CHRIST AND ISLAM – Understanding the Faith of the Muslims St. Andrews Road Church of Christ Instructor: Stewart Schnur Lesson Six of Six The Christian Answer to Islam In previous lessons we have explored the proper study of Islam, its basics, the prophet Muhammad, the Quran, and the place of Jesus in Islam.  Given what we know, we can move on to concrete proposals for an effective message to Muslims.  How do we “speak the truth in love”  (Eph 4:15) to those who follow Allah?  How do we point to Jesus to those who are so radically devoted to Muhammad?  What can help us to share the Bible’s teaching to those who believe it has been replaced by the Quran? Ten Convictions for Truth Tellers Over the years many of us have done our share of sharing the faith with people in other religions.  We often talk at length with Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses who come to our doors.  We hear what other religious leaders say and often read their publications and being so armed to understand, we do our best to teach them more perfectly the way of the truth.  In dealing with other sincere religious people let us mature and learn from both our successes and our failures how we can be more effective servants for our Lord.  Consider now ten convictions for those who seek to speak the truth.  Ten things we can pay attention to. Conviction One: Remember that the battle is the Lord’s.  Nothing hurts our position like our belief that everything depends solely on ourselves.  This conviction is not to deny our responsibility, but, rather, to put our responsibility in its proper place.  God is sovereign and Jesus is Lord even in the face of the threat represented by Islam, and the daunting task of trying to help Muslims see the beauty of Jesus. We are to do what we can and we are also to realize our limitations.  Too often we take the burdens of the world upon ourselves and we need not do that.  Jesus remember is the Savior not you or me.  Don’t be discouraged in the gospel is rejected.  Press on telling His story!  We are not preaching ourselves (2 Cor. 4:5). Conviction Two: Remember that LOVE is the most important tool in telling the story of Jesus.  Our reading in these lessons has focused on intellectual, theological, and biblical materials.  Outside of these lessons hopefully we have learned foundational lessons that can help us for the rest of our lives.  Our emphasis on intellectual learning about Islam, as important as it is, will amount to nothing if our gospel to Muslims in not rooted in love (1 Cor. 13). Evidence from missionaries to Islamic lands suggest that a loving presence is the most important ingredient in our Christian message.  Let us not be afraid to debate or offer intellectual dialogue with the Muslims but let us clearly do this in the power of and spirit of love. Conviction Three: Loose battles to win wars.  Pay attention to priorities.  Is it more important to belittle Muhammad and his mole proof for being a prophet, than it is to win a soul to Christ?  Pay attention as to how you are being read (2 Cor. 3:2).  Let us consider two things.  First, we can no longer prove absolutely what the actual physical marks on Muhammad’s body were.  Second, and more important, let us realize that most Muslims would find this kind of attack too direct.  It has an “in your face” quality to it that could hurt your ability to communicate effectively the gospel.  This approach can cause them to stumble and devalue our gospel message. Conviction Four: Different Strokes for Different Folks.  You should be very skeptical of anyone who tells you: “There is just one way to share your faith with a Muslim.”  We know there are multitudes of ways to share the gospel with our religious neighbors who may call themselves Christians.  God is a God of variety, and he knows that individuals are reached in radically different methods.  Contrast Saul’s conversion to your own.  Some Muslims will be helped thorough debate.  Others will be won over by reading the Gospel stories about Jesus.  Many Muslims are touched by the loving help of Christians who have become their friends.  A few might even be won by reference to the “mole” question! When you meet a Muslim do your best to assess the particular situation of this individual Muslim.  What is their background?  How devoted are they to Islam?  Do they seem to be the type who can handle disagreements?  Do they really care about truth?  Can you help them in some way? Conviction Five: Don’t think you are the Lone Ranger!  Realize the days of the Lone Ranger are over.   You and I are not alone in the sharing of our faith with the Muslim world.  In fact, like the author of Hebrews states, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1).  We are joined by thousands of missionaries who have given up home and security to reach the Muslim world. We are joined by martyrs who have shed their blood, willing to pay the ultimate price for daring to follow Jesus in his work. We are also joined by scholars who have spent years to understand Islam in an accurate way.  Some of the best scholars are not Christians but they care deeply about true and accurate information.  We learn from them.  Likewise, there are many mission organizations that focus on reaching Muslims for Jesus.   We are not alone.  Choose to learn all you can for the sake of the Gospel.   Conviction Six: Remember the power of belief systems to blind people.  It would be convenient if this conviction was simply about non-Christians who are blinded to reality.  