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Greetings all:

Recently I received permission from an ex-Muslim brother who lives and works and ministers in a Muslim-majority country  to share his advice to you. The document is exactly as he wrote it with no editing. He would appreciate that if you use it, it would not be selectively cut and pasted, but used in its entirety. As you can see, he pulls no punches and is passionate to see his wider family, his countrymen and other Muslims reached without compromising the Gospel. The bonus is that our brother thinks that Reformed confessions and catechisms are valuable, as well.  Finally, it would appear that our brother's allusions to the law, friendship, and prayer dovetail into the "Go and Tell approach" based on the Heidelberg Catechism which has been posted elsewhere on this network.

Shalom.

How to Evangelize a Muslim

  • The testimony of the Gospels provides the most reliable witness to Christ. Preach the Gospel as it is! Do not soft-pedal around biblical terminology to please Muslim hearers. Be clear about what you believe and why you believe it. Know the Scriptures well, and know the confessions and what exactly you believe (catechisms). The more you know about your faith, the easier it is to talk with Muslims.
  • There is no gospel in Islam. The Qur'an clearly contradicts the essence of biblical Christianity and rejects the triune nature of God, disfigures the biblical doctrines of the person of Christ and denies justification through faith on account of the work of Christ on the cross. While claiming to be the perpetual religion of nature and history, following in the footsteps of Christianity, it attempts to justify its claims by asserting that the Word of God, revealed in the New and Old Testament, is corrupted. Our apologetic discussion with Muslims should be to defend the Scriptures and prove that the Scriptures aren’t corrupt as Muslims claim. Our goal is to open up their minds a bit so that they can start reading the Gospels for an eyewitness or a companion of an eyewitness to the real Jesus.
  • Always ask them the classic evangelistic questions. ‘What about your salvation?’ ‘Can you be certain of this?’ ‘If you were to die, can you be certain you'd enter heaven at some point?’ Their response is always, "No, I couldn't be certain, nor do I care.”
  • Most western missionaries are result oriented; instead you should be concerned about preaching the Gospel correctly (as it is). The essence of Muslim evangelism is accurate communication about sin and grace: simply and clearly. Talk about the law and the gospel, not about infralapsarianism and divine simplicity! Don’t compare the Bible with the Quran. That comes later!
  • Always remember that you are talking to Muslims. Avoid the use of Christian jargon. Speak about real sin, real guilt, real shed blood! Do not be ashamed to use Jesus’ direct and indirect titles clearly such as ‘Son of God’ ‘Lamb of God’ ‘New Adam’ ‘I AM - YAHWEH’ ‘Savior’ ‘Almighty God’.
  • Use tact and be charitable! Don't talk about reprobation with a Muslim or a new convert who has just lost an unbelieving family member. Be kind and courteous! Many Muslims act and speak out of ignorance, not malice.
  • Be sensitive to their past - if they've had a bad experience with Christians, missionaries or churches, struggled with a particular sin etc., be understanding and compassionate! Muslims hate self-righteousness, and rightly so! Do not soft-pedal the law and the guilt of sin, but make sure they understand that you are a justified sinner, not a self-righteous "know it all" who is here to correct them!
  • Muslims will ask you many questions about your faith. Don’t feel like you have to answer all of their questions in one day. However, make sure they hear your answers to one or two questions clearly. Stick with the subject - don't get sidetracked. When the conversation wanders, pull it back to center stage - the law and the gospel.
  • Muslims will ask you to comment on their faith. Don’t go there; they will not benefit from your criticism (or feigned approval) of other religions. Your job isn’t to debunk Islam but to give a clear witness to the truth of the Gospel. Instead of letting them drag you into the topic, turn the tables and ask them questions. Let them articulate their own understandings of the religious themes you are discussing; let what you communicate be the plain truth of Christian doctrines without enumerating how Islam is wrong.
  • The message of the Gospel offends Muslims. It is okay! Don’t worry! God will take care of the hearer. It is His message. Muslims will not convert to Christ if they are not offended by the message of the Gospel. Offend them by being very clear about the teachings of Christ!
  • Do not use any ‘Muslim friendly’ bible translations. ‘Muslims friendly’ bible translations are very deceptive! They are not true to the original Scriptures. Muslims see it as a form of deception by missionaries!
  • Muslim evangelism is not about winning an argument, but leading Muslims to Christ with the Gospel. Discussions may get heated and intense at times - that's okay. But the purpose of Muslim evangelism is not to show why you are right and Islam is wrong. It is to communicate the truth of the gospel! The message is to be the offence! Not you!
