CON-Vert the Musims

8/9/2019 CON-Vert the Musims

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Imtiaz Ahmed | A leading student of Dr. Zakir Naik

CONVERT THE MUSLIMS

Compiled by Imtiaz Basheer Ahmed
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 2CRUSADES ................................................................................................................................... 2Christian Dilemma ....................................................................................................................... 3Missionaries and their Methodologies ...................................................................................... 4Question Demands an Answer .................................................................................................. 4

1. Confrontational. ................................................................................................................... 62. Traditional evangelical model. ........................................................................................... 73. Institutional model. .............................................................................................................. 84. Dialogical model. ................................................................................................................. 85. Contextualization model. .................................................................................................... 9

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 11Missionary Claims: .................................................................................................................... 13PLANS TO CON THE MUSLIMS: .......................................................................................... 18POSSIBLE MODELS IN MUSLIM LANDS ............................................................................ 19Missionaries of the 90's Target Muslims ................................................................................. 20Its conversion time in Valley ................................................................................................... 24WAKE UP CALL FOR MUSLIMS ........................................................................................... 24


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INTRODUCTION

Islaam, the second largest Religion in the world and it is the fastestgrowing Religion in the world. There are around 1.5 billion adherents of

Islaam in the world and unfortunately Islaam is the most misunderstood

Religion in the world.

For centuries Christianity was the dominant Religion in the world, it felt

no threat from any other way of life or any other philosophy prevailed at

that time. And Christianity was dominating and church had the highestauthority, but it was all until Islaam emerged in the main stage of the

world and People accepted Islaam in huge waves, the conversions were so

massive that Islaam became the threat to the faith and creed of Christianity

because Christianity was losing its customers in every nation where

Message of Islaam reached through the Muslims. First time in the historyof Christianity it faced a very strong competitor, a very strong opponent

according to the followers of the Christianity.

The enmity of Islaam grew very much amongst the learned men of

Christendom and they wanted to respond to the call of Islaam in everypossible way and this even included the military action against the

Muslims.

CRUSADES

Pope Urban II , in 1095, gave a rousing speech urging all Christians

to unite against the Islaamic threat and save Jerusalem from the

wicked race of Saracens (a fairly nasty term for Arabs & Muslims).

On July 15 1099, the crusaders from western Europe conquered

Jerusalem, falling upon its Jewish and Muslim inhabitants like

avenging angels from the Apocalypse. About 40,000 Muslims were

slaughtered in two days. A thriving populous city had been

transformed into a stinking charnel house.

The enmity against Islaam was so immense, the venom of hatred

against Islaam was inculcated in the minds and hearts of people

that even small childrens were against Islaam, In the year 1212 the

first children crusade was led by Stephen of France, a 12 year old

shepherd boy. Stephen said that God had appeared to him in a


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vision on a hillside near Cloyes in France. God told him that only

innocent children could drive the bad guys out of the Holy Land.

His Zeal attracted thousands of kids, most of them under 12 years

old. About 30,000 children went on a Holy Mission to drive outbad guys from the Holy Land. The slimy merchants finally

loaded the exhausted little crusaders into old, rotten ship for free

transport of the Holy Land. Two of the ship sank, and all board

drowned. The Kids on the other ships were sold into slavery.

Thus between 1095- 1270 there were EightCrusades (Holy War).

In a boarder sense all the wars between the Muslim power and the

Christian power of Eastern Europe were considered Crusades. The

Reconquista of Spain was considered a Crusade. (Above all When

the British occupied Jerusalem, in 1917, which has been just vacated

by the Ottomans, they declared it as the end of Crusades.)

This hatred does not end here it continued in the minds of the

westerners even in 20th century, Jeremy Johns, in his book

Christianity and Islaam in John McManners, edition 1990, in page

194 he states In 1920, when the French army entered Damascus,

their commander marched directly to Saladins tomb and declared,famously: Nous revoila, Saladin- Were back! or here We are

again.

CHRISTIAN DILEMMA

All the military actions against Muslims didnt restrict Islaam from

spreading, because Islaam triumphed every time when these

western forces tried to wipe out Islaam from this world. The

Christians were in quagmire, they really needed to stumble the riseof Islaam, as the Christians very well know that Islaam is the only

religion that could overcome Christianity and ultimately put an

end to it. The rise of Islaam will be downfall of Christianity. The

Military action against Muslims is not always possible, they

required to tackle Islaam intellectually, to defeat Islaam

intellectually for this the Christians adopted, experimented various


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methodologies to discredit Islaam and to win over Muslims to

Christianity by converting them.

