus, dear brothers and sisters in the West, welcome and help those who do it
By coming out openly on TV as a Catholic, with the danger of recognition and persecution for 'apostasy,' Mohammed Christophe reasserted the importance of conversion and baptism. In Muslim nations, some refuse to baptise Muslims who want to become Christian. Yet, conversion means a revolution in the relationship with God, the Father, and Jesus, who gave his life, for one gives up everything putting one's life at risk.
Mohammed Christophe Bilek
PrintROME, Italy (AsiaNews) - A few days ago, the website of Notre Dame de Kabylie posted a tape in which a former Muslim, Mohammed Christophe Bilek, talked about his conversion to Christianity. The original broadcast, which focused on the persecution of Christians, first appeared in 'Dieu Merci' (Thank God), a show that deals with religion on Direct 8, a French TV channel.
Mohammed Christophe Bilek was born in Algeria in 1950 and has lived in France since 1961. He is the author of two books: Un algérien pas très catholique (A not very Catholic Algerian), published by Cerf (1999) and Saint Augustin raconté à ma fille (Saint Augustine as told to my daughter), published by Éditions Qabel (2011). In the 1990s, he founded the Notre Dame de Kabylie (in French), a website devoted to evangelisation among Muslims and Muslim-Christian dialogue.
In the video, Bilek highlights the risk Muslim converts face when accused of apostasy, an offence that can be punished by death. Nevertheless, he insists on the importance of baptism, the encounter with Jesus Christ and affiliation with the Church.
His views go against those of priests and bishops in Muslim countries, who prefer to dissuade or even deny baptism to Muslims who want to convert out of fear for the consequences they and Christian communities might face.
Is baptising banned?
A few weeks ago, a bishop in an Arab country in the Middle East told me that police threatened to close one of his communities because members had advertised a Christian-Muslim meeting on dialogue. Police were concerned that this might be the first step towards so-called proselytising and apostasy. "If this is the reaction to a meeting on dialogue, imagine what it would be if we had a conversion," an embittered bishop said.
It is no wonder then that the prelate is against conversions and baptisms for only this seems to be the way to preserve the little freedom of worship that exists in the country in question.
In places like Morocco, and until recently Algeria, the situation is such that dioceses were instructed not to baptise Muslims who want to convert to Catholicism because "local laws ban it."
Fr Samir Khalil remembers that a few years ago, he met a Muslim whose request for baptism was rejected for 13 years. Baptism, he was told, would bring him a lot of trouble, force him to emigrate to avoid being executed for apostasy, and endanger the priest performing the baptism. And yet, for all this time, the would-be convert studied the Gospels and the catechism on his own and led a life of prayers.
In Egypt, the Christian clergy also tends to avoid baptising Muslims; only a few priests have done so in secret. Speaking to AsiaNews, a religious who has been in Egypt for decades, said that baptising at any cost "is against the Second Vatican Council because the Council said that non-Christians can also find salvation outside the Church." Implicitly, this means that baptism is unnecessary and that people find salvation according to their circumstances.
This is not the place to start a theological debate about the faith in Christ and the salvation of non-Christians. Suffice it to say, that both Dominus Iesus and the Doctrinal note on some aspects of evangelization reiterate the importance of a 'visible' and socially relevant affiliation to Christ and the Church.
What is more, baptism is a life-changing experience, one that alters the convert's perception of life. Changes occur in the here and now, not in some future 'eternal' life after death. For this reason, offering others the baptism is not a superficial deed but a gift of life and hope in the present. Being baptised or not being baptised are not equivalent.
Christians' 'solar' God vs the Qur'an's 'lunar' God
Faith changes the present in a profound and meaningful way. On Notre Dame de Kabylie, Mohammed Christophe explains his conversion by stressing his new understanding of God.
"If the God of the Qur'an is the same as that of the Christians, why did I, Mohammed, become Christophe," he asked himself. "Having lived in Islam, practiced its precepts among people who are still Muslim (his family still is), I continue to be dazzled by the discovery of the Gospel," he said by way of answer.
"The light that comes from the Gospel suggests a comparison, one based on a certain premise. Anyone who wants to talk about the God of Islam must refer to Qur'an. If we replace the ...
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I AM GOD’S CHILD, I AM NOT AFRAID
My Child ~
You may not know me, but I know everything about you ~ Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up ~ Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways ~ Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered ~ Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image ~ Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being ~ Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring ~ Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived ~ Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation ~ Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book ~ Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live ~ Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made ~ Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb ~ Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born ~ Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me ~ John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love ~ 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you ~ 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your father ~ 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could ~ Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father ~ Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand ~ James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs ~ Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope ~ Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love ~ Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore ~ Psalm 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing ~ Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you ~ Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession ~ Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul ~ Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things ~ Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me ~ Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart ~ Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires ~ Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine ~ Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you ~ Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart ~ Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes ~ Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth ~ Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus ~ John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed ~ John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being ~ Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you ~ Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you ~ 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love ~ Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me ~ 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again ~ Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen ~ Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father ~ Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is ~ Will you be my child? ~ John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you ~ Luke 15:11-32
Love, Your Dad, Almighty God
To Aliyu:
Islam a beautiful religion? Apparently you don't understand the Koran. You should read it thoroughly and understand it. It is a hateful and violent religion.
