La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadu Rasool Allah.
—There is no deity except God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God.1
This is called the Kalima and is the Islamic confession of
faith in a nutshell. They are the first words that every Muslim baby
hears and they are often the last words a Muslim utters upon his
deathbed. For nearly one billion people this is not merely a
doctrinal creed—it is the foundation for every facet of their lives.
The Islamic faith is not simply an exotic Arabic religion. For many
centuries it was virtually dormant, but over the last 50 years it has
awakened and is spreading worldwide at an almost unprecedented rate.
If the Lord’s "Great Commission" is to be fulfilled it
is essential that we, as active, concerned Christians, understand what
Islam is. We must know both how to relate to the Muslim, and how to
"contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints" (Jude 3), "with gentleness and reverence" (1
Pet. 3:15).
Josh McDowell, well-known Christian author and apologist, has
succinctly summarized the situation:
There was a time when only specialized Christian missionaries
needed to be able to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ against the
attacks of Islam. Today every Christian has an opportunity and
obligation to present the gospel effectively and in Christian love
to the Muslims who have permeated our Western society. When your
neighbor, your mechanic, your favorite basketball player, your
employer or employee, or even your children’s friends could very
well be Muslims, the need for proper understanding and an effective
Christian witness is abundantly clear.2
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Before we begin our examination of Islam and its burgeoning
worldwide influence, we need to have some understanding of
Muhammad’s call to prophethood and the subsequent origin and growth
of Islam. it is not possible to investigate the Muslims’ truth
claims simply by looking at the Qur'an (pronounced Kor-an) and the
teachings of Islam. The reason for this is twofold. First of all, much
if not most of the Qur'an is unintelligible without an understanding
of the background against which the surahs (chapters) were delivered.
The Qur'an, unlike the Bible, has very little historical background
within its pages. Therefore, to really understand the Qur'an one must
know Islam’s early history.
In the second place, a great deal of Islam’s apologetic rests on
various historical events connected with its origin and growth. Hence,
in order to know why they believe what they believe we must first of
all know Islam’s "roots."
Muhammad was born in Mecca (in Saudi Arabia) around AD 570 and was
raised by his uncle, Abu Talib, a traveling merchant. Muhammad often
accompanied his uncle on caravans to Syria and possibly to other
locations as well. Little more is known with certainty about
Muhammad’s childhood. At age 25, he married a rich 40-year-old widow
named Khadijah.3 Muhammad’s marriage to the wealthy widow
"gave him rank among the notables of Mecca"4 and,
as the years passed by, allowed him more and more time to devote to
spiritual matters. He began to retire regularly to Mt. Hira, a
solitary place where he could pray and meditate. One night, during the
month of Ramadan (a sacred month for the pagans which was also made
sacred for Muslims), Muhammad was on Mt. Hira praying when he heard a
voice which commanded him to "proclaim" or to
"read."5 Later he heard the voice again speak,
saying, "Thou art the messenger of God, and I am Gabriel."6
This was the beginning of Muhammad’s ministry: at this point he
realized his calling and prophetic mission.
The early message of Muhammad was that there is only one God, and
that a judgment was coming upon the people of Mecca if they refused to
turn away from their idolatry and polytheism. Also included in his
preaching was a catalog of some of their other sins, such as female
infanticide.7
A slowly-growing but intense persecution began after Muhammad’s
public preaching commenced. The locals were antagonistic to his
message because Mecca was the main religious center throughout the
Arabian peninsula. Their only substantial source of income was the
many pilgrims who would come from all over to worship the multitude of
idols in the Ka'aba.8
John B. Noss, in his widely-used textbook Man’s Religions,
summarizes the feelings of the people in Mecca at the time:
Unimpressed though they were at first, his hearers, especially
those of the Quraysh tribe, at last became seriously disturbed. They
did not object so much to Muhammad’s insistence that there is but
one God and he (Muhammad) was God’s prophet—that might be
laughed off—but they stiffened with hostility at his forthright
denunciation of the worship of their idols. He could talk all he
liked about his belief in the resurrection of the dead, but when he
condemned the religion of Mecca and the worship of the Ka'bah idols
as leading to perdition, their ancient traditions (and the revenues
of the Ka'bah) were thereby threatened.9
Things remained like this for several more years. In spite of
increasing persecution and danger, the indefatigable Muhammad
continued his preaching in Mecca, albeit with only a few people
becoming Muslims. It was at this time that some residents of Yathrib,
a city a little over 100 miles north of Mecca, invited Muhammad to
come and live in their city. He agreed to do so and began to make
plans to leave.10
Hostile elements of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca became aware of what
was happening. They decided that Muhammad would be much more dangerous
as the leader of a neighboring city than he had been in Mecca, so they
planned to kill him.
