Ten Things Worth Knowing about Islam

by Gary Corwin

At a time when more talking heads are focused on Islam than ever before, the missions community may want to keep these basic truths clearly in mind.

At a time when more talking heads are focused on Islam than ever before, the missions community may want to keep these basic truths clearly in mind.

1. Islam is not one. It is as varied in its forms and styles as Christianity. Whether looking at major formal divisions, the various schools of law/denominational traditions, degrees of mysticism or folk religious tendencies, a remarkable similarity exists in the degree of diversity. It isn’t any more possible to understand Islam’s breadth by grasping the nature of Al Qaeda terror strategies than it is to comprehend the breadth of Christianity by grasping the nature of Tuesday night bingo at St. Christopher’s Catholic Church. While each provides insight into some underlying assumptions, neither is adequate as a microcosm reflecting the whole.

2. Islam is not primarily about private belief, but public observance and social structure. Generally speaking, outward conformity is a much higher value than freedom of religion or thought. The more seriously Qur’anic teaching is taken in a society, the stricter the social sanctions to encourage conformity will be.

3. Islam is a political vision as much as a religious one. Muslims believe their destiny is to rule everywhere. The world is divided into two parts, Dar es Salaam and Dar el Harb, the land of peace where Islam rules, and the land of war where the infidel does. While many Muslims don’t think in the more militant ways in which these terms may be understood, most would still believe that Allah will one day bring it about.

4. Radical violent Islam is neither a fringe movement, nor the choice of the majority of Muslims, but it is the logical choice of those most devoted to core beliefs. Unlike Christianity, in which those most zealously devoted to the Master’s teaching are the most loving and least to be feared, those most zealously devoted to the Qur’an’s teachings and the Hadith are overwhelmingly the most violent and unmerciful.

5. Islam is a civilization at least as much as it is a religion. In its Golden Age (roughly the several centuries prior to the Reformation), in fact, it was a world leader in areas like the development of mathematics, science and architecture. It was and still is today an all-embracing philosophy and way of life, with a catalog of explicit requirements for legal, economic and governmental relationships.
This point underlies C5 contextualization principles for introducing Muslims to the gospel. The basic argument is that Muslims who receive Christ as Savior should not have to cease being Muslims (in terms of civilization and culture) in order to follow Christ. A major problem arises, however, because the lines between Islam as religion and as civilization are so blurred.

6. There is no assurance of salvation apart from martyrdom as it is understood in some Muslim contexts. No matter how hard a Muslim might work to please Allah by obeying his commands, he or she never is confident of being good enough, or of being one day received into Paradise. The free forgiveness embodied in the Christian gospel of grace, therefore, is a powerful and attractive alternative.

7. Today in many parts of the Muslim world there is a deep questioning of Islam. This is evident in newspapers, TV talk shows and opposing fatwas (Islamic legal decrees) issued in regard to suicide bombings, etc. Muslims are asking themselves, “Is all the violence being perpetrated in the name of Islam a true reflection of our faith?” “Can we adapt to modernity?” “Is leadership in the Muslim world working?” There is an opening in the Muslim mind to these and other subjects.

8. Islam, like Christianity, is little more than a thin veneer over animistic folk religion in many parts of the world. While scholars and teachers dwell in the realm of holy texts, countless practitioners of both Islam and Christianity are much more concerned with issues of health, prosperity and personal welfare. The promise of power to ward off evil spirits drives the daily religious life of many Muslims and Christians.

9. When Muslims hear talk of the Trinity, or that Jesus is the Son of God, they think blasphemy (God and Mary procreated Jesus in the usual way). While clearly a misunderstanding of the biblical story, Muslims almost universally hold this belief. This remains a large stumbling block to a proper understanding of who Christ is.

10. The latest surahs of the Qur’an trump all that precede them including earlier surahs and the Bible. Unlike biblical revelation, which is progressive and unfolding, revelation from a Qur’anic perspective is consecutive and superceding. The “law of abrogation” makes clear that what has come more recently takes precedence and is the ultimate authority, even when it directly contradicts that which has gone before (in either the Qur’an or the Bible). Hence the conflicting messages in the Qur’an, for example, on how “people of the Book” (Christ-ians and Jews) ought to be treated.

Much more could be said, but perhaps this brief survey can serve as a reminder of both the complexity and opportunities inherent in communicating the gospel to Muslims.

Gary Corwin is associate editor of EMQ and missiologist-at-large for Arab World Ministries, on loan from SIM-USA.

EMQ, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 416-417. Copyright © 2004 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS.

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