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Muslim/Christian tensions on global rise

Posted: 12 July, 2007

International (MNN) --  Open Doors' Brother Andrew says now, more than ever, the belief systems of Islam and Christianity are clashing head-on. "The conflict that we face today is a new one. We've never, in the history of the world, faced a situation like this where they (Muslims) have unlimited resources, strong belief and eschatology, their right to be heard, not only by the power of persuasion, but by the power of the sword."

The resulting tensions have fueled a great deal of persecution against the indigenous church, especially those who've converted from Islam. Their plight is behind Brother Andrew's most recent book Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ.

In it, he and coauthor Al Janssen tell the stories of Muslims who encounter Christ and determine to become Christians, despite ostracism and death threats. It also shares the reality faced by Christians struggling to become mature in their faith in the midst of a hostile and increasingly violent Muslim society.

That is born out in the mass exodus of Christians out of the war-torn Middle East. In many of these areas, the conflict has forged a stronger, more determined remnant church, while in others, the fighting has created a "diaspora" effect, resulting in great change.

Why change? Part of it is Islamic disillusionment, but Brother Andrew says the love of Christ helps believers be part of the "peace" solution. "They must first see Jesus in me. I have to first open my heart and embrace them, even if they hold a gun in their one hand. I still have the other side of their body to hug and say, 'I want to be your friend because Jesus is my friend. Let me introduce that Friend to you.' Then you are part of the solution."

Muslim/Christian tensions on global rise (http://mnnonline.org/article/10120)

Radical Islam Called Largest Threat to Global Religious Freedom
By Evan Moore
CNSNews.com Correspondent
July 10, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - A conservative watchdog group has issued a report claiming that religious freedom is deteriorating worldwide and that radical Islam is the largest threat to people's ability to worship according to their beliefs.

The findings by the Center for Religious Freedom were presented on Monday and come in advance of the publication of the book, "Religious Freedom in the World 2007," to be released next year.

The report cited Burma, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, the Maldives, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tibet, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as nations with the worst religious freedom records of the 100 countries surveyed.

The Center, a division of the Hudson Institute, also found a correlation between a lack of religious freedom within a nation and other measures of repression regarding the same country.

When compared to other international surveys, a "strong and significant linkage" exists between religious freedoms and other liberties that many Westerners take for granted, such as free enterprise, a free press and civil liberties, the report stated.

Freedom of religion was also strongly related to other factors, such as the longevity of democracy, military spending, violent social conflict and the use of modern communication devices, such as cell phones.

"Muslim-majority countries comprise the religious areas with the largest current restrictions in religious freedom. This parallels problems with democracy, civil liberties and economic freedom," said Paul Marshall, editor for Religious Freedom in the World 2007."

Two Muslim reformers have argued that such intolerance and repression is spawned by an endemic fault within Islam's theology.

"[T]here is much that is clearly wrong with the Islamic world. Women are stoned to death and undergo clitorectomies," Dr. Tawfik Hamid, a former member of the Islamist terrorist organization Jemmah Islamiya, said in an opinion-editorial for the Wall Street Journal on April 3.

"Gays hang from the gallows under the approving eyes of the proponents of Shariah, the legal code of Islam. Sunni and Shia massacre each other daily in Iraq. Palestinian mothers teach 3-year-old boys and girls the ideal of martyrdom," he added.

Hamid urged a direct, widespread and intellectual attack on the underpinnings of Islamist theology that "can transform a young, benevolent mind into that of a terrorist."

"It is vital to grasp that traditional and even mainstream Islamic teaching accepts and promotes violence," he said.

"The grave predicament we face in the Islamic world is the virtual lack of approved, theologically rigorous interpretations of Islam that clearly challenge the abusive aspects of Shariah," Hamid said.

"Unlike Salafism [the conservative strain of Islam that al Qaeda and the Saudi government adhere to], more liberal branches of Islam, such as Sufism, typically do not provide the essential theological base to nullify the cruel proclamations of their Salafist counterparts," he added.

Irshad Manji, a senior fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy, concurred with Hamid in a column for the New York Post on Sunday.

"While the vast majority of Muslims aren't extremists, a more important distinction must start being made - the distinction between moderate Muslims and reform-minded ones. Moderate Muslims denounce violence in the name of Islam - but deny that Islam has anything to do with it," Manji said.

"Reform-minded Muslims say it's time to admit that Islam's scripture and history are being exploited," he added.

"By their denial, moderates abandon the ground of theological interpretation to those with malignant intentions - effectively telling would-be terrorists that they can get away with abuses of power because mainstream Muslims won't challenge the fanatics with bold, competing interpretations," he said.

"To do so would be admitting that [religious teachings are] a factor. Moderate Muslims can't go there," Manji said.

Though the Council for American-Islamic Relations did not return requests for comment by press time, they have previously condemned studies led by Marshall , saying that his work presented an "Islamophobic view" by inaccurately representing the theological teachings of Islam and its history.

The report, then, "has done disservice to the important cause of combating hate," it said.

CAIR also joined with 343 other Muslim organizations in issuing a fatwa condemning terrorism and religious extremism in July 2005.

The decree said: "Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism....We pray for the safety and security of all inhabitants of our planet. We pray that interfaith harmony and cooperation prevail both in the United States and around the globe."

Marshall also stressed that "there are religiously free Muslim-majority countries, including some of the poorest, Mali and Senegal, which are religiously freer than many European countries."

Radical Islam Called Largest Threat to Global Religious (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200707/CUL20070710e.html)

Gospel still spreading rapidly

Posted: 13 July, 2007

International (MNN) --  With Christian-Muslim tensions mounting throughout the world, Global Advance is preparing in case of a future evangelistic paradigm shift.

In the event that the door slams shut to foreigners, GAM wants indigenous leaders to be prepared. "The times being as volatile as they are, it is very, very incumbent that we once again seize this historic sense of urgency for the Gospel," said David Shibley.

In the next two months, GAM will be traveling to nearly 20 countries to hold training conferences for church leaders and Christian business people. The conferences are designed to create evangelistic vision and provide ministry tools. "Any piece of material, any resource in so many developing nations is just viewed as gold by these dear pastors who are very capable and yet have very limited resources. So we're very grateful that we can give both inspiration and challenge for the fulfilling of the Great Commission."

Shibley said they want to put "a mission ethos, an evangelistic impetus" in the hearts of the indigenous leaders.

The evidence of the threat to evangelism can be clearly seen. Release International said, "Sharia law--strict Islamic law--is gaining ground in many nations, resulting in a challenge to basic human freedoms." This is the case in Britain, which has been labeled the "number one target" for Islamic extremists by a former mosque leader.

Muslims are gaining access to resources like never before. They are finding ways to be heard even if it means through violence, especially to Christians who converted from Islam.

Since 1990, GAM has trained more than 300,000 leaders in 74 countries at their conferences.  "We believe that God is using this strategy, we see it over and over again, for the planting of new churches for the advance of the Gospel, and turning the church in the developing nations of the world themselves into a missionary-sending church, and this is very encouraging," said Shibley.

Despite the growing strength of Muslim extremists, Shibley believes the church is growing just as quickly. "There is a rapid expanse of the Gospel, and we need to encourage that, fan the flames of that," said Shibley.

Gospel still spreading rapidly (http://mnnonline.org/article/10126)

Good article....we must reach out with the love of Christ to Muslims.