Alerted to the situation, Muhammad and Abu-Bakr (one of his
earliest followers, who became his first successor or
"Caliph") fled and hid in a cave of Mt. Thaur, located only
three miles from the city. They remained there for three nights while
the Meccans fruitlessly searched for them.11 After this
they continued their journey to Yathrib, using "unfrequented
paths" until after many days they reached their destination
safely.12
This flight is called the Hijrah, which literally means
"emigration." Muhammad began this flight on June 16, AD 622.
The Muslims date their calendar from the Hijrah, just as the Christian
world dates its calendar from the birth of Jesus. So, in the Muslim
world "…AD 622 is 1 Anno Hegirae (AH)."13
Yathrib was later called "Madinat al-Rasul," literally
"the city of the Prophet," and is the modern city Medina.14
Over the next eight years the Meccans waged an intermittent war
with Muhammad and his growing group of followers. Finally, in AD 630
Muhammad marched on Mecca with a force of 10,000 men and entered the
city almost unopposed. Only 28 Meccans and two Muslims were killed in
the fighting. Muhammad magnanimously declared a general amnesty for
the entire city, with just a few exceptions.15 He then proceeded to
the Ka'aba and destroyed all of the idols one by one. The inhabitants
of Mecca swore allegiance to the prophet and for the first time the
"Muslim call to prayer" was heard in the "holy
city."16 Two years later, in June of AD 632, the tenth
year of the Hijrah, Muhammad died at his home in Yathrib.
ISLAMIC BELIEFS
Dr. Robert Ernest Hume, in his book The World’s Living
Religions, defines the names "Islam" and
"Muslim" for us:
The name which the founder himself used for designating this
faith expresses exactly the central principle—"Islam,"
meaning "submission" to God. Another word derived from the
same Arabic verbal root is the participle, "Muslim"...
which is used as a technical term to designate "those who
submit."17
The main tenets of Islam are listed as "articles of
faith." I will discuss them here in the order that most Islamic
sources give, although the Qur'an itself does not specify any
sequential order.
1. God (Allah)
The Qur'an has many beautiful passages describing the varied
attributes of God. However, the most important single quality that the
Qur'an stresses when speaking of God is His absolute unity. The term
for the opposite of the unity of God is called "shirk"
in the Qur'an: this is asserting that others share God’s attributes
or that He has a partner. This is such a detestable sin that it is
considered unforgivable.18
Whoever joins other gods with God,—
God will forbid him
The Garden, and the Fire
Will be his adobe. There will
For the wrong-doers
Be no one to help.
They do blaspheme who say:
God is one of three
In a Trinity: for there is
No god except One God.
(Qur'an 5:75- 76)19
Concerning this, Alhaj A.D. Ajijola, the former Attorney General of
Nigeria, wrote that, "The greatest service Islam rendered to
humanity was the exaltation and purification of the concept of God.
