St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol.
III (September 2007)
While Western Christians Theorize,
Arabic-Speaking Christians & Muslims Dialogue
Rev. Bassam M. Madany
Middle East Resources Ministry
www.unashamedofthegospel.org
1 INTRODUCTION
The Internet has ushered in a new phase in
the history of the Arabic-speaking peoples
of the Middle East and North Africa.
Communications between ordinary people
take place on a daily basis at a much deeper
level, as may be observed from the comments
of the readers of online Arabic media. One of
the liveliest Arabic sites on the Internet is www.
elaph.com.
As the first Arabic online daily, Elaph began
in London, England, on 21 May 2001. It has
ci
correspondents throughout the Arab world,
as well as in Europe and the Americas. It
n
publishes news and op-ed articles by Arab
a
writers and intellectuals, and welcomes
listeners’ comments.
Fr
The major difference between this new
t
medium and the print press of the Arab world
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is the freedom enjoyed by all participants, both
writers and respondents. No censorship inhibits
the expression of various and conflicting
opinions, as is the case in the print media.
2 AN ENLIGHTENING DISCUSSION
ON THE INTERNET
On 11 June 2007, an article was posted which
dealt with an ethical problem known in Arabic
as khulwa. This word describes a situation when
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a man and a woman, working at a government
or business office, find themselves alone in
a room or a cubicle. It is not my intention to
e
comment on the specific fatwa that was issued
in
by a professor at Al-Azhar University in Cairo,
in which he offered a solution to the problem.
z
My main interest lies in the comments that
a
came almost instantly from 34 readers. Some
g
referred to the topic of khulwa, but the majority
a
seized the occasion to begin a dialogue on an
important religious subject prompted by the last
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sentence of the article in Elaph. It called for a
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new hermeneutic of the Islamic religious and
cultural heritage.
The first response came from a Christian in
Alexandria, Egypt. He began:
One thing is needed, as the Messiah told Martha, who
was burdened by too many concerns…. We don’t need
a new prophet. What we need is the one who said: ‘I am
the truth, the resurrection, and the life’.
About an hour later, another response was
posted:
The Lord Jesus is the only one who gives rest. He said:
‘Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest… Come to the king and savior
and you will find rest; you don’t need a nabi (prophet),
or a mufti (supreme legal scholar) to help you. Cry out
to God and ask him: ‘save me from my bewilderments
and confusions, and help me to know your person’.
I salute the Christian reader who initiated
this dialogue that was totally unrelated to the
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 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
khulwa problem. He gave a sincere and Biblical
marturia (testimony) about the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Two hours after these comments appeared, a
Muslim responded, manifesting his indignation
at the contents of the Christian testimonies:
The Glorious Qur’an honors the Messiah as a human
being and as an apostle; but it contradicts the claims of
divinity and sonship attributed to him, and warns those
who do so, with terrible sufferings in this life, and at the
End.
He then proceeded to criticize the Christian
doctrine of forgiveness of sins, based on the
person and work of the Messiah.
A Christian responded by elucidating the role
of Christ in granting forgiveness to those who
trust in Him:
Some people imagine that forgiveness happens simply
with a word uttered by God, but such forgiveness
would be cheap and encourages sinning. However, the
forgiveness that cost much more than silver and gold,
i
was purchased with the precious blood of a sinless lamb,
c
is the basis for true forgiveness (I Peter 1:18-19). The
n
Messiah came so that, anyone who believes in him may
not perish, according to John 3:16.
a
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Showing his genuine interest in the salvation of
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the Muslim respondent, the Christian witness
t
went on saying:
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Have you ever met a sick person who says, ‘I won’t go
to see a doctor unless I’m healed first?!’ God always
takes the initiative by searching for man. God loves the
sinners. ‘For while we were yet sinners, the Messiah
died for us.’ (Romans 6:23) Forgiveness, in Christianity,
is full and free, (References followed from John 5:24,
Romans 8:1-2, and John 1:12.) No one should judge the
veracity of these words, as long as he remains outside
the faith.
He ended his plea with these words:
I have given these Biblical testimonies to show you that
a man receives forgiveness as a free gift. However, it
cost God the precious blood of his beloved Son to bring
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about our forgiveness. No one should belittle the value
of the Messiah’s sacrifice on the cross.
Three hours later, a Muslim from the UAE to
responded:
Also the Messiah, pbuh (peace be upon him), said:
‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the
Lord your God, and serve him only.’ (Matthew 4:10)
At this point it must be pointed out that the
Muslim misinterpreted or misunderstood
our Lord’s answer to the devil. The Muslim
continued looking for Scriptural proofs of the
Qur’anic view of the Messiah. So he quoted
e
Matt. 10:40: ‘He who receives you receives me,
in
and he who receives me receives the one who
z
sent me.’ The point he was trying to make, can
a
only be understood if I refer to the Arabic text
g
of the passage: ‘man yaqbalukom yaqbaluni,
a
wa’man yaqbaluni, yaqbalu al-ladhi arsalani.’ He
interpreted the verb arsalani, i.e. He sent me, to
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mean that Jesus was simply a rasul, i.e. one who
was sent. A clever argument, indeed; however
s
he failed to realize that Christ was referring to
the redemptive mission that God had sent him
to accomplish.
A Christian respondent tried to convince the
Muslim that according to the New Testament,
Jesus never refused worship. He said:
The word ‘worship’ occurs sixty times in the New
Testament; all of them have to do with worshipping
Jesus, the Messiah. He accepted this worship. At other
instances in the NT, when worship was directed at
humans, it was always rejected, such as in Acts 10:25, in
reference to Cornelius; and to the Angel in Revelation
19:10, and 22: 8-9. Other references to Jesus accepting
worship are found in Luke 17:12-17 and John 20:29.
A Muslim responded by saying that the Messiah
is merely bashar, i.e. human. He then proceeded
to quote from the word of Allah, who has
no partners (i.e., the Qur’an) Surat al-Maida
