Rev Paul Biswas

INTRODUCTION

We live in a day when the Christian Church faces a great challenge to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28: 19-20) among the world’s religious and ethnic groups. The western hemisphere, which was traditionally considered Christian, has changed in the past few decades because of immigration of people from various religious, cultural, and national backgrounds. Islam has rapidly grown to become the fastest growing major religious group in North America.

The Christian Church plays a vital role in the human arena of politics, service and development. However, the concept of mission, evangelism and ministry is constantly revised and redefined. As a result, more dissension and disagreement among Christian communities across the world has been created. While Islam was expanding from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Christian Churches were still debating among themselves on different issues. The main issue was personality or nature of Christ. Since then, few missionary efforts to Muslims were made until the last century. Christian Churches in Europe and North America have been struggling among themselves on different issues which are totally against the teaching of the Bible. History has proved that Islam expanded in that area where Christians became more liberal in their theology and Christian Churches lost their real Vision and Mission. In this 21^stcentury many Para-Church organizations have been making good efforts to reach out the vast population of Muslims (1.2 billion) in the world with the message of the Gospel. Yet, the result is not quite satisfactory. The time has come to discover our weakness. May be we are the one who are creating stumbling blocks.

The purpose of the article is to show the Missiological, Cultural, and Strategic stumbling blocks for the Christian approach to the Muslim. At this point the article will only point out the stumbling blocks but will not attempt to deal with how to overcome those stumbling blocks. Knowing those stumbling blocks, readers will understand the challenges in approaching Muslims.

MISSIOLOGICAL STUMBLING BLOCKS FOR THE

CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO THE MUSLIM

Before sharing about Missiological Stumbling Blocks it is necessary to define “Missiology”. The English word Missiology was originated from two words, one is Latin and one is Greek. The word mission came from the Latin word “missio” and the logy came from the Greek word “Logos”. The word itself is cross cultural. Missiology is the study of Mission. It is the mission of God. It is the mission of father showing His love by sending His son. Mission is reconciling work of God in any cultural background of human society. So, Missiology deals with the right approach and methodology for different cultural background of people to share the reconciling work of God.

The Gap between service and proclamation

Christians proclaim the love of God, but often times this truth has not been proved in their life. There is a big gap between the proclamation and actions. The words “evangelism” and “evangelization” provoke a particular strong and negative reaction from our Muslim neighbors. Christians are accused of having exploited men’s weakness and need, and offered material inducement in order to win converts. Christian service will become a stumbling block to Muslims if they understand that the main desire of the Christians is to convert them without redefining the Christian service will create a big gap. “There is connection between Christian witness and conversion, but when conversion comes it is God’s act. He calls us to be faithful in our witness, to be honest to others about His action and interaction in our own lives and experience, but it is He who takes that witness and uses it to His glory.”[1]

Lack of genuine love and compassion

Muslims are the object of God’s love. In no way are Muslims under some special condemnation that places them beyond the reach of that love. In present day, to many westerners Muslims are considered as terrorists and Islam is considered as religion of terrorists. Since many Muslim people are refugees or are suffering from poverty and starvation, holistic ministries can demonstrate God’s love and concern for their physical as well spiritual needs. Such people find it difficult to understand and accept a Gospel that shows no practical concern for their desperate situation.

Understanding Islam is one thing, understanding the Muslim sitting in front of us is another. Many Christians believe that it’s very hard to approach the Muslim. They are preoccupied with ideas the Muslims are argumentative, militant and always they try to impose their idea over others. In some extent it may be true, but this type of prejudice creates a long communication gap and this is one of the reasons for the slow process of evangelizing the Muslim. “Islam has been considered by several Christian groups as a distorted Judeo-Christian religion. Mohammad’s treatment of the people of the Book and his polygamous marriages have drawn much criticism from Western Christian scholars.”[2]

Missiologically, the followers of these two religions often find each other on a collision course. The two religions call upon the believers to witness their faith in their God. Christians validate their belief in God with the teaching of the Bible, revelation in Jesus alone, creeds of the Church, traditions of the believers, and their personnel spiritual experience with the inner working of the Holy Spirit. Muslims establish their faith on the teaching of the Qur’an, their unconditional submission to Allah’s will, their obligatory practices to witness Allah’s sovereignty over the entire world.

Theologically, Christians and Muslims often use the same words which but with two distinctly separate meanings. But there are many positive things which can make a bridge between these two.