Islam strove to deliver humanity from a multiplicity of gods on the
one hand and from incarnationism on the other and to bring man back to
the Unseen God."20
2. Angels
Islam, like Christianity, believes in the existence of angels,
though some of the qur'anic teaching on this differs from that of the
Bible. In Islam angels are intelligent creatures who have been created
of light, do not possess free will, and have a multitude of duties to
fulfill. "They are sent to protect men, to administer God’s
punishments, to carry His messages, and to perform various other
functions."21 Each human being has two angels who list
all of his or her deeds, both good and bad, to be brought forth on The
Day of Judgment.22
Besides angels God has created, according to the Qur'an, other
beings called jinn. They are intelligent, sentient creatures, possess
freedom of choice, and are able to propagate their species. Some are
good and others are evil. "According to Islam, Satan (Iblis or
Shaytan) and his kind are jinn (not fallen angels) to whom God gave
leave to try to tempt man, to lure him away from submission and
obedience to Him."23
3. The Scriptures
The Qur'an mentions in various places
that God had previously sent down revelations or Scriptures to man.
The Qur'an says that God "sent down the Law (Of Moses) and the
Gospel (Of Jesus) before this," that is, before the Qur'an.24
It states elsewhere that God gave the Psalms to David. These three
revelations are called the Taurat (Torah), the Zabur
(Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel).
However, the Qur'an is believed to be God’s final and complete
revelation to man. For Muslims it supersedes these previous Scriptures
in beauty, depth, and authority.
4. The Prophets
The Arabic word "rasul" means "one who is
sent" or "a messenger," and the word "nabi"
means "one who carries information or proclaims news...."
There is no implication of "prophecy" or knowledge of
future events in the word "prophet" as used in the Islamic
sense.25
The Qur'an enjoins every true Muslim to believe in and honor all of
the prophets of God. According to Alhaj A.D. Ajijola, "The number
of the apostles of God is said to be more than a hundred thousand but
25 of them are more important than the others and these are distinctly
mentioned in the Holy Qur'an."26 These 25 consist
mostly of the Old Testament patriarchs, prophets, and kings, with only
three coming from the New Testament (Zacharias, John the Baptist, and
Jesus). It is interesting to note that of the non-biblical prophets
two who are accepted by many Muslims are Alexander the Great and Aesop
(of Aesop’s Fables).27
There are many places in the Qur'an where stories of Old Testament
personages are given, though oftentimes changed from the biblical
accounts.28 Nowhere, however, are there more differences
between the Qur'an and the Bible than in the sections speaking of
Jesus. His proper name in the Qur'an is Isa, perhaps coming
from "the Syriac Yeshu which derived it from the Hebrew Yeshua."29
He is always spoken of in the Qur'an with great respect and honor, as
are all of the prophets of God. Indeed, when referring to any of these
prophets the Muslim will always add a phrase of respect, such as
"Jesus, peace be on him."
In the Qur'an three surahs are named after references to Jesus, and
He is spoken of in 15 surahs (93 verses) altogether. The Qur'an has
much to say about Jesus, but the one thing that it emphasizes more
than anything else is that He was only a man, a messenger of God, not
the Son of God, or God in human flesh.
O People of the Book!
Commit no excesses
In your religion; nor say
Of God ought but the truth.
Christ Jesus the son of Mary
Was (no more than)
An apostle of God,
And His Word.
(Qur'an 4:171)
The Jews call ‘Uzair a son
of God, and the Christians
Call Christ the Son of God.
That is a saying from their mouth;
(In this) they but imitate
What the unbelievers of old
Used to say. God’s curse
Be on them: how they are deluded
away from the truth!
(Qur'an 9:30)30
Orthodox Muslims maintain that Jesus did not die on the cross,
believing instead that another person was substituted for Him, and
that He was taken up bodily into Heaven by God. Most Muslims also
believe that He will "come again at the last day, slay
anti-Christ, kill all the swine, break the Cross and remove the poll
tax from infidels. He will reign as a just King for 45 years, marry
and leave children, then die and be buried near Mohammad at
Medina."31
Of course all Muslims believe that Muhammad was the greatest
apostle and prophet of all, being the messenger of God’s final
revelation. Maulvi Muhammad Ali states, in a footnote within his
translation of The Holy Qur'an, that the "excellence of
the Holy Prophet over other prophets was... immeasurable."32
The Qur'an states that:
Muhammad is not
The father of any
Of your men, but (he is)
The Apostle of God,
And the Seal of the Prophets.