(Table) vs. 73, and al-Nisaa (Women) vs 156
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 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
and al-Tawba (Repentance) vs. 30 and ended by
saying:
The Qur’an has settled the matter. To quote from
Biblical texts, is like hanging on to a spider’s web!
In less than 30 minutes, the response came from
a Copt. He began by pointing to the Qur’anic
account of the miraculous birth of the Messiah
referring to Surah Maryam: 21 and Surat al-
Nisaa: 171, as well as to other passages that
relate the unique qualifications of the Messiah.
He then proceeded to give a Biblical testimony
about the Messiah:
Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God and the
only mediator between God and man… I invite you to
receive the Messiah.
Another Christian joined the dialogue, and
responded to the Muslim who had asserted that
Jesus was merely a human being:
We don’t deny that Jesus is human; our Christian faith
teaches us that the Messiah is both God and man, and
he is without sin. He is the Son of Man, as well as the
Son of God. We believe that God was incarnate and
c
came to our level as human beings, for our salvation.
n
All the prophets from Adam to John the Baptist came
a
to prepare the way for the Incarnate God. He came to
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save his people from their bondage to sin, and to help
F
them regain the state they enjoyed prior to the fall. To
understand the very essence of the Christian faith, you
t
need to read the Holy Bible.
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Another Christian responded from Beirut,
saying:
The Messiah is the beginning and the end, the way,
the truth, and the life. He is the Son of God. God did
call him, ‘this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.’ This is a mystery that is above the human
mind. God sent his Son to redeem us on the cross and
to save us from our sins. I plead with you dear reader,
do try and understand the Christian faith. The Messiah
said, ‘he who hears me has heard the Father and he who
receives me, the Father will receive.’ Blessed are those
who are saved; but the sinner who does not repent will
be tormented in the fires of hell, where there is weeping
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and gnashing of teeth.
Four minutes after the above message appeared,
an irate Muslim reader wrote: ‘Enough of
your babblings!’ He then quoted from Surat
Al-Umran, vs. 61. It addresses a Muslim by
warning him against listening to any argument
that is brought forth by non-Muslims and that
contradicts what had already descended, i.e.
the Qur’an. He ended by a quotation from the
verse that brings God’s curse upon all liars,
meaning those who do not accept the teachings
of the Qur’an.
e
Responses followed quickly, one after another.
in
Here is one, referring to Christ on the cross:
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He who could not save himself from the cross, how
a
can he save others? What a person does not have, or
g
possess, he cannot give to others. You Christians are
a
simply dreaming; the Messiah is but a slave of Allah,
and His messenger; he also needs Allah’s forgiveness. A
M
Christian imagines he can commit the seven sins, and
then go on to Paradise?!
is
Another Muslim drew attention to what he
called ‘minds that had stopped functioning’ by
referring to the Biblical doctrine of original sin,
which he considered as an absurdity.
Earthly laws say that a person is innocent until proven
guilty; however in Christianity, man is born sinful?!
How could that be, when he is still like a clean page,
with nothing written upon it.
Seven minutes later, a Christian wrote:
The Messiah taught us saying, ‘bless and don’t curse.’
So, we pray that you will be blessed and pray that the
true God will open your heart to understand the truth.
Almost thirty minutes later, an irate Muslim
wrote:
What’s going on? I feel as if I were sitting in a church!
Why are we dealing with religious details, whether
Christian or Islamic? You must understand that religion
has to do with one’s relation with God. No need to
advertise faith on the Internet; it’s sufficient to see
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 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
religion reflected in one’s behavior, and with respect for
the values of civilizations.
Around 45 minutes later, a Muslim added his
comments, using Biblical references to prove
that the Messiah was no more than ‘abdullah,
i.e. a slave of Allah:
John said that Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven and said,
this is life eternal (John 17:6) How can the Sender and
the Sent-one be one, while the text refers to God and to
Jesus, as the sent- one.
A little before midnight, the final comment
appeared:
O people, all the apostles and prophets were sent by
God to make Him known, in order that He may be
worshipped. What are you talking about when you
mention that God has three images (persons?) These
are nothing but fabrications of human minds. As for
the Injeel, it has been altered and changed, and many of
its sections have been erased, to suit the whims of the
priests who wanted to magnify their positions, and to
lord it over simple people. Some of the contributors to
this site aimed at convincing others of their positions,
i s
and cause them to depart from the true worship of God.
c
Thus far, I have been quoting from the dialogue
n
that began on 11 June, 2007, between Arabic-
a
speaking Christians and Muslims. I am very
r
thankful to the Lord that several Christians
F
seized a golden opportunity, and gave a
t
wonderful testimony about their faith.
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As we reflect on the above quotations, we may
classify them under three headings: Scripture,
the Person of Christ, and the Redemptive work
of Christ. All the Christians who participated
in the dialogue manifested a strong belief in
the final authority of the Bible, the Deity and
humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
work of salvation He accomplished by His
death on the cross, and His resurrection. On
the other hand, Muslim respondents, denied
vehemently the above mentioned doctrines,
and affirmed the final authority of the Qur’an,
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their belief that the Messiah was one of many
rasuls (apostles) sent by Allah to enlighten
mankind; and they denied the historicity of the
crucifixion.
It must be observed that neither side had a
difficulty in understanding the belief of the
other side. The Internet dialogue proved
that both Muslims and Christians, using the
same language, and living within Daru’l Islam
(the House of Islam) differed in their faith
commitments, due to their different premises,
or presuppositions. Thus we may conclude that
e
real communication did take place between
in
Christians and Muslims, regardless of the fact
that the dialogue did not end in changing the
z
minds of either side.
a
g
a
