Greetings to readers of David Roseberry's Leaderworks

Greetings in Christ's name!

I really have enjoyed getting to know the Rev. Cannon David Roseberry over the years and working with him to help the larger Anglican community become more aware of a fundamental shift we are going through in the West.

The Muslim population is increasing very quickly.

That is not going to change. The truth is that Islam creates societies in which no one—including Muslims—wants to live.

Many Americans look at this and are alarmed. Now, Christians should voice their opinions on migration and security to their elected leaders in Congress. But, Congress will not and cannot stop the increase of Islam in the USA.

So what should we do? What is a Christ-centered response to this situation?

Serve them in Christ's name. Share your life with them in Christ's name. Pray of them and pray with them. Muslims are coming to Christ. It's not easy. It's not fast. But it's good. God is doing a new thing. I want you and your church to be part of it. That is why this book was published!

Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions via this blog. Just leave a comment on the latest post and I'll get back to you.

Enjoy the blog. Search for terms. There is a huge amount of information on this blog even though I only make new posts every month or so.

And do purchase a copy of Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America and check out my articles at academia.

Peace and grace!

Abu Daoud

Jews, Muslims, and the Nobel Prize

Great observation here:

There are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, a figure that may rise. There are roughly 14.4 million Jews in total. The disparity in numbers is remarkable. So is the disparity in Nobel Laureates. Take a deep breath. There have been twelve Muslim Nobel Laureates – seven for Peace [...], two in Literature, one in Physics, and two in Chemistry. For a brief survey of how several of these Laureates have been treated by their fellow Muslims, see Gordon Fraser's Oxford University Press article. As for the tiny Jewish population, there have been 193 Nobel Laureates, equaling 22% of Nobel Prize winners overall.

Read the whole article HERE.

Charles Wesley's hymn/prayer for the salvation of Muslims

Did you know that famous hymn-writer Charles Wesley penned a hymn for the evangelization of the Mohammedans?

Here you go:

1. Sun of unclouded righteousness, With healing in thy wings arise, A sad benighted world to bless, Which now in sin and error lies, Wrapt in Egyptian night profound; With chains of hellish darkness bound.

2 The smoke of the infernal cave, Which half the Christian world o’er-spread, Disperse, thou heavenly Light, and save The souls by that Imposter led, That Arab thief, as Satan bold, Who quite destroy’d thy Asian fold.

3 O might the blood of sprinkling cry For those who spurn the sprinkled blood! Assert thy glorious Deity, Stretch out thine arm, thou triune God! The Unitarian fiend expel, And chase his doctrine back to hell.

4 Come, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Thou Three in One, and One in Three! Resume thy own, for ages lost, Finish the dire apostasy; Thy universal claim maintain, And Lord of the creation reign!

by Charles Wesley, from Hymns for the People called Methodists (1874), 443

How many virgins may a Muslim get in Paradise?

T.S. Eliot and the danger of democracy

G. K. Chesterton defined tradition as "democracy extended through time," and for Eliot, tradition offered the advantages of democracy -- diverse viewpoints and a protection against tyranny -- nestled in the cocoon of time. Apart from tradition, democracy could too easily degenerate into hysteria. Eliot saw this as a particular danger in industrial society, which creates "people detached from tradition, alienated from religion, and susceptible to mass suggestion: in other words a mob. And a mob will be no less a mob if it is well fed, well clothed, well housed, and well disciplined" (Idea, p. 21) To guard against these moblike tendencies, Eliot lent his support to a class system.

Philip Yancey writing on Eliot. Read it all here.

And this is what the West wants for the Arab world? Say it ain't so...

Patron Saint of Muslim converts to Christianity?

Ok, ok, so a lot of you don't believe in patron saints. The idea behind a patron saint is that certain saints have such an affection for certain kinds of people or people in certain situations that they intercede for the before God. If this is indeed the case, then Joseph, patron of travelers, has been interceding for me and my family for years. Also Francis Xavier, patron of missionaries. Also, Aquinas, who is a patron of scholars has been interceding for me. Lots of intercession there! Also, our city in the Middle East has a patron, and presumably that patron prays for us as residents of said city.

Which got me thinking--is there a patron for Muslims who convert to Christianity? I figured there was not, but that Bl Ramon Llull would make a fine patron, should he be recognized as a full-fledged saint some day (which he should).

But alas, it appears that there is a contender for Muslim converts to Christianity: St Casilda of Toledo (died c. 1050).

Part XXIII: The myth of Islamic religious tolerance through the ages

Part XXIII: The myth of Islamic religious tolerance through the ages
by Abu Daoud

A reader of the blog asked this good question:

Abu Daoud,

I've heard various Western historians say that Islam has historically been more tolerant than Christianity. They point out the treatment of non-Christians, particularly the Jews, in Europe and compare that with the treatment of Christians in the Middle East. It is true that even after the Arab conquests, there was a substantial Christian population in the Middle East for many centuries. The Muslim overlords needed the jizya, so Christians were tolerated. I believe it was only after the Crusades and Mongol conquests, when Christians sided with the Mongols, life for Christians got tougher. Now, of course, with the rise in Muslim fundamentalism things have got a lot tougher.

