Evangalizing

Woodrow,
Have you heard this statement "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church"?

I can understand that point of view, and if Islam is the true religion then it would be true. This is much how I view my own religion. If I had a bunch of competing Muslims trying to convert me I probably would feel even more like that.

What is the cause of the different viewpoint? Why do Muslims not try to evangalize? It just seems like a logical thing to do.

Do you reject that Jesus said, "this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabbited earth for a witness to all nations", or do you view it differently than Christians, that it does not mean evangalize?

I beg to differ slightly. The good news that Jesus taught was about God's kingdom. (Mt 3:2, 4:17) 

I know Muslims believe in a theocratic kingdom and I also think they believe Jesus will be king. I'm just not sure what parts of the gospels, if any, they, or some may consider to be actual words of Jesus.  The only point of difference may be in his sacrifice as far as I know.

My understanding is that our responsibility ends when we let people know we are Muslim  and then being willing to answer any questions. we are not to invade a person's personal space and speak to them of Allaah(swt) unless invited to Unless we are in an Islamic nation that is under true Shariah. (Not what the media calls Sharia), in  an Islamic all citizens are expected to  refrain from trying to lead Muslims away from Islam.

When we are in a non-Muslim nation we are to act as guests and obey the rules of our hosts. If we can not do that we are to leave as soon as possible.  If a person is a revert  (convert) to Islam we are to recognize it is our duty to migrate to a Muslim nation if we are physically and financially able to. As for trying to convert people to Islam, I believe that Allaah(swt) will lead those who desire to be led and there no is way to lead those no willing to be led. My responsibility ends with being available to answer any questions and to lead a life that reflects what I believe Islam is.


My view of the NT is a bit different than the view of  Christians I do not believe  it is God inspired scripture and contains very little of what Jesus(as) actually taught. Yes I do believe  "this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabbited earth for a witness to all nations" and has been through the Torah, Book of Psalms, the Injil and the Qur'an. All taught the same message which is the act of submitting to Allaah(swt) However, the message was not kept in the first 3 books and the Qur'an was sent as our last chance to get it right.

I agree about it being taught in the Torah and Psalms. I don't know about the others. Jehovah's Witnesess believe the entire theme of the Bible, from start to finish, is the kingdom of God, which they view as a literal kingdom, although spiritually led. To me, this is what sets them further apart from many Christian denominations that I know of. What I find is that a lot of Christians are stuck by misinterpreting what Jesus meant when he said, "the kingdom is within you". They believe the kingdom of God exists in their hearts and then the case is closed and they close their eyes to what the grandness of what the kingdom really is.

Jehovah's Witnesses are also well known for their proselytizing, viewing it as their sole duty to preach the good news of the kingdom in all the earth, and they are succeeding. They take the pattern of Christ's early disciples, as recorded in the Christian gospels, in going "house to house and door to door". It is more thorough than relying on technology or informal witnessing. A lot of people view this as pushy and intrusive. But really all it is is an attempt to make theselves available to their neighbors. If the householder is not interested they are not supposed to be pushy, but the goal is to start a Bible study with people that are interested. They are also strict pacifists.

How is this viewed in Muslim nations, do you think? Should they be afraid?

And do Muslims believe Jesus is the king of that kingdom?

Generally here in the USA I have not seen much of an issue between Muslims and JWs or Muslims and Mormons as neither group is trinitarian.  I am not aware of any major effort by either group to convert Muslims. The only contact I know of between Muslims and JWs in North Dakota was the JWs in Fargo sold the Kingdom Hall to the Fargo Islamic Society and it was converted into a Mosque. I suspect there is even less contact with JWs  in the Islamic countries.  The only efforts I am aware of  have been in Saudi and Pakistan and there the JWs  seem to concentrate on converting the Mainstream Christians living in both Nations and have avoided the Muslims. Just my view, but I am not aware of any organized efforts by JWs to convert Muslims. I also think any JW trying to convert a Muslim would be more likely to revert to Islam than convert the Muslim.


 From what I understand Jesus(as) will be a major part of the forming of the final Caliphate as he lives out his final 40 years or so on earth. We believe the only reason Jesus(as) will return to earth is because he had not died and it is ordained every Human will die an earthly death. His life was divided and had not been completed. His final tasks are to destroy the Da'jal and be a witness to testify against all who worshiped him. Then he will live  a normal peaceful life, marry and have children  and live out his final years in peace. As a Prophet(PBUT) he will not suffer the pains of the grave but upon death will go directly to Heaven.

I can only relate my experiences from when I was a Christian Evangelical spreading the Gospel in Muslim Nations nations back in the 1970s and 80s. I am certain things have changed since then.

In any Nation a lot will depend on what type visa you entered under. But in any event you will want to find a Church in the region and see if they can find a family that will put you up for while you are there.

In most nations that will be in the Christian sector of the city.  Typically no Muslims will enter the Christian sector unless they come in as domestic help such as gardeners, Maids  etc.

