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Moving out of the Margins: the Shi‘As of Lebanon and Their Journey out of Marginalization and Poverty

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Moving out of the Margins: the Shi‘As of Lebanon and Their Journey out of Marginalization and Poverty MOVING OUT OF THE MARGINS: THE SHI‘AS OF LEBANON AND THEIR JOURNEY OUT OF MARGINALIZATION AND POVERTY. LESSONS FOR MISSIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By RUPEN DAS B.Sc. Syracuse University, 1977 M.A. Syracuse University, 1979 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Theology, Acadia Divinity College, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry Acadia Divinity College, Acadia University Spring Convocation 2014 © By RUPEN DAS 2014 This thesis by RUPEN DAS was defended successfully in an oral examination on 18th March 2014. The examining committee for the thesis was: Dr. Anna Robbins, Chair Dr. Clinton Bennett, External Examiner Dr. William Brackney, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Glenn Wooden, Internal Examiner ii This thesis is accepted in its present form by Acadia Divinity College, the Faculty of Theology of Acadia University, as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree Doctor of Ministry. I, RUPEN DAS, hereby grant permission to the Head Librarian at Acadia University to provide copies of this thesis, on request, on a non-profit basis. Rupen Das Author Dr. William Brackney Supervisor 18 March 2014 Date iii (This page is blank and unnumbered on purpose) TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction 1 I. Origin of the questions 1 1. What will be learnt and how will it be applied? 4 II. Foundational issues that influence the discussion on the poor and poverty 4 2. The hermeneutical and translation questions 5 a. Hermeneutics – The lens through which the Bible is read 5 b. The challenge of the translation principle 10 3. The question of theology and context 12 4. The missiological question 16 a. Different perspectives 17 III. What is the fresh take that this thesis provides 23 IV. Summary 23 Chapter 2: Research Methodology 25 I. Methodology 25 1. Why this specific methodology? 26 2. Why approach the question this way? 27 3. How did you pick those people? 28 4. Questions to be asked? 29 5. Recording, documentation and storage 29 6. Research standards in Lebanon 30 II. How this thesis is organized 30 Chapter 3: The Biblical Basis to Understand the Poor and Poverty – The Old Testament 34 I. The Wisdom Literature 37 II. Ancient Israel 41 1. The Ancient Near East 41 2. Early Israel and the origins of social organization 47 3. Was Israel’s social contract different? 54 4. Social change and consequences 59 a. Social and economic polarization, abuse and poverty 59 b. Injustice and the new poor 62 c. The Kingdom of God – the ideal that was forgotten 66 iv III. Summary 69 Chapter 4: The Biblical Basis to Understand the Poor and Poverty - The New Testament – The Gospels 71 I. First Century Palestine 72 II. Jesus – The rich and the poor 78 III. Jesus – Injustice and poverty 81 IV. Summary 86 Chapter 5: Teachings and Practices of the Early Church – The New Testament and Church History 88 I. The context of the early church 89 II. The practices and impact of the early church 92 III. The teachings of the early church 95 IV. Summary 106 Chapter 6: Theological Challenges 109 I. What is the Gospel? The teachings of Jesus versus Paul 109 II. Righteousness 117 III. Understanding the Millennium and the attitude towards the poor 121 1. Postmillennialism 123 2. Dispensationalism 126 3. The great reversal 129 IV. Healing the divide 131 1. Modern missions 131 2. The impact of Liberation Theology 134 3. The World Council of Churches 137 4. The Fundamentalist Evangelical reaction 138 5. Lausanne 1974 and beyond 140 6. Micah Declaration 2001 and Integral Mission 144 V. Summary 144 v Chapter 7: Theoretical Paradigms to Understand Poverty 146 I. Understanding poverty 146 1. Emerging understanding of poverty 147 2. Analyzing poverty 151 3. Types of poverty 155 4. A rights-based approach to understanding poverty 159 5. Complexity, chaos and understanding poverty 162 II. Summary 165 Chapter 8: Islamic Perspectives on Poverty 166 I. Islamic conceptions of poverty 167 1. The causes of poverty explained by the Qur’an and hadith 167 2. Prescribed responses to poverty 174 3. Recipients of charity 180 II. Human rights and obligation in Islam 184 1. Traditional Islamic resistance to human rights 186 a. Qur’anic basis for universal morality 188 b. Basis for ethical necessity and obligation 190 c. Concept of obligation and moral development 192 III. Social change and Islam 195 1. Muhammad the social reformer 196 2. The Qur’anic understanding of social change and development 198 3. Islamic thought on social justice and social change 202 IV. Summary 210 Chapter 9: Moving from the Margins – The empowerment of the Shi‘ites of Lebanon 213 I. History of the Shi‘ites of Lebanon 213 1. Origins of Shi‘ite Islam 213 2. Origins