However, Christians also can be blind to things because of their belief systems.  This is not saying anything against the gospel or biblical teaching.  Rather, mixed in with true gospel teaching are prejudices and dogmatic opinions that do not represent book, chapter, and verse.  So, we also must ask God to open our eyes to see and know when we may be wrong on some particular item, maybe confusing doctrine and opinion.  Consider the anti’s. This applies, of course, to the power of the Islamic belief system to blind (prejudice) Muslims to the truth of the gospel.  It helps for us as we share our faith to look at things through the eyes of the Muslim.    Consider how the gospel looks to him or her.  Think only to have heard since childhood that Christians do not love Muhammad!  In fact, Muslims believe we hate Muhammad so much that we deliberately changed our Bible so that it no longer gives the same message as the Quran. Conviction Seven: Remember that the battle is spiritual.  The mission to the Islamic world involves a battle far more important than one that is intellectual, cultural, or political.  Whether Muslims represent a real political threat to the United States is an important question to ask.  They may want us to discuss things with them on this level.  Let us not lower our standards or our message that way.  The battle for the souls of Muslims is a far more important issue, and that involves an incredible spiritual battle (Eph. 6: 10-18).  Once we really believe this, it will do something to our prayer life, and to the passion that we bring to our sharing of the faith.   Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4 that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.  In other words, we are not interested in bombs or guns.  Rather, our weapons are spiritual and they must be since it is a spiritual battle given, as Paul states, that Satan has blinded (2 Cor. 3:14; 4:4) the minds of unbelievers lest they come to the light of the gospel.   Conviction Eight: Ask for strength, wisdom, and guidance from God in your prayers.  Given the mission of the Church is spiritual, what can be more important than asking for the aid of God in the sharing of our faith?  Pray and ask God to lead you in the use of His word as you talk to Muslims.  Ask God to give you the right words, to show you the right path, to guide you as you seek to share the gospel. Conviction Nine: FOCUS ON JESUS.  Religions of the world have many things in common.  The crucial difference for us as Christians is the man Jesus Christ as he is revealed in the New Testament. Though tempted to discuss secondary issues keep Jesus Christ in the forefront of all your discussions. There is nothing more important than to focus on Jesus as we share with Muslims.  This makes everything else we do pale in contrast.  To point to Jesus is the greatest act of sharing we can make.  We can and will loose time and souls if we spend too much time in debate or argumentation over secondary issues.  Remember as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:23 where “we preach Christ crucified to the Jews (and Muslims) a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,”  We must “determine not to know anything among ourselves EXCEPT Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). For us to share our faith we must therefore firstly make sure of ourselves.  Do we really know Jesus Christ?  Do we really understand what it means that He was crucified? Conviction Ten: Know when to stop.  Jesus was much more realistic about the human condition than many of his followers.  He knew the hearts of humans and he recognized that some people do not want to hear the gospel. This is why he told his followers that there is a time to stop sharing the gospel and move on to others.  “And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” (Luke 9:5).   There is no way to be certain when we have reached that point.  Further, it is better to err on the side of mercy and patience than to prematurely halt our sharing of the gospel to certain individuals.  However, there is a time to stop, and it could hurt our Christian example by continuing to push.  Timing might not be now.  It might not be ever.  Be patient with both yourself and the one you are studying with.  Pray that others in the future might be used of God to bring this soul into His harvest that you have planted a seed with. Crucial Questions in Muslim Dialogue We can now focus on some particular issues that always arise in the Christian dialogue with Muslims.  To handle these, let’s put these things in the form of a question and then give us some insight as to how these questions might be answered. QUESTION: How do I defend the Trinity when Muslims say that this contradicts Christian belief in one God?  Simply admit upfront that the so called “Trinity doctrine”, the belief that there are three persons in the One True Living God is very difficult to understand.  However, that something is difficult to comprehend is no proof that it is untrue, otherwise we would not believe that God is everywhere (how can he do that?).  The main point to make on the “Trinity” is that it is the teaching of God in the New Testament, and it is based on the very teaching of Jesus Christ.   I sometimes use an egg to explain the idea of the trinity.  The egg is defined as having three parts.  The yolk, the white, and the shell!  One of the three by themselves is not defined as an egg.  