There are many Quranic verses which confirm the Biblical accounts. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the direct revelation from God to Muhammad. The Qur’an contains some magnificent verses about Jesus which can be used as a bridge. So, instead of criticizing or disrespecting the Qur’an, framing our argument in a Quranic context can provide a link to the Christian approach. There are many similar accounts that can make a bridge for the Christian approach. If the Christian Church indicts Muhammad as an polygamous imposter who had falsely claimed divine inspiration and led violent war against non-Muslims, that will block the way for building up the bridge.

The vast majority Muslims believe the Arabic is the divine language. In all of their ritualistic practices they prefer to use Arabic rather than the vernacular. Today Arabic is the common language of many Middle East countries. In South Asian region a much of the population of various ethnic groups believe in Islam and there is Persian influence in addition to Arabic in their respective languages. Muslims in this geographic area prefer to use those terms which they call “Islamic Terms”.

Here are some examples: the word Prayer is “Salad”, Petition is “Dow’s” or “Duruth”, God is “Allah” or “Khoda”(Persian), Jesus Christ is “Isa Massihi”, Church is “Jamat”(which is very appropriate and similar to the New Testament word ‘Ecclesia’), the Holy Book is “Kitab”, The Holy Bible is “Kitabul Mokaddos”, Faith is “Iman”, Sin is “Khatiya or Gunah”, Salvation is “Nazath”, The New Testament is “Injil Sharif” (The Nobel Gospel), Teaching from the word of God is “Haydaeth”, Christians are called “ Isahi” or the followers of Isa (Jesus).

The word of God is “Kalam”, The Holy Spirit is “Pak-Ruhu”, Mission is “Da’wa,”

Revelation is “Wahi”, Heaven is “Janna”, Hell is “Jahannam or “Dojoke”. Muslims are familiar with these terminologies. In approaching Islam, using the correct terminology is very important. Many Muslims believe that Christianity is a religion of the west, and it is true that many religious terms which Christians use are western.

Muslims are greatly misinformed about Christian beliefs. It happened in the case of Prophet Muhammad. They may have knowledge of certain Christian doctrines; but we must not assume that knowledge to be fully an accurate or complete. Lifelong confusion can not be corrected easily. It takes time. An impatient and negative attitude creates a stumbling block.

Muslims in many countries are hostile to the western missionaries and expatriates. There is a strong criticism from their side that missionaries always try to proselyte their people by taking advantage of their poverty, illiteracy and unhealthy condition. They have prejudice that all white people in the western world are Christians and they come to their country to exploit them. That’s why in many Muslim countries if white people go to the forefront of leadership, it creates misunderstanding which hampers the total work of evangelization and makes a big gap between the native Christians and Muslims. Replacement of indigenous leadership can fill up this gap.

In the modern day contextualization is a big issue. The term may be new, but the phenomenon of contextualization is as old as the Bible. The nature of the Gospel requires contextualization. The Goal of contextualization is the fulfillment of our Lord’s commission as defined in Matthew 28: 18-20; Luke 24: 44-49; John 20; 21 and Acts 1: 8.

We should present the claims of Christ clearly and persuasively, to exert people to faith in Christ and to gather them into Churches that are culturally rooted in their society of origin. In approaching the Muslim the contextualization is very necessary. Failure to do cultural contextualization to contextualize the Gospel message preserving its original meaning will create a stumbling block in our approach to Muslims. The Qur’an is the most powerful cultural influence in Muslim society. Preserving intact the original message of the Gospel in our every approach is important. If we do not make a series effort to relate to the Qur’an and the Muslim religious thought in general our all efforts will be in vain.

Islam does not reject the message of Christ; it does reject the caricature of Christianity. In our approach to Muslims Christ must increase, Christianity must decrease. Muslims always see our outside which creates so many stumbling blocks for them. Our lifestyle and some historical events block their mind.

The relationship between Muslims and Christianity turned sour and they became bitter enemies only after series of Crusades. It should not take Christians long to discover that the Crusades have left a deep scar on the minds of Muslims all over the world. Although they ended seven hundred fifty five years ago (the last Crusade, 1250 A.D), for many Muslims it is as if they happened yesterday. And recent events such as the Rushdi affairs, the Gulf war and the Bosnian conflict have made many feel that the Crusades have never ended. After the Crusades, in Muslim world the cross became a symbol of hatred and war against Islam. It was the caricature of the Christianity made this damage and as a result the cross has lost its original meaning to the Muslim. As a result in many Muslim countries the humanitarian organization like “The Red Cross” even had to change their name to “The Red Crescent”.