(Qur'an 33:40)
5. The Hereafter
All orthodox Muslims believe in the resurrection of the dead, a
terrible "Day of Judgment," the existence of hell with
eternal punishment for all non-believers, and in Heaven, where true
believers will exist forever in a garden of beauty and joy.
Concerning the sometimes very sensual descriptions of heaven that
we find in the Qur'an, J.N.D. Anderson, a Christian who is a renowned
expert on Islam,33 believes that "it is only fair to
add that the sensual delights of paradise are interpreted in
metaphorical terms by more spiritually-minded Muslims."34
This is confirmed by looking at the comments on these verses by both
Maulvi Muhammad Ali and Yusuf Ali in their own translations of the
Qur'an.35 However, as we read the verses, letting them
speak for themselves, these descriptions appear to speak of very
literal rewards for the righteous.
In them will be (Maidens),
Chaste, restraining their glances,
Whom no man or Jinn
Before them has touched;—
Then which of the favours
Of your Lord will ye deny?—
(Qur'an 55:56-57)
And We shall join them
To Companions, with beautiful,
Big and lustrous eyes.
(Qur'an 52:20)36
Samuel M. Zwemer, the Christian church’s greatest missionary to
the Muslims and a man who lived almost his entire life among them,
comments on this, and then quotes from a revered Muslim scholar:
What commentators say on these texts is often unfit for
translation. The orthodox interpretation is literal, and so was that
of Mohammad, because the traditions give minute particulars of the
sanitary laws of Heaven, as well as of its sexual delights.
According to Al Ghazzali (AH 450), Mohammad said: "The believer
in Paradise will marry 500 houris,37 4,000 virgins and
8,000 divorced women" Al Ghazzali is one of the greatest
theologians of Islam, and no orthodox Muslim would dispute his
statement."38
And finally, salvation in Islam is based on good works, primarily
on the true repentance of one’s sins and fasting. Suzanne Haneef
sums it up: "The Living and Merciful God is able to and does
forgive sins if repentance is sincere, and every human soul has direct
access to...His forgiveness without any intermediary or intercessor
whatever. Consequently there is no need for a Savior, and in any case
God Most High alone can save."39
6. The Divine Decree
The last article of faith pertains to the total sovereignty of God.
Since He is all-powerful and controls all things then "Nothing
can take place without His ordaining it, nor is there such a thing as
a random, chance event."40
Now surely Allah makes err
whom He pleases
and guides aright
whom He pleases.41
(Qur'an 35:8)
Concerning this "Divine Decree" Al Ghazzali wrote the
following:
He willeth also the unbelief of the unbeliever and the irreligion
of the wicked and, without that will, there would neither be
unbelief nor irreligion. All we do we do by His will: what He
willeth not does not come to pass....In creating unbelievers, in
willing that they should remain in that state; in making serpents,
scorpions and pigs: in willing, in short, all that is evil, God has
wise ends in view which it is not necessary that we should know.42
Thus in Islam God is the author of both good and evil. Muslims
loudly deny the biblical doctrines of the fall and original sin,
leaving them with no other alternative than that which we have just
seen.
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
There are five "pillars" of Islam or ways in which the
Qur'an enjoins the Muslim to worship God. The first we saw at the
beginning of this article, the Kalima or "declaration of
faith": "There is no deity except God, Muhammad is the
Messenger of God." This is the only declaration of belief needed
for one to be accepted as a convert into Islam.
The second pillar is prayer (salat). The devout Muslim is
called upon to pray five times a day, facing Mecca. The day of public
worship is on Friday, when all the adult males gather together at the
mosque.43
A period of fasting, called sawm, is the third pillar of
Islam. It is to be observed throughout the entire month of Ramadan
(the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar) from dawn until
sunset.
Zakat or the "poor due" is the fourth pillar.
This is a type of institutionalized alms-giving which consists of two
and a half percent of the Muslim’s total savings. The money may be
given to the poor or go towards furthering Islam (e.g., mosques,
religious schools, salaries for the mosque’s imam or
teacher, etc.).