  • When Muslims are apathetic about sin - use the law. When Muslims have doubts or are skeptical - use basic apologetic arguments. When Muslims express guilt for sin - present the Gospel.
  • Evangelism is about leading Muslims to Christ. Convincing non-Christians or Evangelicals that Reformed theology is true, falls under the heading of polemics. Don't confuse the two.
  • When talking to Muslims stick with what all Christians hold in common wherever possible. Leave the internecine fighting among Christians aside when talking to Muslims. A Muslim will not care so much about differences between the Catholics and the Protestants or Lutherans and Baptists. Issues such as the exact meaning of the Lord’s Supper or methods of baptism should be addressed later, during discipleship!
  • Wherever possible, when talking to Muslims speak about Christianity as factually true - "Jesus did this," "Jesus said this," "people heard and saw him," etc. Keep away from the subjective line of approach-- "it works for me," "this is how I feel about it," this is my testimony."
  • Before meeting with your Muslim friends pray for wisdom.
  • Muslims will respect the text you quote, but not your personal opinion. Trust in the power of God the Holy Spirit working through the word! Cite texts directly from the Scriptures with attribution. Jesus says, Paul says.... It will not help Muslims to hear your personal opinion on biblical issues. So, don’t say "I think," or "it seems to me" or "I feel like…" Muslims interpret your thoughts, your take on things or your feelings as part of the corruption of the Bible.
  • Don't rush things with Muslims. Just because a Muslim is not ready to trust in Christ after one encounter does not mean that effective evangelism has not taken place. Pre-evangelism is equally vital. You may plant, but someone else may have to water! Always remember that it is not us who convert the Muslims to Christ but God Himself (in His time)!
  • Remember that evangelism isn’t complete after you first present the Gospel message to a Muslim. Evangelism has to continue even after they repent and give their lives to Christ. They have to sit under the ministry of the Word. Evangelism of a Muslim is complete only after they are baptized, brought to the Lord’s Supper and sat under the preaching of the Word at church. In other words, evangelism never ends. Discipleship is evangelism.
  • Treat Muslims as objects of concern, not notches in your belt! Establish relationships and friendships with Muslims whenever and wherever possible.
  • Don't forget that a prophet is without honor in his own home. The chances of Muslim converts leading their own unbelieving family members (or someone close to them) to Christ by themselves is remote. Encourage them as they give witness to what they have learned, but also pray for God to bring other people into the picture to help evangelize their families.
  • Don't force things. If your Muslim friends balk, ridicule and otherwise are not interested, back off. Find another time and place. If after repeated attempts to communicate the gospel, and someone still shows an unwillingness to hear what you have to say, "shake the dust off your feet and move on to a new town!"
  • Be willing to get your Muslim friends the resources they need: be willing to provide them with a Bible (not just a New Testament), the right book to read, and certainly an invitation to your home and later an invitation to attend your church or to a Bible study, etc. Never ever use a Muslim friendly bible translation. These translations are a product of some western mission agencies without any support from the national churches who know their context best.
  • Pray for opportunities to evangelize Muslims. Make sure to let your Muslim friends know that you regularly attend a church. Do not disconnect your evangelism effort from the church. Pray for your church - that God would bless the preaching of his word, that he would bring Muslims into our midst, and that he would bless the church with growth.
  • You don't have to become a practical Arminian to be a faithful evangelist! A Christian approach to Muslim evangelism simply means telling Muslims the truth in love without changing it. Trust that God the Holy Spirit will penetrate hearts and minds of Muslims with “the Gospel”
  • Muslims love to sing Islamic hymns that tell the stories of the Quran. Islamic hymn singing is singing the words of the Quran. Show your Muslim friends some samples of Christian biblical songs with verses directly taken from Scriptures. In other words, sing the Bible to them! The role of music in human culture is to join people together. Biblically we are commanded to sing the praises of Christ. There are 694 references to singing or music making in Holy Scriptures. Participatory singing is a very significant matter biblically. There will be no singing in Hell, but the saints in Heaven will sing everlastingly. That is really amazing and remarkable! Let us show Muslims what we will be doing in Heaven.
  • “Fear God and give Him Glory, because the hour of His judgment has come, and Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Rev. 14:7)

With thanks to our brother "F.B." living in__________.

