Dr. Warren Larson Lecture: Ideal vs. Folk Islam on Felt Needs
Dr. Warren Larson delivered a lecture on Ideal vs. Folk Islam on Felt Needs during a CIU course. Here, Larson presents the comparison and contrast of the felt needs between Ideal and Folk Islam.
Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. Warren Larson Lecture: Ideal vs. Folk Islam on Felt Needs.
Lecture 14 is the last lecture in Unit 1 and of course it’s about comparisons and here we’re talking in this one about, comparisons of felt needs. My, my, oh my, the felt needs that are there among folk Muslims and we need to think about them and pray for them and feel for them, but our feeling is not just sentiment. It’s, an understanding of their hurts, of their felt needs, and also realization that the gospel speaks to their felt needs. The needs, you know, of folk and ideal Islam. I think, there’s some variation, but, they need power.
They need power for the crises in their lives. You know, we do too. Of course, we need power. How often do we feel powerless? You know, not to mention the purposelessness that that hits us, all of us, and the suicides, you know, think of the fact that the suicide rate among American troops coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq is skyrocketing.
Would that they could somehow reach into the, the resources, for their their crisis, the power. There is a book here, Dacey Marsh, whose father, Charles Marsh, worked in North Africa for many, many years. She did too. She was born there, but then she came back, worked with French in France, in Paris, in the outskirts of Paris and worked with Berber Muslims and, she was greatly used of the Lord and wrote a book, There is a God in Heaven, a good book for working with women, and I I say over and over again that, Folk Islam is so relevant to the needs of Muslim women and let’s remember that it’s Christian women who are going to reach them because because men, don’t really have a chance, you know, Christian men. I I worked in Pakistan for many years.
They didn’t have really much contact with Muslim women because of the segregation of the culture. I did some preaching where men and women, of course, were there, but primarily, when you think of Muslim women, think of the Christian women are going to have to be the ones that reach them. So, preventative measures are needed to ward off sickness, harm, and evil. There is this, idea of equilibrium. Now what in the world is equilibrium?
Well, let’s just back up, a minute here. Equilibrium is the idea that you have to, keep things in balance. In other words, you know, you there is danger here, but there’s also some benefit from the from the, so you try to hold these 2 in in in balance. You try to somehow keep an equilibrium. There is benefit from the perhaps, but there’s also danger.
Healing. Muslims, by and large, don’t want to mention the word death. Where I was, the word was mouth, death, but they use all kinds of synonyms like, you know, he went away, he, you know, he went to a better place and and so on. We we do this in English as well, but there, to say the word is a bad omen, so you don’t wanna joke about it ever ever ever in the Muslim world. Sometimes we joke about it, you know, kick the bucket.
We use all kinds of expressions, but it’s not funny really to a Muslim to joke about death because you could bring it to pass, you know, the angels are listening And, so, but this is a little bit more on the equilibrium that we really didn’t explain too well before, but, here’s what we mean by equilibrium during rites of passage. Now here you see you have positive activities and you have negative activities. Positive activities, the presence of practitioners with inherent or acquired power. What kind of practitioners? Well, people who power people who can, help like a Droit writer or somebody like that, or a midwife or some of those kind of people to have them around And, the negative thing is that you, on the other hand, you want to protect yourself from other people who could do you harm.
For instance, if you suspect that a an elderly woman who is by herself, a widow, if she is, feared, perhaps unjustly, but feared, by the evil eye. You know, stories circulate and all kinds of theories floating around that this old one, if she puts the evil eye on you, wow, that’s the end of it. So so what are you gonna do? Protect yourself and your baby and your animals from that person. That’s what you call now, another positive exit performance of activities on auspicious days.
So this is a good day to do this. This is a good day to do that. You know, start the Hajj on Thursday. Sleep with your Hajj wife on Thursday and so on. This is, this is a good day to do such and such.
But on the other hand, inauspicious days or day. Now if you understand Muslims ahead of time, you’re a lot better off than going into a place like Afghanistan and finding this out the hard way, really scratching your head, and, you know, and learning this the wrong way. This is why we’re taking this course so we can figure this out ahead of time. Positive activities, location at site of holy grave, okay, orientation towards Mecca, Well, this is a wonderful thing, really, to, to be able to be buried by this famous saint, or to when you’re ready to die, to turn the face of of grandpa towards Mecca, this is a positive activity in the Muslim view. But location to avoid where possible contact with the jinn.
