We tend to think of Islam as a historical religion, focusing our attention on the Qur’an, hadith, and traditional cultural practices and customs. But Islam is in a state of flux just like the rest of the post-modern world. This session has more examples.
Few questions regarding Islam are as salient to current events and public discourse as the relationship between Islam and violence, and few questions are as polarizing. Outsiders looking into the house of Islam have reached conflicting conclusions, with American Presidents defending “the religion of peace” while others connect acts of terrorism and violence directly to “the traditional, orthodox, and classical version of Islam…”
Several times recently I have been asked by concerned Christians questions along the lines of “will Muslims take over in the UK/the West?” or “how should we respond to the violence of Jihadists/ Islamic State etc?”. My precise answer depends upon the circumstances but is usually along the lines of “keep calm and think biblically”!
What do I mean? There is a danger that we allow our thinking to be manipulated by the secular media or the agenda of people who want to scare us into supporting their particular cause. So here are five suggestions for a calm and biblical approach to Islam and current world events:
I once met two Middle Eastern terrorists, trained for this work since the age of nine. While they were university students on stand-by for terrorist duties, they received hospitality in a Christian home. One of them responded to what he saw of the love of Jesus and became a disciple. Saul of Tarsus was a terrorist until God changed him. We are not called to judge but to treat everyone as a human being created in the image of God. We are to share good news. Our faith is about relationships with God and people. Neither the Muslim in Islamabad or New York nor the Christian terrorist in Northern Ireland portrays valid Islam or true Christianity. They should not be confused with the majority in both faiths who abhor violence.
The idea that Christianity is the white man’s religion exported to Africa recently is a vast misconception that is deeply detrimental to missionary efforts across the continent. Very early Arab sources indicate a Christian presence in Somalia beginning in the 10th century. It is speculated that Christianity remained in Somalia as late as 1500 until Islam overtook and became the religion of the nation.