Comments

Hi, 

I am a high school student and have been feeling convicted, as of late, to be more straightforward with my Muslim friend about my faith. I have touched on the subject before with her (mostly in academic situations) and nothing has come of it. I know that, in part, it is because of my lack of boldness, but I am afraid that I will not be able to answer all of her questions. She is extremely intelligent and approaches everything logically and rationally. In addition to this, she has very firm beliefs and a thorough knowledge of Islam. How should I approach this? Is it better for me to read up on apologetics and such first before I attempt to talk to her? Thank you so much! 

Hello Sophia! My name is Jeremiah from North Carolina. I am so interested in your comment, but also encouraged that the Spirit is working in your life! If you understand the gospel, share it! God does not call the prepared or wise, but prepares and makes wise those who He calls! Do not be afraid to share your faith! Be bold in the gospel! Dive daily into the word and find Gods truths hidden in the Bible! 11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Luke 12:11-12

Be loving, show Christ' love, show compassion and mercy. Just like it said in the article, preach the gospel and let the Lord work! 

It is also okay to not know every answer! If you do not know the answer, just tell them you will get back to it with them. And also say, look I do not know the answer to that, but I do know exactly what Christ did for me on the cross. He bore my sins, took the wrath deserved for me, and I am still a sinner, but no longer do I need to walk in my own strength because Christ has made me new. 2 Corinthians 5

I pray this helps and you are bold in sharing your faith!

If you need prayer request support or have anymore questions email me at [email protected]

I know this is a bit late, but for anyone else maybe looking for resources, this LivingWaters YouTube video is a pretty good resource for witnessing to Muslims: https://youtu.be/bRwbcxNOuFU. Their channel has many videos on witnessing. God bless!

 

Ravi Zacharias and Nabeel Qureshi may also have good resources on YouTube, although I haven't really looked into them much at all (I've watched a few videos of Ravi Zacharias that didn't really have to do with Islam and I just found Nabeel while looking around for anything Ravi had about Islam while writing this comment).  

These are the prayers to hang unto before meeting that friend again;

1.) 2Cor.4.3 - But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

2Cor.4.4 - In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

 

Ask the Lord to break the hand of Satan over her and remove the covering cast over her heart

 

2.) Phil.3.10 - That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

 

Ask Jesus to reveal himself to her.

 

3.) Acts.4.29 - And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Acts.4.30 - By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

 

Ask the Lord for Boldness and wisdom.

 

Approach that your friend, speak to her and let the Holy Spirit convert her.

 

God bless you

 

 

 

link broke [http://network.crcna.org/evangelism/go-and-tell-webinar]

Go and Tell approach" based on the Heidelberg Catechism which has been posted elsewhere on this network. [http://network.crcna.org/evangelism/go-and-tell-webinar]

Shalom.

Hi, I'm a high school student and my older my friend who lives in our house is like a brother, he is a Muslim and he luke warm about his knowledge in Islam, so I do my best to reach out to him daily, but because he is Luke warm about it he answers all my questions with "I'm. It sure because I haven't really studied it". Which makes it impossible to really make a connection, now we do have long conversations about the differences between Christianity and Islam but I feel like I haven't made any progress res. IIt breaks my heart because you would've never thought that he was Muslim unless you did something against his religion. I really need help, I'm not sure what I can do to make progress and truly reach him. Please help. Thank you  

Hi Sarah,

What a wonderful opportunity you have, but even more so, may God bless you and encourage you because of your soft, compassionate heart and desire to share the joy of your salvation.

I'm no expert in witnessing to Muslims, but I would suggest the following first: pray without ceasing.  Pray for your friend's conversion.  Pray for the words to say.  Pray for the Spirit to be active.  Pray for the impossible.  Pray for continued courage and strength.  Pray for peace of mind in knowing that it is not your responsibility to convert your friend. 

It's not so much that there is more that you can do, but what the Spirit wills to do.  Beginning with this recognition will help to remove anxiety and urgency in your efforts to witness effectively. 

Of course, there are still better and worse ways for you to witness, and you also do well to attempt to be as effective as you can.  I would suggest that a focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ will be most effective in continuing to draw a contrast with Islam and in inviting your friend to know and believe in Jesus as Savior.  Also, stressing the peace, contentment, and assurance that is yours in Christ will go a long way toward contrasting with the endless striving and lack of assurance that is endemic in Islam. 

