tagged: Evangelism, From the Middle East, Islam, Muslim, Theology

Answering Questions – Part 3

Posted by From the Middle East in Church & Missions

In this series we are considering how to effectively communicate our beliefs to Muslims when they ask legitimate questions. This post will be a little long, but the topic seems to warrant the added length. The question is:

We believe in the prophethood of Jesus, why don’t you believe in the prophethood of Muhammad?

When visiting with orthodox Muslims, this question is inevitable. Sooner or later, we must explain why it is we accept all of God’s prophets but one. For a long time I absolutely hated this question. It seemed that any answer I gave caused the conversation to degenerate into an argument or, at the least, I offended someone. Finally, a few things began clicking and I began looking at the question from a different perspective, which, in turn, changed the direction from which my answer(s) came. Now, I love the question! If answered properly, this question can actually move the conversation away from general “religious” discussion and into the deep waters of the Kingdom of God and exactly who God’s chosen Messiah is!

A False Presupposition

There are several explicit assumptions in today’s question (that Jesus was a prophet, that Muslims believe in the prophethood of Jesus, that Muhammad was a prophet, etc). In addition to the assumptions that are explicit, there are also some things that are implicit in the Muslim mind. I have found that it is absolutely essential to deal with one of these assumptions prior to answering the question. When I have answered the question of Muhammad’s prophethood without first addressing this issue, offense has ensued almost every time. However, when I address the false presupposition that lies behind this question, understanding is often the result.

What is this false presupposition? While not directly stated, implied in the statement, “We believe in the prophethood of Jesus,” is that Jesus was simply (only, nothing more than) a prophet in a long line of prophets sent by God to bring humanity back to Him. While it is quite true that Jesus was a prophet of God, he is also much more than a prophet. This must be communicated for any answer to “why we do not follow Muhammad” to be understood.

An illustration seems to be in order here, please humor me by playing along. Imagine that you asked me to join you at your table for a glass of lemonade and I simply said, “No.” You would probably ask me why I did not want to partake of your lemonade. Now, any answer I might give at this point, that addresses characteristics of your lemonade, is going to be offensive. I might say to you, “Lemonade is somewhat bitter and I don’t think it is a very thirst-quenching drink, it seems to be a cheap knock-off of water. I don’t want any.” While some might answer this way, I cannot… my wife would smack me upside the head for not being polite. Another option would be to think really hard and come up with some good characteristics of lemonade and recite those to you. Something like, “Oh, lemonade, it is sweet and cool.” But you would then be even more curious as to why I do not want to partake and probably press me on the matter.

Eventually I need to justify not wanting to sit at your table that has lemonade. In light of this, I could combine both the negative and positive and say something like, “While it is sweet and cool, it is also slightly bitter and I’m not in the mood for bitter and, truth be told, I just don’t think it is going to quench my thirst. What I really think is that, compared to other things out there, it is not a really good drink to begin with and I’d rather not have any.” While this may seem to be truthful, there is still a key piece of information you are missing that could change the whole tone of our conversation.

What you have failed to notice and what I have not mentioned is that I am already sitting at a table with mashed potatoes, cornbread, pot roast, fresh green beans, purple hull peas, iced tea, water, lemonade, coffee, peach cobbler and strawberry shortcake. This is important information if I want you to understand why I’m not interested in your table that has lemonade. Had you known this, you might have even invited yourself to my table!

In the same way, Muslims do not understand all that Jesus is. While they use terms like “the Messiah” and “the Word of God” as titles for Jesus, they have yet to understand what these titles imply. By disclosing to our Muslims friends how significant this man Jesus was and is, we help them to break free from the idea that he is only a prophet and understand the infinite satisfaction they can find in him.

But, how do we communicate this?

Going back to the lemonade example, I could say to you, “You know, you only have lemonade. I have mashed potatoes, cornbread, pot roast, green beans, purple hulls, iced tea, water and lemonade. Actually I have several kinds of lemonade and all of them are better than your lemonade. Seems to me that if you had any sense, you’d come over here and eat with us. Wanna?” I gave an answer as to why I do not need your lemonade. I did not lie. I even invited you to our table. If you chose not to join us, I would probably turn back to everyone at my table and say something like, “Boy, he sure is hard-hearted. It’s gonna take a move of God for him to give up that nasty old lemonade and come over here. Let’s pray for him. God, thank you that we are not like him…” But, if you did join us, we would probably welcome you by saying things like, “Praise God you finally saw how stupid you were before. Aren’t you glad you’re over here with us now and are not having to sit with all those simple-minded, bad lemonade drinking folks” (meaning his friends and relatives). Regardless of whether or not you sat and ate with us that night, I would fall asleep knowing that I did my evangelistic duty for the day.

