Let me tell you an amazing story about a friend, Ahmed, who
is a devout Muslim. After 9 months of friendship a situation prompted me to
step out of my comfort zone and show him 'tough love.' I gave him a loving
reproof which was not easy to do. I felt prompted to do this because he
confided in me a heartache involving a niece for whom he cared deeply. It
so happened, a couple years earlier, he had been instrumental in arranging her
marriage to a Muslim and now he was beating her. To make a long story short,
she divorced him.
I prayed and struggled over whether to speak frankly
knowing this would involve pointing a critical finger at Muhammad. I knew
that Muslims hold Muhammad in highest esteem, believing him to be the most
exemplary human who ever lived. They are very sensitive about him, as is
evident from the worldwide outrage evoked by the Muhammad cartoons.
Eventually I plucked up courage and said, “It seems to me
that Muhammad's teaching, as found in the Qur'an, gives Muslim husbands reason
to excuse this kind of behaviour.” I pointed to a Qur'anic statement that
endorses beating one's wife. (Surah 4:34) But nowhere did Jesus ever say
anything remotely similar in the Injil, or elsewhere in the Bible.
I went on to recount two similar incidents in the life of
Muhammad and Jesus, one involving a blind man and the other an adulteress. Both
stories further exonerated (upheld) Christ as morally perfect, whereas,
Muhammad fell short to put it mildly.*
How did Ahmed respond? To my amazement, the confrontation
strengthened our friendship! As Solomon said, “Rebuke
a wise man and he will love you.” (Proverbs
9:8, NIV)
Not only so, a week later, when I visited Ahmed he welcomed
my suggestion to show the Jesus movie to his family! Several weeks after this,
Ahmed and his family enjoyed a meal in my home. Once again, God's Word was
vindicated, “Wisdom is shown
to be right by her actions.”(Matthew 11:19)
If you want to read more details of this remarkable
confrontation simply ask me and I will email you. You may also like to read my
article, The
Cornerstone: Muhammad or Jesus? which examines how Muhammad and Jesus
both claimed to be the only cornerstone. Notice my aim is not to attack
Muhammad or provoke Muslims, but simply to see who measures up and merits this
title.
Some Christians may ask, “What exactly am I hoping to
accomplish by telling this story?” Let me make it perfectly clear: my purpose
is not to encourage Christians to go around hunting for opportunities to rebuke
and refute Muslims (tactlessly). There is a place for refuting and reproving,
but let's be sure we speak the truth in love.
Spur one another to love and good deeds
My experience of showing tough love to Ahmed calls to mind
Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a
sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.”
I trust that Christians reading Ahmed's story will be
spurred to go out of their comfort zone. For some this means overcoming
timidity and actively befriending Muslims, perhaps in small ways, like giving a
smile and warm greeting. (Matthew 5:46-47) Others will be challenged to show
love by sharing a reason for our hope, as it is written, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say
so, whom he has redeemed from trouble.” (Psalm
107:2, ESV)
Not only so, we all need to realize there is a place for a
loving rebuke. In fact, we can actually be unloving if we withhold correction!
In closing, let me say that telling the truth – even gently
– may require us to say something that hurts or wounds our friend. Two classic
illustrations from Scripture are John 4:18, 22 and Acts 17. Notice that Paul's
sermon didn't just use commonalities as a way of bridging
to his audience, he also
refuted their idolatry. In a
similar way, Jesus not only showed a gracious attitude to the Samaritan woman
by affirming certain commonalities, he also told her unpleasant truths, which
in effect, wounded her feelings. It is important for us to empathize with her
sense of ethnocentric, religious pride. We ought to ask, “How would this woman have felt
when Jesus said, 'You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what
we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.'”? (NIV) We should also bear in
mind that a few moments earlier Jesus had exposed the Samaritan woman's moral
bankruptcy, albeit with gentleness. (cf. 2 Timothy 2:24-26)
If you have questions or comments please feel free to email
me here.
All Bible quotations are from the New Living Translation
unless otherwise indicated.
Footnote
Jesus gave personal attention to a blind man, when others
were trying to push him aside. (Mark 10:46-52) Muhammad spurned a blind man who
approached him while he was talking with leaders of the community. (Surah
80:1-4)
The second incident compares how Jesus and Muhammad dealt
with an adulteress. Muhammad had her stoned to death but Jesus showed grace and
forbearance, saying "Go and sin no more." (see Sahih Muslim Book 17,
Number 4206, compare with John 8:1-11)
Appendix
Not many days after my remarkable 'confrontation' with Ahmed,
a Christian friend, who we'll call Andy, had a similar experience involving
boldly correcting a Muslim. This encounter happened in the transit lounge of
the Dubai airport where he was sitting next to an Arab (Osman) and struck up a
conversation. After a few minutes talking about various things, such as careers
etc, Osman shared how he works as a consulting engineer to oil companies. Andy
said he was a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Osman commented that
Islam is the best religion, although he admitted he wasn't a good practising
Muslim. He believed that all Muslims are going to paradise and that the Bible
has been recopied, changed etc, etc.
Would Andy allow this lost man to continue under this cloud
of deception? Would he pluck up the courage to bring the light of God's Word,
even if it meant correcting him and refuting his erroneous beliefs?
Many Christians in this situation would hesitate because
they've not established a sufficiently strong relationship or they've not won
the right to be heard. But for Andy this was a one shot opportunity to impact a
man who he might never see again!
Prompted by the Spirit, Andy boldly refuted Osman point by
point, especially driving home the fact that not even Muhammad knew whether he
or his followers would make it to paradise. (Surah 46:8-9) This was in stark
contrast to the claims and teachings of Jesus Christ who knew he was going to
paradise and promised his followers the same. (Luke 23:43)
It was soon evident that Osman was out if his depth. Andy
challenged Osman on many other things too! ...
Much to Andy's surprise, Osman warmed to him, reaching out
and embracing him like a long lost brother – not once but twice. He said,
"I've never met someone like you before. You are telling me things that
nobody has told me before. I never talk to strangers at airports but something
made me talk to you." I told him it was no coincidence but a divine
appointment and he agreed.
Osman said he would love to continue the discussion and
encouraged Andy to visit him in Spain where he lives with his family. In his
excitement Osman even offered to pay for Andy's flights. Andy has since emailed
Osman and is praying for more opportunities to explain God's Word.
IHS
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