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Proselytising in Iraq and Afghanistan is a bad idea

DR. FAKHRUDDIN AHMED writes from Princeton
***One hopes that the benign Christian missionary has not been transformed into the Islam-bashing activist missionary represented by the "mysterious preacher from Beirut" in The New York Times article, for in that case Christian missionaries will not be welcome in Islamic countries any more. And it will be catastrophic for the US if it were found to be true that one of the hidden aims of the conquests of Afghanistan and Iraq was to facilitate the conversion of Muslims into Christianity.***
WHILE the overwhelming majority of Americans view the US conquest and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan in secular terms, such as, providing an opportunity to root out terrorism and establish democracy in those two countries, for America's Evangelical Christians the conquests are a God-given opportunity to sow the seeds of Christianity in fertile Muslim lands, "a virtual mission field." On May 27, The New York Times ran a front-page article entitled, "Seeing Islam as 'Evil' Faith, Evangelicals Seek Converts." In its May 5 issue, NEWSWEEK magazine reported that the White House had told the Christian preachers that it had no objection to Christians proselytising (converting Muslims into Christians) in Iraq. Indeed, Reverend Franklin Graham, who had delivered the invocation at President George W. Bush's Presidential inauguration in January 2001, actually said after the US victory in the war against Iraq that since Islam had "failed" in Iraq, the Iraqis should embrace Christianity!
According to the Times, evangelical Christians are holding workshops all over America on "how to woo Muslims away from Islam." Specific tactics are taught in these workshops: "Always show Muslims love, charity and hospitality, and carry copies of the New Testament as gifts. Don't approach them in groups. Don't bring them to your church, because they will misunderstand the signing and clapping as a party. Do invite them home for a
meal. Do bring them chocolate chip cookies. Do talk about how, in order to get saved, they must accept Jesus. Our job is to show them the love of Christ." Participants, including college students "said they hoped to convert Muslims in the United States or on mission trips abroad."
The Times continued: "At the grass roots of evangelical Christianity, many are now absorbing the antipathy for Islam that emerged last year with the incendiary com-
ments of ministers. The sharp language from religious leaders like Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Jerry Vines, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has drawn rebukes from Muslims and Christian groups alike. Mr. Graham called Islam "a very evil and wicked religion, and Mr. Vines called (Prophet) Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islam's founder and prophet, a "demon-possessed pedophile." In evangelical churches and seminaries across the country, lectures and books criticising Islam and promoting strategies for Muslim conversions are gaining currency. More
than a dozen recently published ।
critiques of Islam are now available ।
in Christian bookstores." Mostly i
since September 11, 4500 Ameri- ।
can Christians have been trained to proselytise Muslims, according to the Times. t
The evangelicals believe that the t
world's two largest religions are ।
headed for a confrontation, "with Christianity representing what is ।
good, true and peaceful, and Islam what is evil, false and violent." ।
Several reasons are cited for the Jt
evangelical Christian offensive against Islam: "Evangelical scholars and leaders cite several reasons for their quickening interest in Islam: the American defeat of a major Muslim nation, Iraq, which may open it to Christian missionaries; the 2001 terrorist attacks, which led many Americans to see Islam as a global threat; the greater numbers and visibility of Muslims in the United States, and the demise of communism, once public enemy No. 1 for many evangelical organisations. Evangelicals have substituted Islam for the Soviet Union. The Muslims have become the modern day equivalent of the Evil
Empire." According to Ergun M. Caner, raised a Muslim by his Turkish parents, who converted to Christianity and is now a professor of theology and church history at The Criswell College: "A Muslim has the right to worship Allah, and I have the right to stand in front of that mosque and tell them that Jesus saves. That's the hope for Iraq, the hope for Afghanistan."
The articles noted that the enmity between the Muslims and the Christians date back to the Crusades, the
fall of the Byzantium and the reconquest of Spain. Professor Charles Kimball, the chair of the Religion Department at Wake Forest University explains: "Keep in mind that Islam is the only religious tradition that has ever threatened the existence of Christianity. That's deeply woven into our subconscious, into Western literature and culture, and so this image of an Islamic threat taps into a notion that's already there." A "mysterious Christian missionary from Beirut" who was instructing one of the howto- proselytise-Muslims classes, added fuel to the fire: " The pilgrimage to Mecca is a dangerous event
in which people are killed every year. Communal prayers each Friday are a day of rage. Muslims pray to get points, not to communicate with God. Group prayer on Friday is for extra credit."
By using vituperative language, unbecoming of real men of God, to castigate Islam and its Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jerry Vines and the "mysterious missionary from Beirut"
does a disservice to the good name of Christianity. Since Islam teaches Muslims to revere all the prophets, from Adam to Muhammad, including Moses and Jesus, (peace be upon all of them) equally, Muslims are unable to answer back such Christian hatred of Muslims in kind. Since 9/11, many detractors of Islam have continued to quote the holy Qur'an wildly out of context, derive the maximum propaganda mileage out of erroneous theological interpretations of the holy Qur'an, and stubbornly refuse to be corrected. Muslims do not want to be "saved" by Evangelical Christians, thank you, and would like to
be spared their hypocritical "love." And nobody needs to tell the Muslims to love Jesus (Prophet Issa, peace be upon him). Muslims love Jesus (pbuh), the son of Mary very much, because he is one of God's beloved prophets.
Although the concept of sending organised missionaries abroad for proselytising is absent in Islam (as it is in all other major religions except Christianity), for centuries Muslim nations have allowed Christian missionaries to proselytise in their nations. Since the missionaries did some noble deeds, such as establish schools, colleges and hospitals, the locals welcomed them and tolerated their proselytising. One hopes that the benign Christian missionary has not been transformed into the Islam-bashing activist missionary represented by the "mysterious preacher from Beirut" in The New York Times article, for in that case Christian missionaries will not be welcome in Islamic countries any more. And it will be catastrophic for the US if it were found to be true that one of the hidden aims of the conquests of Afghanistan and Iraq was to facilitate the conversion of Muslims into Christianity.