The distortion of Islaam was necessary to cease people from accepting

Islaam and second Missionaries should work on Muslims to convert

them to Christianity.

MISSIONARIES AND THEIR METHODOLOGIES

The military response from Christianity in form of crusades didnt

yield the fruit for the Christians so they adopted to attack Islaam by

systematic distortion of Islaam. For this goal to attain Islaam had to

be discredited. The easiest way to do this was through lies, falsepropaganda, and misrepresentation. The denomination prepared

the European masses for the Crusades. If we examine the early

literature a number of themes emerge.

The Early Christian writers focused their attack on the character of

the Prophet (pbuh). The Quran and the facts about the Prophets

life were distorted to justify Christian arguments that he was not a

divine messenger. The reason behind this attack was if Prophets

character could be destroyed, the Quran would be proved a

forgery. Books about Prophet (pbuh) are given titles like

Demoniacus to reinforce this message. In most works he is

described as a robber, adulterer, a murderer, a poor pagan who

schemed himself into power, and maintained it by pretending

revelation, spread it through violence. This early tendency

continued and found its way into popular medieval literature.

QUESTION DEMANDS AN ANSWER

Early Christian literature had to answer a difficult question. If

Islaam was so evil, why were so many people attracted to it? This is

evident even today; its agreed upon unanimously that Islaam is the

fastest growing religion in the world, especially in the west, Europe


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etc. The argument given was that evil often triumphs.

The underlying problem for the West is not Islaamic

fundamentalism. It is Islaam(Samuel Huntingdon, The Clash of civilizations).

Again, the Christians couldnt give a fitting reply to Islaam, in

regards to restrict the growth of Islaam. Now they had no choice

then to depend upon the evangelizing the Muslims, baptizing the

Muslims, Christianizing the Muslims. The plan to destroy Islaam

was not only depended on evangelizing but Christians carried out

political agenda to bring down Islaam, which we wont be dealing

with in this article.

Let us now concentrate on Christian missionaries and there

methodologies which they are adopting in their mission of

converting Muslims.

The many different models or approaches to Muslim evangelism

fall into five major categories:

1. Confrontational model

2. Traditional Evangelical model

3. Institutional model

4. Dialogical model

5. Contextualization model

The above categories are taken from :

Copyright 1996 Evangelism and Missions Information Service.

This article originally appeared in the April, 1996 issue ofEvangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ). And compiled by:

JOHN MARK TERRY is associate professor of missions and

evangelism at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,

Louisville, Ky. His article is based on a paper given at the Southeast

regional meeting of the Evangelical Missiological Society, March,


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1995. He holds a Ph.D. in missions from South-western Baptist

Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Tex. and previously served as a

missionary int he Philippines from 1976 to 1989.

1. CONFRONTATIONAL.

In the 18th and 19th centuries some missionariesHenry Martyn,

Karl Pfander, and St. Clair Tidall, for exampletried to win

Muslims by public debate. They also preached in the bazaars and

produced apologetic and polemical literature in English and the

vernacular. Their approach was never very successful in terms of

converts, and it often aroused increased Muslim antipathy toward

Christianity.

This approach is not widely used today. First, most Muslimcountries do not allow it. Those earlier missionaries often worked

under the protection of colonial governments. Second, todays

missionaries prefer to emphasize the positive nature of the gospel,

rather than expose objectionable elements in Islaam. Finally, this

method is not usually successful. Occasionally, a Muslim

intellectual is convinced, but the debates do not move the masses.

Well, the above statement is from Christian himself so you canexpect him to say that Christian defenders were not good enough

for debating with Islaamic scholars. As an example, when British

ruled India, they poured in Missionaries like frogs in rainy season

just only to convert the Muslims of India and there were various

records of debates between Christian scholars and Muslim scholars

and Christians had to pay heavy price for debating with Muslims.

Rev. C.C.P. Fonder who had written a book in Urdu entitled

Meezanul Haq the open intention of which was to cast doubts

into the minds of the Muslims about the authenticity of the Quran

and Islaam. In response to it Maulana Rahmatullah Kairnavi

wrote a book entitled Izhar-ul-Haq this was recognized as one of

the most authoritive and objective studies of the Bible in 1864. In

this book there are few debates mentioned which happened


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between Islaamic and Christian scholars. Eventually, as a whole

these debates didnt get the result what the Christians expected.

