Sunday, June 16, 2013

Missional Reflections on Violent forms of Islam



             To be a follower of Christ requires speaking the truth in love.  The impetuous apostle Peter had learned this, and instructs us, “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).  This means that we must treat followers of Islam with “gentleness and respect.”  The King James Version says “with meekness and fear.”  

When we engage Muslims, we are hypocrites, if we claim to bring them a message of good news from God, and yet act in an ungodly way towards them.  We must take to heart the words of the prophet, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8).  We must, by God’s grace, strive to be disciples of Jesus in the very manner in which we do our mission work – we must pray for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives:  especially love, joy, and peace.  This focus should encourage us to imitate the way in which the best missionaries of the past have engaged with Muslims – they have done it with empathy, fairness, compassion, as well as courage and truthfulness.

One scholar, who had worked with Muslims for over fifty years, towards the end of his life and reflecting on his own careful study of Islamic resources wrote,

This also helped me to learn (to try) to reflect with Muslims, to understand with empathy and friendly criticism.  It is this also which was the basis for my teaching of Islamic studies in various Church institutions especially in Egypt.  For I try to present Islam, as far as possible, as Muslims would wish to see it presented, with objectivity and affection, which in no way prevents a critical view and questioning.  I consider it necessary to apply the Gold Rule of the Gospel to one’s observation and understanding, then to try to look at the other and understand him as I would myself wish him to regard and understand me.  (Christiann van Mispen tot Sevenaer, “A  Man of Dialogue,” [2012] in Christian Lives Given to the Study of Islam, 130).   

            This may be a challenge for us as frail human beings when we are engaging with people who are progressive Muslims, or moderate adherents of Islam, or even non-political traditional Muslims.  It requires an extra measure of God’s grace when we are dealing with radical or puritanical Muslims – the so called Islamists, whether Sunni or Shia. On the ground some Islamists could be, depending on the circumstances, people bent on violence against others, and against our brothers and sisters in Christ, or even against us personally.  But it is precisely here that we are put to the test by the Lord, who taught us to love our enemies, do good to them that hate us, and pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:38-39).  “The commending of the Christian faith has to be in accordance with its own character, with the inner coherence of word and deed in the person of Jesus Christ” (Christopher Lamb, “An Engagement  with Islam,” [2012] in Christian Lives Given to the Study of Islam, 159). Surely, we need grace and wisdom here, beyond our own ability. 
 
            It is helpful, of course, to remember that there are as many understandings of Islam as there are Muslims.  Again, we must not fall into the error of essentialism.  Too many political commentators, talk show hosts, and unfortunately Christian pastors, fall into the error of reading the puritanical interpretation onto all Muslims and onto Islam as a religion. Here, whether we agree or not with the thesis of Miroslav Volf’s, book Allah: A Christian Response, we ought to appreciate his desire to address Islam in its best light and not in its worst light.  He writes, “For me here the ‘paradigmatic’ Muslim is the great and immensely influential thinker Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1056-1111), and not, for instance Sayyid Qutb (1906-66), the most popular representative of radical Islam” (Volf, Allah, [Kindle], loc 253).   The great missionary Samuel Zwemer focused on al-Ghazali, as a Muslim seeker after God, who shows Islam at its best.   

            It is a mistake to argue that the true Islam is the most violent or viral form of it.  It is both unjust towards Muslims who hold different views as well as politically unwise.  It is also simply disingenuous, when thinking about Islam, or when interacting with Muslims, to compare and contrast an idealized picture of the “Christianity,” with the worst form or features of certain expressions of Islam.  We must bear witness to the Scriptures and the truth of the gospel (if we are, in fact, followers of Jesus), but we should be careful to distinguish it from our own failed attempts to fully live up to its standards within “Christianity.”  At the same time we should let Muslims state what they believe Islam to be.

Why should we agree with the puritanical Islamists that their expression of Islam is the correct view?   Does this not inadvertently give weight to their cause?  Again, there are as many views of Islam as there are Muslims, and there are certainly a great variety of traditions and expressions within the world of Islam, both in history and today.  But radical and dangerous forms of Islam do exist in the world, and the gospel compels us to love and share the gospel by life and word with those caught it its clutches.  Here the saying of the Lord Jesus is especially applicable:  we are to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matt 10:16). May the Spirit help us to live in obedience to our Lord, and share his heart for all people.