The final pillar is the Hajj or the pilgrimage to Mecca.
This is required of all Muslims at least once during their lifetimes,
provided they have the means to do so.
ISLAMIC SECTS
Before we turn to a consideration of Islam’s current worldwide
expansion, we need at least to mention that there are a multitude of
different Islamic sects. The two largest groups are the Sunnites and
the Shi’ites, of whom the Sunnites make up about 90 percent of all
Muslims. Most Muslim countries, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan, are largely Sunnite. They derive their name from Sunnah,
which "refers to the deeds and words of the prophet."44
Hence, they are the traditionalists of Islam, following the traditions
of Muhammad (which were passed on orally for 200 years before they
were committed to writing) as authoritative only behind the Qur'an
itself.
The Shia or "sect of ‘Ali" broke off from the main body
of Muslims in the first century A.H. The division arose over a dispute
concerning the succession of leadership after Muhammad’s death. The
Shi’ites, who favored Muhammad’s son-in-law and nephew Ali,
believed that the caliph should have been divinely appointed, not
elected by mere men."45
Besides the bitter controversy over the caliphate a second major
difference between the Sunnites and Shi’ites concerns the doctrine
of the imam. For the Shi’ites imams are "divinely appointed and
divinely guided" leaders, and new ones appear from time to time
when most needed. Several times in Shi’ite history men have claimed
this position. The Sunnites believe the imam to be merely the leader
of the Friday prayer service.46
Today the Shi’ites are most populous in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and
parts of Africa. The consequence attached to the office of ayatollah
shows the tendency Shi’ites have of putting "confidence in a
charismatic figure rather than in a book."47
WORLDWIDE REVIVAL
In the Middle East
Less than a decade ago the emerging world power appeared to be the
Arabs. Between 1973 and 1979 the price of a barrel of oil rose from
less than $3 to as high as $39. "With daily production of 32
million barrels the 13 countries of OPEC—The Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries, six of which are Arab—were earning
$8.7 billion a day, $262 billion a month in 1979."48 The Camp
David accords hinted at the possibility of an eventual peace with
Israel. In addition, "the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of
neighboring but non-Arab Iran had treated both the US and Soviet
governments with contempt and gotten away with it."49
Things could hardly have appeared more promising for them.
However, things did not work out as expected. The Los Angeles
Times recently commented on this in a front-page article entitled
"What Went Wrong?":
Oil did not produce political power. The Camp David accords and
other initiatives did not bring peace to the Middle East. Today,
Lebanon is engulfed in self-ignited flames. Iraq and Iran are using
poison gas and aerial bombardments to destroy each other. The
Palestinians are in their third diaspora—first expelled from
Israel in 1948, then from Jordan in 1970 and from Lebanon in 1982.
Five wars with Israel have brought 3,000 square miles of Arab land
under Israeli occupation but yielded not an inch of Palestine for
Arabs. Khomeini, who briefly symbolized the hope of the Islamic
revival, has become, in the eyes of most Arabs, little more than a
scoundrel, a brutal old man who manipulates religion for political
purposes. And the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,
dominated by the Arabs, is unable even to agree on how to shore up
world oil prices or how to maintain its own slipping share of the
market."50
Most of the 157 million Arabs in the Middle East are not
financially well off. Of the 18 Arab countries only five (Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Libya) can be
considered super-rich. The rest of them are struggling to get by
(e.g., the per capita annual income in Egypt is only $560).
Nevertheless, in spite of all these problems, the Middle East is
experiencing a revival of Islamic fundamentalism which is the
harbinger of a worldwide Islamic revival. The resurgence varies from
country to country. In the countries dominated by Shi’ites it is
much more militant.
The Shi’ites, with a predisposition towards martyrdom and
following charismatic leaders, are usually the ones who dominate the
headlines. They believe in the jihad or "holy war."