2. TRADITIONAL EVANGELICAL MODEL .

Samuel Zwemer (1867-1952), the "apostle to the Muslims," was the

pioneer of this method. During his early years (1890-1916), he

tended toward confrontation. In his books, The Disintegration of

Islaam (1915) and Mohammed or Christ (1916), he called for

"radical displacement," a complete rejection of Islaam by its

adherents. However, later in his career he followed a more

anthropological and Christocentric approach. He wrote

empathically of Muslims as seekers after God, though he still

maintained that only Jesus could satisfy their needs.1

Zwemer believed that evangelism must emphasize the incarnation,

atonement, and mediation of Christ. The evangelist must call

Muslims to repentance, to submission to Christ, and to involvement

in the church. Zwemer in later years advocated witnessing to

individuals and small groups. He advised his students to engage in

friendship evangelism. He believed the human personality was the

best bridge for conveying the gospel.2

Zwemer was a prolific writer and evangelicals have followed his

example. They have produced innumerable books and tracts. They

have distributed the Scriptures as widely as possible. They have

propagated the gospel by means of radio and Bible correspondence

courses.

The traditional approach has resulted in Western-style churches.

Missionaries have told their converts to break with Islaam and

publicly identify with a church. Zwemer rejected the idea of

allowing a convert to remain in Islaam as long as possible so as to

influence other Muslims.3

The main criticism against the traditional approach is simply that it

has not been very effective. Critics also say it is too Western. But

defenders say the approach is biblically sound. They see

themselves as sowing seed that will bear fruit in time. They admit


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meagre results, but attribute this to political, historical, and social

barriers beyond their control. They continue to sow faithfully,

hoping for more favourable results.

3. INSTITUTIONAL MODEL .

Several denominational missions have used this model. For

example, Presbyterians and Congregationalists tried to win

Muslims through hospitals, schools, and orphanages. The Foreign

Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has operated

three hospitals in Arab countries, as well as schools and

orphanages in Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel (for Palestinians).

The assumption is that demonstrations of love, compassion, and

humility will break down the walls of prejudice. Some missiologistssay we should send more teachers, doctors, nurses, and

agriculturalists, because their deeds will speak louder than their

words.4

The institutional model continues to be valid. Institutions are a

good way to overcome prejudice and win a hearing for the gospel.

However, institutions face difficult times. For one thing,

governments are taking over many of their services. Also, inflation

makes it hard to maintain them. Nevertheless, in some countriesYemen, for exampleinstitutions are the only Christian presence

allowed.

4. DIALOGICAL MODEL .

The dialogical approach was pioneered by Temple Gairdner (1873-

1928) and developed more fully by Kenneth Cragg. Dialogue is

motivated by a sincere love that seeks to reconcile Muslims and

Christians. It has four purposes:

(1) to learn what Muslims believe and to appreciate their beliefs inrelation to their culture;

(2) to seek to establish both contact and rapport on the basis of

sincere, honest friendship;

(3) to learn how to witness to them; and

(4) to bring them ultimately to salvation in Christ.5


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This approach must not be confused with the syncretistic,

universalistic dialogues sponsored by some ecumenical groups.

The missionary does not surrender his convictions. Rather, he

affirms them in a way that permits him to grow in hisunderstanding of Muslims.

5. CONTEXTUALIZATION MODEL.

In this approach missionaries try by every possible way to become

like Muslims so they can present the gospel in religious and

cultural forms that Muslims can identify with. This model does not

forget "the offense of the gospel," but seeks to avoid objectional

factors.6

It calls for changes in missionary lifestyle, worship forms,

theological terms, and strategy.

Proponents argue that missionary strategy for Muslim evangelism

needs a major overhaul, including:

1. The missionary should make initial contact with Muslim leaders.

Even if they do not become Christians, the missionary can reduce

the possibility of overt opposition by befriending them.

2. People on the fringes of society should not be the focus of

witness, but rather opinion leaders of the community.

3. Families, relatives, and groups of friends should be the initial

conversion goal rather than individuals.

4. In the beginning only basic theological concepts should be

presented. 7

5. We must allow adequate time for change to take place.

6. It is best not to encourage converts to repudiate Islaam. Instead,

it is better to allow them to "remain in the state in which (they

were) called" (1 Cor. 7:20). This way they can influence their peers.7. In many cases, baptism should be postponed, so converts will

have a greater opportunity to win other Muslims. Confession of

faith should be open, but baptism is seen as a political act in some

countries.

8. Missionaries should study animistic practices among Muslims to


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discover areas of felt need. These may provide useful points of

evangelistic contact.8


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CONCLUSION

The institutional model will have to be used in Arab countries

where no other ministry is permitted. The dialogical model

provides a way to approach Muslims in different settings. The

church-oriented emphasis of the traditional model is biblical and

should be stressed. The contextualization model has drawn on the

insights of anthropology to suggest long-needed reforms that will

lead to truly indigenous churches.

