One of the greatest challenges to the spread of the Gospel in the world today is presented by Islam. In a huge stretch of the world’s surface from Morocco in the west to the Far East and going north into Central Asia and south into large parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, the predominating section of the population in many different countries is Moslem. Many of these lands are ruled by Islamic governments, and some of them are entirely closed to Christian missions, such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Then there are large numbers of Moslems in America and in European countries like England and France. The total number of Moslems in the world today is said to be about 400 million.
In some parts of Africa Christian missions have made a great impact upon paganism, and within a comparatively few years large numbers have become converts, some of whom now are African pastors and Christian teachers. But in Moslem lands there seem to be little or no progress. And for that reason, missionary work for Moslems does not arouse the enthusiasm among Christian people that it should, nor call forth satisfactory support for it.
Moreover, it is well-known that Islam is making far more converts in Africa than is Christianity, and it is spreading rapidly, not only there but in other lands as well. Large numbers of Moslem missionaries, many of them trained in the University of Al Azhar in Cairo, are entering Africa for this purpose. Egypt has, as a definite aim, the establishment of Moslem and Arab domination over the African continent, and its emissaries are seeking to persuade Africans that in order to enjoy political freedom, Christianity (the religion of the ruling races) must be destroyed.
The Moslem Resistance
It may be asked why the people of Islam have been so hard to win for Christ. There are several reasons. In the first place we find that Islam is the only religion which presents a definite theological barrier in the teachings of the Koran to the teachings of Christianity. That is, the preaching of the gospel of Christ at once meets with opposition because the ideas therein run contrary to statements in the Koran. Islam’s uncompromising attitude to the unity of God makes the doctrine of the Trinity unacceptable. And its denial of the reality of the death of Christ on the cross causes rejection of the Atonement. There is also a firm adherence to the inspiration of the Koran as being God’s last word to man dictated to the Prophet Mohammed, and this, of course, makes for rejection of any teaching or statements in the Bible which do not agree with the Koran.
A second reason why converts from Islam are so few is this: there is a law regarding apostasy from that religion which makes any action of this kind an offense incurring the death penalty. Even in countries where this may not be the law, any convert to Christianity is in danger of his life, and is liable to suffer the loss of his possessions and separation from his home and family. Indeed, a convert has to take up his cross in order to follow Christ.
Nowadays a third reason for the difficulty is the close connection between the growth of nationalism and religion. Islam is looked upon as a national culture, Christianity is looked upon as a “Western religion”; and the preaching of the Gospel to Moslems is taken as an attempt to bring them under the domination of “Western imperialism.”
An editorial in a Singapore newspaper said that the purpose of missionary education was “to educate the natives to accept Western ideas and the Christian faith so that they would be more amenable to the white men’s rule.” The closing paragraph presented a significant challenge: “Can the Christian Church in Asian lands, immersed in Western ways and ideas, compete with the traditional Eastern faiths? Can it overcome Asian prejudice against the Western way of doing things? Or will Christianity in time retreat with the receding tide of Western imperialism from Asia?”
The answer to these questions depends on whether the Church is ready to follow its Lord wholeheartedly, and willing to take up the Cross in order to do so, or whether it will continue to be the lukewarm, flabby affair that it often seems to be—the majority of members being merely nominal or half-hearted Christians.
We must consider certain factors which are helping to make Islam more easily accepted by pagan peoples than Christianity. Wherever the Moslem trader or teacher goes, he takes his religion with him, and his ways of living are much nearer to the people of the East than are the ways of Westerners. He mixes freely with them and probably takes a wife from among them, and he is not hindered by the fact that he may have another wife (or wives) in other places. His children become Moslems, and Islam gives to its converts in the end a higher social prestige than does paganism. Also it does not make such exacting moral demands as Christianity; polygamy, one of the stumbling blocks making it difficult for a pagan to become a Christian, is still allowed. Moreover, Islam is a world-wide brotherhood into which men of all races and classes are admitted. Too often business and professional people from the West, even when they profess to be Christians, not only fail to do anything to evangelize the people with whom they come to live, but are even hostile to missionary efforts; and a barrier of culture arises keeping them aloof from indigenous Christians and non-Christians.
The Duty To Evangelize
Are we, because of all these difficulties and so much opposition, to give up the attempt to evangelize the Moslems? Many Christians, at least nominal ones, seem to think so. But we cannot exclude the people of Islam from the Commission given by our Lord to preach the Gospel to every creature and make disciples.
Let us remember that along with all the obstacles and hostility which we have mentioned, tremendous changes are nonetheless taking place today in the world of Islam. It has come into contact with movements which are at work everywhere today—i.e., secularism, materialism, communism, scientific and technological developments—and these have had a far-reaching influence in breaking down the ancient ideals of Islam. Educated Moslems are finding it hard to reconcile these new ideas with the dogmatic creed of their forefathers, and they are making frantic efforts to reinterpret Islam so as to bring it into accord with present-day conditions. But while realizing the necessity of adapting their civilization to modern ways, they are far from being willing to accept at large Western ideas and certainly not Western domination.