For example, the recent hijacking of the TWA
Flight 847 was executed by members of the radical Shi’ite group Hezbollah
or "Party of God." After the ordeal was ended one of the two
hijackers lamented that they were not killed during the crisis:
We did not think that we would go back to our kin and brothers,
but we were hoping that God would allow us martyrdom for the sake of
defending our nation and pride.51
However, the majority of the Muslim countries in the Middle East
are most heavily populated and ruled by Sunnites. The Islamic
revolution or revival in these countries is more moderate in
temperament, although just as deep in zeal. The excesses and crimes of
some Shi’ite groups (and even Shi’ite countries, such as Iran) are
not a genuine reflection of the character of the majority of Muslims.
Worldwide
A recent survey of world religions states that Islam is the
world’s fastest-growing religion with nearly one billion followers.
Thus, Islam is the faith of one-fifth of the world’s population.
Over the past 50 years Islam has increased by about 500 percent.
During this same period Christianity, also with about one billion
adherents, grew by only 47 percent.52
According to Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, the director of the Islamic
Society of Orange County (California), 85 percent of the world’s
Muslims are non-Arabic.53 Today 67 different nations,
encompassing a seventh of the world’s total land mass, make up
"The House of Islam."
Amazingly, there is no indication that Islam’s growth has reached
its apex. Forty percent of Southeast Asia is Muslim. In South Asia 31
percent of the population is Muslim. Over 92 percent of the Middle
East and North Africa is Muslim. Nearly 50 percent of West Africa is
Muslim.
The largest Islamic nation in the world is Indonesia with 153
million Muslims. The next four largest are Pakistan (86 million),
India (82 million), Bangladesh (78 million), and the USSR (50
million). Demographic studies of the Soviet Union indicate that by the
year 2000 their Muslim population will be about 100 million."
Great inroads also have been made in the West. In Western Europe
Islam is the second largest religion. Two years ago Al Islam,
an Islamic magazine in West Germany, confidently predicted that within
two decades Europe would be won over to Islam.
In Greece there are now nearly 300 mosques. In France, there are
about one and a half million Muslims, "about six Muslim residents
in France for every born again French Christian."55
Even in Great Britain impressive inroads are occurring. Saudi
Arabia has bought an Arabic language paper in London called The
Middle East. Backed by an annual budget of $75 million, the
magazine’s purpose is to spread the Arabic political view and to
propagate Islam. England now has about 300 mosques, many of them
former Protestant churches which were bought by Muslims. In 1983 Queen
Elizabeth attended the dedication of a newly-constructed $7.5 million
mosque in the affluent Regents Park.
In the USA
The United States has not been immune to Islamic expansionism. The
first mosque in this country was built in 1934 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.56
Today there is at least one mosque in virtually every major
American city. There are an estimated three million Muslims in
America, nearly two million of which are converts." Detroit alone
has 250,000 Muslims. In Chicago a new $15 million mosque was just
recently completed. In all there are more than 200 mosques and Islamic
groups in this country.
The Muslim Student Association is probably the most active Islamic
organization in America. Their stated objectives are:
... producing and disseminating Islamic knowledge, establishing
Islamic institutions, providing daily requirements, initiating daawah
(the propagation of the faith), recruiting and training personnel,
[and] promoting and nourishing the unity of Muslims.59
Several years ago a fledgling Islamic community, named "Dar
al-Islam" or the "Place of Islam," began in northern
New Mexico. It is a former 1,100-acre horse ranch which is being
converted into a "showplace of Islamic culture in America."60
It features a kindergarten, grade school and high school, and there
are plans for a college and a postgraduate school. The multi-million
dollar project is being funded by numerous wealthy Muslims, mostly
Saudi Arabians, including members of King Fahd’s own royal family.
Dar al-Islam’s president is Abdullah Nooridin Durkee, previously
known as Steve Durkee, a former Catholic who converted to Islam in
1973.
