The Islamic Antichrist (30 page)

FINDING THE OCEAN IN EVERY DROP

Jalal al Din al Rumi was one of Islam’s greatest mystics. He practiced a mystical form of Islam known as Sufiism. Rumi often spoke of God as “the Beloved” or “the Friend.” Sufis such as Rumi also placed far more emphasis on Jesus as their model for life than other Muslims. One cannot read many of Rumi’s writings without feeling as though he was very close to being a Christian. There is at least one quote of Rumi’s that I have truly come to appreciate. Rumi said, “One day I was going along looking to see in people the shining of the Friend, so I would recognize the ocean in a drop.” Rumi attempted to see God in all
of His creation, and particularly in every one of His creatures. Maybe you say that we cannot find any goodness and light in the religion of the Antichrist. But believe it or not, you can. And here’s the reason: Islam is made of Muslims, and Muslims are people created in the image of God. Many of them are genuine God seekers and Christians can learn from them. And if this is so of a dead-end antichrist religious system, then how much more of its followers, who are each one God’s creatures! While the natural tendency of our hearts might be to shrink back from fear, instead the Lord desires us to approach Muslims with an attitude of confidence and humility that sees not an “other,” but rather another of God’s creatures. This attitude of humility, of boldness, and of confidence is what God desires for His people throughout time, but particularly in the last days.
He desires us to be overcomers
.

OVERCOMERS

An overcomer is someone who does not allow fear to overcome him or her but rather overcomes fear with love. An overcomer does not allow hatred to overcome him or her but rather overcomes hatred with reconciliation. There was one man who reached out in just such a spirit to Muslims. He did so in the midst of one of the darkest periods of Christian history. The relationship between Islam and Christianity was at this time perhaps comparable to the atmosphere today. It was during the third Great Crusade that Francis of Assisi decided to go and preach the Gospel to the Muslims. The spirit that Francis showed is a powerful model for Christlikeness in Christian outreach to Muslims today.

FRANCIS’S STORY

In AD 1219 Francis of Assisi and twelve of his brothers traveled with the Crusader army to the front lines in the war between the Crusaders and the Muslim Saracens of Sultan al-Kaamil in
Egypt.
²
Francis and his friends set up camp within the Crusader camp as the army prepared to lay siege to the port city of Damietta. Francis preached the Gospel among the Crusaders and many of those who were impacted by Francis’s message laid down their arms and joined the Franciscan order. Francis’s approach was never to discriminate when preaching the Gospel. He preached to the “Christian” Crusaders and the Muslim Saracens alike. Francis followed Jesus directly into the camp of the sultan, the leader of the Muslim armies. Among the Christians, Sultan al-Kaamil was viewed as a brute beast. But Francis found a man who was kind, sincere, very open, and a genuine God seeker.

Francis and his close friend Illuminato walked directly into the camp of the “enemy.” Francis was immediately captured and initially abused by the Muslim soldiers. Francis demanded to see the sultan in order to preach the Gospel to him. Francis greeted the sultan with a greeting of “God give you peace.” Ironically Francis himself had devised this greeting, which happened to correlate wonderfully with the standard greeting used by Muslims:
As-salamu Alaikum
(Peace be upon you).

Christine Mallouhi, in her wonderful book,
Waging Peace on Islam
, walks through the various stories and legends that surround this meeting between Francis and Kaamil. While there are differing accounts, there are some things that we can know for sure about this meeting. We know that Francis was well received by the sultan. Most traditions support that Kaamil was so taken aback by Francis that he invited him to stay for a prolonged period with the Muslims. The record also shows that Francis accepted this invitation. We even know that the sultan gave written permission to Francis and his men to freely preach the Gospel in Muslim lands.

But what exactly happened to the two men as a result of their meeting? Based on interviews with Brother Illuminato, the sultan was quoted as saying to Francis, “I believe your faith is good and true,” and upon parting ways, he asked Francis to
pray that he would be able to find the correct path. Whether or not the sultan converted is in question, but even the Muslim accounts mention that Kaamil was indeed changed after his encounter with Francis. But here’s the interesting part and a lesson for us as well. Francis also changed. Francis was so impacted by the Muslims that upon returning home to Europe he adapted some elements of Muslim practice into his religious life. For instance, in accordance with the Muslim call to prayer five times a day, Francis declared to the superiors of the Franciscan order that they were to “announce and preach to all the people…tell them about the glory that is due to him, so that at every hour when bells are rung, praise and honor may be offered to Almighty God by everyone all over the world.” It is also said that Francis began bowing down with his head to the ground as the Muslims do when praying. He wrote to the general chapter: “At the sound of his name you should fall to the ground and adore him with fear and reverence. Give hearing with all your ears and obey the Son of God. This is the very reason he has sent you all over the world, so that by word and deed you might bear witness to his message and convince everyone that there is no other Almighty God besides him.” This last part of course, is very similar to the Muslim credo, “There is no god but God [Allah].”

So in the final assessment, we learn that both the sultan and Francis changed as a result of their meeting. The reason for this is that in every encounter, Francis did not look to merely convert “the other” but himself as well. Francis did not see the greatest enemy in others, but rather in his own “self.”

The purpose of pointing out this story of Francis is that today, as then, we live in a time when Christian/Muslim tensions, misunderstandings, and fears are strong. How much more will such feelings reach their full peak in the last days? Francis is a wonderful model for us as he reached out to Muslims. He came to Muslims in confidence, without fear, yet humble, teachable, and in an absolute spirit of peace. Francis did not go to the
antichrist/infidel enemy with a spirit of prejudice, but rather simply to a people who needed Jesus. Likewise Francis did not go to defend the Gospel, but to die for it. We will discuss this issue in the next chapter.

