A Conversation at the Pickleball Courts — A Night I Won’t Forget
What Happened When I Shared Jesus with a Muslim at the Pickleball Courts
Recently at the pickleball courts, I got to have an amazing night and great conversation with a Muslim.
I want to write out the full story — partly to remember it, and partly because moments like this remind me how open people really are when approached with honesty and love.
Wind, Laughter, and an Unexpected Nudge from God
I had been playing a few games of pickleball with a guy I had just met. The wind was wild — sending the ball in unpredictable directions — and we were laughing through every point.
After our first game, something happened that I’ve experienced before in moments when I pray for healing or step out to talk with someone.
Sometimes I hear a kind of internal “don’t go talk to them” impression — a quiet inner resistance that has shown up in those moments more times than I can count.
When I glanced over at him, I felt that same internal hesitation.
But I also know this:
Jesus calls us to share the Gospel, to love people, and to bring healing wherever we go. His voice is always greater than my fears, internal hesitations, or the enemy.
And I’ve learned to count that as the enemy trying to stop me.
So I chose to go talk with him anyway.
As the conversation unfolded, I saw why — it turned into one of the most meaningful spiritual conversations.
“Are you going to ask me about Qur’an 3:3?”
As we rested, I asked if he could read Arabic. He said yes.
So I asked, “Can I show you something?”
Immediately he smiled and said:
“Are you going to ask me about Qur’an 3:3?”
I laughed — because that’s exactly where I always start. Qur’an 3:3 says that Allah revealed the Torah and the Gospel, and Muslims are called to believe those revelations.
Family of Imran (3:3)
نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًۭا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَأَنزَلَ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةَ وَٱلْإِنجِيلَ ٣
He has revealed to you ˹O Prophet˺ the Book in truth, confirming what came before it, as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel
https://quran.com/3/3
Family of Imran (3:4)
مِن قَبْلُ هُدًۭى لِّلنَّاسِ وَأَنزَلَ ٱلْفُرْقَانَ ۗ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌۭ شَدِيدٌۭ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌۭ ذُو ٱنتِقَامٍ ٤
previously, as a guide for people, and ˹also˺ revealed the Decisive Authority. Surely those who reject Allah’s revelations will suffer a severe torment. For Allah is Almighty, capable of punishment.
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran
https://quran.com/3/4
I asked if he had a Gospel.
He said no.
So I handed him one.
We opened to 1 John 5:7 and read it together aloud.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. — 1 John 5:7 KJV
Then we were called back in for another game.
Picking Up Where We Left Off
After the game, he still wanted to talk.
“Tell me more about how the Bible got passed down,”
he said.
So we kept going.
How the Bible Was Preserved
I walked him through the history:
The NT was written in Koine Greek, and Greek-speaking Christians kept those manuscripts
The Byzantine Empire preserved the Greek New Testament for centuries
After Constantinople fell in 1453, Greek texts and scholars flowed into Europe
We have over 5000 Greek Manuscripts
The printing press already existed and made those texts widely available
Erasmus compiled a Greek New Testament using Byzantine manuscripts — this later became the Textus Receptus, The Text Received by All
The King James Version relied heavily on that printed Greek text
He genuinely wanted to understand.
Reading Scripture Together
We opened the Bible and read:
We talked about Jesus as the Word, the Creator, revealed in the flesh, the new birth, and God’s love in John 3:16.
“What do you think about Muhammad?”
Eventually, he paused for a moment and asked me a question that really matters in conversations like this:
“What do you think about Muhammad?”
I took a breath and answered him respectfully, because I know this question can shut down a conversation if it’s handled carelessly.
I started by asking him what he believed.
Did he believe the Qur’an? — Yes.
Did he believe the Hadith? — Yes.
Did he believe the Hadith collected from Aisha? — Yes.
He affirmed all of them without hesitation.
So we talked honestly about Aisha’s age — how the earliest Islamic sources, including Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, consistently record that Muhammad married her at six and consummated the marriage at nine. Not as rumor, not as polemic — but as Islam’s own earliest writings.
He acknowledged that many Christians bring this up, but often in an attacking way. He also acknowledged that I wasn’t bringing it up in an attacking way.
And that’s when I told him the real reason I started studying Islam in the first place.
Why I Started Studying Islam
Last year at a park, some Muslims doing dawah approached me. We talked for a long time. When the topic of Aisha came up, I asked how they personally understood it.
Their answer shocked me.
They told me — without hesitation — that they would give their own 6- and 9-year-old daughters to a 50-year-old man if it followed Muhammad’s example.
This was in DFW, right in the middle of Texas, the Bible belt.
He gently interrupted and said, “That was only for that time.”
