Christian Missionary Treatement of Islam

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www.answering-christianity.comJanuary 7, 2009PDF by: www.esnips.com/user/Jam2000

Christian Missionary Treatment of Islam

Jamshaid Zubairee

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C h r i s t i a n M i s s i o n a r y T r e a t m e n t o f I s l a m | 1 / 7 / 2 0 0 9

Christian Missionary Treatment of Islam

Jamshaid Zubairee

The English dictionary defines 'lie' as: intentional false statement, imposture, be deceptive, convey afalse impression. If one were to say it is the methodology of the Christian missionary to lie aboutIslam, this claim would have a ring of truth to it. Their endeavours have not only left Islam as amisunderstood religion in the West, but also one that is mistreated. This methodology has as its origina seldom-publicised statement of Paul in which he is happy to proclaim:'If through my falsehoodGod's truthfulness abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner.' (Romans 3:7)Paul felt little reluctance in spreading 'falsehood' so long as the end result achieved the greater gloryof God. One will never know, therefore, whether his claimed vision of Jesus on the Damascus road, hisappointment as preacher to the Gentiles, and the other teachings he propagated in the name of Christianity were all part of this use of 'falsehood' or not. He would have done well to take intoconsideration another Biblical text: 'A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes outlies.' (Proverbs 14:5) Paul, by his own admission, proves himself not to have been a faithful witness.How much better later Christian missionaries fared as 'faithful witnesses' will be discussed below.Nevertheless, this does not make for a promising start: Paul, the champion of Christianity, admittingto the use of falsehood.

Missionary efforts in preaching the Gospel are hardly worthy of emulation. In 1795 the LondonMissionary Society was formed, its immediate attention focused upon the Pacific; two years later aconvict ship bound for Australia put the first missionaries ashore on Tahiti. It was four years beforeany of them learned enough of the local language to be able to preach a sermon to a puzzled thoughsympathetic audience. The Tahitians built houses for them, fed them, and provided them withservants galore, but after seven years not a single convert to Christianity had been gained. Themissionaries opted for a more brutal tactic and gained the upper hand by helping to reduce the localchief to an alcoholic and then offered him backing in a war against other islands chiefs by supplyingfirearms (the enemy having only wooden clubs to defend themselves). Assistance was provided,however, on the condition that all the islanders would have to accept Christianity once victory hadbeen gained. The whole nation was converted in a day! With their power base firmly established inTahiti, the missionaries moved swiftly to the outer islands. The methods they employed were asbefore. A local chieftain would be baptised, crowned king, introduced to large quantities of alcohol andleft to the work of converting his own people. Chieftains who put up any form of opposition werequickly shown the might of the missionary forces. Where no resistance was found, a native teachersupported by a half dozen missionary police would take over an island within a week. (Norman Lewis,The Missionaries, Arena 1989, pp.10-15)

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C h r i s t i a n M i s s i o n a r y T r e a t m e n t o f I s l a m | 1 / 7 / 2 0 0 9

The missionaries had little need to take recourse to the use of falsehood in Tahiti. The natives were easy prey for the militarystrength the missionaries were able to muster. Where, however, thetarget audience was not so easily convinced or where little or noinroads were being made, it was time once again to make use of Paul's motto - 'falsehood' - in whatever form was most appropriate.The missionary attack on Islam, for the most part, was to follow thisstrategy.

The earliest Christian reactions to Islam were much the same as theyhave been in modern times. The approach often takes a severeattitude in condemning whatever a Muslim believes, including thewhole of what he believes about God and, in particular, what hebelieves about Jesus Christ. Regarding some of the early authorswho wrote against Islam, Normal Daniel asks: "It is natural to askhow authors whom we can neither patronise as foolish nor condemnas unscrupulous could consistently have misrepresented facts,regularly crediting ridiculous fantasies. This applies particularly totheir treatment of the events of Muhammad's life, but to some extentalso to the whole of their attitude to Islam. We cannot just excusethem as ignorant." (Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, OneworldPublications 1993, p.255)

It was the works of authors of this calibre that Christianity was touse in its attacks on Islam, authors who 'misrepresented facts' andworked within the sphere of 'ridiculous fantasies' - Paul's mottocomes to mind yet again! There is very little that the neutralobserver can do under such circumstances. Who does he believe?

The methodology used by these authors is further described byNorman Daniel: "All writers tended - more or less - to cling tofantastic tales about Islam and its Prophet... The use of falseevidence to attack Islam was all but universal." (ibid, p.267) He goeson to explain: "At the worst there was the assertion of the fantastic,and its repetition without discrimination; at the best there was theselection of only those facts that served the purpose of controversy."(ibid, p.268)

All of this comes as no surprise. "Islamic institutions," Danielcontinues, "were treated as selectively as the life of Muhammad...

Missionary efforts in preaching theGospel are hardly worthy ofemulation. In 1795 the LondonMissionary Society was formed, itsimmediate attention focused uponthe Pacific; two years later a convictship bound for Australia put the firstmissionaries ashore on Tahiti. Itwas four years before any of themlearned enough of the locallanguage to be able to preach asermon to a puzzled thoughsympathetic audience. TheTahitians built houses for them, fedthem, and provided them withservants galore, but after sevenyears not a single convert toChristianity had been gained. Themissionaries opted for a morebrutal tactic and gained the upperhand by helping to reduce the localchief to an alcoholic and thenoffered him backing in a waragainst other islands chiefs bysupplying firearms (the enemyhaving only wooden clubs to defendthemselves). Assistance wasprovided, however, on the conditionthat all the islanders would have toaccept Christianity once victory hadbeen gained. The whole nation wasconverted in a day! With their powerbase firmly established in Tahiti, themissionaries moved swiftly to theouter islands. The methods theyemployed were as before. A localchieftain would be baptised,crowned king, introduced to largequantities of alcohol and left to thework of converting his own people.Chieftains who put up any form ofopposition were quickly shown themight of the missionary forces.Where no resistance was found, anative teacher supported by a halfdozen missionary police would takeover an island within a week.(Norman Lewis, The Missionaries,Arena 1989, pp.10-15)

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