Cross and Crescent

Name: Cross and Crescent | Responding To The Challenges Of Islam
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Responding To The Challenges Of Islam

Colin Chapman(Author)

Inter-Varsity Press

Published on 17. December 2012

421 pages

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Intro
Cross and Crescent
Contents
Part One: Relating To Our Muslim Neighbours
Part Two: Understanding Islam
Part Three: Entering Into Discussion And Dialogue
Part Four: Facing Fundamental Issues
Part Five: Bearing Witness To Jesus
Acknowledgments
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction
How are the challenges of Islam perceived?
What is involved in Christian responses to Islam?
Part One Relating to Our Muslim Neighbours
1. Meeting face to face
Starting where we are
The secret of real dialogue
Greetings
Visiting
Visiting a mosque
What should you do before going?
What can you see at the mosque?
What should you do after the visit?
Where will all this lead?
2. Appreciating Islamic culture
How can we begin to appreciate Muslim culture?
Festivals
Marriage and family life
Diet
Dress
Social manners
Comments on this description of Muslim culture
What is special about Islamic culture?
Some controversial aspects of Islamic culture
The veil (hijab)
Honour killings
Female circumcision
What do Muslims think about Western culture?
Some basic dos and don'ts
3. Examining our attitudes
'Look at the way they persecute Christians!'
'Islam seems to be a religion of violence'
'Islam wants to rule the world!'
'If Christianity is true, then Islam is false'
'It's impossible to convert Muslims, and we shouldn't try anyway'
'Muslims seem to be very prejudiced and have closed minds'
By his example
By his teaching
By his sending of the Holy Spirit
Part Two Understanding Islam
4. What is Islam?
The different faces of Islam
Traditionalist, orthodox Islam
Folk Islam or popular Islam
Modernist/liberal Islam or Islamic modernism
Islamism, Islamic fundamentalism, radical or revivalist Islam
Sufism
5. Basic Muslim beliefs and practices
Basic beliefs
Basic practices
6. Muslims at prayer
The call to prayer
The ablutions
The compulsory prayers (sala or salat)
The Fatiha &- the opening sura of the Qur'an
Other kinds of prayer
7. The life of Muhammad
Arabia before the time of Muhammad
The life of Muhammad
The successors of Muhammad
Christianity at the time of Muhammad and Muhammad's relations with Christians
The significance of the life of Muhammad for Muslims and Islam today
The Jahiliyya
The Meccan period
The Hijra and the Medinan period
Meccan and Medinan suras
Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem
Territoriality
Muhammad's relationships with Jews
Muhammad as an example
Attacks on Muhammad
8. The Qur'an
The origins and interpretation of the Qur'an
How was the Qur'an first written down and collected?
How reliable is the present text of the Qur'an?
What is the Muslim doctrine of scripture?
Can the Qur'an be translated?
What is the place of the Qur'an in the experience of Muslims?
How do Muslims interpret the Qur'an?
Are Muslims able to study and analyse the Qur'an as Christians study the Bible?
Translations of the Qur'an
Reading the Qur'an
The shortest and earliest suras
Some well-known passages
Typical passages
Laws
Using the index
Complete suras
Important verses in the Qur'an
About the Qur'an itself
About the Bible
About Christians
Passages about Jesus
9. Tradition (hadith and sunna)
Collections of hadith
Further questions about tradition
How were hadith and sunna recorded?
How reliable is hadith?
How is hadith used?