I have tried to incorporate elements from all the models, bearing in

mind that Muslims vary culturally from place to place. One

strategy does not fit all situations.

These are some general rules that should characterize a strategyto evangelize Muslims:

1. Any model must be church-oriented. As Kenneth Cragg said,

"No man comes into a churchless Christ."9 However, the church

must be contextualized. Any model that does not bring new

converts into a nurturing church is sure to fail.

2. The successful model will emphasize worship. Worship should

be designed to meet the needs of the people. The forms will be

different in Africa and Asia, but here again contextualization is the

key.

3. Missionaries should use certain passages from the Koran as a

springboard for explaining the gospel. They should feel free to use

the names Allaah and Isa (Jesus).

4. Missionaries in Muslim countries will have to adjust their

lifestyles for the sake of the gospel. Mission agencies would do well

to give candidates special tests to see if they are psychologically fit


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for service among Muslims.

5. New missionaries should be given several years to study the

language and culture of their assigned country, as well as Islaam

itself. Intensive preparation and reasonable expectations will

reduce missionary dropouts and enhance productivity.

6. Missionaries need to adapt their preaching to the culture of their

people. Storytelling may well be more effective than sermons.

7. We should increase our use of the media. Radio, television, andliterature could all be used more fully. Programming and writing

must be contextualized. Drama would be more effective than the

traditional hymn and sermon format.

8. Above all, whatever model we use, it must be characterized by

love and prayer for Muslims. A Muslim convert wrote: It is

stimulating to think that cases of conversion through sheer

reasoning between dogmas of two religions are very rare, perhapsnonexistent. In cases of conversion where prosperity, social status,

security, vengeance against native society, emotional

experimentation and the like are not the motives, the change of

faith is motivated perhaps more frequently by love for charming

virtues, of a magnetic person, or love for a group of lovable

associates, than by cold religious arithmetic.10

END NOTES

1. Lyle Vander Werff, "Our Muslim Neighbors: The Contribution ofSamuel Zwemer to Christian Mission," Missio-logy 10 (April, 1982),

p. 191.

2. Ibid., p. 195.

3. Samuel M. Zwemer, The Cross Above the Crescent (Grand

Rapids: Zondervan, 1941), p. 261.


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4. C. George Fry and James R. King, Islaam: A Survey of the

Muslim Faith (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), p. 133.

5. Ray G. Register, Jr., Dialogue and Interfaith Witness With

Muslims (Fort Washington, Pa.: Worldwide EvangelizationCrusade, 1979), pp. 11, 12.

6. Bashir Abdol Massih, "Incarna-tional Witness to Muslims: The

Models of Jesus, Paul, and the Early Church," World Pulse, Sept. 12,

1982, pp. 1-8.

7. Phil Parshall, New Paths in Muslim Evangelism (Grand Rapids:

Baker Book House, 1980), pp. 92, 93.

8. John D.C. Anderson, "The Missionary Approach to Islaam:

Christian or Cultic"? Missiology 4 (July, 1976), pp. 295-299.

9. Kenneth Cragg, Sandals at the Mosque (New York: Oxford

University Press, 1959), p. 143.

10. Frank Khair-Ullah, "Evangelism Among Muslims," in Let the

World Hear His Voice, J.D. Douglas, ed. (Minneapolis: World Wide

Publications, 1975), p. 824.

MISSIONARY CLAIMS:

A major evangelistic effort in Spain, uniting local churches with

specialized missions and organizations, takes place every summer.

In July and August, the highways fill with 800,000 Moroccans and

Algerians who are either going on, or returning from, vacation. The

Muslims are concentrated in Alicante, Almera, Mlaga, and

Algeciras.

According to the Bible Society, in 1994 workers distributed 3,374

Bibles, 188,179 New Testaments, 399,970 Gospels, 131,450 Bible

portions, 22,542 audio and video cassettes, and 5,544 books.

There are about 400 known Christians meeting in 10 or more small

groups in Morocco, according to Arab World Ministries (Upper Darby,

Pa.). "There are groups of Christians in all major cities and new people


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meeting the Lord almost everywhere," a ministry source reports. In

addition, about 150 Christian tentmakers work in the country.

Christianity has confronted Islaam since the age of Mohammed. From thetime of Raymond Lull (13th century), missionaries have sought to win

Muslims to Christ. Generally, this has been a difficult, discouraging task,

but as the reports above show, there are some encouraging signs.

"A combined mission umbrella organization in Cte dIvoire has called

its first ever conference of 150 converts from Islaam for mutual

encouragement," WEC International (Fort Washington, Pa.) reports.