Muslims will no doubt object to the supposed linking western colonialism with Christian mission. They feel uncomfortable about some of the links between the missionaries on the one hand and soldiers, the traders, administrators on the other. In the perception of the Muslim world, these two movements came basically from the same source. There is fact behind this. If we study the history of the Christian mission, in May, 1493 Pope divided the whole world into two European colonial powers, Spain and Portugal. This decree is called “Padroado”. Under the protection of civil authority of these two colonial powers the Catholic Church expanded in different parts of the world. If we want to see the origin of the Protestant missionary movement in seventeen century it also started and expanded under the protection of colonial powers. Coming after centuries of uneasy relationship between Muslims and Christians in Europe and Mediterranean, the colonial era beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century created a further crisis for the Muslim world.

The Complex of the Supremacy of the Western world During the Renaissance, the European understanding of Islam as religious faith was narrow and limited. The scholars who had studied the Qur’an and Islamic literatures revealed the prevalent opinion of the day. Among them Berthelmy d’ Herbelot and Humphry Prideaux are noted. In spite of their massive work and extensive research, their approach to Islam was polemic. D’ Herlot presents Muhammad as an imposter and heretic. Prideaux pictures Islam as distorted Christian religion with no logic or reason. In the nineteenth century Europeans began to look at the East with new pair of eyes, especially with European racial, cultural and religious superiority.

The colonial ideologies of nineteenth century were carried out again in twentieth century. The eastern religions and cultures were reduced to simple and primitive social status and only western civilization and their western Christianity could enlighten the eastern culture and religions. This kind of motive of the western people creating a stumbling block for approaching Muslims particularly in non western world where Islam is one of the dominant religions.

CULTURAL STUMBLING BLOCKS
The following are some cultural stumbling blocks for the Christian approach to the Muslim:
Christian Worship Service
Combined worship service of male and female Throughout the world in Christian Churches males and females worship together. A combined worship service is a cultural shock for a Muslim. Generally all over the world (western and non western) in Islamic society women are not allowed to worship at the Mosque (Masjid) with men. They can do their prayer (Namaj) five times a day at home. But in the modern days only in the big cities of Muslim countries there is a separate place for the women at Mosques. There must be didision or block between men and women so that during the time of worship (Namaj) men should not see the face of the women. But, not all Mosques have that kind of facility.
Sitting arrangements and pews In the western world men and women sit together during the worship service which is impossible in Islamic society anywhere in the world. A Muslim will be offended easily to see this practice of Christian Churches and it can create a stumbling block for Christian approach to Muslims. That’s why generally in non-western Churches especially in Muslim countries, men and women even husband and wife sit separately. During the worship service men sit with men and women sit with the women.

Throughout the world at their Mosques, Muslim worshipers sit on the floor. One may say that it’s an oriental culture, But, Muslims living in the west also follow the same culture. Sitting on the floor symbolizes their humbleness before the Almighty God. Using pews or chairs in Christian Churches often embraces Muslims.

Using the Church building for all purposes Except for worship service (Namaj) or any religious purposes Muslims never use their Mosques for social gathering or for any other functions. To them a Mosque is the house of Allah and is a holy place. Though there is no idea of a particular holy place in Christian Theology but, often time in western world and in some places of non western world using the main sanctuary for social gathering or any entertainment offends the Muslim.

Entering into main sanctuary without taking off shoes Often times, Christians of the western world say that taking off shoes is a characteristic of oriental culture. People may say it is necessary or useful for the tropical climate. But Muslims who are living in the western world take off their shoes while entering into Mosques. For them this cultural practice also symbolizes the humbleness before God.

