“WHO WILL STAND IN THE
GAP?”
A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO
RESURGENT ISLAM
2007
(Jay Smith)
Omar Sharif
Asif Hanif
(April 30, 2003)
Muslims Claim:
• “Islam is a Religion of Peace”
• “Muhammad is a man of Peace”
• “The Qur’an is a book of Peace”
How can we know if these are true?
Definitions:
• Each religion, both Islam and Christianity
have definitions for what they call
themselves…
• Both Islam and Christianity are defined by a
revelation:
– Islam = the Qur’an and the Traditions
– Christianity = the New Testament
• Both Islam and Christianity are modelled by
a person:
– Islam = Muhammad
• (Suras 33:21 = ‘Pattern’, 68:4 = ‘Standard’)
– Christianity = Jesus Christ
In 2001, in the UK,
How did Muslims
define themselves?
•15% Radical – Follow Scripture,
and the Prophet Muhammad
•70% Nominal – Follow Traditions,
and their cultural adaptations
•15% Liberal – Follow the West,
and assimilate
By 2002: Radicals had risen to 25%
By 2003-2005: No polls were carried out…..
On February 19th, 2006:
over 40% now radical…*
while 20 % supported Suicide bombers
(source: Peter G. Riddell and Peter Cotterell, Islam In Conflict, Leicester, England: IVP, 2003, chapters 1012, and page 193. Also a lecture by Riddell on the theme, “Muslim Views on the World” held at the
London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, and sponsored by the London Lectures Trust,
October 23, 2003)
* Sunday Telegraph, Feb. 19, 2006
Radical Islam is Growing globally:
Poll on radicalisation
by Pew International (March 2004)
• Turkey = 31%
• Morocco = 45%
• Jordan = 55%
• Pakistan = 65%
• (80 million out of 140 million!)
Problem:
• Post 911 and 7-7, there is an aggressive and
growing radical element within Islam…
• It is a ‘scriptured religion’
– ‘Dispatches’: views sourced in the Qur’an
• A ‘Clash of Civilizations exists
– (Huntington’s thesis: 1996, reiterated by Lord
Cary last autumn)
• Riddell: “There is an international network
of radical Muslims, committed to terrorism
that must be stopped. They pose a
legitimate threat which cannot be ignored,
but confronted, and immediately” (Riddell
2004:172).
WHO MUST CONFRONT THEM?
• Perception that this clash is the remit of the
state.
• But the state cannot deal with religious
ideology.
– i.e. Danish Cartoons
– ‘flushed’ Qur’an-Guantanamo
• It’s not their remit
• Due to the separation of the church and
state.
• They don’t understand the ideology
• They don’t have the tools to confront it
• Thus, politicians may not criticize it.
WHO CAN CONFRONT RADICAL MUSLIMS?
• RADICAL CHRISTIANS!
• We can understand them
– we start from the same ideological paradigm
(scripture & model)
• We have the tools to confront them
– MSS evidence
– Historical Criticism
– Jesus Christ = Relevant for 21st c.
– SWAD
• We have the only alternative
Examples:
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Bible vs. Qur’an
Jesus vs. Muhammad
‘Yahweh’ vs. ‘Allah’
Kingdom of God vs. ‘Khilafah’
Women in the Bible vs. in the Qur’an
Peace in Christianity vs. Violence in Islam
Relevancy of Christianity vs. Islam
Problem – We have no models:
• Missiology = ‘church planting’ & conversion
(i.e. ‘unless it brings in converts, it isn’t worth our while’)
• ‘eirenic’ models = more converts
• No room for confrontation
• No room for the conflicts between Islam and
Christianity globally
(i.e. ‘Clash of Civilizations’ – Samuel Huntington [1996]
repeated by Lord Carey [autumn 2006])
PROBLEM – We have no Schools:
• We don’t teach ‘Islamic/Christian
apologetics’
• We don’t teach Christian ‘polemics’
– Nowhere in the UK
– Only limited examples in the US
Theological Underpinnings
• Most of our contact with Islam has been with the
Arab world (i.e. Palestine & Iraq).
• Most Western research is geared toward the Arab
speaking world.
– 50% of Phds. offered in US have been on the Palestinian issue (2%
of Muslims!)
– Most of our missiology is written for an Arab environment
• But Arabs only make up 15% of Muslims (260 m.)
• Therefore, most of the theological and ideological
challenges are coming from the 85% non-Arab
speakers (i.e. 800-900 million Asians)
– [43,000 attacks vs. 5-6 responses on ‘Youtube’]
• We need a new pubic method to deal with these
more radical and public theological challenges
So what then is the solution?
