At the beginning of Encountering Muslims, I was skeptical about how much new information I would learn, but I was pleasantly surprised week after week when it never got boring and I did keep uncovering new things. It turns out that my previous knowledge had really just scratched the surface and Encountering Muslims has given me a much deeper understanding about the world of Islam. Through this course I gained a more indepth perspective of the history and faith of Muslims than I ever knew. Now I’m more able to put into context the practices and beliefs of my Muslim friends, as well as to relate to them through the similar beliefs we share about God.

Originally, my husband and I signed up for this course because it was required by our organization, but I am so thankful we did. God knew we needed it. We were compelled not only to take in information but also wrestle with it and reflect on our response. We appreciated the extra nudging to interact with Muslims in our community through the course assignments to meet with a Muslim twice and also visit a mosque. This course has been invaluable to us as a couple, because we could go through the experience and process our changing attitudes and beliefs together. I feel that this should be required for anyone desiring to engage in a Muslim context, whether locally or globally.