NEW BOOK
Muslim Does Business
With God
By Karen Hardin
Guest Writer
CBN.com – “According to www.islamicpopulation.com, 40 percent of the Gentile world is Muslim, nearly half of the unsaved population. Yet Romans 11:25 states, I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel
has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
“My question to you is, ‘How can there be a fulfillment of the Gentiles if there has been no revival among the Muslim community?” – Faisal Malick
* * *
“Congratulations!”
Faisal Malick turned at the words to see a fellow business man walk up to him
\with hand extended. The meeting of approximately 20,000 businessmen had just dismissed and the noise and movement of the exiting crowd only added to the confusion Malick felt at the man’s statement.
“Congratulations for what?” he questioned barely masking the anger that had boiled to the surface in response to the meetings agenda.
“On accepting Christ as your Savior,” the man replied now somewhat hesitant at Malick’s unexpected response.
The anger, which had hovered just below the surface, now poured out as Faisal boldly declared, “The mountains can shake and the earth move, but there is nothing that can make me confess that your Jesus is the Son of God.”
Malick considered the invitation that had lured him to the service in the first place. Attending an out-of-town business conference, an offer had been given for front row seats at the afternoon business conference for all who attended the Sunday morning session. As an entrepreneurial businessman and eager student, Malick understood that the best instructors are those that had already achieved success in their area of instruction and purposed to take advantage of opportunities to learn from the “masters”. A guaranteed front row seat for the seminar was an enticing reward for simply attending the early meeting.
It wasn’t until the morning session started that the realization of the purpose of the Sunday service became clear. As the speaker stepped to the podium, he welcomed the crowded room announcing, “Jesus is the Son of God.”
Blasphemy! Malick screamed inwardly as a short sermon began to unfold. The abrasive message continued as the speaker made an additional statement that caused Faisal’s heart to burn within him.
“There are only two books claiming to be the word of God. The Bible is and the other is not.”
“I knew he was talking about the Qur’an—(the Muslim’s holy book equivalent to the Christian’s Bible)--and that this man was deceived,” Malick shared determining that as soon as the service concluded, he would address the speaker and set the record straight. So when the call came for anyone who wanted to accept Christ to come forward, Malick was the first out of his seat with the intent to address the speaker personally. But he never got the chance. Within seconds the aisles were filled with literally hundreds of men and women responding to the invitation for salvation.
“I didn’t understand what was happening and for a moment wondered if they knew my intentions and were coming to ambush me,” Malick confessed.
As the make-shift altar filled, Malick was literally pressed against the stage with no way of escape. As the speaker led the group in a confession for Christ, Faisal resisted instead reciting the Kalmah – the Muslim statement of faith recognizing Allah as the only God and Muhammad as his last and final messenger.
Now as the room emptied, Faisal contemplated the Sunday morning religious service along with the packed altar at the end. He had to acknowledge that the service had been successful…just not on him. Malick, a devout Muslim determined that he would learn the components of a successful service and then use the knowledge to draw as many Christians into Islam as possible.
Little do they realize it, Faisal thought to himself, but inadvertently these Christian businessmen are going to help me do it!
To understand Faisal Malick’s complete devotion to his cause, it is necessary to understand the background in which he had been raised
Born in Pakistan to a Sunni Muslim family, Faisal and his family immigrated to Canada when he was just a year old. By an early age he had already received his citizenship and the family fully expected to remain in Canada. However, the untimely death of his father when Faisal was only seven marked a significant change as his mother—in an effort to preserve their heritage--moved the family back to Pakistan so that Faisal and his two sisters could learn about their rich culture. More importantly, she was determined that he would be educated in the ways of the Qur’an.
From the age of nine to sixteen, Faisal received instruction in math, language, history, English and the Qur’an as did every male student in Pakistan. Islamic studies were mandatory. However, at the conclusion of each day he then received additional tutoring for two to three hours in the Qur’an. Of that season, Malick admits, “This level of instruction was definitely not typical of every Muslim family, but it was also not as extensive as those training for the clergy.”
Although he had been steeped in religious training, the message did nothing to alleviate the growing feeling of emptiness in side.
“At that time there seemed to be no meaning in life. I wasn’t really suicidal,” Malick explains, “but certainly without a sense of meaning.”
