By Monthir Abdullatif--Missionary to the Muslims in the U.S.A.

 

 

*          The Islam religion is having a great revival today.

*          Saudi Arabia gave $50 million to promote Islam in the U.S.A.

*          One billion Muslims are scattered around the world. Eight million Muslims live in America.

*          New Testament churches need to wake up and give high consideration to the work among the Muslims.

*          There is a great need to have a ministry among the Muslims.

 

Four thousand years ago, Abraham cried out to God: “0 that Ishmael might live before thee!” This heart­rending plea of a father for his son touched God’s heart, and He replied, “...and as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly.. .and I will make him a great nation...But my covenant will I establish with Isaac.” (Genesis 17:18, 20, and 21).

 

Today, the spiritual sons of Ishmael are called Muslims--the people of Islam. Nearly one billion Muslims are scattered around the world, and they are still outside the covenant. One out of five people on the earth is a Muslim. They have been blessed in a material sense, but they have not been saved. They submitted to God, but not to His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Twenty years ago in Iraq, the Lord transformed me from the darkness of Islam to the Light of Christianity. I was a very faithful Muslim, but I could not find any solution to the problem of sin in my life. After I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior, His precious blood cleansed me and made me a new creation. I faced very hard persecution in my country because of my beliefs. I lost my job and was arrested by the government of Iraq. After I arrived in the United States as a refugee, the Lord put a great burden on my heart to reach the Muslims in this country.

 

My heart has become increasingly burdened not only by the enormous spiritual need of the one billion Muslims, but also by the apathy of the missionary movement toward them. Little more than one percent of the missionary task force is endeavoring to reach this vast multitude who comprises 25 percent of all unevangelized peoples of the world.

 

Instead of being evangelized, Muslims are evangelizing. They are sending out thousands of missionaries to preach the message of their prophet, Mohammad. Islam has now reached a total of 1.1 to 1.2 billion adherents, and this number will double in 27 years. The world population doubles every 40 years; but without Muslims, it would double every 45 to 50 years, nearly twice as fast as other religious communities and peoples of the earth. Every year, 30 million Muslims are added! This means 82,000 Muslims are being added daily. The Islam religion, which is the number one religion of the Arab world, is now a revival; and the Arabs, because of the turmoil in the Middle East, are moving west to western Europe and the United States. According to many reports, Europe now has more than 10 million Muslims. In America, there are over 8 million Muslims and 3,000 mosques.

 

The balance of power in the world today is obviously shifting from the western nations to the Ivliddle East where oil money is abundant. The Muslims of the Middle East are just as eager and zealous to spread their Islamic faith as Christians are to spread Christianity. The West, especially Great Britain and the United

 

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States, has always taken Christianity to other nations as they took technology and financial aid. The Middle Eastern groups are most assuredly doing the very same thing with Islam as they invest their petrol dollars in many nations. Thirty-seven Muslim countries have recently resolved to expel Christian missions from their lands and encourage the flow of Muslim missionaries to the west.

 

Libya has levied a four percent tax which is used to promote Islam, especially on the North American content. Furthermore, Islam is growing in Great Britain at a rate of 10.8 percent per year. Also, in Great Britain, more than 300 closed churches have been converted into mosques. The Islam religion has become the second largest religious group in France. Islam is advancing in Italy where King Faisal of Saudi Arabia recently gave seven million dollars for a mosque to be built in Rome. Furthermore, the parliaments of both Belgium and Austria have accepted Islam as an official religion to be taught in the schools.

 

Europe now has more than ten millions Muslims. The soaring growth rate of Islam was recently highlighted by Al-Islam, the “Magazine of Muslims in West Germany.” It reported that Muslims are counting on Europe. The birthplace of the reformation and the modern missionary movement will become completely Islamic within the next few years. Two million Muslims presently reside in Germany.

 

How then are the Muslims progressing in their attempts to promote Islam in the United States? In 1975, the older black Muslim group, which had erected temples of Islam in 70 cities, came under the leadership and control of Wallace Mohammed who had studied in Cairo, Egypt. He advocated that Islam is not racial and changed the name of the United States group to the Bilalians in honor of Bilal, the first black convert to Islam. Soon after he had renamed the group, Wallace Mohammed received $26 million from various oil-rich nations to build a spectacular mosque in Chicago, Illinois. In 1977, 1,300 American Muslims made the sacred hadj (holy pilgrimage) to Mecca. Obviously, Muslims are becoming more and more successful with conversions, even in “Christian” America.