of the Shi‘ites in Lebanon 215 3. Social mobilization and political institutions of the Shi‘ites in Lebanon 216 II. Factors in the empowerment of the Shi‘ites of Lebanon 222 1. Sense of community and care for their own 224 2. Provision of social services 227 3. Understanding of poverty, marginalization and social change 229 4. Development of a social movement 232 5. Appealing to their cultural unconscious 238 vi 6. A vision for the future 242 III. And So…Lessons for community development and missions in the 245 Middle East IV. Summary 252 Chapter 10: Conclusion 254 I. So what does this all mean? 261 Appendices Appendix 1. Consent Form 263 Appendix 2. Approval from the Research Ethic Board 265 Appendix 3. Model for empowering communities out of poverty 266 Bibliography 290 vii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1. How This Thesis Is Organized Fig. 2. Dimensions Of Poverty Fig. 3. Categories Of The Fluctuating Nature Of Poverty Fig. 4. Three Types Of Collective Action Fig. 5. The Project Cycle Fig. 6. Community Capacities And Assets viii ABSTRACT The focus of this thesis is to understand how Islam conceptualized poverty and how this understanding, along with other factors, enabled the Shi‘ite community in Lebanon to move out of the margins of society and out of poverty. The objective of this thesis is to identify lessons from the Shi‘ite community’s empowerment, for the church and Christian missions in the Middle East, in order for them to be more effective. This thesis reviewed the Old and New Testament’s teaching on poverty using a social-historical lens in order to understand the context of the teaching on the care for the poor. It then explored what the teaching and practice of the early Church was and its resulting impact. It also used specific theoretical paradigms to analyze and understand the nature of poverty. The end result of this thesis is the development of a model for empowering communities to move out of poverty. ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ABCD Asset Based Community Development ABCFM American Board of Commission for Foreign Missions AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome AUB American University of Beirut CBM Canadian Baptist Ministries CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child DfID Department for International Development DMin Doctor of Ministry GNI Gross National Income GNP Gross National Product HDI Human Development Index ILO International Labor Organization LCWE Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization MDG Millennium Development Goals NGO Non-Governmental Organization RBA Rights Based Approach REB Research Ethics Board UBC University of British Columbia UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Program WCC World Council of Churches x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To understand why God cares for the poor has been a lifelong journey, which the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at Acadia Divinity College and this thesis has given me the time and space to explore and study. A number of people have been instrumental in this journey. Dr. Gordon King, a colleague from World Vision Canada and now at Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM), has been a very good sounding board and his insights have been more valuable than I can express. His passion for the rights of the poor gives weight and substance to what he believes and shares. I’m deeply grateful to Dr. William Brackney for his wise supervision. His comments and suggestions were extremely valuable in focusing this thesis. The added benefit was our common concern for building bridges with the Muslim community. This concern provided a platform for discussions as the thesis evolved. My appreciation to the leadership at CBM, specifically Sharlene Craig, Dr. Terry Smith, Sam Chaise and Dr. Gary Nelson (now at Tyndale University College and Seminary), to allow me the time, space and funding to pursue the DMin. I would not be in the DMin program if Dr. Bruce Fawcett had not been willing to take a chance on me. How does one say thank you? A number of people facilitated the introductions to the key interviewees for this thesis. They include Dr. Martin Accad, Wadih Masri, Dr. Nayla Tabarra and Rev. Nabil Shehadi. xi The Professors in each one of the courses in my DMin program were instrumental in shaping my thinking for this thesis. I’m particularly grateful to Dr. Ron Sider and Dr. James Dunn, who through their courses, private conversations and emails, answered critical questions and provided the needed insights. I want to acknowledge that so many others have provided insight and encouragement in this journey. While they are too many to name, I am indebted to them. My parents, Prasanta and Ruby Das, and my grandparents were always models, since childhood, of compassion for the poor as an integral part of their faith. I always sensed that they understood this better than my theology could explain.
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