Playing too much noisy musical instruments dancing, clapping, hooting in worship service Too much noise and commotion in worship, with drums, dancing, clapping and hooting in Christian worship service are embarrassing to any Muslim. Even playing any musical instruments, dancing and clapping are not allowed in the worship service of two major sects of Islam, Shia and Sunni. There is a controversy about that. There is an another sect of Islam called Sufi whose adherents play musical instruments and sing mystical types

of hymn while they worship. They also chant the name of Allah in limitless period of time which they call Jikir. Some western and non western Churches make too much noise playing drums or different kinds of musical instruments, dancing, clapping and hooting creates an imbalance situation which can make a stumbling block in our approach to the Muslim. The way of showing respect to the Bible Throughout the world Muslims respect their holy book the Qur’an. Kissing the holy book and touching it only after doing ablution (ritual or washing) are common practice in Muslim society. They often keep it wrapped in a special cloth. Muslims believe the Bible is the revealed book as they believe about their Qur’an. They expect Christians to treat the Bible in the same way. Leaving the Bible on the floor, dropping it down or putting it under a pile of other books, is a stumbling block to them. They are therefore surprised and shocked when they see how Christians often treat their holy book.

Fellowship and social gathering

The way of greetings and Hospitality

Many of the Muslim greetings and politeness formulas may be used in social relations with Muslims (e.g., the greetings as-salam alaikum, “peace be upon you”, and response wa alai-kum as salam). Muslims sometimes appear hesitant to return this greeting to the non Muslim. While approaching Muslims, especially orthodox Muslims, Christians should be careful to greet them in the same way Muslims greet each other among themselves. Otherwise it may create a stumbling block to them.

In general, Arabs and South Asian Muslims tend to stand when they greet each other.

Unlike the westerners, kissing on cheeks and hugging is limited only with members of same sex. Shaking hands with opposite sex is embarrassing to Muslims unless the woman takes the initiative by holding out her hand. Without having orientation about the way of Muslim’s greetings creates a stumbling block for the Christian approach.

Hospitality is an almost sacred obligation in Islamic culture. It is so important that one should never normally turn a visitor away. Most westerners think of their homes as a place to which to retreat for privacy, and feel they are intruding if they call on someone without an invitation. This is not, however, the mentality of the East and most of the Muslim world. Hospitality is regarded almost as a sacred duty in Islamic society. Entertaining or receiving guests has priority over every other obligation even if they come without any expectation and invitation.

Male-Female free mixing and closeness of family ties

Unlike the western world it is not common to see men and women holding hands as they walk down a street in any Muslim country. Wherever they live Islamic society is more or less conservative. Muslims have misunderstanding that all people of the western world are Christians and because of free mixing society of the western world, often times Christians are blamed by Muslims for sexual promiscuity. Christians in non-western world are also blamed by Muslims for succumbing to western influence. In Islamic society men should not visit women in their homes when they are alone, or be alone with women in other situations. While talking touching the body even with opposite sex is not uncommon in western world which often creates a stumbling block to Muslims.

To the westerner, the closeness of the family appears restrictive and overwhelming.

To them individual rights and freedom of action are important. On the other hand, Islam places a great emphasis upon the family. Family means the extended family rather than the nuclear family. The closeness of family ties is like a heavy blanket that covers all.

Children are bound to respect their parents. Showing respect to the elders is still very common to the Islamic society, while this is disappearing from the western world.

Dress and Diet

These two are particularly sensitive issues. Dress is a particularly sensitive issue for women. Islam emphasizes modesty. For witnessing to Muslims one should be careful to dress modestly. Otherwise it will become a stumbling block to them. Women in public should be careful to wear clothing that is not form-fitting, that goes below the knee even to the ankle and covers the upper arms. Head covering may be advisable in some places. Men should wear long trousers. Even in topical climates men and women in Islamic society wear this kind of dress. Shorts for women are strictly prohibited even at home. Most Muslims living in the west are maintaining the same tradition.

There are various taboos especially for food and drinks. Muslims do not eat pork, pork products or drink wine publicly. This may cause offense if Christians are not careful about that while witnessing to Muslims.

CONCLUSION

In considering Christian approaches to Muslim, Christian faces severe tests. Intellectually he struggles to relate his faith to the Theological and philosophical world of Islam. All our traditional theological belief will need to be challenged and rethought.

Likewise the Muslim’s patterns of thought and speech cause us to formulate the Gospel anew.

The 1.213 billion Muslims in the world can not be forgotten by the Church. Christian Churches need to evaluate their own weaknesses and make an assessment about their mistakes in the past. If they do so, their witness to Muslims will be more effective and will bring a good result.

Note:- This article has ended.

[1] James P. Dretke, A Christian Approach to Muslims (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1979), 121.
[2] Glory E. Dharmaraj and Jacob S. Dharamraj, Christianity and Islam: A Missiological Encounter (Delhi: ISPCK, 1998), 171.