Sharing a Flight With a Muslim After 9/11
Right after 9/11, I had to take a long flight. As I took my seat in the airplane, I found next to me a typical, young Muslim man. Right before the plane took off, he took out his pocket-sized Qur’an, and without looking left or right, began focusing on the words of the book and moving his head back and forth. With the movement of his lips, I knew he was reciting the Qur’an.
As his head went back and forth and the plane began to take off, my heartbeat started to increase. Fear, thoughts — Are we going to make this flight? Should I advise the pilot to take a look at my Muslim neighbor? Should they search the plane? Then I remembered the words: Love your enemy.
With all that love in my eyes, I looked at him and asked him: “How many times have you read the Qur’an?” The good-looking young Muslim looked back at me with the reflexion of my love to him in his eyes and said: “Sir, I have not even finish it through once.” I was practically a scholar in Islam, have read the Qur’an many times and written a commentary on it, and here was a young man who had not even read it completely through. How foolish it was to be afraid of him. I said to him: “You know, I have read the Qur’an many times.” We began talking about the Qur’an and the Bible. I had a wonderful rest of the trip, and as we flew high in the sky, I was flying even higher sharing the Word of God with him. He was a different man by the time we reached our destination.
As you consider this “Why Do You Fear Me?” conversation, I don’t want you to be intimidated. All we’re saying is this: Love conquers all fear. As you read these words, I hope that you have a personal experience with Christ. This is the only way we can conquer our own fear. Then we can make a difference in the Muslim world.
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