Missiology for Arabs
Arab Vision is the owner of a webzine for missiological thinking in the Arab World, called St Francis Magazine. You may want to go there regularly for the great articles that we publish. This magazine is a project that we share with Interserve.
Dialogue or Da‘wah?
Last week I was shocked to read a letter from 138 Islamic religious leaders of the world, addressed to the major heads of Churches all over the world. The letter began by saying that without peace and justice between Islam and Christianity, ‘there can be no meaningful peace in the world’. Well, true enough! The letter then asked for dialogue between the religions. Again, fair enough.
The Islamic leaders then suggested what the basis for this dialogue should be: ‘come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions…that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God…’ (Qur’an 3:64)
Yeah… we must have peace and dialogue, but on the basis of this Islamic confession that directly attacks our Trinitarian faith. Humbug! This is not a call for dialogue, but for conversion! We certainly need dialogue with Islam, but a dialogue that focuses on practical issues is what we need.
I like the response of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue to the letter of the 138 Islamic leaders. In an interview with a French newspaper he pointed out that Muslims do not accept the sort of inter-religious dialogue that Christians have come to expect. For example, he said, Muslims ‘will not allow in-depth discussion of the Qu'ran’, since they believe that the words were literally dictated by Allah, and any questioning of the text borders on blasphemy.
Because Islamic leaders refuse to discuss the fundamental basis of their beliefs, the French cardinal said, ‘it is difficult to discuss the content of their faith’. That is a reality for all of us who serve Christ in the Arab World. When Muslims speak of dialogue, they mean da’wah. Talk with us, they say, so that we can convert you.
Cardinal Tauran said that insofar as talks with Muslims can be pursued, Christian leaders should insist that Islamic societies respect religious freedom, in the same way that the western world respects the rights of Muslims. Specifically, he said, ‘if they can have mosques in Europe, it is reasonable to expect them to allow churches built in their countries’.
Please, have a dialogue with Islam on this issue. We need freedom. We need rights. We need to build churches. We need the liberty to be a witness to Jesus Christ.
Abu Banaat
24 October 2007
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