God through the New Testament is defined by God as being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  One of the three by themselves to the exclusion of the other two is not a complete definition of God.   Another thing that can be done is to ask the question.  Can you divide yourself into two or three persons if you want to where you will be both distinctive and united in all you do?  The answer will obviously be no.  Then ask, “Can God do anything?”  Can God with a higher mindset than you or me for whatever His perfect will is choose to communicate with his creation as three persons if He the ONE true living God so wills it?  Finally ask if God is bigger than the human mind can fully comprehend?   QUESTION: How do I defend the New Testament when Muslims say that there are different versions of Greek manuscripts?  Basically, the Muslim is playing trivial pursuit here.  The differences between what is said in one manuscript versus another involve minor differences that do not have any impact on the basic teaching of the New Testament.  Actually, the textual transmission or copy of the New Testament is proof of its authenticity and also proof that the Muslim view of the gospels is rooted in blind obedience to the Quran’s teaching. You might also say to the Muslim that there is something problematic in a prophet who points to previous scripture as proof of his message but shows little awareness of the vast body of material in this scripture.  Muslims, of course, show little interest in serious historical investigation of the Bible, and they are far from open to the possibility that Muhammad may have deceived them by his own limited and distorted knowledge of Jesus. QUESTION: What do I say to the Muslim who argues that the Quran is the greatest miracle performed by Allah?  Let us consider three strategies here.  First, rather than disagree, you might use the Quran to point to Jesus.  Ask the Muslim if they would be willing to study about Jesus since he was so influential in God’s witness before Muhammad.  Second, you could dispute the Muslim claim by engaging in a debate about the Quran’s integrity and greatness.  You need to make sure you know what you are talking about before you take this second approach.  If you have not read the Quran, your point will sound rather weak.  Third, you might want to challenge the Muslim to read the Gospel of John and ask him what part of the Quran he would like you to read.   By a miracle we need to understand that the Quran is said by Muslims to be given by Allah through the angel Gabriel to one man Muhammad over a period of twenty three years.  Muhammad it is said could neither read nor write and therein is found the miracle.  Muslims have only ONE witness to their Quran.   We learn from Deuteronomy 19:15, and Matthew 18:16, and 2 Corinthians 13:1 that it is necessary for there to be at least two or three witnesses to establish a fact.  Christians have the witness of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude to testify regarding who this man Jesus Christ is and to validate the New Testament. Question: What if the Muslim says that Christians are bigoted against Arabs and they are always supporting Israel.  On first impulse, we should admit that we know that many so called Christians in the west do portray Arabs in a bigoted way.  This is unfortunate and is sinful.  We must not forget that not all Arabs are Muslim.  There are Arabs who are our Christian brothers and sisters in Christ.  There is no justification for bigotry on the part of many Muslims who seek to prejudice their people with the Crusades, or for Christians who would prejudice people by valuing one group of people like Israel over another group of people the Arabs which are predominantly Muslim.  This is wrong before God who cares about all He created in His own image.  Furthermore it is reasonable to admit that our government’s support for Israel has sometimes blinded us and our news media to the mistreatment of Arabs by Israel.   However, for the sake of balance and fairness, let us remind ourselves that there is a pervasive Islamic hatred of Israel.  Let us ask if this is consistent with the Quran’s command for Muslims to allow both Jews and Christians freedom to practice their own religion.  Finally, it might simply be better to move quickly beyond these political questions to issues regarding the good news gospel about Jesus Christ. QUESTION: What if the Muslim complains that Christian women are immodest and do not wear veils?  In Surah 24:31 Islamic women are commanded to wear a veil.   We need to point out that one must not confuse the practices of western society as equal to what Christians believe.  As a Christian I am horrified that my western culture for the most part does dress far too often in an immodest way.  There is no excuse for this and I can agree with you on this point.   However the requirement found in the Quran for a woman to wear a veil as you know is not defined in the Quran and even in Muslim countries the definition of the veil does vary.  While we are talking about women, let me ask you about the lack of freedoms like even having a driver’s license that many of your clergy say according to the Quran are wrong. The issue of women’s rights is obviously central in our day.  With the advancement of the internet this issue is part of the world forum.  There is strong debate over what part culture plays in making ultimate religious decisions.  Many Muslim women say that they love wearing some sort of veil.  Is this not their right?  Furthermore, let us remind ourselves that the issue of the veil is also mentioned in 1 Cor. 11:2- 16).  