@Robert Mazzella :
"I can't help but notice another bit of idiocy from Vatican II in the above article--namely, the quote about non-Christians being able to find salvation outside the Church; it was wrong before, and it still is!"
You are right man... The bible taught that by baptism one is washed off from one's sins and is saved if one continues to live the faith i.e righteous and in truth.
Why then say baptism is not neccessary? Christ Himself got baptised, why change it?
This why others say we catholics preach the message upside down, n say we worship Mary... cos we focus more on her instead of YAHWEH(YHWH). Many Catholics don't know GOD by His HOLY name. As my Rev. Fr. asked in mass during the sermon,(what is the name of your GOD?) no one could answer. I get to know the HOLY name in 1997 @ Our mother of perpetual help, easter monday feasting, in Nigeria.
May the Almighty continue to keep n strenghtens us all, Amen!!
Eseose, 2 weeks ago:
Jesus Christ, I rejoice with you and await more rejoicing in the coming of all Muslims into the light of Christ, our "CREATOR", defender, redeemer and friend.
Eseose, CHRIST is not our creator but of the creator-- YAHWEH saboath the most gracious the beneficient the merciful the one n only true GOD.
Did you not read CHRIST saying "I have not come to you on my own accord but of He that is greater than I am?"(My father...)
@Theophine- Very well written sis.
I think the priests there are scared. They are supposed to know that the baptising should be done secretly. And the converts should be made to understand.
NB: Keep your life and loose it or loose it and keep it in CHRIST for eternity.
@Ahmed : When you state Religion is a personal matter it is saying God is personal but then when you do not believe that God comes personally then your statement becomes contradictory. But the truth of the Christian religion is that God comes personally & this comes about only through His Christ, the manifestation of " the covenant", made with Abraham & revealed to him, as is written that Abraham greatly rejoiced at seeing the day of Christ -The Salvation, which is to the reconnection in Him unto all mankind ever since the fall of man & there is no any other way to know God by His will & that is what matters.
Ahmed ben haddad,,you are a typical pious muslims, and therefore a proud liar unfortunately. Muslims never accept that any one from their religious camp leaves their religion. the fact that absolutely demonstrates your lies, hypocrisy and blindness is the apostasy penaly for muslim converts and the gross violations of ALL human RIGHTS, RAMPANT in ALL musklims countries.I would think otherwise before leaving islam in a muslim country or even in thye west these days, where muslim parents, families murder their own flesh and blood in satanic honour killings, propelled in strict obsrvance of islamic laws.There is no freedom in islam for any one to violates all the oppressive, ominpresent legislation that regulates and coerses, under the pain of violence or even death, any one who tries to challenge sharia and islam.
dear brothes and sisters in Christ, I advise you to notice how this deceptive muslim(and many, many others) tries to deny the muslim apostasy phenomenon, always with lies, slanders,twistings, distortions and taqyya and kitman-islamic deception and denial.
Religion is a personal matter, yet sadly (happily) most of those posing as Muslim-Converts-to Christianity are actually from Arabic Christian minority, posing for publicity, special welcome and treatment... In a number of occasion -such as the case of Gebraiel Malak (Egyptian)- Muslim apologetics asked that convert claimants produce evidence - such as certificate of circumcision- or personal documents that attest to their claims. None did.
Missionaries are highly frustrated by the fact that their faith has very little appeal to Muslims in particular... they resolve to these tachtics too in order to "encourage" hesitant Muslims... but when did lying was acceptable in Chrestianity? ... claiming Islam's God is lunar god is just part of such fabrications :( !!
Greg: "Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who neverthless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do His will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation." CCC #847 God bless.
A Beautiful and thought provoking message. Thank you. Sister in Christ...Blessings
"[...]said that baptising at any cost "is against the Second Vatican Council because the Council said that non-Christians can also find salvation outside the Church." Implicitly, this means that baptism is unnecessary and that people find salvation according to their circumstances.[...]"
Can I have a reference, please?
As per salvation outside of the Church is logical. Christ died for all the people. Not all will accept it now, and many will not accept it after death. God was blessing all the people before Christ and after Christ. The Church is Christ. [...]how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gather her young under her wings[...] (Mt 23:37)
People will die when they die... We, Catholics, have an honor to die before we die and start Living before physical death. We can be saved before death. That can be found _only_ in the Church.