• Confront Islam publicly
• A possible approach = ‘discursive
dialogues’ (Zebiri 1997:38), more popularly known
as open and public theological debates
Types of Debate:
[1] University Debates:
–Most common formal
style of debate
–Muslim student groups:
•FOSIS/ISOC (UK), or MSA-(US)
(Ayattolah Sayed Fadhel Milani)
–Christian student groups:
•UCCF (UK) or Campus Crusade, IVP, RZIM (US)
–Use usually two adversaries, debating a
theological issue
–Primarily against Christianity. Rarely reciprocity
used.
–Two Models: Parliamentary & Populer
The ‘Parliamentary’ model:
• Oxford, Cambridge, Durham Unions
• Proposition vs.
Opposition
• 2-4 people each
• Controlled…protocol
• ‘Points of Information’
• Benefits:
– Wider representation, and multiplicity of styles
• Weaknesses:
– Students use it for entertainment, sophistry,
trivializing serious positions.
• Less time leads to simplification
The ‘Populer’ model:
• 2 Speakers, experts
• 30 - 40 mins. = paper
• Rebuttals,
– followed by summation, then by Q & A
• Benefits: Easier to schedule, fewer people
involved, permitting better known academics,
more flexible, more time given to topics, better
contact with speakers, Q & A forces speakers to
meet audiences needs.
• Weaknesses: Tend to be more ‘gladitorial’, can
lead to tension, thus shunned by Christians, the
secular world and university administrations.
[2] Impromptu Debates:
(‘Extemporaneous debates’)
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‘high street’ (book tables)
University classrooms
Social gatherings (tea shops)
‘Speaker’s Corner’
5 - 2 - 1 = Time allotments
Benefits: Quick, easy, topical, ‘impromptu’,
accessibility of speaker, ‘vote with their
feet’, Crowds facial response
• Weaknesses: Heckling, Crowd control,
Interruptions, violence.
[3] Radio Debates:
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2 Speakers
10-20 min. positions
‘vetted’ phone in Q & A
Benefits:
-Cheap, Quick, Easy to prepare, largest
audiences, Largest reach, Most impact, in
inaccessible areas.
• Weaknesses:
-Distant, impersonal, no Face-to-face
contact, thus no relationship, with little
follow-up, and easy to censure.
[4] Internet - Online debating:
• Online Forums, Bulletin Boards, Blogging, &
‘Youtube’ (Pfanderfilms)
• Benefits:
– Variety of topics, 24/7,
– Universal
– ‘Arm-chair Evangelists’
– Good training,
– Topical, & creates ownership
– Great preparation for ministry
• Weaknesses:
– Distant, impersonal, no Face-to-face contact,
thus little relationship, with little follow-up, and
problem with vitriol.
Why Debates are so Popular?
• They are culturally relevant…
• They are a passionate form of
communication!
• They attract large numbers of Muslims
• They are neutral and central
• They are non-threatening
• They are cheap
• They are Conducive to students
Let’s look at the Primary Muslim Debaters:
↓
Ahmed Deedat:
Most prolific
Most popular
Gujarati origins
Lampoons Christian Missionaries
• Zebiri: “He employs a flamboyant style [which]
seems as much designed to entertain as to edify;
he employs ridicule and sarcasm, and not
infrequently raises laughter from the Muslim
section of his audience. He also utilizes crude
language, and images which seem designed to
shock” (Zebiri 1997:47)
• However, “the quality of his work, which after all
hardly aspires to go beyond the level of rhetoric
and apologetic, is poor even by the standards of
religious polemic” (Zebiri 1997:47)
Dr. Jamal Badawi:
• most prolific Muslim speaker
in the West in the 70s and the 80s
• Egyptian
• Professor of economics at the university of
Halifax, in Canada.
• No formal training in Islamic or Christian theology
• Books on Islam and Muslim-Christian issues are
quite popular
• Best known for his defenses of the Qur’an
(http://answering-islam.org.uk/Responses/Badawi/index.htm)
• He is one of the most effective da’wah speakers
and has hundreds of lectures and debates on
tapes
Shabir Ally:
• Was Dr. Badawi’s
primary disciple
• Founder of the ‘Islamic Da'wah Centre’, Toronto
• Currently the most prominent speaker and debater
Islam has in the English speaking world
• Spending most of his time debating Christians on
Western university campuses
(http://answering-islam.org.uk/Responses/Shabir-Ally/index.html)
• Themes focus on the authority of the Bible, and
the Christology of Christ.