3 THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT
At this point, I would like to place the above
M
dialogue within the broader historical context of
Christian-Muslim encounters and “dialogues,”
going back several centuries, to demonstrate
that serious Christian-Muslim discussions
have been going on for a long time, and have
revolved around three crucial points, namely,
the Bible, the Trinity, and the person and work
of Jesus Christ.
So, as we look for a scholarly study of the
historical context of Christian-Muslim
discussions, I find the work of J. W. Sweetman,
a British missionary who labored among
the Muslims of India before the Partition of
1947, singularly helpful. I refer to his nearly
encyclopedic book, Islam and Christian Theology:
A Study of the Interpretation of Theological Ideas in
the Two Religions, Part II, Vol. I, by J. Windrow
Sweetman, D.D. Professor of Islamic Studies at
the Selly Oak Colleges. It was published in 1955
by the Lutterworth Press, London.
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 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
Unfortunately, Professor Sweetman passed
away before the completion of his project;
only four of the six volumes of his work were
published. Still, what we find in them, is indeed
a treasure of great value.
I quote from several relevant passages of
Volume One, Part Two, in order to show that
the Christian message was made known to the
Muslims of both the East and the West (Spain),
for quite a long time. This will highlight my
radical difference with some modern Western
Christians who have claimed that missions
to Islam have failed because we have not
contextualized our message.
Sweetman refers to our indebtedness to
the Eastern Church and its apologia for the
Christian faith, a subject that is hardly known
or acknowledged by many Western Christians.
Under the heading of ‘The Eastern Church and
Islam’, he wrote:
i
Though compelled outside the Byzantine Empire to
come to terms with a Muslim government, the Eastern
c
church could not escape the consequences of the
n
confrontation of rival political powers so that common
a
citizenship with Muslims was not easy to achieve. But
r
Christendom owes a debt to Christians in the East for
a fidelity to their faith which has survived through the
F
long centuries, and for the valuable contacts which
t
were maintained with Islam at a time when there was a
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possibility that the primary conditions of reconciliation,
namely understanding and knowledge of each other,
might have been denied by frontier barriers to the
lands of Christendom and Islam. Perforce, the Eastern
Church remained in the closest contact with Islam
down through the years.
Dr. Sweetman goes on to deal with the subject
of ‘The Christian Through Muslim Eyes’:
Ibn Hazm’s account in his Fisal deserves to be recorded
in full. He was writing c. A.D. 1049, probably in
Spain: ‘Though Christians are People of the Book
(Ahlu’l Kitab) and also accept some of the prophets,
the majority of them and their sects does not accept
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the Unity in its purity (mujarradan), but profess the
Trinity (tathlith) and so here is the place for them to be
discussed.
It is important to know that Ibn Hazm was a
second-generation Muslim, as his grandfather
was a Christian. He became one of the bitterest
enemies of the Christian faith in Europe, and
embarked on a detailed critique of the Christian
Scriptures:
If we include the knowledge that Ibn Hazm had of
Scripture, its various versions and other matters at
this early period, we find him possessed of a body of
e
information about Christianity (and Judaism) which,
however perverse in some particulars, compares
in
most favourably with the meager and often faulty
acquaintance with Islam possessed by Latin Europe.
z
However much the Christians of the East knew about
a
Islam, Western Christendom had suffered from the
g
schism of the Church and was cut of from potential
a
sources of information about Islam. It is also quite
clear that the chief knowledge of Christianity even
M
in European Islam had an Eastern origin. The reason
for this is that the barrier of language was there non-
s
existent, whereas in the West much linguistic study
had to be undertaken before there could be an easy
familiarity with Islamic beliefs and practice. Ibn Hazm’s
Western additions are, however, not without interest
and it is possible that Ibn Hazm may have had Western
sources of information about Christianity through
family associations, since his grandfather had been a
Christian.
After several quotations from both Christian
and Muslim sources showing the degree of
knowledge that Christians possessed of the
Muslim faith, and vice versa, J. W. Sweetman
concluded this chapter with this observation:
This should be sufficient to show the kind of mutual
acquaintances there was between Islam and Christianity
in the East, and it will be seen that there was no such
parallel acquaintance in the West until the proximity of
Muslims and Christians in Spain and Sicily helped to
dispel the ignorance of the Latin world. Naturally, since
the Muslims of Spain were less cut off from the East
than the greater part of Western Europe, it was more
likely that the Muslims in Spain would have sounder
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 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
knowledge of Christianity there than the Christians
of Latin lands had of Islam. But that was a temporary
phase.
The above quotations indicate that quite
early in the history of Islam, Muslims did
become acquainted with the major beliefs of
the Christian faith, especially in the area of
Christology. Their rejection of the Christian
message was due to the tenacity of their belief
that Muhammad was Allah’s last rasul, and
the Book that descended on him, was the very
Word of Allah!
4 THE POLEMICS OF IBN HAZM
Sweetman tells us that:
Ibn Hazm was of Spanish origins and was born at
Cordoba towards the end of the tenth century and he
was living till about A.D. 1064. In his book entitled
Al Fisal fi’l Milal wa’l Afwa’ wa’n Nihal, a work of four
volumes, incorporates a devastating attack on the
integrity of the Bible. … It may be said that Ibn Hazm
i
seems to have had considerable equipment for the task
c
in which he employed himself. He had knowledge of
various translations of the Old Testament and New.
n
He knew the divergences between the Septuagint and
a
the Hebrew. There were some fragments of the Old
r
Testament translated into Arabic as early as the eighth
F
century, most of which were perhaps unknown to Ibn
Hazm, with the exception of the translation of the
t
Scripture from the Latin version into Arabic which is
S
attributed to John of Seville in that century, and which
has been known in Spain in Ibn Hazm’s days…. Ibn
Hazm has now to answer the question that must have
trembled on the lips of his interlocutor for some time.
Supposing that his case for the untrustworthy character