Must all women be unveiled to prove they are free?  As Christians let us not forget, that the God of the Bible has chosen to set some limitations upon women regarding roles of leadership in the church (1 Tim. 2:9-15).  God has chosen from Adam to make the man to be the head of the home.  God has the right to make these calls. QUESTION: What should I say if a Muslim asks me about the source for Muhammad’s teaching?  Do I say it is from Satan?  Be careful and be wise.  The right answer is to say something like this: “While I do not believe Muhammad received his revelations from God, I believe that he was a sincere person and that he taught some crucial truths that the Arab people needed to hear like there is one true living God.   Most certainly, Muhammad was not a Satanist.  It is unfortunate but I do not believe that Muhammad ever knew the full revelation of God given through Jesus.  I think Muhammad was confused on his calling and claim to be a prophet.” In America we have one with the name of Joseph Smith who was sincere and believed that an angel gave him a special revelation in the English language.  He started what is referred to as the Mormon religion.  I believe he may have been sincere but I also believe that somehow he was misguided into thinking he received a special revelation “The Book of Mormon” and that he was a prophet.  Was the spiritual God of truth involved in Joseph Smith’s revelation?  I think not.  Was Satan the deceiver and father of lies involved?  Well, who else could have beguiled or deceived him? It is counterproductive to tell Muslims that Muhammad is from Satan, or that he heard Satan’s voice instead of the angel Gabriel.  We need to choose our battles and win the war for the soul we are studying with.  It is best to avoid this direct attack, and engage in a more subtle analysis by maybe using the example of Joseph Smith.  Ultimately I understand that Muhammad’s revelations are a product of his own dysfunctional background, the confusing things he heard about the Bible from others, and his own desires to be a religious leader.  Today we still hear of dysfunctional religious leaders like Jim Jones and David Koresh who claim to talk with God directly one way or another.  The followers of these men and others like them are sincere and beguiled in their commitment.  They can be and must be dealt with carefully by exposing them to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ which sets men free. QUESTION: What if a Muslim asks me something about Islam and I have no idea what they are talking about?  There is no need to panic.  No one can know everything about Islam.  Why not ask the Muslim to clarify their question and ask for help from them in getting to know Islam better?  One of the things we need to overcome is that feeling that we need to know everything.  We won’t and we don’t.  We need to feel comfortable with others helping us to understand what we do not understand.   Now remember that Muslims come from different backgrounds or denominations like those who call themselves Christians.  For the most part, you are most likely to meet a Sunni Muslim.  Virtually nine out of ten Muslims follow the Sunni version of Islam.  They differ with the smaller but more famous branch of Islam known as Shi’ite.  The latter have received enormous attention because of their dominance in Iran and Iraq.  The differences between Sunni and Shi’ite Islam revolve chiefly around the way they view succession of leadership after Muhammad.  And there are other types of Muslims.  Sufi Muslims emphasize a mystical interpretation of Islam.  There are also other minor Islamic groups in the Middle East and other countries.  In America, there are some radical groups like the Nation of Islam that get more attention from the media than the more dominant traditions like the Sunni. QUESTION: What if the Muslim asks me to share just one reason why they should leave the great faith of Islam?  The answer is simple.  Muslims should leave Islam in order to embrace Jesus, the Savior and Lord.  Jesus said one time (Mt. 13:46) that it is worth it to give up everything in order to gain the pearl of great price.  That pearl is the gospel, and the gospel is Jesus.  The Muslim gains a Savior who is above the Law since he is Lord of the Law.  This solves the issue of legalism.  The Muslim gains a friend since Jesus died for him.  This solves the issue of the lack of assurance found in Islam.  The Muslim gains peace over sin and death since he gains “the Prince of Peace” who conquered both through Calvary and the empty tomb. QUESTION: What if I am asked if we worship the same God as Muslims?  Our answer might be both “yes” and “no”, with a “please let me explain.”  First we need to make it clear that we share some common views about the one God who created heaven and earth.  For example, we agree with the Muslim belief that there is only ONE God who has no partners and that He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.   Second, we must also explain where we have totally different views of God.  Christians believe that God’ s full revelation is given in his eternal Son Jesus.  Muslims do not share this vision at all.  Further, the revelation in Jesus illustrates a more complete view of God’s love and grace.  It is very instructive that the Quran does not even once assert that “God is love.”  Third, we should present the warnings of Jesus (whom Muslims recognize as a true prophet) against those who fail to follow him as the one Son of the one eternal God.