So for heaven’s sakes, don’t take beautiful little Muhammad, this little child you have who’s so much loved and adored. Don’t take him to the to the garbage dump. Avoid it at all costs. Use of prophylaxis against evil. In other words, how can you prevent from, something happened, you know, use of provolites against the evil eye, perhaps you can wear a little amulet.
You can, you know, have some kind of a little thing on the child, beautiful little boy, to avoid so that you don’t have the evil eye. And exclusion of those with a history of the evil eye, as I’ve already meant. In other words, don’t for Pete’s sakes ever let this old woman get near my little baby or don’t let anyone else. You know, perhaps this missionary with the beautiful blue eyes or strange blue eyes, Maybe she would put a you know, maybe envious of my baby boy. I mean, all kinds of things.
You never know, really. Sacrifice of a vow to bind a saint to the needed task. So little Muhammad needs to be cured from his paralysis. So you go to the saint and you make a vow, but the saint is then is bound and you have to hold that saint to the needed task of curing little, Muhammad from paralysis. On the other hand, the saint has made a certain, like, condition that, the little boy’s his hair will not be cut or, after a year, his hair will be cut and it will be weighed and, a gift will be given to the saint.
This is, this is, the bond or observance of ritual purity, you know, when to do this and when to do that. Women during a certain kind of the month, of course, are not supposed to go to the mosque and exclusion of those richly unclean. You know, we can understand this, can’t we, from, the scriptures, but Muslims think this way. Attempts to deceive potential harmers, for instance, beautiful boy again, we keep referring to him, you know, when he’s just a little guy, you might dress him up as a girl or even give him a girl’s name. You know, all kinds of things.
And then as we’ve talked about earlier in the course about, you know, writing, to god be, you know, to god be praised or something like that on the, foundation of your house or somewhere perhaps up higher. I mean, this is some of the things that are are done. Now, guidance is another thing that is done, cutting the Quran. Now this is, this is not so easily done as perhaps it’s said, but Muslims sometimes seek guidance through a, something that’s called ishtakar. And, should I try to make arrangement on this girl or not and go to a practitioner and the practitioner runs his or her hand over the book, opens it, and reads the verse.
Lutz said these are my guests. Disgrace me not. That was Lot. So, let’s see. That that that means no.
Don’t do it. So, I mean, it’s it’s a form of guidance. I wouldn’t think it’s a very, good guidance, but, nevertheless, Muslims sometimes do this sort of thing. And, of course, veneration of saints, which we’ve talked about, over and over again, that certain saints are to be venerate venerated. And as for, missiological application, again, let’s think of this, We’ve talked about it before.
It’s not a new idea, but I think that Islam can push Muslims to Jesus. My own sense is that not just folk Islam. In other words, the rigidity, the harshness, the reaction of Muslims even, you know, attacking senselessly, the the US embassy or anything else that they react to. I I’ve experienced this myself. Maybe sometime during the course, I’ll get a chance to tell you about it.
I think that that kind of a thing is going to push Muslims to Jesus, but in the in reference to folk Islam, popular Islam, Muslims, you know, think why the stroke? Why the weakness? Witness sickness, rather. And, what has, these hostile influences. So these, I think, are opportunities for Muslims for Christians to give witness to Christ and to show his power and how he can minister to them.
You see, Muslims this is the tension. Muslims hold to Allah’s iron will, but they spend vast amounts of time and energy trying to change things. Listen to this. This is profound, I think, and, as far as I know, I wrote this years ago but I believe it and this is the thing. Since God is not delighted by obedience, nor displeased by sin, nor hostile to the arrogant, nor close to protect from hostile forces, Muslim Muslims put a human face on religion.
Almost, you see, like, god is not a person. He is, he’s just, you know, something holy, other and, he is he is really so much, you know, he’s not like this, he’s not like that, and so I think that this and we’ve talked about this before. These kind of things would push Muslims, into trying to put a face on religion, but we also believe that this would help Muslims come to Christ and that’s what we hope and pray for, isn’t it?