And so at the young age of seventeen, Malick left home and moved to America completely on his own to finish high school.
As he started the eleventh grade, Faisal was also starting his first business in network marketing—his entrepreneurial gifts already seeking an outlet. He graduated high school with an almost perfect GPA even with his advanced placement studies and the offer of a university scholarship. But the lure of the business world beckoned and Faisal felt a strong desire instead to return to Canada. It was there that he was first invited to church.
“A friend invited me to attend. Of course, I declined and instead invited him to attend the Mosque with me. It was this same friend who later invited me to attend the business seminar where I was confronted with the Sunday morning religious service.” It was a turning point that would change the rest of Faisal Malick’s life.
“After that first service, I made a decision that I would use this same strategy to promote Islam. I started to learn the Christian terminology so that I could speak to Christians about the Qur’an and that they could come to know the truth. I then attended two additional religious services connected with the business conventions. It was at my third service that God showed up.”
As the altar call was given at the conclusion of the meeting, Malick watched without emotion as others responded to the invitation for salvation. Suddenly he sensed God’s presence right in front of him.
“It was as if He was standing in front of me and His presence went right through me. My first thought was why would God manifest himself among these people! Immediately I had a multitude of questions racing through my mind. But in my heart, I asked him only one.”
“God, what are you doing here? I thought these Christians were the bad guys.”
In response Malick heard an audible voice reply three times with the same answer, “No, these are my children.”
“As He said it His voice moved through my being and everything I had ever known up to that moment shattered,” Malick remembers of the life-changing experience. “Nothing else, past, present or future mattered as the revelation that Jesus Christ is the Son of God filled my being. It was as if that was the only thing I really knew at that moment. In the next instant, I was joining the crowd now filling the altar, to confess Christ as Lord.”
“Take away my stony heart and give me a new heart,” was Malick’s cry as he experienced new birth.
“I didn’t completely understand what happened or how completely I had been changed until later,” Malick explains as he shared of the transformation that took place.
Now the same zeal which had motivated him to win others to Allah was directed at winning people to Christ. Sharing his testimony became a daily event and within two or three years Faisal had led approximately fifteen hundred people to the Lord from Muslims to Jews and Hindus.
“I didn’t realize that what I was doing was unusual,” he continued.
The new zealous convert didn’t always make it easy for those he shared with to become a Christian either.
“I wanted to make sure people were really ready,” Malick says with a laugh. “And so I would ask them several questions to make sure their hearts were sincere. After an individual accepted Christ, they would often call me later regarding someone else they had met and begun to share their own testimony. When they encountered questions too difficult for them to answer, they would call me and I would set an appointment for their friend to meet me at the local Perkins restaurant. I would have them both come. In that way I could answer the questions of the non-believer and it would also be a training session for the new believer. I was very serious about it.”
He was so serious, in fact, that he started a meeting on Sunday nights in his home open to anyway who wanted explanations about the Bible.
“It wasn’t a Bible study,” Malick clarified quickly. I didn’t know what a Bible study was yet, I just wanted to be available for those who wanted to know more.”
During this time, Faisal was in Canada living in a rental home owned by his parents from years before. Somehow word reached his mother and step-father in Pakistan of Malick’s interest in Christianity. Extremely concerned, they made a decision half way around the world that would greatly hamper Malick’s activities…at least for a season.
“I came home one day and the locks were changed,” Faisal continued. “I had suspicions that something was happening because realtors were coming in and out of the house, but then I came home one day and the house was sold. Suddenly I had no where to go.”
For the next several months, Malick lived in his ’87 Nissan Centra. With boxes filling the back seat, he drove to different parking lots each night usually choosing hotels in hopes of camouflaging himself from detection.
“I slept sitting up in one of the worst winters Canada had experienced in many years. The temperature was often around negative 15 Celsius. Once parked I would wrap in a blanket and turn up the heater until I was warm, then I would turn off the motor and go to sleep. Eventually I would wake up because of the cold and start the process over again until I could go back to sleep.
In the morning I would drive to McDonalds where I would shave.”
In spite of his dismal circumstances, Malick never stopped ministering to others.