"When people were invited to stand together by people groups or

regions, it was discovered that over the whole country Muslims arecoming to Christ." WEC says a committee was formed to help those who

lose everything when they convert.

The leader of the Muslim Tong-Gan people of Kyrgyzstan has invited

the Great Commission Center (Lewisville, Tex.) to send as many as 20

medical, development, and educational specialists. Short-term workers

will establish clinics and water treatment systems and will teach

computer use, Chinese, and other subjects.

The 300,000 Tong-Gan people of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were

driven from China a century ago. "This is a ministry of pre-evangelism

it requires love, kindness, patience, compassion, and a high degree of

sensitivity. This is a very rare opportunity for Chinese Christians to serve

among Muslim people of our own kindred," Thomas Wang of the Great

Commission Center stated. "In my lifetime, this is the first invitation of its

kind that I have witnessed."

As part of a strategy called "Pillars of Hope," local Christians andworkers with the Christian and Missionary Alliance have started a church

of Muslim converts in western Cte dIvoire. Two Lebanese missionaries

are working among Middle Eastern Muslims in Abidjan, while four

couples have been assigned to work through 20 Alliance churches to

reach out to Muslims in Bouake.


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Members of the international Yemen Prayer Fellowship report

continuing spiritual interest in that civil war-battered country on the Gulf

of Aden. At one undermanned hospital, YPF says, "A vital witness

continues and signs of hunger for the truth are evident."

A broadcasting agency says it received 134 letters responding to

broadcasts in April, compared to a monthly average of 33 during 1994.

Christ Church in Aden, "almost totally destroyed at the end of the war" in

1994, has appointed a new chaplain to oversee the church, the planned

rebuilding, and the establishment of a clinic. YPF also states that some of

the 50,000 Iraqi refugees in Yemen have turned to Christ.

A year after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Christians in many

countries report fresh momentum in the spiritual battle of presenting the

gospel to the world's 1.2 billion followers of Islaam. While not all stories

of Muslims finding freedom in Christ are as dramatic as Samuel's, the

church has entered a new era of opportunity.

Stan Guthrie states:

Dudley Woodberry, professor of Islaamic studies at the School of World

Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, says he sees

increased openness to the Christian message among Muslims. "I am

noticing in various parts of the worlda significant increase in

conversion," says Woodberry, a former pastor to the international

community in Saudi Arabia. "I don't know all of the factors involved. All I

can say is, at this point, in numbers of areas, there has been an increased

level of responsiveness."

Just 6 percent of current missionaries are focused on Muslims. Yet the

signs of a breakthrough are clearly visible. Twenty mission agency

leaders, former Muslims, and workers among Muslims spoke to

Christianity Today about current progress and problems in reaching

Muslims.

Reaching Muslims has always been one of the most difficult of

missionary tasks. In 1900, there were just fewer than 200 million Muslims

among the world's 1.6 billion people, or 12 percent. Today, after what had

been optimistically labelled a "Christian century," there are 1.2 billion

Muslims, or 19 percent, among a global population of 6.2 billion people.


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Missionary Nik Repkin (a pseudonym) estimates that an average of only

one person per church-based evangelical agency working in the Horn of

Africa is becoming a believer in Christ every year. Meanwhile, 80 percent

of Muslim "seekers" there have returned to Islaam.

Impressive growth

Signs of progress have abounded, even before September 11. In North

Africa, the numbers of Christians from Muslim backgrounds (in missions

jargon, Muslim-background believers, or MBBs) have multiplied.

In Morocco, the growth was from 300 people (and eight to ten groups) in

1979 to 900 people (20 to 25 groups) in 1999. In Tunisia, there were

perhaps 30 MBBs and two or three groups in 1979. Twenty years later,

there were 150 believers and five or six groups. Even Libya has grown

from no known MBBs to as many as 10. AWM says the number of

believers has doubled there in the last three years.

In Algeria, 120,000 people have died in a civil war that broke out in 1992

when the military government cancelled legislative elections that

Islaamists were widely expected to win. Church growth has been

impressive there, especially among the repressed non-Arab minority

Berber peoples, who constitute perhaps 40 percent of the population. In

1979, there were 1,200 believers and 12 to 18 groups. Three years ago,

there were 12,000 and 60 to 80, respectively. Many are from the Kabyle

Berber community.

Maher Fouad of the Cairo-based Arab World Evangelical Ministers

Association (AWEMA) told CT, "I cannot mention the names of countries

or cities for security reasons. I can say that10 years ago, the

underground churches in North Africa did not exceed more than 2,000

persons, but now the numbers of believers [have] reached over 50,000

persons."