of the Jewish Scriptures is made out, what then becomes
of the Quranic confirmation of these books, and what
about the Muslim argument that the former Scriptures
bear witness to Muhammad?
Ibn Hazm’s argument is:
It is quite right for us to accept the Torah and the Injil.
We have never denied it, but we call him an unbeliever
who rejects these two books. But we merely hold that
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the sending down of the Torah on Moses by Allah is
true, that the sending down of the Psalms on David
by Allah is true, that the sending down of the Injil on
Christ is true and the sending down of Scriptures on
Abraham is true… We believe in all of these. … But we
have already said and say again now, that the unbelieving
children of Israel changed the Torah and the Injil. They
increased it and decreased it, but Allah left surviving
some parts as he pleased, in order to set up an argument
against them.
At this point, I would like to point out that
Muslims in general, whether learned scholars
such as Ibn Hazm, or present-day ordinary
Muslims, subscribe to a specific view of the
e
origin and nature of the Scriptures or Books
in
of Allah. They claim that prophets or rasuls
z
received books from Allah containing specific
a
messages or laws for their particular people.
g
Literally, those Kutub, (plural of Kitab,)
a
descended upon the prophets, containing
divine speech. Muslims then proceed to project
M
backwards their own concept of revelation, by
s
imposing it on all the previous scriptures, such
as the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, and
the Injil of the Messiah. Now, should a different
view of the origin or nature of a Kitab (that
preceded the Qur’an) be held, it is judged as
invalid; and its contents are then considered as
having undergone alterations and falsifications.
All that must have happened prior to the
descent of the Qur’an on Muhammad!
Back to Dr. Sweetman’s reference to the
polemics of Ibn Hazm:
Having satisfied himself with this attack on the Jews and
Judaism and the Scriptures which are now in the hands
of the Jews, Ibn Hazm turns his attention to the books
of the New Testament and in particular to the Gospels.
He anticipates no difficulty in showing the untruth of
Christianity, which, says he, must be apparent to the
meanest intelligence. He starts by saying that in the case
of the New Testament he has no need to establish that it
is not from God, as he has done in the case of the Torah.
Christians themselves have relieved him from this
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 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
necessity, because they do not claim that the Gospels
were ‘sent down upon’ Christ by Allah, and neither
do they claim that Christ brought these to them, but
all without exception, … do not dispute that the four
Gospels were compilations by the four whose names
they bear.
Ibn Hazm in these criticisms overreaches himself and
proves too much. He leaves no conceivable motive to
any of the writers except a desire to deceive. What this
deception was supposed to achieve is left in complete
obscurity and why these people should endure the
persecutions, which Ibn Hazm himself relates in
another place, in defence of such a deception is not
explained. Ibn Hazm’s position is not of a man who
considers the whole story to be a fable. He is by his
own faith committed to belief in the historical character
of Christ and of much that is recorded in the Gospel.
He has to explain why an imposture such as this could
succeed unless there were absolutely no people to
protest. He cannot bring the testimony of any one of the
true hawariyun (disciples of Christ) to whom he admits
the Quran gives a witness. He thinks Allah preserved
the corrupt scriptures as a testimony against Christians,
having as much of the original true Gospel to support
the alleged prophecies about Muhammad, and yet is
i
committed to the view that Allah did not preserve any
c
protest from the true followers of Christ. All He did
was to preserve the productions of Matthew and the
n
rest, upon whom Ibn Hazm pours out his scorn. The
a
account which Ibn Hazm gives is therefore incredible to
r
the Christian.
F
[Ibn Hazm] shows a remarkable erudition but a
t
peculiarly literalist mind, and he makes no attempt to
S
question whether the material he has gathered is not
capable of an entirely different interpretation which
has eluded him. Considering the date in the eleventh
century when he wrote, his work must be regarded as
a great achievement even when one feels that much of
it is beating the air. It serves here to illustrate the most
uncompromising attack on the Christian position at
any rate as far as the Scriptures are concerned. It is not
to be regarded as an excursion into a bygone age which
might well have been left in oblivion… It is, therefore,
important because it reveals what is being taught to
Muslims even to-day, and its arguments may well be
one of the forces to be reckoned with by those who
seek an understanding between Islam and Christianity.
That it does not increase the understanding but rather
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accentuates the misunderstanding will be obvious to the
Christian who reads this account of its theses.
Dr. Sweetman turned to the great Eastern
Muslim scholar, Al Ghazzali. He commented
that in contrast with the radical polemics of Ibn
Hazm, Al Ghazzali’s work (Ar Raddul’l Jamil)
may be considered as an irenical criticism of
Christianity:
He starts his work by saying that what he has seen of
the arguments of the Christians for their belief are very
feeble, and yet that the most thoughtful of Christians
do not hesitate to accept them in spite of the obscurities
e
and ambiguities which they present. In these arguments
Christians rely on a blind allegiance to authority (taqlid),
in
holding tenaciously to the literal meaning which their
ancients laid down dogmatically.
z
a
It will be seen that Al Ghazzali is here proposing that
g
the passages in the Gospels which attribute humanity
a
to Christ should be taken literally and that any other
passages which apparently predicate divinity to Him
should be interpreted allegorically. This indicates that
M
Al Ghazzali has prejudged the question. His creed is
s
that it is impossible that there should be a union of
divinity and humanity in Christ, and the method of
interpretation he has adopted must lead to this result.
So in spite of the appearance of fairness which we have
here, it must be admitted that Al Ghazzali’s argument
is to support a foregone conclusion. It is, however, very
interesting to find he is prepared to argue the case on
the assumption that the Gospels are genuine, and this in
marked contrast to what we have seen in the case of Ibn
Hazm’s attack.
After these attempts to reinterpret the sayings of Christ
recorded in the Scripture, in which one of the classic
texts has been left without some consideration, but
which suffers to a certain extent from lack of an ampler
