Harun Ibrahim was born in Israel to Arab-Muslim parents, studied in a Jewish school, and married a devout Christian woman. After years of examining these religions, he was faced with a choice: Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.
Ibrahim ultimately made a decision to follow Christ, thanks to his praying wife and a timely encounter with a random man on the street.
Ibrahim recalled the conversation during an appearance on the 700 Club. The man told him, “‘Well, you are not going to be in the kingdom of God because Jesus said that no one will come to the Father except through [Him].'”
“And I really didn’t like that,” he recounted. “I said, ‘You are rude.'”
The man began to share the Gospel with the young Muslim and challenged him to actually read the Bible.
“He challenged me to read this Bible verse, and it was in the Gospel of John. And I read the Gospel of John seven times in a row. I just like really loved the person called Jesus. I couldn’t resist. I just had to accept him as my redeemer, as my Savior,” he shared.
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Ibrahim began to burn with a desire to share the Gospel with Muslims and served many years as a missionary reaching Muslims in the Arab nations. He later started Al Hayat Ministries in 2003 to boldly preach the Gospel and challenge Islam. Since then, the ministry has seen more than 100,000 come to faith in Jesus Christ.
“Our vision extends to equipping believers who come from Muslim backgrounds with the necessary tools and knowledge to fulfill the Great Commission,” reads a statement on their website.
Ibrahim serves as the Director of Al Hayat Ministries, and recently told the Keeping It Real Israel podcast that they have reached millions of people with the Gospel in a short time.
“Just an example that [in] 2023 we received 109 million viewer reactions or responses and thousands of people accepting Christ,” he shared. “This means that there is hunger in the Muslim world to hear about Christ.
Ibrahim explained that what makes his programming unique is that he is speaking to Muslims in the culture and language they understand.
“When Christian TV was first brought into the Arab world, it was programs that were made by Christians for Christians in the Christian language in [the hopes)] that Muslims would watch the shows,” he told the 700 Club. ” When I started to produce TV programs, I was not happy to see that the whole year could be, maybe, 15 to 20 Muslims accepting Christ.”
His unique approach is giving many more people the opportunity to meet Jesus.
“I think that media, TV, internet are here to help us fulfill the Great Commission, and the Muslim world was [once] isolated. It was closed, and now through the satellite channels, internet, [and] social media, we can reach the Muslims.
“Many of them are finding the truth,” Ibrahim continued. “I do believe that a great revival is very soon to come to every single Muslim country.”
For many Muslims, accepting Christ means being rejected from family and potentially endangering their lives.
“Islam is a religion that does not allow people to change it, and if you reject Islam, you will be punished. You will be given three days as a chance to get back. If not, then you can be persecuted,” he told CBN News in 2020.
“In many of the countries, they don’t kill them, but in some of the countries, they do. Many people would lose their jobs, their families, their children, their wives, and then their families. Unfortunately, we can say that in some cases, they lose their lives,” Ibrahim explained.
He encouraged Christians who have a desire to reach Muslims to begin praying first.
“When you start praying for the Muslim world, God will guide you [in] what to do,” he explained.