Now to venture out the first discovery is in most nations people do not knock on a door unless they are a close relative or have been invited. In Islamic Nations Muslims live a very sparten life with no frills or any unneeded items.  even the wealthy. Muslims usually prefer single room apartment life with no furniture and only enough dishes for the family. Usually no eating utensils as it is sunnah to eat with ones fingers.  The apartment is basically a refuge for privacy.

Now if some how you manage to get invited to a Muslims house, do not expect them to allow you to discuss Christianity. 

Basically house to house evangelizing is out of the question. Most evangelists resort to having large tent revivals within the Christian sector and attempt to reach the domestic help that work within the sector. That can backfire.


As I saw happen in Agadir, Morocco A very charismatic preacher was holding a gigantic tent revival and a call for Muslims to come to Christ. Each night the tent was filled to capacity with an overflowing,enthusiastic crowd. It was quite an exciting event. On the next to the last night of the revival he asked all of the crowd to return on the last night and to bring their Qur'ans. with them. The next night several hundred if not over 1,000 arrived with their Qur'ans. He asked them to stack them in a pile. They did so, he then poured kerosene over them and lit the pile the revival quickly ended as a near riot. He then discovered that what he had burned was a stack of bibles, he had been unaware that in the Darija Arabic the word Qur'an is used for any religious book. He was also unaware that Agadir is a city with a very large Arabic speaking Christian population. His entire revival was composed of Christians and not Muslims as he thought.

What I have seen happen often is the Evangelists stay within the Christian sector and convert Christians of a different denomination and then consider that as saving people. Often they try to convert the Catholics living in the Christian sector. Usually the majority of the Christians living in Muslim countries are Catholics.

Just not welcomed. Not just missionaries but any univited visitors including other Muslims . In the predominantly Arab Muslim Nations home privacy is a luxury. Like I said they live a sparten life and the typical apartment is only one room with no furniture except for a few mats to sit and sleep on. The Arabs are usually only in their apartments to sleep or eat. Outside of that they are out either working or at the Mosque.

The Housing in the Christian sections are usually more western style and multi room with western type furniture etc. In the Islamic nations the Christians are usually non Arab temporary workers or students. the Arab Christians that have lived there for generations live the same as the Muslims and visually are indistinguishable.by looking at them. The Christian compounds in Saudi are very elaborate and would be considered luxury houses in the USA most have full enmities including servent service, swimming pools and local mini malls.western style schools  most of the reidents are Oil field workers that usually come to work in Saudi for only a few years. But I have met some that chose to retire and stay in Saudi. the compounds are quite large and good sized cities in their own.

Here is a video of the compound I once stayed in in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Compound

The interior of one of the compound houses

compund ' housing 

In the oriental Nations, were actually most of the world's Muslims live are quite different. And live more like typical Indonesians, Malays and Chinese.

There are more Muslims in  China than in Saudi Arabia and nearly 1/4 of the world's Muslims live in Indonesia. In those nations you will find the Muslims follow oriental culture instead of Arab. In China the difficulty is in getting permission from the government to go into the Muslim provinces of  Xinjiang, Gansu, and Ningxia, The Third oldest Mosque in the world is in  China and was built while Muhammad was still alive. The oldest continuous Muslim community outside of Saudi is in China. In spite of continuous persecution the Muslims in China have retained their Religion. In the 1800s during the Boxer rebellion 90% of the Muslims were killed. But Islam survived and Today the Chinese Muslim population is the largest it ever had been.

Except for Chinese culture I am not very familiar with oriental culture. In China you will find that Missionaries are often welcomed as all visitors are. However, there is very strict protocol that unrelated men and women will not speak or look at each other. Any visiting etc will be with the men in one room and women in another. but that holds true for all Muslims another reason company is often not wanted in the Arab nations as the families live in one room..

I'm am speaking mostly of the Arab Muslims. It is a combination of Religion and Culture. Economics does not seem to play a role as even very wealthy Arab muslims will live the same life style. It is also considered to be Sunnah to not own anything Muhammad(saws) did not own.
 
The Arabs also believe in a strong equality among Arabs so often they will all live in conditions similar to the poorest member of the community. There is also a practical but devious side to it.  You may be aware Muslims pay Zakat (Charity). There is a required minimum that being 2,5 % of  the value of everything you possessed in the previous year.  If you buy something you are going to keep for a long time, such as furniture the price for owning it adds up pretty fast.  So some Muslims have the attitude not to own anything they can do without.


That is based on religion. Muslims are not permitted to interact in any frivolous manner with unrelated members of the opposite gender. Men do not look direct at women and women do not look directly at men.


True. Very oftewn the Christians seen in Muslim nations do not give a good picture of Christianity.


I can identify with that I lived in the oil fields of Texas and Louisiana quite often.  Until I finally got my doctorate I worked for UOP, Procon and Fabsteel as a design Draftsman specialized in designing refineries and oil field structures. A lot was on site field work.



Atheists seem to have a knack for blending in with the general population. Since they are not promoting any religious views no one can tell they are not Muslim.