What do you say? Has Islam been historically tolerant, more tolerant than Christianity? Or has Christians always had it tough since the days Muhammad blazed on the scene?

Here is my answer: Islam does, in general, tolerate religious groups like Jews and Christians, but in such a way that Christians and Jews (called dhimmis) have curtailed religious, political, and economic freedom. They are doomed to a long slow decline. For instance, they cannot in general build new churches, convents, or synagogues, and can only repair existing ones with government permission. Their women can be married off to Muslims (or enslaved) in which case all the children will be Muslims, but they themselves cannot take Muslim wives (who would then produce Christian children, as per the father's religion). Dhimmis must pay something called the jizya or the poll tax, which fluctuated throughout Islamic history, it could be a crushing burden or something rather light. Once a Christian converted to Islam they were no longer obliged to pay that tax. Certain positions in government and military were, at times, limited to Muslims only, which provided another incentive for dhimmis to convert to Islam.

Outbreaks of anti-Christian violence likewise occur to this day. But the Christians cannot really do anything about it, can they? If they defend themselves then they are guilty of fighting against Muslims, and all will be punished. The Islamic government will sweep it under the rug and rarely are those responsible punished. The violence occurs. It is ignored by the government. Christians have no choice but to accept the injustice. If they call for justice they will be punished. It is a long, slow strategy of elimination. It has worked well over the centuries, leading to massive emigration of Christians and Jews from Muslim lands.

In other words, Islamic countries have the inhumane system of dhimmitude which is the Islamic equivalence of 'tolerance'. There never has been, and never will be, in an Islamic country genuine religious freedom. The key test in this area is simple: can a Muslim convert to Christianity (or some other religion) without being persecuted or resisted by the government? There are a very few Islamic countries where a person can indeed legally convert (Turkey is the only one I can think of, and maybe Lebanon?). It is legal in Turkey because Ataturk felt Islam was outdated and antiquated, in Lebanon, if indeed it still legal, because of the historical predominance of Maronites.) As the Prohet said, "man baddala diinahu, fa'aqtaluuhu"--Whosoever changes religion, slay him.

Regarding Muslims in Christian countries, they enjoy genuine religious freedom, something Christians in Muslim lands never have and never will experience because religious freedom and Islam are, in esse, incompatible. Historically, we don't have examples of large numbers of Muslims in Christian countries until recently. The expulsion of the Moors from Spain was more political than religious. Many of the Moors (Muslims) were explicitly treasonous and sought to overthrow the current political order, Europeans are glad to let such people remain in Europe nowadays, but in previous days Europeans had a bit more common sense and realized that you can't have a substantial population in your country that wants to overthrow the government. Europeans then realized what they seem incapable of understanding now: that Islam is not a 'religion', it is rather an imperial political movement sanctioned by theological myth.

Regarding the Jews in the lands of Christendom, there is a mixed bag. Certainly there were times when the Jews of Islamdom were better off than the Jews of Christendom. That was not always the case, and Christendom never totally purged itself of Jews, which is indeed what dar al islam today has done. So when we are talking about getting Jews our of your lands, at least as it stands today, Muslims have been more successful than Christians, even taking into account the Holocaust, which is viewed favorably by many Muslims today.

Hope that answers your question. When people toss out these slogans it is worthwhile to do some good historical research, something most Muslims will not do, as it inevitably leads to the conclusion that the Qur'an is wrong and Muslims are by no means 'the best of all people'. It is also sad that some contemporary authors (non-Muslims) perpetuate these myths (Armstrong? Menocal?), but it is very PC to do so, and leads to grants, published articles, and cushy positions at Oxford. And in Western academia today, these things are much more important than trivial things like truth.

Kraft on ex-Muslim Christians and the Second Generation

Child rearing emerged as the single most important theme in identity crises facing
Muslim-background Arabs who choose to embrace a Christian faith. While facing
personal challenges confidently, such as those that we have already discussed, many expressed a sense of inner torture when talking about raising their children. Because of the strong patrilineal source of identity in Arab countries, children of converts are generally expected to be Muslim, not Christian, and therefore the child of a convert to Christianity is actually a Muslim being raised as a Christian. At the very least, s/he may be a Christian who knows that s/he is different. Most of the challenges that converts face, their children also face. In addition, parents are concerned because their children are facing those challenges without any personal conviction that Christian faith is better than Muslim faith or that a different identity is worth fighting for. One couple, who was expecting their first child when I met them, said that they are afraid for their child's future, and had actually prayed that the wife might not be able to have children.

