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.
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