Examples of hadith
10. Law (shari'a) and theology (kalam)
Law
The basis of law
Examples of Islamic law
Theology
The question of succession
The definition of 'Muslim'
The challenge of rationalism
The definition of orthodoxy
The question of development and reinterpretation
The status of shari'a law
Some examples of Islamic theology
11. Sufism
The origins of Sufism
Basic practices and emphases in Sufism
'Recollecting' or 'remembering' the name of God in prayer (dhikr)
Belonging to a group
Sufi guides
Walking the mystic 'way' (tariqa)
The questioning of selfhood and the quest for union with God
Missionary zeal
Jesus as a model
Sufism and orthodox Islam
Examples of Sufi writing
12. Folk Islam or popular Islam
Examples of folk or popular Islam
The world view of folk Islam
A text illustrating aspects of folk Islam
13. The spread and development of Islam
The first Islamic conquests
The spread of Islam in Africa and Asia
Relationships between Islam and Europe
Islamic empires and dynasties
European imperialism
Movements of revival and reform
14. Branches and movements within Islam
The break between Sunnis and Shi'ites
Distinctive beliefs of Shi'ites
Modern movements within Islam today
The Deobandis
Tablighi Jama'at (The Faith Movement)
Barelwis
Jama'at-i-Islami (The Islamic Party)
Ahl-i-Hadith (The People of Tradition)
The Salafi movement
Muslim Council of Britain (MCB)
Hizb ut-Tahrir (The Party of Liberation)
The Taliban
Ahmadiyya
15. Issues facing Muslims today
1. Islam and the nation state: What does it mean for a state to be Islamic?
2. Pluralism and Muslim minorities: Can Muslims accept pluralism, and how should Muslims justify their existence as minorities in non-Islamic countries?
3. Unity: How should the unity of the Muslim world be expressed?
4. Economics: Is there a uniquely Islamic approach to questions of wealth and poverty?
5. Questions about truth and scripture: How does Islam respond to questions about the truth of its scriptures?
6. Israel: Can Islam tolerate the Zionist state?
7. Human rights: Can Muslims accept concepts of human rights as widely understood today?
8. Democracy: Is Islam compatible with democracy?
9. The struggle between fundamentalists and modernists: Which side will win?
16. Women in islam
The teaching of the Qur'an about women and marriage
The teaching and example of Muhammad
Islamic law concerning women
The role of women in the history of Islam
Law reform in the twentieth century
The feminist movement in Islam
Islamization and the demand to return to the shari'a
The wearing of the veil
Some observations and conclusions
17. 'Islamic terrorism'
Antecedents in Islamic history
Key ideologues in the twentieth century
Significant dates
Major grievances of Islamists
'Islamic terrorism'
Responses of Muslims to terrorism carried out by Muslims
'These were genuinely Islamic actions carried out against the enemies of Islam in accordance with Islamic teaching'
'These actions cannot possibly be justified in terms of Islamic teaching'
'We sympathize with their motives, but can neither support nor condemn their actions'
Crucial theological questions for Muslims
What are the different meanings of jihad?
Is jihad only defensive, or can it sometimes be offensive?
Can suicide in jihad be regarded as martyrdom?
Part Three Entering into discussion and dialogue
18. Questions and objections concerning Christian practice
'Why do you eat pork, which is unclean?'
'Why do you drink alcohol?
'Do you drink wine in church?'
'Christianity makes impossible and unrealistic moral demands, such as "turning the other cheek". Islam doesn't demand more than is reasonable, or expect an unnatural degree of self-denial.'
'Islam has no priesthood, no special caste of people who are set aside to perform priestly functions which no one else can perform.'
19. Social and political issues
'Children don't obey their parents in the West as they do in Muslim countries.'
'Look at how degenerate the West has become! If this is what Christianity has done for the West, it isn't a very good advertisement for Christianity.'
'Why do Christians tend to support the state of Israel without question?'
'Why do you not allow us to practise Islamic law within our own Islamic communities in the West?'
'Why do Christians object to the introduction of Islamic law in countries with large Muslim communities?'
20. Questions and objections concerning Christian beliefs
'Do you believe in the Trinity? Do you believe in three gods?'
'Why do you say that Jesus is the "Son of God"?'
'Why do you believe that Jesus was crucified?'
'Your Scriptures have been corrupted.'
'Your Scriptures are full of mistakes and contradictions.'
'We recognize Jesus as a prophet. Why don't you recognize Muhammad as a prophet?'
'Why do you not recognize that the Bible foretells the coming of Muhammad?'
'All religions are basically the same. Why worry about the differences?'
