By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Unlike most Presbyterian pastors, Mateen Elass was born to a Muslim father and grew up in Saudi Arabia. His mother was Catholic, and Elass says his childhood home was “secular.”

After identifying as Muslim until the age of 13, Elass began a spiritual quest that spanned several years. He studied under a yoga guru in India, took philosophy classes at Stanford, and read the teachings of Buddha, Confucius, and others.

It wasn’t until he visited a friend who attended a Baptist college that Elass was exposed to Christianity. His natural curiosity led him to ask students he met there about their beliefs and way of life. They encouraged him to read the Gospels to learn about Jesus Christ. Over the course of the next three days, Elass buried himself in the Bible, and says he was “blown away” by the stories about Jesus.

“I remember thinking if he were alive today, I would go try to find him and ask if I could become his student,” Elass says. 

In a sense, Elass did become a student when he converted to Christianity and ultimately became a pastor.

Between two worlds
Straddling two different worlds as he did—his past in Islam and his present in Christianity—Elass seemed like a perfect candidate to shed some light on the confusion many Christians felt with regards to the Muslim world after the September 11 attacks.

After writing an article about what Muslims think about America for a Christian magazine in October 2001, Elass was asked by Zondervan Publishing House to write a book about Islam for Christians in America.

The result was Elass’ book entitled Understanding  the Koran: A Quick Christian Guide to the Muslim Holy Book.

“My hope is to serve as a bridge,” Elass says. “I do want to dispel falsehoods about Islam and bring more understanding so people aren’t afraid of interacting with Muslims.”