The funding of Islamic outreaches in the US may be most evident in
the large gifts and grants given to numerous American universities. A
few examples:
$l million to endow the King Faisal Chair for Arab and Islamic
Studies at the University of Southern California, from the
government of Saudi Arabia; $200,000 for a program of Islamic and
Arabian development studies to Duke University, from the government
of Saudi Arabia; $750,000 from the government of Libya for the al-Mukhtar
Chair of Arab Culture at Georgetown University, and $88,000 to help
fund an interdisciplinary program on Arab development at the
University of Utah;…An annually endowed chair at Harvard
University, the only chair in the history of Islamic science in the
world, from the government of Kuwait.61
We could continue our examination of Islam’s penetration into
this country at great length. However, from even the few cases we have
noted it should be more than evident that Islam is rapidly becoming a
significant religious force in America.
OUR RESPONSE
Is Islam then an unstoppable juggernaut? Can the church of Jesus
Christ reach the Muslims? The answer to these questions is that
Islam’s continued expansion is not inevitable: Muslims can be
reached with the gospel. The fact is that "Muslims are not so
resistant to God’s love as they are neglected and uninformed!"62
The Christian church has never seriously attempted to reach the
hundreds of millions who are Muslims. The great missionary Samuel
Zwemer stated, "One might suppose that the church thought the
Great Commission did not apply to Muslims."63
This is easily demonstrated by looking at some statistics
concerning missions. Only one percent of the church’s entire
missionary force is ministering to Muslims. This means that there is
about one Christian missionary for every one million Muslims. The
church has more missionaries working among Alaska’s 400,000
residents than in the entire Muslim world!
But even if we devoted more time and energy to reaching Muslims
would they respond to the gospel? The answer is yes. Over the last few
years the church has just begun to increase its work among Muslims.
With this new attention more Muslims have become Christians over the
last four years than during the previous 20 years.64
The "typical" Muslim is not an imposing, bearded sheik
floating in oil, nor a militant, gun-toting terrorist, nor a
modern-day "Sinbad the Sailor." Rather, he or she is usually
a devout person, attempting to reach God through a man-made religious
system, totally unaware of the grace available through Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul’s words echo down to us today with an
unmitigated urgency:
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? (Rom. 10:14).
Joseph P. Gudel is a professor in the M.A. in
Christian Apologetics program at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law in
Anaheim, California.
NEXT ISSUE: An analysis of Islamic apologetics in
the light of Christian apologetics.
NOTES
1 Suzanne Haneef, What Everyone Should Know About
Islam and Muslims (Chicago: Kazi Publications, 1979), p. 3.
2 Josh McDowell in a foreword to a manuscript this author
has written, presently being considered for publication.
3 ‘Abd-al-Rahman ‘Azzam, The Eternal Message of
Muhammad, trans. Caesar E. Farah (New York: The New American
Library, 1965), pp. 27-30.
4 Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the
Glorious Koran (New York: The New American Library, 1963), p. ix.
5 ‘Azzam, op. cit., p. 30.
6 Pickthall, op. cit., p. 10. Also, ‘Azzam, loc.
cit.
7 Qur'an 81:8.
8 ‘Azzam, op. cit., pp. 32-33.
9 John B. Noss, Man’s Religions (New York: The Macmillian
Co., 1956), p. 695.
10 ‘Azzam, op. cit., p. 39.
11 Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Translation and
Commentary (Qatar: Qatar National Printing Press, 1956), p. 452.
12 Pickthall, op. cit., p. xv.
13 ‘Azzam, op. cit., p. 40.
14 Ibid.
15 W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman
(reprint ed.; London: Oxford University Press, 1967), pp. 204-205.
16 Pickthall, op. cit., pp. xxiv-xxv.
17 Robert Ernest Hume, The World’s Living Religions
(New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1950), p. 213.
18 Maulvi Muhammad Ali, The Religion of Islam
(Lahore, Pakistan: The Ahmadiyyah Anjuman Isha’at Islam, 1950), p.
145.
19 All quotations from the Qur'an are from the translation
by Abdullah Yusuf Ali unless otherwise noted. This is important to
remember when looking up specific quotes from the Qur'an because the
numbers of the verses often differ from one translation to the next.
20 Alhaj A.D. Ajijola, The Myth of the Cross
(Lahore, Pakistan: Islamic Publication Ltd., 1975), p. 170.