21. Guidelines in discussion with Muslims
1. Be prepared to speak about anything!
2. Do not start an argument if you can possibly help it.
3. Resist the temptation to criticize Islam.
4. Do all you can to remove misunderstandings (e.g. about Christians worshipping three gods, about Jesus being 'Son of God' in a physical sense, about the West being Christian, etc.).
5. Try to distinguish between what is important and what is less important.
6. Be prepared to admit the mistakes and crimes of Christians in the past and present.
7. Do not be too impatient with discussion about political and social issues.
8. Do not underestimate the power of personal testimony.
9. Be content to explain one small aspect of the gospel at a time.
10. Be yourself, be honest and vulnerable, and open to learn.
22. A deeper look at the main Muslim objections
'The Bible has been corrupted.'
1. None of these verses suggests that the text of the Bible has been corrupted.
2. The accusation about the corruption of the text of the Bible was developed by later Muslim apologists.
3. In answering Muslims who say that our Scriptures have been corrupted, we can politely but firmly ask in reply, 'When do you believe they were corrupted and by whom?'
4. Muslims speak of God as the protector of his Word.
5. Many Muslims claim that the Gospel of Barnabas is the original Injil revealed to Jesus.
6. Underlying the charge of corruption is the Muslim understanding of revelation and inspiration of Scripture, which is different from the Christian understanding.
7. At some stage it may be necessary to discuss questions concerning biblical criticism.
8. Even if we convince Muslims with these arguments, we have not solved the problem for them!
'Jesus was not the Son of God.'
1. The original background to these denials of the divine sonship of Jesus seems to have been Muhammad's denunciation of the gods and goddesses in Mecca who were thought to have sons and daughters.
2. There are good reasons for believing that the 'Trinity' rejected by Muhammad was not the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as we understand it.
3. There is no need to make too much of the title 'Son of God' in discussion with Muslims, and there is good biblical precedent for avoiding names and titles that cause offence and create misunderstandings.
4. Our belief in Jesus as the Son of God is based on the words and actions of Jesus himself, and not only on the teaching of John, Paul and the other apostles.
5. The sonship of Jesus is not a purely theological issue
it has profound implications for our understanding of who we are and the kind of relationship God wants to have with those who trust in him.
6. The Qur'an uses 'son of' language metaphorically.
'Jesus was not crucified.'
1. The Qur'an does not actually deny the crucifixion
all it denies is that it was the Jews who carried out the crucifixion.
2. The crucial text of 4:156-159 leaves open the possibility that Jesus died on the cross and emphasizes what God did to vindicate Jesus in the eyes of the Jews by raising him to heaven.
3. We start with the traditional assumption of most Muslims that God could not have allowed the crucifixion to happen, and attempt to explain how it is conceivable that God could have allowed it.
23. Learning from the controversies of the past
Muhammad and the Christians of Najran (c. 632 CE)
John of Damascus (675-753)
Al-Tabari (died 855)
The correspondence of al-Hashimi and al-Kindi (c. 820)
Ibn Hazm (994-1064)
Raymond Lull (1234-1315)
Henry Martyn (1781-1812)
Karl Gottlieb Pfander (1803-65)
Temple Gairdner (1873-1928)
Ahmad Deedat (1918-2005)
Jay Smith (born 1953)
24. Exploring dialogue
Who are we?
1. Who are we?
2. What are our basic human needs and how are these met within our own faith?
What about the past?
What are we up against?
Can we find new ways of bearing witness to our faith?1
God creates
God is one
God reveals
God loves
God judges
God forgives
God rules
Part Four Facing fundamental issues
25. Theological questions
Is the God of Islam the same as the God of Christianity?
1. Analysing the question itself
2. The meaning of 'Allah'
3. An analogy
4. The example of Paul
5. The testimony of converts and enquirers
Is there any revelation in Islam? Should Christians think of Muhammad as a prophet? Is the Qur'an in any sense the Word of God?
1. Are we speaking about general revelation or special revelation?
2. How did the religion of Islam compare with the religion of Arabia?
3. How are we to understand the development in the experience of Muhammad?
4. How are we to understand the Qur'an's rejection of Christianity?
5. How are we to understand the psychological processes of the 'revelations' which came to Muhammad?
Is Islam inspired by the devil?