I suppose that would be one way of doing it. Another way would be to tone down the rhetoric and use nicer words. Yet another, my personal favorite, would be to explain the situation and allow you to draw your own conclusions. Maybe something like, “You know, I really appreciate the offer and I do love lemonade, but I’m already sitting at a table over here. Have you seen what is on my table? Oh, well let me show you. We have mashed potatoes, cornbread, pot roast, fresh green beans, purple hull peas, iced tea, water and lemonade. Then for desert we also have coffee, peach cobbler and strawberry shortcake. Why don’t you come on over and check out what we have? We’d love to have you!”

In this answer, I made very clear what is at my table yet I never commented on your table. In spite of never addressing your particular brand of lemonade, you understood exactly why I was not about to leave what I have for your lemonade.

How might this look applied to the question of Muhammad’s prophethood?

What we are trying to do here is effectively communicate how all-satisfying Jesus is. While we could make doctrinal assertions regarding the nature of Jesus, I find that parabolic stories leave folks with much more to chew on after I am gone. I do not want to make a habit of posting exact responses to these questions. I feel that too often when someone gives us a prepackaged method or program, it makes it easy for us neglect contemplating the question and allowing the Spirit to guide us into other creative ways (stories, parables, one-liners, diagrams, illustrations, etc) of communicating. However, once is not necessarily a habit, so, one answer to the question of why we do not accept the prophethood of Muhammad could be:

You know that is a very good question. It actually reminds me of a story about a man who was trying to find his way to a certain village. He was having a really hard time. The land he was in was much different than the land he was from. The terrain was strange and difficult for him and he didn’t know the roads and paths. As he was walking and really grumbling about the difficulties of this particular land, a man walked up to him and greeted him. He politely returned the greeting. Then the man asked where he was going. So, he answered with the name of the village. The stranger’s eyes lit up and he said, “That is my village!”

So, the man replied, “Then you must know the path there. Can you help me?”

The stranger replied, “Oh, I know the path. Not only the path, but everything on it and around it. I would love to take you there!”

With this, he took the man’s hand and began leading him. As the two new friends walked, the one would lead the other through all of the forks in the road, through any obstacles and even warned him of holes in the road. Not only did he lead the man, but he went so far as to explain to him many unfamiliar things along the way. They had wonderful conversation and the man was learning how to get around in this new land. After a while, another man happened upon them and said to the man, “Where are you going?” He replied with the name of the village.

The new stranger then said, “Ah, I know the way to this village. Come with me and I’ll show you!”

So, the man replied, “Oh wonderful, are you from this village also?”

“No.”

“Oh, have you been there?”

“No. But I read about it in a book and really want to go there!”

“But how do you know the path?”

“Oh, the same book explains how to get there.”

Now the way I see it, the man had three options. The first would be to continue on with his new friend that was from the village. The second would be to go with the new man who had read about it in a book. And the third would be to invite the stranger to go on with him and his friend that was from the village. What would you do?

This story does several things. The first is that it begins the dialogue of why Jesus is uniquely qualified to take us to God. The second is that it demonstrates a very personal relationship (note the friendship language and the holding of hands). Third, it shows how our journey should be enjoyable… religion should not be like torture, but completely fulfilling. Finally, if the person we are visiting with has ears to hear, it also leaves the door open for us to say something like, “It seems that Muslims often ask me questions that the Generous Qur’an itself answers. For example, you asked why I do not desire to walk down the path of life with anyone other than Jesus. But the Generous Qur’an answers this when it brings to our attention that Jesus is so much more than a prophet. Even if were to take just two of his titles, the Word of God and the Messiah. Wow, Jesus is the very Word of God and His chosen Messiah. That is huge! Have you ever considered what those terms mean?”

Next time a Muslim asks you, “We believe in the prophethood of Jesus, why don’t you believe in the prophethood of Muhammad?” What will you say to move him towards understanding that Jesus, in addition to proclaiming the Straight Path, is the Straight Path?