I explained that this same practice still exists today in:
Iraq
Iran
Afghanistan
Pakistan
And then I explained that in the UK, even though civil law now sets the minimum marriage age at 18 and criminalizes underage marriage, some communities still conduct illegal underage religious “marriages.”
Then I asked:
“Does the Qur’an say Muhammad is the excellent example to be followed in all things?” (Surah Al-Ahzab (33:21))
He said yes.
So I followed with:
“If his example is for all Muslims in all times, how can something he did be ‘only for that time’?”
That naturally led into comparing the lives and teachings of Muhammad and Jesus.
What Yasir Qadhi Has Publicly Admitted
I then asked if he had heard of Yasir Qadhi.
He said yes — Qadhi is his imam.
So I shared some things Qadhi has said publicly that many Muslims never hear.
These don’t mean Qadhi rejects Islam — but they do show that the academic world views Islamic historical claims differently than most mosque teaching.
1. Yasir Qadhi on Hadith in the Academy
Quote:
“NOBODY in the academy affirms the Muslim Sunni science of Hadith, NOBODY.
It is considered to be completely DISCREDITED.”
Full video:
Exact moment:
2. “The Standard Narrative Has Holes In It.”
Qadhi acknowledges that the simplified Islamic story of perfect Qur’anic preservation doesn’t fit the manuscript evidence.
Video:
3. “Which Qur’an?” — The Interview With Hijab
Hijab presses Qadhi on which Qur’anic reading is authoritative.
Qadhi repeatedly says:
“This is not a discussion we have in public.”
Eventually he acknowledges modern Qur’ans are a combination of readings.
Video:
4. Mohammed Hijab Acknowledging Variants
Hijab himself accepts differences across Qur’anic readings.
Video:
Jay Smith, Raymond Ibrahim, and the Question of Origins
Later he asked whether I believed Muhammad was a real historical figure.
I told him about the Jay Smith vs. Raymond Ibrahim debate:
“Did Muhammad Exist?”
I also shared some of Jay Smith’s research — noting that Muslim scholars dispute his conclusions, but his material still raises serious questions.
31 Different Qur’ans — Jay Smith’s documented but disputed claim
Islam’s Origins — Part 1
Islam’s Origins — Part 2
The Water Illustration
I shared a simple picture with him — one that has helped a lot of people understand the difference between what we offer God and what God offers us.
I told him to imagine holding a glass of perfectly clear, refreshing water. Then you squeeze in a little lemon. The lemon doesn’t ruin the water — it actually makes it better. It’s clean, bright, good.
“That’s what your good deeds look like,” I said. “Generosity, prayer, kindness — they add something pleasant to your life.”
Then I said, “But imagine taking that same clean water… and putting in just one drop of filth.”
I held up my fingers to show how small the amount could be.
“Just one drop. Nothing you can even see from far away. But it’s in there.”
Then I asked him:
“Would you drink it?”
Without hesitation, he said no.
And I said:
“Exactly. That’s what it looks like when we offer God our life — a mixture of good works and sin. We might have a lot of lemon… but we also have a little filth. And no one would drink it, much less offer it to a holy God.”
Then I explained:
“Christianity doesn’t say ‘try harder to make the water cleaner.’
Christianity says you need a new cup.
You need to be born again.
That’s why Jesus gives us His righteousness.
Not improved water. Not filtered water.
New water — clean from the start.”
He listened quietly.
And when we got back to John 3 — where Jesus says, “You must be born again” — it made sense to him in a way it hadn’t before.
“It seems like Christians are allowed hope.”
At one point he paused and said:
“It seems like Christians are allowed hope.”
I told him Christians not only have hope —
we have assurance, because salvation rests on God’s promise, not our performance.
We compared Christianity and Islam:
Christianity
You become a son
God loves you unconditionally
Your sins are forgiven
You receive new birth
You have assurance
Islam
You remain a servant
God loves you if you’re good enough
No guaranteed forgiveness
You must earn acceptance
You have no assurance
I told him honestly:
“If Islam is the final revelation, it feels like a downgrade.”
He didn’t disagree.
Wrapping Up the Night
When the night ended, he told me he genuinely enjoyed the conversation. I did too!
I gave him two copies of the New Testament which includes the Gospels.
I gave him my number.
I told him how much Jesus loves him.
He told me he had not heard a number of these things before.
I walked away praying the seeds would take root, and he would be saved.
Please Pray for Him
Pray that he opens and reads the Gospels.
Pray that the Scriptures move his heart.
Pray that he has dreams and visions of Jesus.
Pray that truth draws him to Jesus.
Pray that he finds the hope he sensed in Christianity.
Thank you.