Kurdish writer finds God
through Bible translation

“I am from a Muslim family – my father was a well-known and powerful Islamic leader and we were raised as good Muslims. As a student I was a tireless searcher, reading Islamic theology, history, philosophy and mythology, but I was faithless in my heart.

“One day in 1993 I was approached by the Bible Society who asked me to participate in the translation of the new Kurdish New Testament. I accepted with joy and respect. ‘Now my people will be able to read something in their own language,’ I thought, ‘and that will strengthen our culture.’

Love his enemy?

“I started translating the Book of Matthew. When I came to Matthew 5:44, I was amazed at what I was reading – I could not understand how a man could love his enemy. In my tradition, ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ contained the notion of justice. I had never read anything like this before and I was shaken.

Small and humble

“I closed my eyes and saw Jesus standing there in front of me. I felt so small and humble. I looked up at Jesus and accepted him as my saviour. My heart was rejoicing. For years I had been longing for something that I could not explain but now I felt I had found peace and belonged to God.

“I have travelled much in my life, in Syria, Iraq and other countries in the Orient. I do not want to get involved in politics but I have seen so much pain and suffering caused by hatred and evil. I want to pass God’s love on to others and to establish a Kurdish church for my people.

“I feel very fortunate to have discovered Christ. I still have many Muslim imam friends and many university professors are my personal friends. I miss no opportunity to explain my faith to them, and they respect me for what I stand for.

“I recently donated a large library of 4,000 books to a Kurdish academic foundation, comprising an important collection of Islamic theological books as well as Christian literature. I gave them on condition that the Christian books would never be separated from the rest.