November 01, 1989 by Phil Parshall

Excerpts from the book

We have introduced our readers to many fine books over the years. We have offered them for so low a price that it ought to be obvious that we were not trying to cash in on their sale. We are in a book ministry, not a book business. The books have been worth praising because of the information they brought, the insight they gave to this subject or that, their general value to the buyers. However, rarely have I been able to recommend a book—I guess I cannot recall doing so—with as great a contribution to the personal faith of the sensitive reader. —Ed.

Excerpts from Chapter Five: Sin and Holiness

There are many examples of selfless acts performed by Muslims. An American oil worker in Saudi Arabia was driving through the remote desert and suddenly realized he would not reach the next town before his car ran out of gas. As it was getting dark, he started to experience a real sense of panic. At that moment he saw a new GMC truck parked alongside the road. He pulled up and explained his problem to the Saudi driver. Both men looked in vain for a hose by which to siphon gas from the truck. Suddenly the Saudi placed a bucket near the gas tank, took out his knife and plunged it into the steel tank, releasing a stream of gasoline. That American will never forget that sacrificial gesture of kindness.

Bishop Stephen Neill has accurately assessed the Muslim view of obedience: In modern Muslim propaganda in the West, nothing is more strongly emphasized than the feasibility, the viability of Islam [which means submission to Allah]. Men can turn and obey, if they will.

Obedience is the goal, but what is the reality? According to Muslims, it is about equal to or a bit better than that which is found in the worldwide Christian community. The devoted minority find the path to spiritual victory. A significant majority pay only lip service to Islamic faith and practice. Allah will one day judge the nominal and the hypocritical Muslim.

There are many claims made by Islam that proclaim the results of the path of godly obedience.... The Bektashis, a prominent Turkish Muslim order, don a girdle and recite a seven-point liturgy:

• tie up greed and unbind generosity.
• tie up anger and unbind meekness.
• tie up avarice and unbind piety.
• tie up ignorance and unbind the fear of God.
• tie up passion and unbind the love of God.
• tie up hunger and unbind contentment.
• tie up the power of Satan and unbind divineness.

This book tells good and bad about both Muslim and Christian. It might sell much better if it would either be pro-Christian and anti-Muslim or pro- Muslim and anti-Christian, and not deliberately be both! Is it our little faith which inclines us to keep making excuses for Christian lapses and make none for Muslims? Is it little faith which closes our eyes to the truly spiritual evidences in the midst of those we seek to bless? This book fails to take sides crassly precisely because it is so honest. Those who are looking for a snow job which will make Christianity look flawless or a hatchet job which will leave Islam in ruins will need to look elsewhere. Those who are eager to discover more of the God our Muslim friends are also dealing with will find much food for thought here.

Christians look on Muslims and are prone to criticize what appears to be a strong legalistic system of religious bondage. They question if inward purity and good deeds are as important in Islam as legislated ritual. Islam does address this issue. A rather severe Hadith states:

The Prophet was once informed of a woman who used to offer prayers regularly and kept fasts very often. She gave alms frequently but her neighbors were sick of her abusive tongue. The Prophet said, “Such a woman deserves only the fire of Hell!”

During the Boxer Rebellion in China, missionaries Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth were desperately seeking the safety of the coast. Along the way they had been beaten and stabbed. As they stumbled through one village a large, friendly crowd surrounded them:

One poor old man insisted on my taking his old shoes, saying they might keep my feet from the rough ground. Women came with children’s garments, urging that the nights were cool and the children might need them. Why were they so kind? One man replied, We are Mohammedans. Our God is your God and we could not face Him if we had joined in destroying you.”

While my allegiance to Christ and Christianity remain unshakable, I still consider it a great privilege to have spent half of my life among Muslims, twenty of those years living in their towns, eating their food and speaking their language. I have wept and laughed with my Muslim friends. I have been sometimes exhilarated, sometimes frustrated by their behavior. Their religion at varying times and in varying circumstances has challenged me, annoyed me and dumbfounded me. Muslims have provided many new and instructive experiences for me. To them I am eternally grateful. My life is richer and much fuller because of my walk among them....