 

The United States has only recently begun to realize the religious impact of the Middle Eastern oil money. Saudi Arabia gives $50 million every year to promote Islam in America. New Mexico will be the site of America’s first all-Muslim community, called Dar Al-Islam, centered on 1,290 acres purchased by the Orthodox Sunni Muslims. They intend to evangelize America from this center through television and radio. Also, 600 acres have been purchased near Indianapolis for an Islamic center. In June 1988, a large parcel of valuable property was purchased in Plymouth, Michigan. This land will be used to build a big Islamic center. It will have a mosque, school (K-12), cultural center, theological center, convalescent home, housing units, apartment units, and picnic area.

 

In the United States, Islam is buying churches and converting them to mosques. Pews are removed, and worshipers kneel down or stand facing Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Thousands of Qurans are being distributed, free of charge, throughout America. Every day many Americans convert to Islam. Many Muslim men marry American women and then influence them to convert to Islam.

 

These facts should awaken Christians to the very real problem of the rapidly spreading Islamic religion. The work among the Muslims in American has been neglected. Most of the churches and all the Christians are concerned about overseas missionaries, but they forget their country, the USA. The Christians need to know the important fact that those Muslims cannot be reached in their own countries because of persecution from their governments and their families. Most of the countries in the Middle East are considered closed to the gospel. It is against the constitution of Islamic countries to witness to others

 

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publicly. I believe that those Muslims came to America for a purpose. God brought them here in order to be reached. The Christians need to open their eyes to see the fields are white unto harvest (John 4:3 5).

 

It is sad to see the condition of the church in the following areas: first, it is sleeping; second, it is struggling for survival; and third, it has no vision of meeting the challenge of Islam in the last decade of the twentieth century. The New Testament churches need to have classes to train their members how to reach Muslims and educate them about the Islam religion so they can know the difference between Islam and Christianity. Many Christians do not know anything about the Islam religion.

 

As believers, we need to have a great zeal and burden to stand behind the ministry to Muslims. We need to realize that as Christians we have the divine truth, that Jesus Christ died for sinners; and through His death on the cross, He can give eternal life to everyone who believes in Him. The Muslims do not know this assurance of God’s forgiveness and eternal life. We need to be proud of our faith, and we need to share this faith with others. We need to know that our Lord Jesus Christ asserted positively that God does not favor one person or race over another. He stressed the fact that God’s love is universal and absolutely unbiased: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life... He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” (John 3:16;

6:47)

 

WHAT ARE WE DOiNG TO REACH THE MUSLIMS?

 

The Light of Life Ministry reaches 8 million Muslims in the USA through different avenues:

 

1)         Radio program

2)         Bible and literature distribution

3)         Soul winning

4)         Planting churches among the Muslims

5)         Tract ministry

6)         Bible Study

7)         Cassettes and video ministry

8)         We conduct seminars in churches to teach about Islam and how we can effectively reach the Muslims.

9)         We provide churches with different tools in the Arabic and English languages for the ministry to Muslims.

10)        Overseas ministry through television programs and radio and correspondence courses.

 

The work among the Muslims is not easy. It needs great sacrifice and strong effort. We need New Testament churches to open their doors to us and allow us to present our ministry and our needs, but we need the help of our brothers and sisters to pray for us and encourage us so that we can continue in our ministry to win the Muslims for Christ.

 

WHAT THE CHRISTIANS SHOULD DO:

 

The challenge of Islam to Christianity is becoming urgent, but “The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (Psalm 110:1) Thus, we are confident with John, “Our faith is the victory that overcometh the world.” (1 John 5:4)

 

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The time for us to honestly evaluate our God-given role on earth has passed. Each individual must ask himself, “Can God use me in reaching Muslims?” If you cannot enter a mission field because God has not prepared you or called you for such work, then please think of how you here at home can feed those who hunger to hear the Word of God. The Muslims need to know Jesus as the Light of this world. They need to know Him as their Savior. We need to love the Muslims, pray for them, and support the ministry among them.

 

Islam has become a challenge for every Christian to show more faith, love, and hope in the name and power of our living Savior. Missions to Muslims is more necessary than ever before.

 

Four thousand years ago, after Abraham cried out to God for Ishmael’s blessing, the eight million Muslims in our country still wait for Abraham’s heir, Jesus Christ. Ask the Lord to give you a burden to care for the lost souls of Islam. Four thousand years of waiting is long enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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