Recently, I attended a special lecture by a Korean missionary with Canadian citizenship on the true nature of Islam and Muhammad. The content was truly shocking. Learning about the records and teachings of the Quran, Islam’s holy scripture, and the history of Muhammad—whom they believe to be the ‘perfect human’ and the ‘final prophet’—revealed a hidden side I had never known before. The doctrines borrowed from Judaism, the Quran verses filled with hostility toward non-believers, and the supporting evidence exposed the true face hidden behind the name of religion.

What was most astonishing was the paucity of historical evidence. The fact that the first historical records of Muhammad appeared only 200 years after his death, and that Mecca, Islam’s holy city, is absent from any ancient records prior to the 700s, was deeply perplexing. Furthermore, contrary to the claim of being ‘the complete and unchanging revelation of God,’ the existence of hundreds of different versions over 1,500 years revealed Islam’s inherent contradiction.

The scale of Islam’s slave trade history, spanning from the 700s to modern times, was also beyond imagination. While people often associate ‘African slaves’ with the United States, it is said that only 5% of the total population actually went to America. The remaining vast population was sold into the Islamic slave markets, and the tragic statistic that four out of five perished during the crossing of the desert after being captured points to a colossal tragedy in human history. A historian’s assessment of Muhammad as “the worst human trafficker in history” was by no means an exaggeration, given the records of plunder and slaughter documented in the Quran.

It was both puzzling and frightening that modern society’s criticism of a religion that institutionalized such horrific murder and slavery was so muted. Watching Crown Prince Bin Salman, who recently visited Korea for the ‘Neom City’ project, meet with heads of major domestic corporations, I deeply contemplated the need to be spiritually alert and wary of Islam’s expansion hidden behind the power of massive ‘oil money’.

After the lecture, I gratefully had the opportunity to share a meal and fellowship with the missionary couple. I learned the true meaning of partnership through the missionary’s overflowing energy, humorously stating, “God favors the working intellectual,” and through the gentle yet authoritative prayers of his wife. The missionary’s confession, “God uses even a single moment of experience without waste,” resonated deeply, overlapping with last Sunday’s sermon message: “He restores a life wasted by moths in an instant.” The testimonies and conversations that flowed without noticing the passing time, followed by tea time, were a blissful, heaven-like experience. This precious encounter reminded me anew how God’s work flows through individual lives and world history. I already look forward to our next reunion.