PERSONAL BENEFITS

While the primary purpose of outreach is of course to offer the message of salvation and life abundant to our Muslim brothers and sisters, there are also some very powerful benefits that we receive as well when reaching out to Muslims. Regardless of how mature a believer you are, anyone who enters into deep religious dialogue with Muslims will be challenged. You see, most Muslims spend a lot of time training themselves to argue with Christians. Eventually, you will find your core beliefs challenged. The good news, however, is that through challenge comes strengthening. My personal encounters with Muslims have caused immense growth in terms of my personal revelation and understanding of my own faith. I have never meditated more on the wonders of the incarnation, the Trinity, or the Cross than I have during the periods that I am engaged with Muslims who vehemently oppose all of these doctrines. Is it at all surprising, then, that many of those who have reached out to Muslims have walked in a powerful revelation of the very issues that Islam denies? A wonderful example is Samuel Zwemer. Zwemer was a forerunner in ministry to Muslims who lived through the turn of the last century. One of Zwemer’s books,
The Glory of the Cross
, is a classic that should read by every Christian. Its title says it all— as a result of his encounter with Muslims, Zwemer walked in a deeper revelation of the glory of the Cross. And thus it will be with us as well. As we approach Muslims, the purpose is not only to introduce them to the real Jesus in order that they can be converted, but equally in order that we might find ourselves in an ongoing and continual state of “conversion” and transformation as well.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

PREPARING FOR MARTYRDOM

BECOMING PART OF THE PERSECUTED CHRISTIAN WORLD

While most of us in the West may not live in an atmosphere where martyrdom is a present threat or reality, I believe that it is very important for all of us to remain connected to our brothers and sisters who do. Presently there are numerous countries throughout the world where persecution and martyrdom are common. I believe that we can all take practical steps to connect our hearts to those who live on the front lines. Surely the Christian church on the earth needs to strive to build stronger bonds of unity, mutual support, and connectedness. And of course, we in the West, who presently “dwell securely in the coastlands,” can certainly benefit from regular reality checks.

Jesus explained the principle to us that where our treasure is, there our hearts would be also. Our “treasure” may be defined by more than just our money. Beyond our finances, our time and our energies are also equally our treasures. So if we wish to begin building heart connections with those in lands of persecution, then there are some very simple things that we can do. Of course, to start, we can get to know who they are and where they are, and we can begin to regularly pray for them. If you are a leader or a pastor, then I encourage you to take a brief moment during every church service to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world.
By doing this you will facilitate the development of a bond between your entire congregation and the persecuted church. This is a good reality check for those of us who live in such a state of comfort in the West.

Second, we can begin to develop relationships with real people who live under the threat of persecution. Letter writing, e-mails, or even visits are all very simple ways to build bonds of mutual support. If you have a young family with children, then “adopt” a family in a land of persecution. Your families can exchange letters and the children can draw pictures and make small gifts for each other, and so on. As a family, you can regularly pray together for your friends in Pakistan, China, Iraq, or wherever they might live.

And lastly, of course, you can send money. Do not feel as though you necessarily need to send large amounts, but simply choose an amount, and set it aside each month and send it wherever you feel led to give. Even if you sent only five dollars a month, you would sow a seed and build a bridge.

How do you begin to get acquainted with the persecuted church? First, there are various organizations that minister directly to the persecuted church throughout the world. Each ministry has its own special emphasis. I refer you here to four very good ministries: Voice of the Martyrs at
www.persecution.com
; Operation Nehemiah at www.operationnehemiah.org; the Barnabas Fund at
www.barnabasfund.org
; and Open Doors Ministries at
www.opendoorsusa.org
.

Each ministry has a newsletter that provides updates about current events as well as prayer points and practical ways to support their efforts. They also have e-mail reports that they send out with day-to-day updates and prayer requests. Contact one of these organizations and ask them to help you in establishing a contact such as we discussed before.

PREPARING FOR MARTYRDOM IS NOT OPTIONAL

But martyrdom is not merely something for those in some far off lands to think about. Everyone who claims the name “Christian” should be preparing his or her heart for potential martyrdom. This is not an optional preparation for only those who live in Third World countries or those who live at certain times in world history. Preparing for martyrdom has always been part of what it means to be a true Christian. Christianity is the only religion that has as its highest example a man who was tortured and put to death publicly. As Christians, we are his followers. Yet the concept of martyrdom is essentially a foreign one to most of us in our Western Christian culture. But in many parts of the world today, such as China, Pakistan, or the Middle East, those who choose to follow Jesus all realize that they are saying yes to potential martyrdom. This was also the case for Christians for the first three hundred years of church history. Persecutions and martyrdom were common, especially among those who assumed positions of leadership.

MARTYRDOM AND MIRACLES

Yet during the periods of the early church and since the communist takeover of China, when martyrdom has been commonplace, the church has thrived. Not only does the church grow in such an atmosphere, but it is also experiences the greatest measure of power. Miracles, prophecy, angelic encounters, visions: these are the experiences that we read about as common in such an atmosphere of heavy persecution. Not surprisingly, then, the Bible likewise says that in the last days, when persecution will have peaked on a worldwide scale, the greater church will experience that same measure of power: