In this Lecture, Vivienne Stacey explores how some Muslims might perceive Westerners and the impact this may have on Christian witness. These lectures were given at Columbia International University in partnership with the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies. The Zwemer Center was founded in 1979 and exists to offer comprehensive courses on Islam, facilitate research, foster dialogues, offer seminars, conduct training, and provide resources for effective witness and ministry among Muslims. We also have a course study guide for these lectures that you might find helpful.
Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Vivienne Stacey’s Lecture on Muslim perceptions of Westerners:
I think that you’ve all read, miniskirts, mothers and Muslims, which has a subtitle modeling spiritual values in Muslim culture and it’s by Christine Malue. Christine is married, an Australian married to an Arab, and I first met them both in Egypt, but I have also met them in Morocco, and they do travel in other Arab countries. So she’s really talking about modeling Christian spiritual values in Muslim culture, which, I think we we are trying to learn how to model Christian values in in Muslim culture. So it isn’t just Arab, but her experience is mainly Arab. So I’m going to you have kindly each taken a chapter and, so we’ll work through the chapters of the book and each, 1 by 1, you will share a bit about how what you read and how you reacted to it.
And, if necessary, we will discuss and then go on to the next one. Other if there’s not much to discuss, then I will, just ask the next person. So, Ruth is going to, take the first chapter which is about modeling spiritual values in public and the sub headings for this relate to prestige and appearances. You know the book by its cover, it’s a proverb, I think. Nakedness exposed.
I don’t know what that means, but it will be revealed. Thank you. So she talks about in this chapter, three important aspects of the Muslim culture. First of all, appearance and hospitality and family ties are the big, things that she has mentioned in this chapter. It’s a practical expression of the ummah, or the community of Islam.
And it’s their view, how they view right and wrong. So as we go into a culture and and consider, maybe what we appear we think of of appearance, hospitality, and family ties, it probably isn’t the exact same thing as they view it. So it’s important for us to understand exactly how they perceive these things. In order for Muslims to perceive us as people of faith and principle, we need to express spiritual values in ways that they can recognize. Again, looking at how they perceive what’s happening around them, how they perceive what we do.
And if we don’t follow these principles, then we’re considered we, as missionaries, are considered indecent, we’re considered shocking, and even to the point of being naked, which is they talk about later on. But, we this implies to us that we need to be recognized as people that are decent and respectable and religious. So in terms of how we dress, in terms of how we act, in terms of the things that we say, these will all be important factors as how they perceive us. In the Islamic society, it’s a basically status focused, society, and she gives 4 different aspects of this, status focus, issue. 1, status is based on one’s social background, what kind of a background they come from in the family.
Secondly, family is more important than accomplishments. Here in the states, we emphasize a lot on or in the west, we emphasize a lot on, our goals, what we accomplish, professions, careers, but they really emphasize the family. Thirdly, people prefer to associate only with their equals, so they would not be associating with, someone in a lower class, it’s a more of a class society, and so, they would not be doing things with anyone other outside of their, their equals. And then fourthly, the amount of respect one receives is permanently fixed and attention focused on those with higher status in spite of any personal failing failings that they might have. So in other words, once you see a person or once they see us, our their respect for us will be permanently fixed.
When and so it’s extremely important that we we come across as a as a very, a person that is decent and respectable. In spite of personal failings later on, that’s not gonna make a big deal because it’s the the initial attention and focus that they have when they first meet us. Then she talks about, how this applies to us as as people going in. How can we influence all in all classes, and we can’t expect to influence all classes. We’ll be going into a certain area, and, basically, what she said is whatever class we live among, either high or low, we should love choose a level within it that will give us a position of respect.
Then the people will deem us worthy enough to have our words esteemed. They she talks about name dropping, Basically, if we can get to know some of the more respectable people in that in that class, then we’ll be respected more. And so, to her, it’s it’s not bad to throw in a few names of some people, leaders that are respected in that area, or in that that, city. When a culture is class rigid, we’ll find ourselves locked into a class where we, choose to live, work, and what kind of friends we have. So we need to live in an appropriate way and adapt to their culture, with the visual presentation important, and she talks about first Corinthians 9:19 through 23 as far as, not being a Jew.
Paul talks about being, whoever to whoever needs to be. I can’t remember how that verse goes. I was gonna I was bring gonna bring the scripture with me, and also she talks too as far as, okay, appearance, and we most of us know that you don’t have your shoulders exposed. Many times, even your whole arm has to be covered. Depending on where you’re at, your ankles needs to need to be covered.
And she mentioned brought out some things about gold. Many of us think that wearing a lot of gold is not well, first of all, most of us can’t afford it, but to them, it’s an extremely important thing that shows that you are respectable, that you are a person of class. And so even if we don’t have a lot of, money, we need to invest in something that looks good for them in some of the cultures. I think of where I was at in Africa, and it went really late to that specifically because most of them didn’t have much of anything to wear, let alone gold. But, the the Muslims and again, it depends on where you’re at and what kind of people you’re gonna be working with, but we have to really be sensitive to the people that the women that we’re working with.
So the Muslims recognize our appearance as a way of making a statement of faith. We need to bolster our our image by showing we are wise, mature, and meaning that we respect elders, that we follow the things that, hospitality, those things that are that are specifically, stated in the Quran. And how we dress is an important thing. One thing she mentions too is one of our primary goals in living for Christ among Muslims should be ministering to their fear of western moral corruption of their families. In other words, they’re afraid that because of our influence, our western influence, that the the families are gonna get ruined because there’s been so much, of the pollution of the west.
All the worst stuff goes over there, and and then they they fear that as far as breaking down their family. So we need to be exemplary in our life and how we relate to our our husbands, if you’re married, how we relate to men, and how we relate to people, and in all the things that we do. One thing she did mention as far as interpretation of modesty is we, here in the States, tend to look at the upper part of our bodies as as the stimulation that would would cause offense, whereas for them, it’s the the buttocks. And so, we need to be very careful as women, how we wear our dresses and how we walk. And so this is just some of the areas that she mentioned specifically, but, with a lot of focus in that area.
So Thank you very much, Ruth. That’s very helpful. I’d like to emphasize 1 or 2 things that came out of this. This whole idea of how you are perceived. You may you won’t be perceived the way you expect to be perceived.
You’ve got to try and envisage or find out how the people around you, the Muslims around you, how you are perceived. And, one thing I like to emphasize is be who you are, and I particularly apply it in the area of prayer. I’ve met I have Muslim friends who wondered, you know, when when do you Christians pray? We don’t see you praying. And I remember a family, a Christian family who went to live in a Muslim street, a street occupied all together by Muslims in in in a town in Pakistan, and they chose to live among Muslims, but and they kept open house.
They had some small children and children came in and out of their home, and they got to know their neighbors. If they got, someone called when they were due to have family prayers, they waited till later, till everyone had gone. So nobody knew when they prayed. Be who you are. We are people of prayer, so that we may have to take meth, steps to be seen, to be whom we are.
This is not hypocritical. This is not disobeying where it says close-up, go and close yourself off in your closets and pray quietly or secretly or whatever. No. It’s being seen to be who you are. So they decided to have prayers after the evening meal, whoever came and whoever came, they either invited well, they invited them to join them or or they gave them some opportunity to to sit quietly and wait or to come back again.
So everybody in the street, of course, then knew that at certain time after the meal, just after the meal, the whole family would pray. Now, I can think of a a principle of a a college, in the northwest frontier province of Pakistan, actually, Edwards College in Peshawar, a former principal. He used to say his own morning prayers, personal prayers, very early, perhaps 6 in the morning, and when the weather was good, and it in the winter it’d be rather cold, but, generally the weather was fine for sitting out at 6 AM. He didn’t sit out in the middle of his garden which you could do in the campus, so that people might see him praying. But he he did it.