Unstable, Ripe Countries

North Africa is but one area where Muslims are turning to Christ.

Countries facing political instability and natural disasters have been

particularly ripe, especially when Christians combine practical relief and

development ministries with their words of witness. Over the last 40

years, Christian growth rates have been double population growth in


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Bangladesh. In 2000, the rate of increase for Christians was 3.2 percent

yearly, versus 1.8 percent for Muslims.

Operation World reports that the number of MBBs of Iranian descent wasjust 500 worldwide in 1979 at the start of the Iranian Revolution. Abe

Ghaffari was in the country for several years before the shah fell, and he

saw only one Muslim come to Christ. Ghaffari says that most Iranian

Muslims were nominal in their religion, more interested in economic

advancement than in founding a pure Islaamic state. Then Ayatollah

Ruhollah Khomeini seized power.

"After the revolution, they were really exposed to Islaam," says Ghaffari,

who helps resettle Iranian refugees through his organization, Iranian

Christians International. "They saw that Islaam didn't provide all the

answers and that the Islaamic clergy were corrupt."

Ghaffari estimates there are now 30,000 Iranian believers from Muslim

backgrounds worldwide, including 15,000 in Iran itself. Annual growth,

he estimates, is between 7 and 10 percent, with pockets of revival in

places such as Germany. He is uncertain how much of a factor the

terrorist attacks may become in Iranian evangelism.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, the Christian minority

may have reached 34 million adherentsfar above official estimates.

Many people became Christians in the mid-1960s, when government

reprisals left 500,000 communists and sympathizers dead. Operation

World reports that churches on the heavily Muslim island of Java have

grown by 5 percent annually since 1992, despite persecution, political

upheaval, and economic woes.

Evangelical Christianity is making steady gains in Turkey, which is anisland of relative stability in the Muslim world. Three decades ago,

Christians began offering Bible correspondence courses to interested

people in the 99 percent Muslim nation. Today there are as many as 1,500

evangelical believers in the country, up from just a handful, according to

missions observers. Christians in Turkey are becoming increasingly bold,

especially in the cities. Luis Palau preached to hundreds of people,


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including Muslims, in 1999. A ministry leader in the country told World

Pulse, "Now Turkish fellowships are beginning to emerge with a new

confidence. They are renting or purchasing meeting places and are doing

outreach. Steady numbers of believers have managed to change their

identity cards from 'Muslim' to 'Christian.' "

Pat Cate noted in EMQ, "It really can be said that Islaam is the most

studied and least evangelized religion." The International Mission Board

of the Southern Baptist Convention is one of the few denominational

mission boards with a large and concerted outreach to Muslims. imb

personnel are working with more than 300 predominantly Muslim people

groups in 75 countries. The 2001 Annual Statistical Report says that

Southern Baptist missionaries and their partners overseas started 121churches and recorded 3,405 baptisms among these groups. Avery Willis,

senior vice president for overseas operations, says the biggest problem in

bringing Muslims to faith is not theological.

"All we want to do is give them an opportunity to know the truth in Jesus

Christ, and then they make the decision," Willis says. "The biggest

difficulty is just getting an opportunity for them to be exposed to the

truth."

Stan Guthrie is associate news editor of CT and author of Missions in theThird Millennium. For an interview with David Johnstone, see

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/132/54.0.html.

PLANSTO CON THE MUSLIMS:

CHURCH PLANTING IN THE ME & IDENTITY OF MUSLIM

CONVERTS By David Zeidan

In the Middle East we are often dealing not with a "normal"

situation, but with an emergency situation where believers from

Muslim background can expect severe persecution and even death.

Our choices must be governed by the relevant situation in the

country we are working in.


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POSSIBLE MODELS IN MUSLIMLANDS

1. Integrate fully with the local Evangelical Christian minority (if

one exists) and its churches. This means a break with the Muslim

community and becoming a minority (Muslim believers), within a

minority (Evangelicals), within a recognised (nominal Christian)

minority. In very Islaamic societies, or where fundamentalists are

strong, this means persecution as apostates and even death - or

emigration. This option usually results in a break with family and

society.

In a mainly secular state like Turkey and Israel this option might

work. The danger is that these states are coming under increasingreligious, even fundamentalist, pressures and may have to reach an

accommodation with their religious constituencies that always

comes at the expense of the Muslim (or Jewish) believers.

2. Establish Muslim fellowship groups independent of Evangelical

Christians, yet in visible fellowship with them. Worship is partly

contextualised, but much interaction with local and foreign

Christians occurs. This option might work well in a fairlysecularised though nominally Muslim state (Syria, Iraq?).

