II.
 Christian misunderstandings about Islam

These are things those of us who are Christians need to take to heart. 

A.    Many Christians wrongly see all Muslims as potential extremists, terrorists, or at least as intolerant.  There is a tendency to fear all Muslims are religious fanatics instead of regarding them as normal, religious people.  I think there are at least two main reasons for this.

  1. Many Christians are influenced by media coverage which often emphasizes violent fundamentalism. They don't realize that they are being given an incomplete picture. There is a variety within Islam in that there are peaceful groups as well as violent ones, spiritually motivated groups as well as politically motivated ones. And all of these groups look to the Qur’an and the example of Muhammad for their guidance and justification.

  2. Also, many Christians don’t understand the degree of conviction that Muslims have about their faith. Muslims are taught that they have received the final religion that supersedes all others and corrects all others where they may have gone astray. With this they believe that Muhammad is the final and most authoritative prophet sent to mankind. The Qur’an says in Surah 61:9, As-Saff, or “The Ranks”, “He it is Who has sent His messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it victorious over all religions, even though the idolaters hate it.” (Hilali & Khan, p. 1101). From this basis, many Muslims believe they have received a divine mandate to spread their religion to the entire world and invite others to join it. Though at times this may seem intolerant, I have found it is often an expression of conviction combined with a compassionate desire so that others can know what Muslims believe is the truth. It is the same kind of conviction that we as Christians feel because of Jesus’ absolute statements, like in John 14:6, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through Me.’”  The concern of Muslims for our eternal destiny is the same kind of concern that we Christians have toward non-Christians, that they might find what we regard as the truth found in Christ and that they may be saved from their sins.

Though Christians and Muslims disagree about who has brought absolute truth, we can understand and sympathize with the conviction and compassion that motivates our beliefs. Understanding the variety in Islam and the strength of the convictions of Muslims can help us overcome unfair generalizations like regarding all Muslims as being potential extremists.

B.    Many Christians don't understand Muhammad's place in Islam, and it leads them to two kinds of misconception concerning Muhammad.

  1. Often Christians can think that Muhammad holds the same general place in Islam that Jesus holds in Christianity.  They don't realize that Muslims don't see Islam as "Mohammed's" religion, that is, a religion that Muhammad began.  Muslims believe Islam is the basic religion that all prophets proclaimed, Muhammad happening to be the last prophet.  For us, the misconception is over-estimating the importance of Muhammad to Muslims in the religion of Islam, almost believing that Muslims worship him.

  2. Christians can also underestimate what Muhammad means to Muslims.  This is seen in that many don't understand the attitude toward Muhammad that was expressed in the Danish cartoons affair.  While Muslims don't worship Muhammad, Christians often don't understand the place of affection and devotion he does have so that they understand the hurt defaming remarks cause.  Muslims see Muhammad as the last and greatest of the prophets and so accord him the greatest amount of respect that they give to any man.  Many Muslims also think that Muhammad will intercede for them on the Day of Judgment so they want to publicly express their loyalty to him. It is also against Islamic law to criticize Muhammad, so Muslims have a difficult time when others do it. The hurt Muslims feel when Muhammad is criticized is like the hurt Christians feel when they hear Jesus insulted or given less than what they believe is his proper honor.  To Christians, to insult Jesus or to call him something less than the deity He claims for Himself in the Bible is blasphemy, and we feel tremendous hurt and offense at such things.

Christians need to understand the emotions involved in others' beliefs and be sensitive to how Muslims view Muhammad.

C.     Many Christians have at least three misconceptions about the roles of politics and religion in Islam.

  1. Christians can tend to believe that Islam was exclusively spread by the sword.  They are often ignorant of world history that shows that some of Islam's spread was the result of traders and Muslim Sufi missionaries.  This was especially true for some of Islam's spread in parts of Africa and South-east Asia. It is also true of some of Islam’s spread in the West today. Western Christians tend to know more about the wars with Islam in the Middle East, Central Asia, around the Mediterranean and in Europe.
  1. Also, many Christians are ignorant of the political nature of Islam so they don’t expect it to be involved in politics today. Throughout history Islam has never hesitated to use political means to help spread and enforce Islam since Muslims believe the religion of Islam is meant to embrace the whole of life.  Christians often don't realize that the Qur'an and Islamic law embrace not only personal religion but family law, civil law, criminal law, international relations, and warfare.  In Christian terms, it does look to set up a sort of “God’s Kingdom” in this world as well as being concerned with the next.
  1. Christians also forget that for much of the history of Christianity, the view was held that the Church was to be intimately involved in politics.  For many centuries the Church regarded the sword of political authority as a necessary and proper support for its position. Only in recent centuries has this expectation been rightly overturned and modified.

Overall, Christians need to realize that Muslims do not regard the formal separation of religion and state as proper.

These are just some of many areas where Christians need to become better informed concerning Islam.