It is no secret that communicating the gospel to a Muslim is one of the most difficult tasks, even for so-called experts. You face many roadblocks, some of them invisible, as you try to share your faith with your Muslim friend. If you cross the social barrier, you are faced with the cultural one. If you are culturally sensitive, you find yourself trapped in a vicious circle of arguments that leave you and your friend frustrated or at least uncomfortable. There does not seem to be any kind of solution for the issues that form an almost impenetrable wall between Christianity and Islam.

I am often asked, “How do we explain to a Muslim the Trinity, the sonship of Jesus of the crucifixion? How do we prove that the Bible is the authoritative word of God when Muslims claim that it has been tampered with?” My answer to these questions is simply, “Don’t!!!”

The Muslim Mindset

Although you find your Muslim friend to be brilliant in his academic field, when it comes to his religion, it is a different story. The idea of absolute truth is foreign to the Muslim mind. Religion to the Muslim is not a matter of conviction, whether intellectual or theological. On the contrary, religion consists of the set of duties and requirements of his socio-cultural-political “religious” tradition.

Generally speaking, a person is considered to be a Muslim if he is born into a Muslim family, regardless of his religiosity or level of devotion to Islam. The unquestioning acceptance of his identity is yet another roadblock in communicating the gospel to him. His perception when you address religious issues is that you are not speaking of “doctrine”, “beliefs”, “convictions”, or even faith. Rather, you are addressing the totality of who he is: his “ashira” (both nuclear and extended family) to start with, and then his social system, his culture, his political affiliation, and his whole life. Some have said Islam is a way of life. I would say it is the way of life for the Muslim, for he does not know of any other. Perhaps this is the main reason that Muslims are defensive when you talk critically about their religion.

Theology: We are accustomed to talking about religions from the point of view of theology, teachings, and religious principles. Our “statements of faith,” which are used to screen people out of churches, mission organizations, and even schools, are a clear indication of this. Often, we within the church judge each other on the basis of our doctrinal convictions or even tendencies.

When dealing with Muslims face-to-face, naturally, we imagine them to be like us, and we start our “theological” exchange. But we more often than not miss the target and end up with a lack of communication, if not miscommunication.

We must therefore understand that the Muslim is at the other end of the spectrum from the Christian when it comes to theology. Muhammad himself condemned theology and considered it the enemy of “religion” (the Muslim understanding of the term). Here is a quote from the introduction to The Glorious Quran by Pickthall:

“When they [the Jews] found that they could not make use of the newcomer [Muhammad], they opposed him and tried to bewilder him with questions from their theology, speaking to him as men who possessed superior wisdom; failing to perceive that, from a Prophet’s standpoint, theology is childish nonsense, the very opposite of religion, and its enemy; religion, for the prophet, being not a matter of conjecture and speech, but of fact [knowledge] and conduct [practice].”

Religion: Conduct, not theology, is the true religion in Islam. In other words, “religion” consists of the rituals, duties, performances, and religious practices you devote yourself to. In Islam, religion is not really the “system of beliefs…” that anthropologists usually attribute to all religions. This becomes very clear to my reader when you consider the two major divisions of the Muslim “faith”. Aren’t we always told that Islam is divided into “deen” (literally, religion) and “imaan” (literally, belief)? “Deen” refers to the five pillars of Islamic practice: pledge (verbal confession), prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage; often a sixth, holy war, is added. As we look at these pillars, we realize that they are no more than duties to be practiced outwardly (or publicly). They do not come out of a theological understanding or a statement of faith. A person who practices these things is considered a true Muslim by the members of the Muslim community. He is not questioned about his belief system, a matter left for “ulama” (scholars) to study. However, the beliefs, “imaan”, are simple enough to make it possible for all Muslims to know them, at least at face value. They include belief in God, His books (Jewish, Christian, and any other holy scriptures, plus the Qur’an), His prophets, the angels (including the jins or demons), and the last day (day of reckoning).

When we talk about beliefs, we must make the distinction between our Christian understanding of the term and the Muslim one. In Islam, belief is, on the one hand, the negation of “kufr” (denial) rather than an internal conviction; on the other, it is acknowledging certain facts about God, that Allah is one and that, that, that… It is not the belief in – which to the Christian means putting personal trust in the Lord – which the Christian faith calls for.

We must clearly understand all these facts about Muslims as well as their mindset before we can be effective in communicating the gospel to them.

What then is the bridge to the Muslim’s heart?

As a start, we must move away from futile arguments about the nature of God (the Trinity, the sonship and deity of Christ, etc.), the necessity of Christ’s atonement on the cross, and other theological issues. Instead, we need to realize what is important for the Muslim from his way of seeing things.

Most Muslims have many erroneous notions about Christians and their faith. They think that Christians do not worship (pray), fast, give, etc. While not giving the impression that Christianity emphasizes good works rather than salvation by grace, we must show the Muslim that Christian believers are “religious” people – that we pray (more than the ritual of blessing food), that we have devotions (time with God), that we fast (explaining what this means), that we tithe (and often more). In addition to all those things that seem to be parallel to the Muslim practices (5-6 pillars), we must explain our concept of “umma” (community) – the one body of Christ, the one family of God, the one heavenly nation (Internationally); that we love each other (a pure nonsexual love), that there is care, hospitality, kindness, patience, peace, joy… on and on.

Over the course of many years of working with Muslims, I have not seen many Muslims who have come to Christ because of theological conviction. Statistics show that most Muslims accept Christ because they are attracted to acts of kindness and love by Christians who take the time to live and share the Gospel with them. Many have been impressed by the fact that when we pray to God, we expect Him to answer.

Our approach should be to attract the Muslim to the beauty of our Lord and to the blessings of belonging to Him. This is the outward manifestation of God’s presence in us as the new creation in Him. Without this, we do not earn the right to be heard on theological issues. In the context of our conduct, our testimonies, and of Scripture, let us use the strongest argument we have, that God is at work in our lives.