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Making decisions about which books to recommend is a challenge. There are a
lot of books being published. Some are a waste of time, others mediocre, while
others are quite worthwhile. Then there are those that I would put at the top of
the list of must read books. Why? Because I believe we need to know what the
book contains and the author’s message.
When this book came across my desk, I picked it up to browse through and
found it impossible to put down. As I read the book, having studied and read
many others on the topic of Islam, I experienced a multitude of emotions—fright,
fear, some panic, challenge to get the word out, and frustration about how best
to educate Christians about Islam in our own country as well as around the
world. The Secrets of the Koran should be of general, urgent concern for every
Christian leader. Why? Because we should have known it before and addressed it
more intentionally. It took September 11, 2001 to alert us to the fact that a
sleeping giant had awakened.
Prior to that infamous and momentous day, we may have heard that Islam is the
world’s fastest growing religion, globally and within America. But hearing it
didn’t really get our attention until highjackings and disastrously evil acts
killed thousands of people.
If there is one thing we need to understand in order then to ask, God what
would you have me to do, it is Islam. Is Islam a religion of peace or a religion
of war and violence? Some would have you believe the former and others, the
latter. Even our leaders are not that certain just what Islam is, or if they
are, they do no communicate clearly to the people.
I have spoken on the topic ‘Islam in America’ on several occasions and have
attempted to keep up related events. I feel this topic is crucial because many
converts to the Muslim religion in America claim to have had some relation to
the Christian church prior to their conversion. While Islam is a false religion
worshipping another God than Elohim the Triune God of the Christian faith, many
of its followers are people who need to know Jesus Christ and the Gospel. They
need to understand not only that Jesus is the Son of God, the only Savior of
sinners, but also everything implied by that belief.
Don Richards, known for his famous missionary story (Peace Child), has lived
among Muslims for thirty years in Indonesia. He has studied Islam, its people,
and its “sacred” book, the Koran. Can Christians opt to leave Muslims alone or
must there be some kind of engagement with them? Do you know what is uniquely
different about the Koran? Do you know what it teaches regarding violence,
warfare, and world dominance?
Here’s what the book brought to mind. There are those who take the Koran,
including their Shari and Hadith, literally, though the average Muslim has
probably not read either of them. From that perspective, Islam is not a religion
of peace but of war. They are the radical supremacists such as the nineteen
highjackers and their entire network of people such as Osama bin Laden. They are
dangerous because they believe they are responsible to kill the infidels.
Then there are those who claim to be Muslims who do not necessarily agree
with the radicals and their literalizing terror, evil, and war. Without
attempting to evaluate the difference in this review, you need to read this
book. One of the rebuttals often offered by Muslims when the Koran’s teaching is
challenged is that you cannot really translate it from the original Arabic.
Richardson has researched eight different translations of the Koran to prepare
this book. Richardson has taken what he believes are the best translations and
worked from them.
With more that 1.3 billion Muslims in the world and well over six million in
America, we must become knowledgeable about that religion and how it differs
from Christianity. God has not told us to withdraw from the Muslims in our
culture but rather to reach out and dialogue with them in hopes of winning some
to Christ. To do that, we must know how to talk from a knowledgeable base, as
well as from a relational base.
I think every Equip for Ministry reader should be acquainted with Don
Richardson’s book in order to seek to reach Muslims with the Gospel. If the idea
of Allah, the god of Islam, is an antithesis to Christian theism, then we must
know something about that religion. To say that the West, and specifically
Christianity, is on a collision course with Islam is no mere cliché. Richardson
lays out the objectives of Islam globally and we Christians living in America
need to wake up to Islam’s global objective.
In witnessing to the Muslims we need to know how to challenge the system of
Islam while seeking not to alienate the individuals; after all, we are to love
them for the sake of Christ. Dialogue and meetings for better understanding
between Christians and Muslims are an urgent need. Perhaps many think, “Well, I
do not know any Muslims.” They are in the cities and neighborhoods, in the
institutions and shops of our country. God has brought them to us in order to
witness, hear and see the Gospel.
Read this book carefully, prayerfully and realize that God’s objective is
different from that mapped out in the Koran.
- Charles Dunahoo, CEP Coordinator
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