consideration of the whole context, Al Ghazzali turns
his attention to the use of the word Kalima in the
Qur’an. He says that Christians think that this term
used of Christ in the Qur’an bears the same connotation
as in their own technical use of it. He says, ‘This is
a great illusion and blindness, which has made the
Christians think that this technical meaning (istilah)
which they have postulated … must be what is meant
by the people of every dispensation (shari’a), and that
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 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
what is found in the honourable book (the Qur’an)
necessarily indicates the divinity of Jesus, which is, ‘O
people of the Book, do not exaggerate in your religion
and speak of Allah nothing but the truth. The Christ,
Jesus son of Maryam, is only the apostle of Allah and
His Word which he has cast into Maryam and a spirit
from him. So believe in Allah and His messengers and
do not say: Three (thaltha --- trinity). Stop! It would be
better for you! Allah is only one God!’ (Sura iv. 170)
In closing, Dr. Sweetman referred to the time
in the life of Al Ghazzali when he was seeking
the true meaning of life and its mysteries, and
was wandering in many parts of the Eastern
Islamic world. The Eastern Christians that
this Muslim scholar knew were preoccupied
with Christological subjects. They had not
benefited from the works of Saint Augustine,
the Western Church father. Augustine was a
staunch defender of Orthodox doctrine, but
did not restrict his concerns for the doctrines of
the Trinity, and the Person of Jesus Christ. His
own life experiences, as well as his encounter
with the British monk Pelagius who was
i
spreading an unbiblical anthropology, led him
c
to emphasize the Pauline doctrines of sin and
n
sovereign grace. It is very sad that the Christian
a
East had too little of Augustine, and too much
r
of metaphysical speculations!
career of Al-Ghazzali:
t F
Sweetman concluded his reflections on the
S
As one reads these pages one feels how sad it is, that this
truly great soul had not deeper and clearer instruction
during those days of his wanderings in search of peace
of soul, and one may remark on the absence of any
evidence in these pages, that the doctrines of grace had
been shown to him, in the matter which is all important
to the Christian evangel. Apparently Al Ghazzali was
looked upon as in intellect to convince, rather than as
soul in quest of peace and salvation, as indeed he was.
My quotations from the work of Sweetman
have shown that both Muslims and Christians,
when they came in contact with each other,
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gained a considerable knowledge of the beliefs
of the other side. I don’t mean that Muslims,
for example, accepted or even understood the
Christian concept of revelation. But they did
get to know what the Christian belief about this
subject was all about; even though they rejected
it resolutely. And while Western Christians in
the Middle Ages were, at first, slow to learn
about Islam, nevertheless, they eventually
accomplished an adequate knowledge of their
opponents’ faith.
e
5 MODERN CALLS FOR THE
in
CONTEXTUALIZATION OF THE
z
GOSPEL
a
Thus, when we take all that into account, and
g
consider the great missionary work that was
a
accomplished during the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries among Muslims, one
M
cannot but be extremely perplexed, and even
s
saddened, when voices were raised among
some Evangelicals (beginning with the 1970s,)
that mission work has been a failure among
Muslims, and that the failure was due to their
inability or unwillingness to contextualize their
message.
For example, in the Foreword of the book Down
to Earth: Studies in Christianity and Culture: The
Papers of the Lausanne Consultation on Gospel and
Culture (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1980),
Edited by Robert T. Coote and John Stott, we
find these words:
What are the reasons for people’s resistance to the
Gospel? How are we to explain the pitifully small ‘dent’
which has been made, for instance, on the 600 million
Hindus of India or the 700 million Muslims of the
Islamic bloc? Although different answers are given to
these questions, they are basically cultural. The major
challenge to the worldwide Christian missions today
is whether we are willing to pay the cost of following
8
 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
in the footsteps of our incarnate Lord in order to
contextualize the Gospel. Our failure of communication
is a failure of contextualization.
What was then the real cause for ‘the pitifully
small ‘dent’ which has been made, as the
Introduction to the book stated? Was it the
Christians’ failure to take Islamic culture
seriously, and thus they failed to contextually
communicate the Gospel to Muslims? We
have already noticed the ability of present-day
Christians whose mother tongue is Arabic,
to clearly witness to Muslims, about their
Christ-centered faith. Earlier, throughout the
Christian-Muslim encounter, Christians gave
the Muslim conquerors and their descendents,
a Biblical reason for not adopting Islam. The
road-block that Christians faced both in the
early years of Islam and up to the present
day, was neither cultural nor linguistic; it was
the core Islamic belief-system that offered
an entirely different view of the nature and
purpose of God’s revelation. I will return to
i
this point later on. But at this point, I would
c
like to enquire about the reason for that
n
facile acceptance of the diagnosis by some
a
Western Christians that claims that missions to
r
Muslims have failed due to our unwillingness
F
to contextualize the Gospel, so as to make it
t
attractive and understood in a Muslim milieu.
S
Unfortunately, the relatively new discipline of
Missiology has concerned itself to great extent
with the subject of Culture, while at the same
time showing less than proper interest in the
theological and confessional aspects of the
Christian Tradition. I would like to illustrate
my remark by quoting from: Creeds, Councils &
Christ, by Gerald Bray, published by the Inter-
Varsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, in 1984.
Dr. Bray is a Canadian scholar, and an ordained
minister in the Anglican Church. He teaches at
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Beeson Divinity School in the areas of church
history, historical theology and Latin. Before
coming to Beeson, he lectured at Oak Hill
College in London, England.
Describing some of the changes that have taken
place in Biblical Studies, Bray wrote:
Anthropological influence has been felt in the work
of Structuralist interpreters like Paul Ricoeur, which
has highlighted the symbolical richness of biblical
language and imagery. At a more prosaic level it has led
to the search for ‘dynamic equivalence’ in translating
the Scriptures. These are expressions and symbols
e
which can convey the original force of the Greek New
Testament in contemporary idiom. Ideas of this kind