21 Haneef, op. cit., p. 16.
22 Qur'an 50:17-18.
23 Haneef, loc. cit.
24 Qur'an 3:3.
25 The Muslim Student’s Association of the United States
and Canada, The Prophet of Allah (Chicago: Medina Printers,
1976), p. 5.
26 Ajijola, op. cit., p. 160.
27 A. Yusuf Ali, op. cit., p. 763. Also, Maulvi
Muhammad Ali, The Holy Qur-an: Containing the Arabic Text with
English Translation and Commentary (Lahore, Punjab, India: The
Ahmadiyya Anjuman-I-Ishaat-I-Islam, 1935), p. 802.
28 Cf. Qur'an 11:25-49 and Genesis 6:9-10; 7:1, 5.
29 Geoffrey Parrinder, Jesus in the Qur'an (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1977), p. 16.
30 Also, cf. Qur'an 43:59; 5:19; 10:68; 19:35; 88-92.
31 Samuel M. Zwemer, Islam: A Challenge to Faith
(New York: Laymen’s Missionary Movement, 1907), pp. 93-94.
32 Maulvi Muhammad Ali, op. cit., p. 118.
33 J.N.D. Anderson is the Professor of Oriental Laws and
the Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the
University of London. In addition to his teaching responsibilities he
has also authored numerous books and articles dealing with Islam and
other world religions.
34 Norman Anderson, The World’s Religions (Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977), p. 117.
35 A. Yusuf Ali, op. cit., p. 1352. Also,
cf. Mauivi Muhammad Ali, op. cit., p. 1009.
36 Also, cf. Qur'an 56:22-24.
37 The "Companions" just mentioned in the above
verses are literally "houris" in the Arabic.
38 Zwemer, op. cit., pp. 94-95.
39 Haneef, op. cit., p. 183.
40 Ibid., p. 38.
41 This is taken from Maulvi Muhammad Ali’s translation
of the Qur'an, The Holy Qur-an: Containing the Arabic Text with
English Translation, op. cit.
42 Quoted in Abdiyah Akbar Abdul-Haqq, Sharing Your
Faith with a Muslim (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship Inc., 1980),
p. 152.
43 In some countries the women also may gather together
with the men for public prayer. Where this is allowed the women are
required to sit together at the rear of the mosque.
44 C. George Fry and James R. King, Islam: A Survey of
the Muslim Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1980), p.
112.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
47 Ibid.
48 David Lamb, "Arabs-No Climate for
Intellectuals," Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1985, part
1, p. 12.
49 David Lamb, "’What Went Wrong?’ Arab Power on
the Wane Despite Oil," Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1985,
part I, p. 1.
50 Ibid.
51 "U.S. ‘Bowed to Demands,’ Hijackers say," Los
Angeles Times, July 1, 1985, part I, p. 4.
52 "News," Christianity Today, January
8, 1985, p. 61.
53 John Dart, "Assimilation Perils Immigrant
Muslims," Los Angeles Times, November 24, 1984, part II,
p. 4.
54 "The World of Islam," Time, April 16,
1979, p. 46.
55 "Islam: It’s Their Turn," Frontiers,
Urbana ’84 Issue, p. 13.
56 Philip Harsham, "Islam in Iowa," Aramco
World Magazine, Nov.-Dec., 1976, p. 35.
57 Yvonne Y. Haddad, "The Muslim Experience in the
United States," The Link, Sept.-Oct., 1979, p. 2.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid.
60 Charles Hillinger, "Islam Center Aims to Bridge
Cultural Gap in America," Los Angeles Times, December
26, 1983, part VII, p. 1.
61 "America as Alma Mater," Aramco World
Magazine, May-June, 1979, p. 9.
62 Don M. McCurry and Carol A. Glasser, Muslim
Awareness Seminar (Altadena, CA: Samuel Zwemer Institute, 1981),
p. 13.
63 Ibid.
64 Sharon E. Mumper, "New Strategies to Evangelize
Muslims Gain Effectiveness," Christianity Today, May 17,
1985, p. 75.
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