26. The Islamic view of Jesus
Jesus in the Qur'an
Jesus is seen as one in the line of prophets sent by God who all taught the same message
Jesus was born of a virgin
his birth was announced to Mary by an angel
He performed many miracles
It is blasphemy to elevate Jesus to the level of God
While Jesus is not divine in any sense, he is unique among the prophets of God and is given titles such as 'Word' and 'Spirit' which are not given to any other human beings
Jesus is to be thought of as similar to Adam in that they were both created by the word of God
Jesus was not crucified
Jesus predicts the coming of Muhammad
Jesus and Mary
Jesus in later Islamic tradition
1. His miraculous powers
2. His asceticism
3. His saintliness
4. His role at the end of history when he comes to vindicate Islam
Christian responses
27. The Qur'anic view of Christians
'They (Christians) have nothing to fear.'
'They are closest to the Muslims in affection.'
'Let's agree on a formula about God that Muslims, Jews and Christians can all accept.'
'We Muslims believe the same as what was revealed to Jesus. We worship the same God as you.'
'Christians should not make exaggerated claims for Jesus.'
'Use wise exhortation to convince Christians to accept Islam.'
'Don't make friends with Christians.'
'Exalting Christ to the level of God is blasphemy.'
'Fight against them until they submit.'
Principles of interpretation
28. Crucial differences: the parting of the ways
1. Revelation: Can God be known?
2. Inspiration: In what sense is Scripture 'the Word of God'?
3. Human nature: What is the true diagnosis of the human condition?
4. God's provision for humankind: What has God done to deal with human sin?
5. Forgiveness and salvation: How does divine forgiveness work? What is the meaning of salvation?
6. Politics and the state: What is the place of the state in the kingdom of God?
29. Thinking biblically about Islam
'False prophets' and 'the Antichrist'
'Allah' - the God of Islam?
Gideon
Judaism and Islam
30. Counting the cost of conversion
Apostasy in the Qur'an and hadith
Apostasy in shari'a
Apostasy as understood by Muslims today
Apostasy and human rights today
Arguments against the traditional Islamic teaching about apostasy
In their original context in the Qur'an, none of the verses about apostasy is concerned with Muslims becoming Christians.
Killing an apostate goes against the verses supporting freedom of religion.
There are several qur'anic verses which are frequently quoted to provide a basis for pluralism and co-existence.
The death penalty for apostasy probably became established in Islamic tradition soon after the death of the Prophet as a result of the Wars of Apostasy.
Issues facing Muslims who want to follow Christ
1. Is open confession essential?
2. What about relationships with the family and the community?
3. Do they have to change their culture?
4. How should they relate to Christians and to the church?
5. What if there is no church or fellowship for them to join?
6. Is baptism essential?
7. Is suffering inevitable?
31. Facing the political challenge of Islam
The example of Muhammad
The constitution of Medina
Christians and Jews as dhimmis under Islam
The Code, Ordinance or Pact of 'Umar
The concept of Islamic rule in Islamic law and theology
A variety of Islamic views about political power today
Christian responses
1. Accurate information and responsible publicity
2. United local protest
3. Protest from governments and international bodies
4. Turning the other cheek
5. Appealing to Islamic principles
6. A Christian appreciation of power and an acceptance of suffering in the name of Christ
Part Five Bearing witness to Jesus
32. Natural openings in everyday life
A typical situation
Christian responses to folk Islam
33. Using the Bible
The prodigal son (or the two lost sons)
1. It is a story told by Jesus himself
2. It presents the message of Jesus in the form of a story
3. The parable teaches the essence of the good news proclaimed by Jesus
4. The parable comes out of a culture that is similar to the culture of much of the Muslim world
5. The teaching of the parable is especially appropriate for Muslim readers
The Gospel according to Luke
1. The Christology of Luke may be a little easier for Muslims to appreciate than that of the other Gospels
2. The fuller birth narratives may be of special interest to Muslims, showing that there is some common ground between the Qur'an and the New Testament
3. It makes a great deal of sense for Muslim readers to go on to read Acts after the Gospel, if, as is likely, Luke was the author of the Acts of the Apostles as well as his Gospel
The Message of the Tawrat, the Zabur and the Injil
The title
The introduction
We need to avoid controversy as much as possible
We start on common ground
The most important theological assumption made in the studies is that we can present the gospel in the way that is unfolded in Paul's letter to the Romans
The passages are grouped under ten themes, with each one on a separate paper
34. Starting from the Qur'an
God and his prophets
God and his prophets in Islam
A study in the life of Jeremiah
God and his Word
Jesus as 'Word' in the Qur'an
Christian responses
Jesus as the Word in the Gospel of John
The nature miracles
The healing miracles
Words of forgiveness
God and his mercy
God and his mercy in the Qur'an
God and his mercy in the teaching of Jesus
35. Explaining Christian beliefs about Jesus
The starting point: a Jewish understanding of the oneness of God
The miracles and teaching of Jesus
He claims to be able to forgive sins
He claims to teach with authority
He claims that he will one day judge the world
His favourite title for referring to himself is 'Son of Man'
Jesus speaks of himself as 'the Son' who knows God as 'the Father'
Jesus identifies himself with the figure of 'the Servant of the Lord (Yahweh)'
In addition to these titles used by Jesus himself, he is described by the disciples as 'the Messiah' (the Christ)
Implications of the resurrection and Pentecost
Later reflection on Jesus as 'the Word of God'
A summary of the gradual development in the understanding of Jesus
Answering Muslim objections
'It was Paul who elevated Jesus and put him on a level with God. This was a later development and Paul was largely responsible.'
'Christians were influenced by pagan ideas about many gods. In Greek and Roman religion there are plenty of gods and goddesses who get together to produce sons and daughters. So "Son of God" is a pagan idea that is incorporated into Christianity.'
'It was the church which elevated Jesus several centuries later in its creeds. The Emperor Constantine made Jesus divine at the Council of Nicaea in 325.'
36. Some issues facing Christians today
Should Christians support 'faith schools' in the UK?
Suggested advantages of Muslim schools
Suggested disadvantages of Muslim schools
Is it appropriate for a secular government in France to ban the wearing of the veil?
What happens when there is a conflict between freedom of speech and the obligation of respect?
How should Christians respond to the reintroduction of shari'a law in Nigeria?
How should Christians respond to Islamization in Malaysia?
What are the limits of contextualization?
Is it ever appropriate for Christians to engage in polemics?
Arguments in favour of polemics
Arguments against polemics
How can Christians respond to the occult in an Islamic context?
Conclusion
Notes
Part One title page
Chapter 1: Meeting face to face
Chapter 2: Appreciating Islamic culture
Chapter 3: Examining our attitudes
Part Two title page
Chapter 4: What is Islam?
Chapter 6: Muslims at prayer
Chapter 7: The life of Muhammad
Chapter 8: The Qur'an
Chapter 9: Tradition (hadith and sunna)
Chapter 10: Law (shari'a) and theology (kalam)
Chapter 11: Sufism
Chapter 12: Folk Islam or popular Islam
Chapter 13: The spread and development of Islam
Chapter 14: Branches and movements within Islam
Chapter 15: Issues facing Muslims today
Chapter 16: Women in Islam
Chapter 17: 'Islamic terrorism'
Part Three title page
Chapter 19: Social and political issues
Chapter 22: A deeper look at the main Muslim objections
Chapter 23: Learning from the controversies of the past
Chapter 24: Exploring dialogue
Part Four title page
Chapter 25: Theological questions
Chapter 26: The Islamic view of Jesus
Chapter 27: The qur'anic view of Christians
Chapter 28: Crucial differences: the parting of the ways
Chapter 29: Thinking biblically about Islam
Chapter 30: Counting the cost of conversion
Chapter 31: Facing the political challenge of Islam
Part Five title page
Chapter 32: Natural openings in everyday life
Chapter 33: Using the Bible
Chapter 34: Starting from the Qur'an

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