After 9/11, I hated Muslims…until I met a Muslim.

Without a doubt the last decade has seen an immense increase in the number of Islamic peoples among the residents in Houston. Their presence represents both one of the biggest opportunities and exposes one of the biggest fears of the church today. How will we respond to our Muslim neighbors: love and friendship, or judgment and avoidance?  Maybe we should consider this question first: How would Jesus respond?  I offer the following true story as a way of helping us decide:

A mentor once told me, “You will inevitably form opinions about an entire people group based upon a personal relationship you have with an individual from that group.” Unfortunately, my first relationship with a Muslim, albeit a distant one, was through a “most wanted” poster I saw for Osama Bin-Laden days after 9/11. My opinion about 1.5 billion people in the aftermath of that horrible day was shaped by a hastily formed first impression.

After 9/11, I hated Muslims … until I really met a Muslim personally.  His name was Abu Sayeed, or Son of Happiness! We were introduced to one another on a soccer field in Amman, Jordan and we connected instantly over our shared interests: a passionate pursuit for the best hummus in the city and a mutual desire to follow the will of God.  Abu Sayeed and I became fast friends.  Over the next 10 months my hatred of Muslims turned into respect, at least for one.  Just as my mentor had predicted, I began to see Abu Sayeed’s entire people group through the lens of the relationship we were forming. Not only did I come to love him like a brother, but I desperately wanted him to come to know Jesus.

My problem was that along with my skewed impression about Muslims, I had skewed ideas about how to reach them. Most of the articles and books I read post- 9/11 only talked about why Christianity was right and why Islam was wrong – which might have been helpful if my desire had been to enter into and win a debate with Abu Sayeed. But that wasn’t what I wanted. My desire was to help him know God’s love and become a disciple of Jesus. 

For this task I simply had no tools. Thankfully, my mentor had helped a number of Muslims become disciples of Jesus and he was happy to show me what he had learned. For example, he showed me that the best place to start a conversation with a Muslim was on the grounds we held in common and not in the places of our differences. He showed me what stories from the Bible were best suited for building a foundation for dialogue and discovery - stories that Abu Sayeed was actually familiar with because they were the same ones he had grown up with.  I learned how to speak a new language, and I don’t mean Arabic: I learned to speak a language about Jesus that Sayeed could understand, and which gently pointed him to the Jesus of the Bible.

When I began my relationship with Abu Sayeed, I did not even know how to initiate a conversation about Jesus that would not be offensive. But after months of friendship, sharing and study, the desire of my heart was fulfilled: I got to witness my brother Abu Sayeed kneel in prayer and embrace Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior.

If you are interested in moving beyond debate and instead into the development of genuine friendships with Muslims in order for them to know the love of Jesus and become His follower, then we urge you to experience the biblical insights and practical wisdom presented at the Jesus in the Qur’an seminar.  To be held on October 29 and 30 at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, you will find yourself prepared to help love and reach the people of Islam whom God is bringing to our city.

Steve Capper, for the Mission Houston staff.

Information and registration: www.jesusinthequran.org