How does this situation affect the task of evangelizing the people of Islam? First of all, it should be said that missionary work among Moslems has not been such a failure as many people are apt to think.
Some Positive Gains
There is, to begin with, the general influence of Christianity. Without a willingness to acknowledge it, native contact with Christian ideals and the reading of the Scriptures have changed Moslem attitudes about many things. The kind of Islam which is being advocated by those seeking to reinterpret it would be almost unrecognizable by early Moslems, and surprisingly close to the Christian outlook. Lives of Mohammed are actually written in terms of Christian moral standards.
The influence of Christian ideals is most marked in connection with the position now accorded to women. Some modern apologists for Islam claim that though the Koran permitted a man to have four wives, it was on the condition that they should all be treated alike, and as this is not possible, it amounts to a virtual prohibition of more than one. In Pakistan an association of Moslem women has been formed to protect the rights of women. Strong objections have been put forward by association members to a prominent politician who is taking as a second wife a young lady who was his secretary. They said that they did not oppose the Moslem law about polygamy, but that a second wife should be taken only in very special circumstances.
In Tunisia, reforms pertaining to the personal status of Moslems became effective January 1, 1957. Among them was the abolition of polygamy, restrictions on divorce, and the institution of a minimum age for marriage. Women were granted the franchise at 20 years of age on condition that as the symbol of their emancipation they abandon the veil and be allowed to vote, which they did in May, 1957.
These are only illustrations of what is taking place today in many Moslem lands. They could be multiplied. It is important to note, however, that this does not mean the changed outlook has been the direct result of Christian teaching. Rather, it has been a contact with Christian ideals.
Apart from this general influence, we may think of the particular influence of the gospel of Christ in the lives of some of the people. In every field where Christian missions have been at work, there are known to be many persons who, though outwardly still Moslem, are secret believers in the Christian faith. We cannot wonder at their hesitation to take the step of open confession and baptism when we realize the tremendous cost involved. In the case of women, even if they become convinced of the truth and trust in Christ, it is in almost every case impossible for them to leave their husbands and their children. Let us not blame these secret believers before we have asked ourselves what it has ever cost us to follow Christ?
There are, however, in every field of Christian work among Moslems a few who have been ready to take their stand openly as followers of Christ, and in nearly every case they have had to suffer greatly for it. All the efforts of mission work have been worthwhile for the sake of these heroic souls, the forerunners, we believe, of many more yet to follow.
Let us, then, not become fainthearted in the task of bringing the gospel of Christ to the people of Islam, but rather, seek to approach it with new zeal and devotion. We need to ask ourselves how best we may do this in the times in which we live.
Toward A New Day
First of all, it is necessary that we obtain the interest of the whole Church in this enterprise. It has too often been left to the few enthusiasts. Our primary task is that we enlist the prayers of all Christians for the support of those engaged in this ministry.
Then there must be the witness of Christian lives who come in contact with the Moslems. Unless they see Christ in us, how can we expect them to believe in his power to save? Those who come from Western lands are very apt to have a superiority complex in their attitude toward African and Asian people. Often this is an unconscious attitude, but in these days of intense nationalism, it is certainly a great hindrance to any acceptance of the Christian message.
The ways of life of Western people are so different from those among whom they go that, though they might be living quite simply according to their own standards, such ordinary habits appear luxurious in the eyes of peoples of Africa and Asia. Today the work of evangelizing ought to be done more by Christians belonging to those countries. Yet, where missionaries from the West are still in demand, there needs to be a breaking down of barriers between them and their national fellow-workers and those among whom they work. This means that we must be ready to live in accordance with the ways of the people with whom we are working as far as possible without injury to health. A missionary who arrives equipped with a station wagon, a public address system, an electric refrigerator and other such gadgets seems to be enormously wealthy, and at once this creates a barrier between him and his national colleagues, and he is suspected by the people of the country as being “an agent of imperialism.”
Many of our younger missionaries (all honor to them) are facing up to these problems and are trying to lessen the barriers. If we are to bring the gospel of Christ to the Moslems and other non-Christians, we must be ready to follow in the steps of our Lord, who said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
We believe the day is coming when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And if we are to be co-workers with him in hastening the day when that shall be, we must be ready to take up the cross and follow him. If this is the requisite in connection with all Christian work, it is especially so as we face the challenge of Islam.
END
Frank E. Keay was ordained a clergyman of the Church of England in 1908. He went to India that same year under the Church Missionary Society and was stationed at Jubbulpore as Principal of the Mission High School until 1922. His service in India terminated in 1957. He now lives with Mrs. Keay in a home for retired clergy and their wives in Worthing, England. He holds the B.A., M.A. and D.Litt. from London University and has written several books.