• Encyclopedic mind, able to speak for hours, on a
variety of subjects, all without notes
Dr. Zakir Naik:
• President of the Islamic
Research Foundation
Mumbia (Bombay)
• Bachelor of Medicine, and a Bachelor of Surgery
(M.B.B.S.)
• Able to quote extensive passages of the Qur'an, as
well as other books, from memory
(http://answering-islam.org.uk/Responses/Naik/index.htm)
• Speaks English, Arabic, Hebrew, and Sanskrit
respectively
• His spontaneous and convincing answers to
questions at the end of his debates are ‘legendary’
CHRISTIAN CONFRONTATIONS
• Christians don’t like Confrontation
• It goes against our Western cultural proclivities
• Religion is a private affair
• Confrontation is not ‘Christ-like’
• We prefer eirenic ‘dialogues’ with Muslims
Thus:
• No schools to train apologetics/polemics
• Dearth of strategies, books & videos
• Dearth of models
Christians Supportive of Confrontation:
• Jesus (against the Pharisees – Matt. 23:13-33)
• Paul (Mars Hill, Aeropagus, Lecture Hall of
Tyrannus – Acts 19)
Zwemer: “Paul disputed in the synagogues (Acts
17:17) in the school of one Tyrannus, daily (Acts
19:9) for two years. In Jerusalem he disputed
against the Grecians until they sought to slay him
(Acts 9:29)...II Corinthians, Galatians and
Colossians could be classified as controversial
literature of the first century...His military
vocabulary is proof enough that he was no
spiritual pacifist but fought a good fight against
the enemies of the Cross of Christ and all those
who preached ‘another gospel’” (Zwemer 1941:225)
• Catholic creeds, such as the
Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds,
came out of Polemics.
• The Reformation = a religious
controversy.
• The Gospel of John = Nearly all the
discourses were begun by
controversy
EXAMPLES OF RECENT CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM DEBATES
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Date
Debaters
Venue
Title
Aug 1981
Dec 1985
Aug 1986
Aug 1988
Jan 1993
___ 1993
___ 1994
Jun 1994
Aug 1995
Jul 1996
Nov 1996
Feb 1997
Feb 1997
Apr 1997
Nov 1997
Feb 1998
Apr 1998
May 1998
Oct 1999
Jan 2000
Feb 2000
Mar 2000
Mar 2000
Apr 2000
Oct 2000
Oct 2000
Feb 2002
Josh McDowell vs. A. Deedat
Anis Shorrosh vs. A. Deedat
Jimmy Swaggart vs. A. Deedat
Anis Shorrosh vs. A. Deedat
Tony Costa vs. Shabir Ally
Callum Beck vs. Hamza Malik
Ernest Hahn vs. Jamal Badawi
Tony Costa vs. Shabir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Jamal Badawi
Robert Morey vs. Shabir Ally
Dr. R. Morey vs. Jamal Badawi
Dr. W. Craig vs. Jamal Badawi
Jay Smith vs. Dr. Musa Pidcock
Jay Smith vs. Shabir Ally
Tony Costa vs. Shabir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Shabir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Shk. Abdul Green
Jay Smith vs. Shabir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Sh. Omar Bakri
Tony Costa vs. Shabir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Benazir Bhutto
Peter Saunders vs. Shabbir Ally
Keith Small vs. Shabbir Ally
William Campbell vs. Zakir Naik
Jay Smith vs. Shabir Ally
David Shenk vs. Shabir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Zaki Badawi
Durban, S. Africa
London
Louisiana Univ.
Birmingham
Univ. of Toronto
Toronto
U. of Waterloo
Univ. of Toronto
Cambridge Univ.
Toronto
Columbia Univ.
?
Tynneside Univ.
Univ. of Manchester
Univ. of Waterloo
Birmingham Univ.
South Bank Univ.
Leicester Univ.
London
Ryerson University
Oxford Union
Glasgow
Bradford
Skokie, Ill.
Ga.Tech., Atlanta
London
Oxford Union
“Was Christ Crucified?”
“Is Jesus God?”
“Is the Bible God’s Word?”
“Bible vs. the Qur’an”
“Is Jesus the Divine Son of God?”
“Salvation in the Bible & Qur’ an”
“Bible according to the Qur’ an”
“Is the Qur'an the Word of God?”
“Is The Qur’an the Word of God?”
“Source & God of Islam”
“Veracity of Allah & the Qur’an”
“What is God Like?”
“Bible vs. Qur’an”
“Xtian vs. Isl. Relevancy & Sin”
“Who is God?”
“Historicity of the Qur’an”
“Is the Qur’an the Word of God?”
