UNDERSTANDING ISLAM: AN APPROACH TO WITNESS By Dwight L. Baker Baptist Literacy Missions Center at Baylor 0 1 UNDERSTANDING ISLAM: AN APPROACH TO WITNESS Copyright © 1989 by Dwight L. Baker ISBN: 0-9624512-1-5 Photography by Adrian Vaughan Printed by Baylor Printing Service All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Published with use of the Bettie Draper Literacy Missions Publishing Fund by the Baptist Literacy Missions Center at Baylor Lester Meriwether, Director B.U. Box 7291 Waco, TX 76798-7291 The Baptist Literacy Missions Center at Baylor is a joint project of Baylor University and the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Note: this book is currently out of print, 2013. 2 3 INTRODUCTION It is my privilege to introduce to you a special book written for special people and published through a rather out-of-the-ordinary cooperative effort. UNDERSTANDING ISLAM: AN APPROACH TO WITNESS was born of the work of life-long Southern Baptist missionary Dr. Dwight Baker. I met Dr. Baker at Baylor University where he served as Visiting Professor in the Department of Religion. Dr. Baker presented some of the material shared in this book in seminars in November of 1988 in a meeting for volunteers in church ministries to internationals. Dr. Baker then shared with me his dream of having these lectures published. Thus began the cooperative effort that depicts the publishing of this book. As Dr. Baker notes in his comments, the Department of Religion at Baylor was responsible for the typing of his original manuscript. Mr. Tim Logan, Coordinator of Academic Microcomputer Support at Baylor assisted in formatting the text on computer. Mrs. Sandra Farris, secretary for the Baptist Literacy Missions Center, then typeset the book. Mrs. Maurine Frost, Mission Service Corps volunteer at the Center, assisted in proofreading. The photography for the cover of the book was done by Mr. Adrian Vaughan, Professor of Journalism at Baylor. Mr. John Bayer of the Baylor Printing Service provided assistance in arranging the layout for the book. Special thanks is due .also to Dr. Gary Leazer, Director of the Interfaith Witness Department of the Baptist Home Mission Board, for writing the Preface to the book. Funding for publishing UNDERSTANDING ISLAM: AN APPROACH TO WITNESS was provided through the Bettie Draper Publishing Fund. Receipts from the Center's first publication, BEYOND THE GOLDEN DOOR: A Layman's Ministry to International Families by Carolyn Cree, assisted in paying for the printing of Dr. Baker's book. The Church Ministries Section of the Baptist General Convention and Texas Baptist Woman's Missionary Union also provided substantial help. I heartily commend UNDERSTANDING ISLAM: AN APPROACH TO WITNESS. Dr. Baker's conversational yet scholarly style and his insights can be of immeasurable value. This book is for persons such as yourself who are interested in knowing more about Islam so that those who practice this growing world religion can know our Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Lester Meriwether, Director Baptist Literacy Missions Center 4 5 PREFACE Most Americans place the Muslim world along a broad band from western Africa to Indonesia where most of the world's 800 million Muslims live. However, a growing number of Muslim students, tourists, businessmen and immigrants are creating a sizable American Islamic community. The number of Muslims entering the United States has constituted fourteen percent of all immigrants in the past two decades. The numbers grow even larger when added to the considerable number of black Americans who have accepted Islam as their personal faith. If the trend continues, the estimated 4,650,000 Muslims will surpass Jews in number by the year 2000 to become the largest non-Christian religious community in the United States. Too often, charges of international terrorism or the Palestinian struggle in the Middle East come to mind when Americans think of Muslims. Muslims, on the other hand, usually remember the Crusades of the Middle Ages or believe that Christianity is a polytheistic religion practiced by immoral Christians. Clearly, there is need for Muslim-Christian dialogue to resolve the misunderstandings of centuries of mistrust and hatred toward each other. Dwight Baker, drawing on his years of service as a missionary in Israel and India, has provided an excellent resource for Christians who desire to better understand the Islamic faith, its teachings and lifestyle. The jewel of this book is its practical help for conversations between a Christian and a Muslim. He tells which discussions will prove futile and of words commonly used by Christians which do not communicate well or erect barriers to further conversations. Baker gives needed attention for helping a Christian understand how Muslims interpret Christian doctrines, especially the person and work of Jesus. Baker's heart for evangelizing Muslims is readily apparent. He writes of seven formidable barriers which hinder effective, witness to Muslims. Pointing out that the confrontational approach to evangelizing Muslims has not worked, Baker calls for us to learn from our past mistakes and to prepare ourselves for the unparalleled opportunities that surround us. He suggests practical approaches to ministry which have proven successful in opening doors for sharing the gospel. Summarized in a single statement, Baker says, "Love the Muslim, and let him see the change Jesus has made in your life. Few books offer so much practical help in witnessing across faith lines, perhaps none in the area of witnessing to Muslims. Gary Leazer, Director Interfaith Witness Department Home Mission Board Southern Baptist Convention 6 7 FOREWORD Muslims in the United States, once a small group of slightly noticed immigrants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, along with scattered groups of Black Muslims, have today become members of the fastest growing religious group in America. With their three to four million population, they are now larger than the Episcopalians (two and one-half million) or the Presbyterian Church USA (three million). If they continue at their present rate of growth, by the turn of the century they could achieve a credible ranking along side America's three largest—Protestants, Catholics and Jews. One of their primary drives is that of achieving acceptance and a useful role in their adopted country. But the Muslim presence here in whatever numbers should activate a fresh response on the part of Christians to apply the Great Commission of Christ to the new Muslims. This, coupled with Southern Baptists' own Bold Mission Thrust commitment to witness to every person on this planet by the year 2000, attaches a unique immediacy to the need for sharing our faith with the People of the Mosque. One of the purposes of this book is to enable those commissioned to offer a serious witness to these new neighbors. This book began several years ago when I first shared thoughts with friends concerning the Muslim response—both the positive aspects as well as difficulties encountered and the characteristic slowness of the Muslim reply to the Christian message. Interspersed among these conversations were personal experiences that took place over more than a quarter of a century of service in the predominantly Arab-populated areas of Israel. These communications were later expanded into material for workshops and seminars, conducted first in India while serving as faculty at the United Theological College, Bangalore. Finally, in January, 1986, the main body of this material was delivered as the Lide-Walker Lectures at the Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary in Baguio City. I express my appreciation to the Baylor Literacy Missions Center and its director, Dr. Lester Meriwether, for inviting me to make this material available to literacy missions workers and those in related endeavors. I am especially grateful to the Department of Religion at Baylor University where I now teach under the chairmanship of Dr. Glenn O. Hilburn for having the manuscript typed and prepared for publication. Gratitude is extended to Mrs. Sandra Williams and Mrs. Ruth Siebert for producing the typescript. I also thank Miss Elizabeth Horney for proofreading the text. The decision to prepare this work is in response to the requests of literacy specialists and workers in Texas to make the material available for local use. In your hands may it become an instrument for effective witness to the Good News of God in Christ Jesus to the rapidly increasing numbers of Muslims in America. Dwight Baker 8 9 CONTENTS Chapter One THE QUR'AN AND SOME REFERENCES TO .......................................................... 12 THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES The Composition of the Qur’an | The Place of the Qur’an in Islam and Its Christian Parallel | Qur'anic References to Judeo-Christian Scriptures Chapter Two MAJOR MUSLIM BELIEFS ....................................................................................... 21 God | Man | Sin | Salvation | Heaven | Hell | Resurrection | Judgment Chapter Three MUSLIM INTERPRETATIONS OF CRUCIAL CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES ........................ 35 The Divinity of Christ | The Trinity | The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Chapter Four A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT JESUS IN ISLAM ............................................................... 42 Jesus in the Qur’an | Christ's Unique Character | Teachings about Jesus | The Death of Jesus