Converts from Islam — in their own words
Famous Muslim converts to Christianity
Some of the most remarkable conversions in Christian history were of Muslim scholars and preachers — men who set out to refutethe Gospel and were won by it. If you're looking for real conversion stories from Islam to Christianity, or considering the step yourself, the richest are the 19th-century testimonies these converts wrote themselves. Here are the notable accounts, with the primary sources, free to read in the public domain.
The primary source
A Mohammedan Brought to Christ
Imad-ud-din Lahiz · 1885
He was a Sunni maulvi — a Muslim cleric and controversialist who debated against Christianity — and he became an ordained Church Missionary Society clergyman at Amritsar, honoured with a D.D. and serving as chaplain to the Bishop of Lahore.
Historical accounts in the public domain
1885 · Punjab, North India
Imad-ud-din Lahiz
The strongest single account in the genre. A fourth-generation Muslim scholar who translated the Quran into Urdu and debated against Christianity at the famous 1854 Agra debate — then, after years of restlessness, was baptized at Amritsar in 1866 and became an ordained clergyman. He wrote the memoir specifically to answer those who claimed he had converted for gain, which makes it an unusually pointed sincerity document.
c. 1860s · Dholpur / Punjab
Safdar Ali
A close friend of Imad-ud-din who converted after the same 1854 Agra debate. His Niaz Namah — letters to his family explaining why he left Islam and answering common Muslim objections — is genuine first-person material (much of it still only in Urdu).
1898 · Beirut, Syria
Kamil Abdul Messiah
From a prominent Beirut Muslim family, Kamil came to faith through the Arabic New Testament and joined the Arabia mission. His story survives as a biography by the missionary Henry Jessup that quotes his own letters extensively — a partly first-person testimony. He died young, apparently poisoned.
1905 · Ottoman Anatolia
John Avetaranian (Muhammad Shukri Efendi)
Born into an elite Muslim family and a working dervish and religious teacher, he found a Turkish New Testament, resigned his post, was baptized, and carried the Gospel to Turkic peoples as far as Kashgar. His 1905 German autobiography is the closest thing to a first-person Ottoman-world convert memoir. (The 1905 German original is public domain; modern English translations are not.)
Well-known modern converts
The tradition continues into our own day. These contemporary accounts remain in copyright, so we don't sell them — but they're the names most people are searching for:
Nabeel Qureshi (1983–2017)
A former Ahmadiyya Muslim who became a widely read Christian apologist; his memoir Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus is the best-known modern account.
Mosab Hassan Yousef (b. 1978)
Son of a Hamas co-founder, he described his conversion in Son of Hamas (2010).
Questions about Muslim conversions to Christianity
- Who is the most famous Muslim convert to Christianity in history?
- Among documented, public-domain accounts, Maulvi Imad-ud-din Lahiz is the most significant. A fourth-generation Islamic scholar who had translated the Quran and debated against Christianity, he converted in 1866 and became a leading Indian churchman — and left a first-person autobiography written to prove his sincerity. In the modern era, Nabeel Qureshi (Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus) is among the best known.
- Are there real historical accounts of Muslims converting to Christianity?
- Yes. The richest vein is 19th-century missionary-society autobiographies, especially from the Church Missionary Society in the Punjab — Imad-ud-din Lahiz and Safdar Ali being the strongest first-person examples, alongside Kamil Abdul Messiah in Syria and John Avetaranian in Ottoman Anatolia. Several are free to read in the public domain.
- Why are these conversion accounts relatively rare?
- Under Islamic law apostasy long carried the death penalty, and even after the Ottoman reforms of 1844 and 1856 conversions were often made discreetly. Where converts could publish openly — notably British-ruled India — a genuine autobiographical genre developed; elsewhere, testimonies mostly survive embedded in mission records rather than as standalone books.
- Can you convert from Islam to Christianity?
- Yes — many have, and left first-person accounts of doing so. It is worth being honest that it can be costly: under Islamic law apostasy was long treated as a grave offense, and in some places and families conversion still carries real social or legal danger. The testimonies gathered here are, in part, records of people who counted that cost. Imad-ud-din wrote his specifically to answer those who doubted a Muslim scholar could sincerely convert.
- Where can I read conversion stories from Islam to Christianity?
- The strongest first-person conversion stories are the 19th-century autobiographies listed above — Imad-ud-din Lahiz above all, alongside Safdar Ali, Kamil Abdul Messiah, and John Avetaranian. Each is free to read in the public domain, and Imad-ud-din's is also available as a clean edition. For the wider library of Christian conversion testimonies, see our full collection.
- Can I read these testimonies for free?
- Yes. Every account here is in the public domain and we link a free source. Imad-ud-din's autobiography is also offered as a clean, readable edition; the others link directly to their free full texts or references.
More conversion stories
T.S. Baker Books — testimonies in their own words, free sources linked.