3. Sufi-type Muslim "followers of Jesus" fellowships remaining in

their local contexts yet forming closed groups. Meet in designated

zawiyas (can be private homes, but recognized as a Sufi meeting

place); have their own Sheikhs (elder, pastor); develop their own

worship forms based on Sufi "dhikr", "hadra" and "sama`" models.

They remain within their culture and society yet operate as avisibly separate group. This option might be able to function in

more Islaamically oriented states with a Sufi tradition (Egypt,

Sudan, the Maghreb, also Turkey, Iran, etc.).


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4. Isma'ili-type secret small-cell groups of Muslim believers who do

not publicly profess their faith, but keep it as a secret to be divulged

only to a very restricted group of trusted relatives and friends.

They evangelise secretly, meet secretly, practise taqiya, anddevelop their own secret recognition patterns. Each believer is

introduced only to one or two other believers. This option might be

suitable for extremely Islaamic societies (Saudi Arabia).

MISSIONARIES OF THE 90'S TARGET MUSLIMS

By Masood Cajee

Mike and Cindy Bowen of LaGrange, Georgia first went to

Malaysia in 1987, on a short-term outreach for the PentecostalHoliness Church. According to the Bowens, it was on the plane

home that God confirmed His call to them.

"We both knew that God would eventually bring us back home to

Malaysia to teach and preach to the Malay people who haven't

heard," says Cindy Bowen, of her husband-and-wife team.

This year, the Bowens will leave their home in Georgia and commit

full time to proselytise in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur.They have been preparing nearly ten years for this opportunity.

Since their first trip to Malaysia, Mike got a bachelor's degree in

Missions and Evangelism from the South-western Assembly of God

College in Waxahachee, Texas; Cindy majored in Christian

Education. They will join an estimated contingent of 559 Christian

missionaries (370 Catholic, 189 Protestant) in Malaysia.

'The Bowens plan to help establish two Pentecostal Holiness

churches in Kuala Lumpur by training the pastors and bringing

forth leaders to start plant more churches in this emerging

Southeast Asian Muslim-majority nation of 19 million. A

spokesperson for the National Evangelical Fellowship of Malaysia

claims that 600 Christian churches have started there since 1992.

Evangelical Christians like the Bowens tout Muslims as the largest


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block of unreached peoples in the world. Having scored

remarkable successes among Catholics in Latin America, notably in

Brazil, and spurred by the fall of the Soviet Union, missionaries in

the 1990s regard Muslims as a "final frontier" for evangelism. Theirstrategies call for ''creative access, cultural sensitivity, and church-

planting in the 10/40 Window." The 10/40 Window is evangelical-

speak for the rectangle with boundaries of latitudes 10 and 40

degrees north of the equator; encompassing most of the Muslim

World.

Muslim countries especially targeted are the newly independent

states in Central Asia - particularly Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,and the Southeast Asian tigers, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Nevertheless, Frontiers and other Christian groups strive to place

missionaries throughout the tough "10/40 Window." Most Muslim

countries remain closed, either because of the strong linkage

between ethnic and religious identity amongst Muslims, or because

of heavy restrictions on proselytization. This restricted access has

led U.S. Christian mission groups such as Frontiers to lobby

Congress on the issue of "the persecuted Church" in Muslim

countries. These lobbying efforts have spurred the creation of a US

State Department Commission on Religious Freedom, albeit one

whose original stress on persecuted Christians has been slightly

diluted. The Commission will now include representatives from

multiple denominations and faiths, including Dr. Laila AlMarayati

of the Muslim Womens League.

The "persecuted Church" primarily within the 10/40 Window has

been a rallying point and foreign policy crusade for the Religious

Right in their quest to gain wider access to the untapped millions of

non-Christians within the Window. Frontiers, a mission group

devoted completely to converting Muslims, boasts that "through

creative approaches, patient sowing, and fearless proclamation,

more Muslims have come to Christ in the last 25 years than in the


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previous 1400 years combined!" The Mesa, Arizona-based group

claims to have 500 missionaries in 30 countries, or about 20% of all

North American Protestant missionaries serving among Muslims.

Frontiers seeks missionaries for the 90's with the motto: "Muslims.It's their turn. It's all we do. Whatever it takes." From Bosnia to

Bangladesh, American missionaries apparently have been doing

whatever it takes to penetrate often resistant and hostile Muslim

target countries. Two popular missionary approaches to Muslim

countries involves setting up business ventures or non-profit relief

and NGO work.