May God bless, encourage you, strengthen you, and equip you for the task that he has called you to.  And may God use your efforts for his glory and to accomplish the ends that he has ordained. 

Friend, I am wondering about this. In my ministry, I instruct non-Christians to pray to Jesus Christ, seek in his name, to find the Truth in what I am saying. I have been searching information on the Muslim religion and I want to know if this is offensive to Muslims. Would asking a Muslim to pray in Jesus's name that you are seeking the truth in this matter, be offensive? I know that we can seek, ask and knock before we become Christians.

To reach a Muslim. First study all you can about Islam. Know your Muslim friend very well. Is he/she From a Sunni or shi background or something else. Let them talk a lot and be sure to answer their questions.

Secondly learn a lot about what is in the Qur'an, especially where it does not contradict the Bible. It agrees there is just one God. Yes, you say"and in Isaiah 46:9,10- God says He is the Only god and that He alone knows the end from the beginning..." The Muslim agrees, God alone tells the future through His prophets. Now you work together to show how this is true: Passover...check!  Virgin will give birth... check! In Bethlehem....check! and more still. We do not jump into Isaiah 53 ... not yet! But we establish common ground.

Thirdly. God is the greatest (Allahou akbar) The Qur'an says He bends over His word to guarantee that no man can change it. Ten times the Qur'an repeats that nobody can change His word. It even says that the Qur'an was given to CONFIRM the previous scriptures. (musaddiqan - confirm) this confirmation is repeated 8 times. So maybe your Muslim friend will agree to read the Bible ... Here's hoping, but you will have to work on this one.

Good Luck and God bless!

 

First you get them to read the bible. You show them the 5 suras where it says the Qur'an was given to confirm (musaddiqan) the previous scriptures- in the 7th century. Also point out that it is repeated again and again that no body can change the words of God as He watches over them.  The Qur'an even confirms the virgin birth... "We breathed into her (Miriam) of our Spirit.

So the teaching in Islam that the words of god have been changed contradicts the Qur'an.

If a Muslim will read Isaiah 7, 9 and 53 he will be impressed. It is in the Hebrew scripture. The child born of the virgin, ibn Miriam, will be called Emmanuel... just like in Arabic ... the with us God... Isaiah 7:12

 

Hi, could you(or anyone reading this) give examples of Christian songs whose lyrics are derived from Bible passages.

 

Thank you.

Hello Veni,

There are many hymns within the church that are derived from scripture, either loosely or strictly, but perhaps the most straightforward versification of the Bible is found in the Psalter.  The Psalms were originally sung in ancient times by God's people and are still wonderful ways to worship.  You can find versification of the Psalms in an of a number of Psalter hymnals, including ones used historically within the CRC (including the blue Psalter Hymnal, grey Psalter Hymnal, and Lift Up Your Hearts) and within other denominations (such as the Trinity Psalter Hymnal).  You can find versions of Psalter songs on a number of online sources, such as https://gracemusic.us/psalter/.  

I AM - YAHWEH. Jesus never used this title and neither does the bible.

Jesus said, "I and the father are one". That does not mean he is Yahweh. The father is separate from the son is separate from the Spirit.

That is why different words and title are used for all three, and we say they are three in one.

Jesus said that he is submissive to his father and does what is pleasing to him.

How do I answer a muslim when he gave an example of " on the day of judgement as muslim he can stand infront of god and says please forgive I have listened to your commandments and stayed away from sin and worshiped you alone in purity adopted modesty and believed all your message's. 
 

but as Christian all you can say is god forgive me even tho we were disobedient towards your 10 commandments. Had sex before marriage drank alcohol delt with interest didn't adopt modesty and killed your only son for our sins" how do I logically explain it to him.

Regarding this, Jesus said:

Matthew 7:21-23: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Also,

Revelation 22:13-15: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."

Suppose your father buys you a plane ticket, and sends it to you for free.

You still have to get yourself to the airport.

Now, if you break the rules of the road on the way, you will lose your driving rights.

However, if you show up and say that you earned yourself a seat because you got there while keeping all the rules, you will not be flying anywhere. Only showing the ticket that your father paid for will get you onboard.

(God paid the price for our redemption, but we are the ones who have to repent and strive for holiness. He will not repent in our place. However, we do not earn our salvation by this.)

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