“I knew Muslims and Hindus who knew me were making fun of me. They would make comments such as, ‘You’ve turned your back on the God of Islam and now he is judging you.’ But it didn’t matter because there was a joy in my heart even though I was living in my car.”
Eventually Malick was able to move into a basement apartment and resume a more normal lifestyle, but soon found that the hardships he had faced were simply preparation for an even greater challenge…his family.
It had been six years since Faisal had seen his family in Pakistan. During that time his entire belief system had changed and now stood diametrically opposed to all he had been taught. He knew that eventually he would face his family and prayed for God’s help to know when the time was right. Two previous invitations had fallen through at the last minute due to complications on their side, but now his family continued to call for confirmation. Was it time to go?
“In my culture it would have been disrespectful to decline the invitation,” Faisal explained. And so as the door remained opened, Malick understood that this was indeed God’s timing—his first trip to see his family since accepting Christ.
“My family had already received word from my aunt that I had changed,” shares Malick, “although they didn’t know at that time to what extent. Before our arrival, my aunt had called ahead and actually encouraged my family in Pakistan to tear up my passport on my arrival so that I would not be able to leave again. Because of her report, I know they were very apprehensive when I arrived.”
“My step-father is an attorney and a great man of integrity. He has made his living at being very good at reading people. My mother told me later that the minute he saw me at the airport he told her he knew that none of the things he had heard about me were true. In fact, he said he sensed I was a ‘holy person.’ This was important since my step-father was very well respected in both the family and community.”
But the extent of the change on Malick was undeniable. As the days wore on it became apparent that a conflict was unavoidable.
“We smell the stench of Christianity on you,” his mother confronted him with the rest of the family demanding that he recite the Kalmah reaffirming the deity of Allah and Muhammad as the final messenger of Allah.
“I can’t do that,” Malick explained calmly.
“What can you say?” she demanded taken by surprise at Malick’s refusal.
“I can say that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross, was born of a virgin, rose from the dead and now lives in me,” Faisal responded without hesitation.
Completely stunned by his response the room was completely silent. Faisal took advantage of the opportunity to share further with his family from the Bible—an opportunity he had prayed would open during his visit.
After three weeks in Pakistan, the time had come for Faisal to leave. Although his family had not accepted Christ, his step-father stated, “You have exceeded all my expectations and seem to be a pure and holy man of God.” Although they didn’t agree on the same Deity, God’s presence in Faisal’s life was undeniable.
Such high praise was certainly the favor of God on Malick’s life, but the most amazing acknowledgement was yet to come as his family continued.
“We love everything that changed about you except the Jesus part.”
As Faisal stood ready to depart he looked them directly in the eyes and responded, “Without Jesus you can’t have the rest.”
Today Faisal continues to share his testimony with anyone who will listen. He understands that God has given him a unique opportunity among the Muslim and Hindu people through both his background and what is referred to as the “mehrab.”
“In the Islamic world a mehrab is a mark on the forehead which Muslims believe is sign from God of a holy man. Hindus favour this mark too as a sign of God’s miraculous blessing. Many try to achieve this mark from their faithful devotion to the ritual of daily prayers. I have such a mark on my forehead. But what is most interesting is that it is not a birthmark, but just appeared when I was about fourteen years old. At the time, I didn’t understand its significance, but today I see it as a gift. Through this sign, God has opened doors of acceptance I could never open myself.”
It is not surprising that there are those who would like to see this door shut permanently. Of that Malick explains, “I have received offers of one million dollars on more than one occasion if I would stop preaching the Gospel,” he says with a laugh of the opposition that he has encountered from his witness. “Of course, I can’t do that.”
About Faisal Malick
Faisal Malick is the founder and president of Covenant of Life Ministries, a multi-faceted training organization that equips the church, ministers to leaders and brings timely prophetic revelation regarding the purposes of God.
He is a visionary leader, dynamic conference speaker, TV personality, and best-selling author. His compelling books include Here Comes Ishmael, Destiny of Islam, and Positioned to Bless. He and his wife Sabina are known as hosts of the popular television program “The Plumbline.” They have a strategic media mandate to the Muslim world and are a unique voice in our times. Visit the Malicks at www.covenantoflife.org.
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