Kathryn Kraft, Community and Identity Among Arabs of a Muslim Background who Choose to Follow a Christian Faith, 2007, PhD diss, p 190.

My Letter to the Pope

Hi All,

Well, I'm not sure he'll every actually read this, but I thought it was worth writing. My letter to the Pope on the topic of Catholic witness to Muslims can be downloaded at St Francis Magazine's website. Or just click HERE for the PDF.

Here is a sample:

The first reform I suggest is regarding Holy Scripture. One of
the most recurrent themes in conversion narratives of Muslims is
the reading of the Bible. Yet how many hundreds of thousands of
emigrants live throughout the West without access to the bible in
their own language? What if parishes in areas with significant
immigrant populations were told they had to have bibles available
in those languages--perhaps Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Pashto, Turkish,
or something else? What if each sleepy Catholic parish became a
de facto source of distribution of Scripture? I am not talking about
proselytism, or even evangelism.

Please pass this on or link to it on your blog or website, especially if you are Catholic. Catholic mission to Muslims today is very weak, and it doesn't need to be like that.

--Abu Daoud

Josh McDowell Ministries at Dearborn Arab Festival

Muslim Group at London U won't share prayer room with others

Hundreds of Muslim students have been holding prayers outside City University London for a month in protest at the closure of a prayer room used exclusively by them.

The students declare that “multi-faith” alternatives are unacceptable because “a vast number of Muslim scholars throughout history believe it is impermissible for Muslims to offer prayers in a place where [a god] other than our Lord, Allah, is worshipped”.

In an open letter, the protesters also point out that the multi-faith room can accommodate only 40 people, which is too small for the number of Muslims who need to pray at least three times per day.

All-male groups have been praying on the pavement outside City since 15 February, with more than 200 reportedly turning up for Friday prayers in Northampton Square.

From HERE.

London: Muslim police blast official anti-terror strategy

LONDON — Muslim police have attacked the government's anti-terrorism strategy for triggering an upsurge in Islamophobia and deepening divisions in communities.

The National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) warned that the Prevent programme, which aims to combat violent extremism, was "stigmatising" Muslims by focusing on "so-called Islamist extremism."

The group said the real threat came from the growing far-right movement.

"The hatred towards Muslims has grown to a level that defies all logic and is an affront to British values," said the association in a written submission to a parliamentary commission examining the anti-terror initiative.

"The climate is such that Muslims are subject to daily abuse in a manner that would be ridiculed by Britain, were this to occur anywhere else." [...]

From the AFP.

Abu Daoud on Zakaria Botros

I have recently published in St Francis Magazine a short article/book review on Abouna Zakaria Botros. Here is an excerpt:

I believe that Botros is an example of contextualized ministry
par excellence. This might sound like a strange thing to say today
when contextualization and a non-polemical approach are seen as
inseparable. Au contraire. Contextual witness does not mean be-
ing nice, and it certainly does not mean refraining from criticism of
the Prophet of Islam or its book. What contextualization means is
that you are asking the questions to which people want to know an-
swers. A basic example of this is the now commonplace insight
that Arabs are more moved by honor-shame questions than inno-
cence-guilt ones. That is context. And Abouna does this very
well: Muslims want to know about Muhammad, the shari’a, the
ahadiith, and so on. They want to know how Islam can (or cannot)
be al haal, the solution, as other great Egyptians have argued (Al
Banna? Qutb?). And Botros is uniquely prepared to address these
questions: for one, his Arabic is excellent, which might not mean a
lot to people who have not studied the language, but understand
that classical Arabic and common Egyptian Arabic are about as
close to each other as Latin and modern Italian. (OK, maybe that’s
a little bit of a stretch, but not much.) His skills in Arabic permit
him to delve into the copious volumes of traditions about the life of
the Prophet and Islamic shari’a. Egypt asks Zakaria: in what way
can Islam be the solution? Zakaria responds: this is the life of the
Prophet and the law of Islam; you make your own decision.

Read it all at SFM:
Abu Daoud, 'Observations on Abuna Zakaria Botros (and a Book Review)' in St Francis Magazine, Vol 5:5, Oct 2009, pp 93-8.

A list of all my SFM publications can be found on the right-hand side of the screen, FYI.

Highest Percentage of Muslims in the New World?

Which country in the New World has the most Muslims as a percentage of the population?

Leave your answer in the comment section. I will answer the question after a good number of answers.

Books I'm Reading...

Haven't done this in a while, but here they are:

Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. Am really impressed by this book, the language is wonderful and the story flows along well. I also love thst these kids are familiar with nature--they can cross the river and live alone on an island for a few days, they know how to fish and cook basic things. Wonderful.