in
have been influential among missionary translators
attempting to bridge the enormous gap between a
z
primitive culture and the relatively sophisticated world
a
of the New Testament.
g
a
The fundamental assertion of the Bible is that God
can and does speak to mankind in a way which enables
us to make an intelligent response. God and man
M
are not so much cut off from each other by their
s
mutually incompatible natures as united by spiritual
characteristics which make communion between them
possible. The need for all mankind to find a purpose
in existence, to create a metaphysic, is the testimony
of nature to this fundamental reality. The Christian
revelation is God’s answer to this need, fulfilling and
replacing aspirations half-hidden in the mythologies
and cosmologies of the world. In this sense it is related
to them by a kind of generic affinity, but at the same
time it is radically different. The message of the Bible
is a message of spiritual truth addressed to the human
mind. Dogmatic definitions of its content are not an
aberration, but the logical outcome of the process of
revelation itself. Salvation for the whole man cannot
bypass the mind, but must use it for the powerful
weapon which it is.
Properly understood in this way, Christian dogmatism
is the greatest force for freedom which mankind has
ever known. By claiming the mind for God, dogmatism
shatters the bounds of the natural world which imprison
the creative imagination and distort scientific analysis.
… The early centuries of the Christian Church were a
time of great hardship for those who followed the way
9
 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
of the cross. Christians had little cause to indulge in
activities which might sidetrack them in their race for
the prize of eternal salvation. Yet it was in those very
centuries that the dogmatic foundation of Christian
theology was laid, to be built upon later in the great
struggle against paganism and Greek philosophy. Today,
a dispirited and non-dogmatic Church is in retreat
everywhere in the Western world. It is time we looked
again at our heritage and re-examined our attitudes
toward it, so that we too, like our forefathers in the faith,
may bear a true witness to the God who has spoken
to mankind and sent his Son into the world to save us
from our sins.
In Chapter 3, Gerald Bray dealt with the subject
of ‘The Sanctification of the Mind’.
The first principle which had to be established was that
the human mind (nous) was corrupted by the fall of
man, and that human reason (logos) could not function
properly in its fallen state. Here it was necessary to
maintain a delicate balance between two opposing
tendencies in pagan thought. On the one hand, it was
essential to reject the idea that a man could know God
by a process of deductive reasoning (1 Corinthians
1:21). The gospel was folly to the Greeks (1 Corinthians
i s
1:23; Acts 17:32) precisely because it could not be
explained by a process relying on logical argument. The
c
intellect of man had to be crucified on the cross and
n
born again.
a
r
6 ISLAMIC ANTHROPOLOGY, A
F
CLUE TO A PROPER MISSIONARY
t
APPROACH
S
It is indeed very sad, if not tragic, at this
moment in world history when Christians and
Muslims are coming in close contact with each
other in many parts of the world, that cultural
considerations have taken center stage in several
missionary circles, in lieu of those important
theological considerations that are necessary
for a proper missiological approach to Islam.
I can best explain this point by quoting from
a comment on an article that appeared in the
January 1959 issue of the quarterly journal,
The Muslim World. Its title was ‘Man and his
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Perfection in Muslim Theology’, by Uthman
Yahya. The then editor of the journal prefaced
the article with these timely words:
The following article is translated by permission from
the first number of Toumliline I, Principes d’Education,
Rabat, 1958, pp. 41- 56, the journal of the Monastery at
Toumliline, Azrou, Morocco. This small Berber town,
situated some 70 kilometers south of Meknes, has in
recent years become a symbol of Muslim-Christian
theological meeting. The paper that follows was
contributed in French during the second session of 1957
by Dr. ‘Uthman Yahya, an ‘Alim [theologian-jurist] of
Al-Azhar, Cairo. The general subject of the Conference
was education. Dr. Yahya’s exposition of Muslim
e
theology and its concepts of man and his salvation raises
in
several deep questions. The Christian must always
be perplexed about its ready confidence that ‘to know
z
is to do,’ that man’s salvation happens under purely
a
revelatory auspices and that through the law given in
g
the Divine communication is the path that man will
a
follow once he knows and sees it. The whole mystery of
human recalcitrance and ‘hardness of heart’ seems to be
M
overlooked.
I consider these words as the best commentary
on the Islamic doctrine of man, and his
salvation. It is at this very point, that we may
locate the radical difference between Islam and
Christianity. According to Muslim theologians,
the disobedience of the first man, and his fall,
had no lasting consequences for him, and the
entire human race. In other words, there is no
such thing in Islam as a doctrine of original sin.
This fact was impressed upon me in a special
way some twenty years ago when a Tunisian
listener to my radio broadcasts of the Word
of God, put it very cogently when he wrote:
‘When you speak about sins in the plural, I
understand you say; but when you speak about
sin in the singular, I don’t.’ Sin (in the singular)
in the sense of sinfulness or a propensity to
break the law of God, is foreign to the mind
of a Muslim and has never been a part of his
doctrinal tradition.
10
 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
This unwillingness to reckon with the
consequences of the fall has predisposed
Muslims to welcome all theories that advocate
the native goodness of man. In reading Arabic
literature of the modern period (since 1800),
one is reminded of the affinity between the
Muslim doctrine of man and that advocated
by such men of the Enlightenment such as
Rousseau and Voltaire. Not that Muslims share
the French writers’ hostility to religion, but they
find in them allies who had dissented from the
Christian understanding of man.
In Islam, man does not need redemption from
without, since ‘Man’s salvation happens under
purely revelatory auspices’. Man is weak and
prone to forget the demands of God’s Law
(Shari’a); therefore, it becomes necessary to
remind him, time and again, of the contents and
demands of this Law. God accomplishes this
by sending messengers (rasuls) with specific
revelations to deliver to mankind. These
ci
revelations descend upon them in the form of a
Book. As to the content of these divine books,
they are purely and simply laws that enable
al-Mustaqim).
r a n
mankind to walk on the Right Path (Al-Sirat
F
When we take into consideration the above