Christian relief groups have made inroads in places like Somalia

(which is 99% Muslim) by taking advantage of humanitarian crises

like the famine in 1992 that precipitated U.S. intervention. Some

missionaries reportedly even hook up with the CIA, blurring

religious and political goals.

The Washington Post revealed February, 22 that CIA officials

admitted a "controversial loophole" exists that permits the agency

to "employ clerics and missionaries for clandestine work overseas.

By far; however; the most popular long-term method has been to

establish front export businesses, a growing strategy used by

missionaries to gain access into a target country. Often,

missionaries start branch offices of American companies overseas

or enter as consultants. Cindy Bowen speaks proudly of her

husband's creative access to Malaysia, which capitalised on his

landscaping business in LaGrange, located 6O miles Southwest of

Atlanta.

Ahmad Baharrudin of the Malaysian Islaamic Study Group, a

leading Muslim student organisation, says the problem of attrition

among Muslim Malays, particularly among young women, has

alarmed him. "Every year, the Department of Religious Affairs

changes many Muslim names to Christian names, says Baharrudin.

"Many Muslim activists say the Ulema should step out of their air-


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IT S CONVERSION TIME IN VALLEY

Slowly and discreetly, Christian evangelists make inroads into

Muslim heartland of Kashmir

SRINAGAR, APRIL 5 2003: Amid booming guns and endless

violence, Kashmir is witnessing a discreet spurt in conversion

from Islaam to Christianity. Christian groups are putting the

number of neo-converts at over 10,000 and a Sunday Express

investigation confirms that conversions have been taking place

regularly across the Valley.

At least a dozen Christian missions and churches based in the US,

Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland have sent evengelists to theValley and are pumping in money through intermediaries based in New

Delhi.

In the Valley where death and trauma are a way of life, the missionaries

are getting immediate attention because they reach out to the poor, needy

and those affected by violence. Also, they bring in a lot of money.

Though conversions have not encountered any resistance from Muslim

organisations, it has led to tensions between Kashmirs native Christians

a miniscule community of 650 and the enthusiastic evangelists.

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=21530

WAKE UP CALLFOR MUSLIMS

It will be shocking for some or it will be unbelievable for others.

Some will think that Missionaries reports are not to be taken as

whole truth nothing but truth, they exaggerate the reports to collectmore donations from their people.

Well, its true that Missionaries are exaggerating the reports just to

appease their community they dont want to lose their milking

cow. But the fact is which we Muslims cant brush it away i.e.


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Christians are working on converting or to say CONverting

Muslims. It becomes impediment upon Muslim community to

strengthen up their community with right guidance and by sticking

to Islaamic guidelines i.e. making more efforts to follow the tenetsof Islaam, not only just to follow also to make our family and

friends to practice Islaam completely.

Allaah states in the Holy Quran that Muslims are the Khaira-

Ummath in Sura Ali-Imran chapter 3 verse 110

(

Ye are the best of peoples evolved for mankind enjoining what is right

forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allaah. If only the People of the Book

had faith it were best for them; among them are some who have faith but most of

them are perverted transgressors.

And its obligatory upon every Muslims to enjoin the Good and forbid

the Evil, so its really important to resist this Missionary onslaught onMuslims and deter the onslaught of kufr upon Muslims. We should make

more effort to save the innocent and ignorant Muslims from these

Missionaries false propaganda. As for Islaam, Allaah has promised that

He will make His Deen prevail over all religions.

In Surah Tawbah, chapter 9 verse 33

It is He who hath sent His apostle with guidance and religion of truth to

proclaim it over all religions even though the pagans may detest (it).

In Surah Al-Fat-h chapter 48 verse 28


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It is He who has sent His Apostle with Guidance and the Religion ofTruth to proclaim it over all religion: and enough is Allaah for a Witness.

Allaah warns of severe consequences of those who fail to abide by His

commands


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In Surah Tawbah chapter 9 verse 24

Say: If it be that your fathers your sons your brothers your mates or your

kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a

decline; or the dwellings in which ye delight are dearer to you than

Allaah or His apostle or the striving in his cause; then wait until Allaah

brings about His decision: and Allaah guides not the rebellious.

And in

Surah Muhammad chapter 47 verse 38 Allaah warns that He will

substitute with another community if we fail to do our duty

If ye turn back (from the Path) He will substitute in your stead another

people; then they would not be like you!

These are very strong verses from Holy Quran, if we fail to heed to these

warnings then its we who will be in severe loss, it will be a rebellion

against Allaah and Allaah guides not the rebellious.

Documents

CON-Vert the Musims