New Paths in Muslim Evangelism, by Phil Parshall (Baker House 1980). See my blurb on this below. I just finished it yesterday, but still need to finish combing the bibliography.

The Anthropology of Religion, by Fiona Bowie (Blackwell Publishing 2000). As I try to expand my knowledge in the area of ethnography and anthropology this is what I've picked up. Am so far enjoying it. Really provides a great basic knowledge of the different areas out there, though the author does not usually firmly come down on one side or another.

It is time for me to start another book, but still have not made a decision on it...

Why I work with Muslims

HT to FTME for this.

Salafi Islam growing throughout MENA and the world

From the AP:

[...] Sara Soliman and her businessman husband, Ahmed el-Shafei, both received the best education Egypt had to offer, first at a German-run school, then at the elite American University in Cairo. But they have now chosen the Salafi path.

"We were losing our identity. Our identity is Islamic," 27-year-old Soliman said from behind an all-covering black niqab as she sat with her husband in a Maadi restaurant.

"In our (social) class, none of us are brought up to be strongly practicing," added el-Shafei, also 27, in American-accented English, a legacy of a U.S. boyhood. Now, he and his wife said, they live Islam as "a whole way of life," rather than just a set of obligations such as daily prayers and fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

A dozen satellite TV channels, most Saudi-funded, are perhaps Salafism's most effective vehicle. They feature conservative preachers, call-in advice shows and discussion programs on proper Islamic behavior.

Cairo's many Salafist mosques are packed on Fridays. Outside Shaeriyah mosque, a bookstall featured dozens of cassettes by Mohammed Hasaan, a prolific conservative preacher who sermonizes on the necessity of jihad and the injustices inflicted on Muslims.

Alongside the cassettes, a book titled "The Sinful Behaviors of Women" displayed lipstick, playing cards, perfumes and cell phones on the cover. Another was titled "The Excesses of American Hubris."

Critics of Salafism say it has spread so quickly in part because the Egyptian and Saudi governments encouraged it as an apolitical, nonviolent alternative to hard-line jihadi groups.

These critics warn that the governments are playing with fire — that Salafism creates an environment that breeds extremism. ...

Salman Rushdie, all over again

The American author Sherry Jones is either very brave or very foolhardy. She has written a novel about Mohammed, focusing on his relationship with his favourite wife, A'isha.

A professor of Muslim history, Denise Spellberg of the University of Texas, has described the book as "very ugly, stupid … soft-core pornography". Miss Jones can turn the other cheek.

The words of Anjem Choudhary, a one-time member of the extremist Islamist group al-Mujaharoun, are not so easy to brush aside.
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Speaking after a firebomb attack on the home of the book's London publisher, he describes the novel as "an attack on the honour of Mohammed" and adds: "It is clearly stipulated in Muslim law that any kind of attack on his honour carries the death penalty." [...]

And then the last paragraph:

Isn't it time that moderate Muslims spoke out loud and long against the way a tiny minority of zealots can dominate the political debate and constantly depict Islam as intolerant and bigoted, when, in reality, those words apply only to its most extreme, blinkered adherents?

From HERE.

EN §47: Sacrament and evangelization

I was mildly critical of Paul VI in my last post for passing up a chance to advocate the catholic obligation for all Christians to evangelize, but here in §47 we find a great insight. It is this kind of passage that sets EN apart from run of the mill evangelical discourse, while also making it (EN) too urgent and passionate to simply discard as yet another document from the Vatican.

Paul VI here touches on the the union of sacrament and word in evangelism. One rather strong phrase is here:

In a certain sense it is a mistake to make a contrast between evangelization and sacramentalization, as is sometimes done.

This insight has actually been close to the heart of my personal approach to mission to Muslims and I have written an article on the topic which should be published online some time soon (will let you know) over at the most excellent St Francis Magazine.

But this insight is especially true for Muslims because Islam is a very ritually-oriented civilizational structure (notice that I don't call it a religion). Five times a day the Muslim must go through a highly ritualistic form of prayer (and I don't use the word ritualistic in a pejorative way). Five times a day! Overall Muslims have maintained a much higher degree in actual observance of (at least) the outward obligations of their rites than have Christians. Even non-devout Muslims will generally keep at least a partial fast during Ramadan, for example.

To take a Muslim out of the soteriological metanerrative of Islam without then giving him or her rites and rituals to replace that which has been discarded is a recipe for failure--both for the evangelizer and the evangelized. This is the case with Muslims more so than with secular Western folks. To evangelize without sacramentalizing is to offer an incomplete entry into the Kingdom of God and the Christian metanarrative.

France's jails full of Muslims

...This prison is majority Muslim -- as is virtually every house of incarceration in France. About 60 to 70 percent of all inmates in the country's prison system are Muslim, according to Muslim leaders, sociologists and researchers, though Muslims make up only about 12 percent of the country's population.

From HERE.