t
description of the Islamic doctrine of man’s
S
salvation, it becomes evident that the main
obstacle in reaching Muslims is not cultural,
but doctrinal. Thus, Islamic anthropology does
not differ that much from the Christian heresy
of Pelagianism, or its modern type known as
modernism.
At the beginning of my paper, I referred to the
initiation of a dialogue between Arab Christians
and Muslims that was launched on the Internet
in connection with the ethical problem of
khulwa. We cannot but marvel at the boldness
and love exhibited by the Christians who
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engaged in that web-dialogue. There was no
polemical motif in their testimonies; their
goal was to tell Muslims that the Gospel had
a real message of liberation from the bondage
of legalism. They exhibited a spirit of love and
genuine concern for the eternal welfare of their
(virtual) Muslim neighbors. This agape love
for one’s neighbor cannot but melt the hearts
of some of those who read the Christians’
marturia. This love is a reflection of God’s prior
love for lost sinners, and is the powerful reason
for the conversion of Muslims to Jesus Christ.
e
in
7 REASONS FOR THE CONVERSION
z
OF MUSLIMS
a
What I have just stated is illustrated in a paper
g
that was delivered at a Conference that was held
a
at Zurich, Switzerland, on The Plight of Women
and Minorities in the Middle East and North Africa
M
(24-26 March, 2007). The title of the paper was:
s
‘The Christians of the Maghreb Under the Rule
of Islamists’.
Here are some quotations from the paper:
The New Christians’ phenomenon throughout the
Arab Maghreb has come to the attention of the media.
For example, the weekly journal, Jeune Afrique, devoted
three reports on this subject with respect to Tunisia,
Morocco, and Algeria. In March 2005, the French daily
Le Monde, devoted a complete report about this topic.
And Al-‘Arabiyya TV channel telecast two reports on the
subject that had been recorded in the Kabyle district of
Algeria.
Jeune Afrique estimates that the number of people who
have embraced Christianity in Tunisia is around 500,
belonging to three churches. A report on the website of
Al-Islam al-Yawm prepared by Lidriss el-Kenbouri, and
dated 23 April 2005, estimated the number of European
evangelists in Morocco to be around 800, and that quite
often, their evangelistic efforts are successful. The report
further adds that around 1,000 Moroccans have left
Islam during 2004. The magazine Al-Majalla in its No.
1394 issue, claimed that the number of New Christians
11
 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)
in Morocco is around 7,000; perhaps the exact number
may be as high as 30,000.
The report that appeared in the French daily Le Monde
claimed that during 1992, between 4,000 and 6,000
Algerians embraced Christianity in the Kabyle region
of Algeria. By now, their numbers may be in the tens of
thousands. However, the authorities are mum about this
subject, as an Algerian government official put it; the
number of those who embraced Christianity is a state
secret.
The paper went to deal with the ‘Most
Important Factors for Conversions to
Christianity’:
When we consult those who had come over to the
Christian faith to learn about the factors that led to their
conversion, they mention the following factors:
First factor: The violence of the fundamentalist Islamist
movements: This factor played a greater role in Algeria
in the aftermath of the terrible massacres that began
in 1992. A Christian evangelist working in Algeria
reported: ‘These terrible events shocked people greatly.
It proved that Islam was capable of unleashing all that
terror, and all those massacres! Even children were not
i
spared during the uprising of the Islamists! Women
c
were being raped! Many people began to ask: Where is
n
Allah? Some Algerians committed suicide! Others lost
a
their minds; others became atheists, and still others
r
chose the Messiah!’
F
Second Factor: The failure of the political regimes:
The Arab Maghrebi states have tried for the last four
t
decades, various political regimes, such as nationalistic,
S
political Islamists, and dictatorial types. Therefore, the
embracing of Christianity among the people of the
region would represent another attempt to find the right
regime; since the all the previous ones have failed.
Third Factor: The religious training within the family.
The report of Al-Majalla included the testimony of a
young Moroccan woman who embraced Christianity:
‘Our father used to order us to pray and read the
Qur’an; when we disobeyed that command, he
punished us with beatings. He told us that if we refused
to wear the hijab, we would suffer in hell.’ According
to her testimony, this young woman’s relation with
Allah was devoid of love. A Christian Moroccan who
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is involved in spreading his faith declared: ‘Many of us
regard Islam as a social fetter or shackle or handicap.’
Undoubtedly, the religious education which is given
these days in Muslim countries offers a sadistic and
fearful view of Allah, whose punishments are severe.
He is not to be questioned about what He does; only
his followers are questioned about their acts. It is no
doubt that the horrific massacres perpetrated by the
Islamists in Algeria have contributed to the success
of the evangelistic work both in Algeria, and in the
surrounding countries. But why are people choosing
specifically Christianity?
Fourth Factor: The geographical and linguistic factors
e
have played an important role in the conversion of
Maghrebi people to Christianity. This is especially the
in
case with France which has welcomed many Maghrebi
immigrants. We should not forget the existence of
z
Christian churches in some of the big cities of North
a
Africa, nor the impact of five Christian satellite TV
g
stations that telecast their programs in Arabic. The
a
young Moroccan evangelist estimates that personal
contacts are responsible for 60% of conversions; while
M
the role of the Internet is around 30%, while those who
embraced Christianity through the work of foreign
s
missionaries tends to be around 10%.
Quite often, the New Christians testify to the fact that
what they discovered in their new faith is love; it was
the major factor in their conversion. These are some
of their words: ‘We found out that in Christianity, God
is love.’ ‘God loves all people.’ ‘What attracted us to
Christianity is its teaching that God is love.’
The testimonies of these new Maghrebi
Christians are heartwarming. The Christian
message came to them through various means,
but it struck them as a message of a loving God
in search for His lost sheep. They embraced the
Messiah who died on the cross, and rose again
for their justification. Notwithstanding all the
difficulties that will face them in the future,
they are not ashamed of the Biblical Injil that
brought them peace with God, and the gift of
eternal life.
12
 St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. III (September 2007)