“Bible vs. the Qur’an”
“Khilafa vs. Kingdom of God”
“Who is the Historical Jesus?”
“Is Islam Relevant to the UK?”
“Was Jesus a Muslim?”
“Scriptures-Jesus-Trinity”
“Bible, Qur’an, & Science”
“Who is the Historical Jesus?”
“God in the Scriptures”
“Is Islam Compatible w the West?”
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Date
Debaters
Venue
Title
Mar 04/02
(Mar 05)
(Mar 06)
(Mar 07)
Apr 2002
Oct 2002
Jan 2003
Mar 2003
Oct 2003
Feb 2004
Feb 2004
Nov 2004
Oct 2005
Jan 2006
Jan 2006
Feb 2006
Feb 17/06
(Feb 18)
(Feb 19)
Apr 2006
May 2006
May 2006
July 2006
W. Craig vs. Shabbir Ally
W. Craig vs. Shabbir Ally
W. Craig vs. Shabbir Ally
W. Craig vs. Shabbir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Imam Sahib
Jay Smith vs. Min. Ishmael Muh.
Jay Smith vs. Tamimi & Winters
Mike Licona vs. Shabir Ally
Peter Saunders vs. Shabbir Ally
Keith Small vs. Sohaib Saeed
Jay Smith vs. Dr. McElwain
Mike Licona vs. Shabir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Abdul Hakim Quick
Jay Smith vs. Iqbal Siddiqui
Jay Smith vs. Abdul Rahman
Jay Smith vs. Ayatollah Milani
Peter Barnes vs. Diaa Mohamed
Peter Barnes vs. Diaa Mohamed
Peter Barnes vs. Diaa Mohamed
Jay Smith vs. Muh. Bahmanpour
James White vs. Shabir Ally
Jay Smith vs. Tajik Da’ists
Peter Barnes vs. Yusuf Estes
Univ. of Toronto
“Did Jesus rise from the dead?”
York Univ.
“What Must I do to be Saved?”
McMaster Univ.
“God in X-tianity & Islam”
Univ. of W.Ontario
“Who is the True Jesus?”
Kingston Univ.
“Bible vs. Qur’an”
Trinity Univ., Dublin
“Is Islamic Law Relevant today?”
Cambridge Union
“Islam a threat to the West?”
Regent Univ.
“Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?”
Nottingham Univ.
“Who is the real Jesus?”
Univ. of Edinburgh
“Who is the real Jesus?”
Oxford Univ.“Was Jesus a Muslim?”
‘Faith Under Fire’
“Was Jesus: Divine or Prophet?”
Jo-Burg, So. Africa
“Peace in Islam & Christianity”
Durham Union
“Is Islam compatible to the West?”
London
“Islam vs. Christian compatibility”
St.Georges Med. Sch.
“Peace in Islam vs. Christianity”
Bankstown, Australia
“Bible vs. Qur’an”
Bankstown, Aust.
“Is Jesus Lord?”
Bankstown, Aust.
“Way of Salvation?”
London
“Was Jesus Crucified?”
Biola University
“Is the New Testament Inspired?”
Kazan, Russia
“Islam vs. Christianity”
Hurstville, Australia
“Way to God’s Salvation”
Solutions:
1) Move beyond our fear of Repercussions
2) Move beyond our fear of security
3) Move beyond Muslim’s Sensibilities
4) Move beyond dialogue → to debate
5) Teach Christian/Muslim Apologetics
6) Teach Christian Polemics
7) Begin to publicly confront the Qur’an
8) Begin to publicly confront the Prophet
9) Leaders must model it (i.e. ‘ol Codgers’)
10)Get on
&
Why Must we ‘Stand in the Gap’?
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It’s the only way to get the Muslim’s attention
Forces the Muslims to respond
May be the 1st time Muslims have heard criticism
Gets the agenda moving
‘Pre-Evangelistic’
We don’t have a choice
-Muslims tend to initiate the confrontation
-Fits their cultural paradigm
7) Creates a Christian Public Presence
8) Does that which the state may/can not do
9) Upgrades and strengthens the church
10) We have the only alternative!
11) We have the Best Material!
12) WE HAVE THE TRUTH…and his name is JESUS!
What weapons will we use?
• “For though we live in the world, we do not
wage war as the world does. The weapons
we fight with are not the weapons of the
world. On the contrary, they are divine power
to demolish strongholds. We demolish
arguments and every pretension that sets itself
up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ”
(II Corinthians 10:3-5)
Impromptu Speaker’s Corner Debates
Salam & Jay
Heckling (‘Triangulization’)
Formal Debates