Nabeel Qureshi (author)

Qureshi was born in San Diego, California to Pakistani parents who immigrated to the United States. With his father in the U.S. Navy, he moved many times as a youth before settling in Virginia. In 2001 he attended Old Dominion University and served as the president of the Pre-Medical Honor Society. Qureshi also studied Islamic apologetics and engaged Christians in religious discussions. After one such discussion with a Christian at Old Dominion University, David Wood, the two became friends and began a years-long debate on the historical claims of Christianity and Islam.[6] Qureshi's resulting conversion to Christianity was chronicled in his first book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus.

In addition to being a New York Times bestseller,[7] Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus was awarded the Christian Book Award for the categories of both "Best New Author" and "Best Non-Fiction" of 2015, the first time in award history.[8] Christianity Today heralded Qureshi as one of "33 Under 33"[9] in its cover story on emerging religious leaders in July 2014. Qureshi attended medical school at the Eastern Virginia Medical School after graduating from Old Dominion University. After completing his medical degree, Qureshi decided to spend his life studying and preaching the Christian Gospel and became a speaker for the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. He subsequently completed three more master's degrees in theology and religious studies and was pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Oxford at the time of his death.

Qureshi lectured to students at more than 100 universities, including Oxford, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Hong Kong. He has participated in 18 moderated, public debates around North America, Europe, and Asia. In 2015, Qureshi debated at Wayne State University with Muslim scholar Shabir Ally.[10]

Qureshi was married to Michelle. The couple had one daughter, Ayah[11] born in August 2015.

Beginning in the late 2000s, Qureshi began attending the Dearborn Arab Festival. In 2009, Qureshi, and other members of Acts 17 Apologetics were kicked out of the fair for allegations that they were passing out Christian literature. Different narratives of the issue exist and in the end a court ruled in favour of Qureshi.

Reportedly, Qureshi walked up to a booth with the sign "Got Questions? We've got answers," picked up a brochure on Islam and asked a question, as the booth's sign invited anyone to do. As Qureshi was engaged in conversation, a Muslim man walked by, snatched the brochure out of Qureshi's hand, and approached security personnel with it. Security personnel used this to create a confrontation with Qureshi and his colleagues, telling them to leave without telling them why, and ultimately assaulting them. According to the police, they received a complaint from a Christian volunteer at the festival regarding the behavior of the Acts 17 Apologetics. At the time of their arrest they were not passing out flyers, but engaging passers-by in a confrontational debate causing a large crowd to gather. Due to their behavior the crowd gathered to the point where it violated the City of Dearborn Misdemeanor Ordinances of Breach of Peace and Failure to Obey the Lawful Order of a Police Officer. After their arrest the crowd dispersed. It was alleged that those arrested were not in a public space, nor in the space allotted by the festival for passing out flyers at the time of their arrest.

A number of other Christian groups were at the festival including the well-known Christian minister Josh McDowell, who spoke with festival attendees regarding Christianity and the New Testament. Returning in 2010, Qureshi and his colleagues resolved not to engage anyone in conversation unless it was initiated by someone else. Furthermore, the members of Acts 17 Apologetics filmed the entirety of their interactions, as they had done the previous year. During the 2010 Festival, Qureshi was shown being asked questions by a small crowd of Muslim teenagers. Police officers soon arrested the group and confiscated their video cameras, charging Qureshi with disturbing the peace and refusing a lawful order from a police officer.[12] Qureshi and his group spent a night in jail for this arrest.

Soon after the arrest, Dearborn mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr. released a statement indicating that the missionaries were engaged in hostile, angry shouts with the crowd, blocking access to the booths. The mayor stated that Qureshi was getting violent and confrontational with police officers attempting to peacefully calm the situation.[13] “The real violation of First Amendment rights occurs with Acts 17 Apologetics trying to imply they were the victim,” Mayor O’Reilly said, ”When the real violation is their attack on the City of Dearborn for having tolerance for all religions including believers in the Qur’an.”[14] After reviewing the video evidence, a jury found Qureshi not guilty on all counts. A separate civil suit[15] found that Dearborn, Michigan had violated Qureshi's constitutional rights, finding that there was no basis in law for his arrest. In 2013, the city then settled the suit. As part of the settlement, the city had to issue a formal apology and maintain that apology on their website for three years.[16]

Qureshi commented on international Muslim terrorism in several media outlets, including USA Today,[17] Fox News,[18] Newsmax TV,[19][20] TheBlaze[21] and the Huffington Post[22] where he detailed his conversion to Christianity and his belief that Islam is an "inherently violent religion".

On 30 August 2016, Qureshi announced that he was in the advanced stages of stomach cancer. Qureshi took to his Facebook page to inform fans and followers of his illness saying the prognosis was "quite grim."

"This is an announcement that I never expected to make, but God in His infinite and sovereign wisdom has chosen me for this refining, and I pray He will be glorified through my body and my spirit," Qureshi wrote. "My family and I have received the news that I have advanced stomach cancer, and the clinical prognosis is quite grim. Nonetheless, we are going to pursue healing aggressively, both medical and miraculous, relying on God and the fact that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."[23] Qureshi died of stomach cancer on September 16, 2017, at the age of 34.[24]

Nabeel was featured in a 2018 documentary, American Gospel.[25] American Gospel was created in response to the Prosperity Gospel movement that is largely popular throughout the United States and the Western world today. The film was dedicated to him, since he passed away from cancer before it was completed. In the film, he discusses the importance of sharing the Good News of the Gospel with others.

• David Wood (Christian apologist)
• Ravi Zacharias
• Christian Apologetics

• Quotations related to Nabeel Qureshi (author) at Wikiquote
• Official website
• Articles by Dr. Qureshi for Ravi Zacharias Ministries
• Evidence for God's Unchanging Word Ministry of Dr. Nabeel Qureshi and Prof. Faouzi Arzouni