Of the 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, estimates suggest:
About 70% of them are “nominal” or “cultural” Muslims:
- They don’t attend mosque or read the Qur’an.
- They’re born in Muslim homes and follow the cultural elements of Islam.
- They neither engage in violence nor support those that do. They don't treat women poorly.
- They just want to go to work and take care of their families like anyone else.
About 15% of Muslims are what we might call “reformed”:
- They attend mosque & read the Qur’an.
- They take their faith very seriously.
- Many of them are scholars at universities.
- They tend to interpret the violent passages and the passages dealing with women in the Qur’an as not being applicable for today.
About 15% of Muslims are called “radical” or “extremist”:
- They attend mosque & read the Qur’an.
- They take their faith very seriously.
- These Muslims do apply the violent passages for today and would either engage in violent jihad or support those that do. They treat women according to Qur’an.
- Although these Muslims make up only 15%, that’s still around 225 million (more than 2/3 the population of the United States).
Muslim Demographics
Alan Shlemon
Ambassadors Learn and Engage
Alan Shlemon
An estimated 1.5 billion people – 1 in 5 people on the planet – are Muslim. How are we as Christians supposed to respond to Islam? The Bible gives us a principle that can help us. In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Paul says that the Corinthian believers have now been reconciled to God. In this passage, Paul tells us two important things about our identity and our mission: 1. If we claim to be a Christian, we are an ambassador for Christ. However we come across to other people, whether we’re effective, or whether we’re harsh, crass, and rude, we are saying something about Jesus Christ whom we represent. Therefore, we want to be mindful of the way we approach other people. 2. As an ambassador for Christ, our mission is to proclaim the message of reconciliation. Remember, we’ve been made at peace with God, so now it’s our job to proclaim that message to others. When we wonder what we should do regarding Muslims and Islam, we should recognize our identity and our mission. We are ambassadors for Christ. Ambassadors represent God to other people. Therefore, we should present God and the message of reconciliation to Muslims. What does an ambassador do before he goes to another country? He learns, and then he engages. He learns about their country. Why? So he can draw upon that information when he goes to speak to those people. As Christian ambassadors going to speak to Muslims, we should do the same thing. We need to learn about Islam, Muslims, their culture, their beliefs, and their practices. Why? So we can draw upon that information to more carefully craft the message we want to communicate. What’s our message? It’s the message that God wants to reconcile the world to Himself. Muslims love talking about God and religion. This makes it easy to share our faith with Muslims, and we should take advantage of it. There are two ways you can do this: 1. Avoid conversations that distract from the Gospel and create a defensive posture. For example: - Jihad: Whether or not violent jihad is valid Islamic doctrine is certainly interesting to discuss, but even if it is a valid doctrine, it doesn’t prove Islam is false. It just raises defenses. - Making denigrating comments about Mohammed. It doesn’t ever seem to help move a Muslim towards the Gospel. 2. Use a tactic to determine what is truly Islamic and what is not (3 sources of authority), which will be discussed in the next segment. Focus your message on what really matters: The Gospel. Same as you would with anyone else.
Three Sources of Authority
Alan Shlemon
If you want know whether a teaching is truly Islamic or not, find out what authoritative sources say about it. There are three sources of authority in Islam: - The Qur’an: The written revelation of Allah and the highest authority in Islam containing the literal words of Allah. - The Hadith: Written traditions that record what Mohammed said, did, or approved of. Sharia law – or Islamic law – is based on Hadith literature. - The Sunnah: This is the life example set by Mohammed. He is considered to be the perfect embodiment of what it means to be a Muslim. If the teaching is found in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sunnah, then it’s Islamic. If it’s not consistent with those three sources, then it’s probably not an authentic teaching.
Five Pillars of Islam
Alan Shlemon
Five Pillars of Islam are required behaviors of Muslims: - Reciting the creed: Confessional statement: “There is no god but Allah, Mohammed messenger.” - Daily prayer: Five times a day - Fast of Ramadan: A month-long fast to commemorate Mohammed receiving Qur’an - Giving alms: Give 2.5% of their money to serve the poor and needy - Pilgrimage to Mecca: At least once in a lifetime