Three types of Muslims

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to go work with missionaries in the Middle East. Before I arrived I spent ten days sharing  the Gospel in London, England. During my time there I encountered many Muslims. I witness to Muslims as the Lord see fit to give a conversation. Yet, this is the first time immersion took place in a culture that was ready to converse. This article is my findings during my time in London and the Middle East. I encountered three types of Muslims. How we minister to them is different in some respects, but yet the truth we give is the same.

For any Muslim reading this article I do not attend to be flippant with your belief. But, because of the length of my article I am going to try to be as concise. Exposer to the basic beliefs of Islam is important, please read https://gospelgm.wpengine.com/islam/. There were three types of Muslims I ran into during my time abroad.

1. The Traditional Muslim

This is the Muslim that grew up in a Muslim family, but both parents- most of the time- are not followers of Islam. Most of these people are not devout. They don’t know when Mohammed was born and most are not reading the Qu’ran daily, if at all.

There is confusion in their lives and some don’t know what to believe. They are willing to have a Gospel conversation. Most have never heard the Gospel so they listen. Even so, they still have a deep- seated loyalty to Islam but they are the most open out of the three groups. They make up the vast majority the Muslims that were willing to talk to me.

1. The Devout Muslim

This group memorizes the Qu’ran. They pray daily when the call the prayer starts. Islam is their way of life. It is not something they just believe it effects everything about them. They are willing to talk, but are quick to point out how the Bible’s corruption makes it untrustworthy. When challenged here I ask them when it was corrupted. I follow up with where in the text did the corruption take place? Most don’t have an answer.

I do take them to Surah 6:114-115. These two verses say that God’s word is not changed. If the Torah and Injeel is God’s word it means that they are unchangeable. We don’t need the Qu’ran to tell us that the Bible testifies to that. 2 Tim 3: 16 explains what Gods word does. If the Bible is God’s word than any other book that contradicts the God of the Bible is false. (Ps 96:5)

1. The Apologist

These Muslims like to hang out in groups of three to four. They attack anything that comes against Islam. They like to talk in Arabic. When anyone challenges them to go back the original Qur’anic writings they speak Arabic. I want them to be honest with the discrepancies in the original documents. They claim the Qu’ran is complete, sent from God, eternal, and unchanged.

No one can prove it descended from God and no one can prove it is eternal. They should be able to prove that it is complete and unchanged. Yet, their own scholars have a differing opinions. There are nine original Qur’anic documents. They are located in Basra, Baghdad, Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo, Alexandria, Aden, Herat, and Nishapur. In the Qur’an, (Sahi al Bukhari 6:510) it says to gather all the fragments and burn them. These nine Qu’ranic text should be complete and unchanged.  Yet, Muslim scholars are finding the opposite. Some of the nine are fragments and some even have discrepancies within the text.

Being kind enough to show them this is the most loving thing we can do. Show the discrepancies, listen intently, and share the Gospel and move on. You can spend a lot of time with these men and not get anywhere. They do love to talk- especially in Arabic.

In close, the most productive conversations to have are with the Traditionalist. Some of them are really close to the kingdom. However, it does not matter which group you share with as long as you share truth. It is the truth that is going to set them free. John 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.