{"id":186,"date":"2009-12-07T15:56:23","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T22:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=186"},"modified":"2019-03-13T14:31:06","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T21:31:06","slug":"do-we-pray-for-muslims","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=186","title":{"rendered":"Do We Pray For Muslims?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Printable PDF<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Someone put \u201cThe Nation of Islam\u201d on the prayer-chain of a Lutheran congregation in Arizona. It actually happened. What were they thinking?<\/p>\n

First of all, the Nation of Islam (NOI) is a black Muslim group which stands outside of traditional Islam.  Led today by Louis Farrakhan, the NOI believes that Allah became incarnate in the 1930\u2019s in Detroit in the person of Master W. Fard Muhammad, who claimed to have come to Detroit from Mecca.<\/p>\n

Although the NOI embraces some Islamic beliefs and practices, such as abstaining from alcohol and pork, it rejects others, such as the five daily prayers and pilgrimages to Mecca. The NOI also preaches the racial supremacy of \u201cblack\u201d people in contrast to the colorblind stance of traditional Islam. The NOI foments racial prejudice and is persistently criticized for being anti-Semitic.<\/p>\n

In what possible sense could one pray for the Nation of Islam? Or even for traditional Muslims? Does the command to \u201clove your enemies\u201d (Matt 5:44, Luke 6:27, 35) mean that we should pray that God would bless the Nation of Islam? Or Islam proper?<\/p>\n

What about moderate Muslims who are our neighbors, co-workers, and friends? Surely they are like the \u201crighteous Gentile\u201d of Acts 10:22. They do good; individually they can be as professional, kind, and upright as any other American citizen. So what\u2019s the difference? In all religions, even in the Nation of Islam, there are people who do good.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Islam is not to Christianity what Judaism is to Christianity \u2013 part of the history of salvation leading to Christ. Moreover, it is not true that Islam and Christianity are really working for the same goals.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

The illusion of \u201cthe common good.\u201d<\/strong> The LWF is caught in this illusion: \u201cGod loves all humanity. God desires to give life. Christians and Muslims share the responsibility to preserve life beyond the members of their own faiths,\u201d LWF President Mark Hanson said at a June 2006 conference on Lutheran — Muslim relations in Indonesia (Mpls. Area Synod InterActs<\/em>, 8\/06, p.11). Implying that Christianity and Islam mean the same thing when they talk about God desiring \u201cto give\u201d and \u201cpreserve life\u201d is deceptive and irresponsible.<\/p>\n

The 1990 Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam<\/strong> was signed by representatives of all 57 Muslim countries. This document asserts that Shari\u2019ah<\/em> has primacy over the UN\u2019s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and claims that Allah has made the umma<\/em> (Islamic community) \u201cthe best nation,\u201d whose role is to \u201cguide\u201d humanity.<\/p>\n

The Cairo Declaration states principles that are common to many civilizations but then modifies these principles to comply with Shari\u2019ah.<\/em> Thus it affirms \u201c[man\u2019s] freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Shari-ah<\/em>.\u201d It says the laws of Islam are \u201cbinding divine commandments . . . and that no one as a matter of principle has the right to suspend them in whole or in part or violate or ignore [them] \u2026\u201d Again, \u201cit is prohibited to take away life except for a Shari\u2019ah prescribed reason<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freedom of speech is first affirmed, then limited by Shari\u2019ah<\/em>: \u201cEveryone shall have the right to advocate what is right, and propagate what is good, and warn against what is wrong and evil according to the norms of Islamic Shari\u2019ah.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Political rights can only be exercised \u201cin accordance with the provisions of Shari\u2019ah<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in its final article the Cairo Declaration reaffirms the self-enclosed, impermeable-to-criticism nature of Islamic law: \u201cThe Islamic Shari\u2019ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus when church leaders make statements that imply Muslims and Christians are all really working for the same \u201ccommon good,\u201d they perpetuate a dangerous illusion that dishonors victims of jihad terror and colludes with terrorism today.<\/p>\n

Then how could a Lutheran pray for Muslims?<\/strong> Some suggestions:<\/p>\n

We pray for the courage and wisdom to spread the gospel in Muslim countries.
\nWe pray for God to convert Muslims through the preaching of the cross of Christ.
\nWe pray that God would confound Muslim efforts to lead people away from Christ.<\/p>\n

We pray for the courage to support Muslims who publicly support human rights as defined    by the UN\u2019s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
\nWe pray for the separation of religion and state in Muslim countries.
\nWe pray for Islamic countries to foreswear their goal of exterminating the Jews.
\nWe pray for Islamic countries to refrain from killing those who convert out of Islam.
\nWe pray for Islamic countries to refrain from persecuting religious minorities.
\nWe pray for Islamic countries to refrain from honor killings and persecution of women.
\nWe pray for Islamic countries to allow women equal rights.<\/p>\n

We thank God for the separation of religion and state in our own country and ask for the courage to honor and defend this separation for ourselves and others.
\nWe pray to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: THY kingdom come, THY will be done.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

1<\/sup> See also \u201cHere We Stand: Universal Salvation<\/a>\u201d under Here We Stand<\/strong> at crossalone.us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Printable PDF Someone put \u201cThe Nation of Islam\u201d on the prayer-chain of a Lutheran congregation in Arizona. It actually happened. What were they thinking? First of all, the Nation of Islam (NOI) is a black Muslim group which stands outside of traditional Islam.  Led today by Louis Farrakhan, the NOI believes that Allah became incarnate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-186","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=186"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4188,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/186\/revisions\/4188"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}