I think he liked it. But he was being seen, perceived as a person of prayer. And, he was being what he was or he’s dead now. But, his pre his students respected him greatly because they saw him, reading his holy book and praying every morning at 6 o’clock. Always about that time, always in that place.
And, so they knew that here’s a Christian who does pray. So, we might think about that, be being seen to be whom we are, and it can imply in other areas. I think it’s good if we openly give thanks before meals, pray, and Muslims may see us doing that. And sometimes we may need to change the way we pray, it’s, better to say grace if you’re out in a restaurant, perhaps with your hands up, Then otherwise, they may think you’re just looking in your soup. And I can think of a very good example when I I prayed and I was having a meal by myself, in a restaurant because I was about to catch a plane the next day.
So I I prayed over my meal and then one of the waiters came later. He asked me, are you connected with the Bible Correspondence School? Now, I don’t know why he thought that but I I think he recognized I wasn’t Muslim. But he he Or recognized that I was a woman of prayer, and maybe I would He would know. I would know.
He wanted to get in touch. So I said, Well, I’m actually on the board of it. Yeah, what do you know, and we I found out what he wanted. But, I suppose if I had been thoroughly British, I, I wouldn’t, have I would have looked in my soup and so it would seem, and and said my quiet prayer. Well, I said a quiet prayer, but it was obvious I was praying.
You can get into very difficult situations sometimes, and, perhaps get a bit compromised. The worst example I can think of in my own experience is that I, most of the foreigners where I was living in the Punjab had at that time gone off to a convention, a Christian convention, and, only 2 foreigners were in the town. I was 1, and I had a next door neighbor. And, because of something has arose, he wanted to come and see me. So he he told his watchman looking after the guarding the place and looking after it, I’m just going to see miss Stacy and I’ll be back at 4 AM.
He was learning the language, Now, I think for fortunately, the the watchmen, realized he’s learning the language and that he was gonna be back at 4 PM. So, I hope that was the case. And then certainly, local Christians, I’d like to emphasize, are are not always, culturally sensitive to they they are to their subculture, but they’re not always to Muslims. I’ve had the experience of living in, within the Christian community and in the Punjab where Christians are, I mean, they’re not they’re a minority, but they are, in considerable numbers. I mean, 1,000 and probably, probably over a 1000000 Christian well, a 1000000 and a half or nearly 2,000,000 the frontier town where I lived were much more culturally adapted.
The frontier town where I lived were much more culturally adapted than the those in the Punjab. They didn’t like in the Punjab to say a salaam alaikum but in the frontier they did say Christians did say it and they didn’t feel there’s anything wrong with saying it, and I can’t see anything wrong with it. It’s, it means peace be upon you, and it’s peace of God of Allah be on you and we’ve talked about Allah anyway, haven’t we, that there’s no, it’s a very correct way of talking about God for a Christian or a Muslim. Then, I found that if I was giving some series of classes on Muslim Christian relationship, I could cut down my syllabus by at least a third because the people in the frontier, in my very great minority had become much more sensitive to to relating, and they weren’t so they were more relaxed as well. Strange to be.
Maybe that’s a bit strange that they should be so relaxed, but, they didn’t hedge themselves in and they related very well, I thought. And then on the question of the emancipation of women, freedom with dignity, I think this is something that we have to explore and, I mean, 1, it’s quite unnatural for us in a way, as Westerners, it would be very inappropriate in this frontier, town where I lived, to to to do too much laughing. In fact, we had actually, we did have a a Canadian who came, a nurse, and she was always laughing. This is very un Muslim for a woman to be seen If she could laugh at home with us, but, shouldn’t be going around the place laughing too much or laughing at all. And and not generally looking directly into the eyes of a Muslim, when speaking to him or her.
Her is alright, but, as a nurse she had to speak, doesn’t mean to say she couldn’t look at somebody sometime, but but, we have a custom of very much eye to eye contact in in the West and so we have to watch on things like that.