8 CONCLUSION What a shocking departure from the historic

It is my fervent hope that we pay more attention
to the Biblical directives on missions, especially
those of Saint Paul. For notwithstanding the
Jewish and Gentile outright rejection of the
gospel of the cross, Paul did not hesitate to
proclaim ‘Jesus Christ and Him crucified.’ As
he put it in First Corinthians: ‘For the word
of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but for us who are being saved, it is
the power of God.’ (In Greek, the last words
are as follows, dunamis Theou estin.” (1:18)
Christian faith!
My sincere thanks go to my fellow Arab
Christians who initiated on 11 June, 2007, a
lively dialogue with Arab Muslims, by pointing
lovingly and boldly, to the Lord Jesus Christ, as
the Savior, and the only Way, the Truth, and the
Life.
Soli Deo Gloria!
ENDNOTES

e
Whereas the basis of our salvation is in the 1
J. Windrow Sweetman, Islam and Christian Theology:

in
person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ, A Study of the Interpretation of Theological Ideas in the Two
the instrumental means of our salvation is the Religions, Volume I, Part II (Lutterworth Press, London,

z
kerygma, i.e., the ‘Word of the Cross’, whether 1955), p. 6.

a
2
Ibid., pp. 18-19.
it is formally preached by a minister of the

g
3
Ibid., p. 22.
Gospel, or given as a marturia (testimony) by a

a
4
Ibid., p. 32.
Christian. Paul expressed this basic missionary 5
Ibid., p. 223.
6

M
doctrine in verse 21: ‘For since in the wisdom Ibid., p. 224.
7
of God, the world through its wisdom did Ibid., pp. 331-332.

s
8
Ibid., pp. 253-254.

i
not know Him, it pleased God, through 9
Ibid., pp. 259-260.

c
the foolishness of the preached message 10
Ibid., p. 262.
(kerygmatos) to save those who believe.’

n
11
Ibid., p. 267.

a
12
Ibid., pp. 304-305.
In preparing this paper, I did not intend to

r
13
Ibid., pp. 307-308.
minimize the importance of culture in the 14
Robert T. Coote and John Stott (eds), Down to Earth:

F
transmission of the Gospel. I was simply Studies in Christianity and Culture: The Papers of the Lausanne

t
protesting the endless abstract theories that keep Consultation on Gospel and Culture (Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 1980), p. viii. These are words of John Stott,

S
coming from some Western Christians, telling
written at Christmas 1978.
us to adopt their novel views of missions to 15
Gerald Bray, Creeds, Councils & Christ (Inter-Varsity
Muslims. Some have gone so far as to advocate Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1984), pp. 24-25.
Insider Movements where the “followers of 16
Ibid., pp. 37-38.
Jesus” still identify themselves as Muslims.,
17
Ibid., p. 73.
18
Uthman Yahya, ‘Man and his Perfection in Muslim
while others promote the production and
Theology’, in The Muslim World (January 1959), p.
dissemination of ‘Muslim-friendly’ translations 19
For those who are conversant with classical Arabic,
of the Bible. Radical contextualization theories you may like to read the entire text by going to this URL:
want us to eliminate the use of such Biblical http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2007/4/
words as ‘Father’ in reference to God, and ‘Son’ 225336.htm
in reference to Jesus Christ. Their advocates tell
us that these terms are ‘repugnant to Muslims’!

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www.stfrancismagazine.info - www.interserve.org - www.arabvision.org 13