In my last post, I shared with you the main messages of the Qur’an, along with what I liked, disliked and was surprised by when I read it. In this post, I’ll offer thoughts on how Christians can witness to Muslims.
There are different ways to witness, but I believe the following steps will work when witnessing to Muslims.
- Establish common ground
- Discuss the predicament or problems
- Offer a solution to the problem(s)
- Provide evidence for the solution
As you proceed through these steps, there are several goals you will want to accomplish. You want your Muslim acquaintance or friend to:
- Wonder why the Qur’an appears to validate the authority of the gospels in the Bible, but the Qur’an’s message contradicts the Bible’s gospel message.
- Realize that the founding of Islam is nearly identical to the founding of Mormonism, and wonder how to know which (of the major religions) is true.
- Understand that he sins a lot, everyone sins a lot, sin is humanity’s real problem, and we need a solution to it.
- Realize that the only One qualified to remedy the sin problem is Jesus, who was much more than a messenger or prophet.
- Acknowledge the possibility that Christianity best addresses our sin problem.
- Realize that a changed heart and life – that stem from a person’s conversion – is evidence for the truthfulness of Christianity.
Establish Common Ground
I believe it’s important to relate as much as possible to the person you are witnessing to in order to establish a relationship with them, or to at least put them somewhat at ease. I’ve listed below some beliefs that we as Christians share with Muslims, so when you start to witness, you’ll want to mention several of these.
- One God, who is powerful, all wise, all knowing, forgiving and merciful
- Man’s need to revere God above everything and everyone else.
- The Torah, Psalms and Gospels as Scripture that came from God and which guide us
- The importance of Old Testament prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, Noah, etc.
- The need to warn disbelievers of their likely fate if they don’t change their beliefs
- The existence of heaven or something similar where believers will go
- The need to do good things/deeds, and that God will judge us on what we do
For example, you could start the conversation something like, “I’d like to ask you a few questions about Islam, if you don’t mind, and share with you some of what I believe. Is that OK with you?”
Response: Sure.
“OK. Let me tell you some of the things I believe in, and you can tell me if you agree. I believe in…”
“Do you believe in these too?”
Response: Yes.
Discuss the Predicament/Problems
Now that you’ve established some agreement, you need to transition into areas of disagreement, but in a respectful way. There are several, but we will limit our focus to the gospels and Jesus.
Gospels and Jesus
In a handful of places, the Qur’an mentions the Gospel, Torah and Psalms, and views these as Scripture. Although Muslim scholars disagree on whether the Gospel in the Qur’an refers to the gospels of the Bible, we will assume it does, just as the Psalms in the Qur’an would seem to refer to the Psalms in the Bible.
The problem is that the Qur’an contradicts the gospels in the Bible, for the Qur’an teaches that Jesus was not the Son of God or the Messiah, nor was He crucified.
So, here are some questions you can ask:
“The Qur’an mentions the Gospel, Torah and Pslams as Scripture, right?”
Response: Yes, I believe so.
“The Qur’an’s message about Jesus differs from that found in the gospels of the Bible though. In the Qur’an, Jesus is no different than any other prophet. He was not the Son of God or the Messiah, and was not crucified. In the gospel books of the Bible, Jesus was different from all other prophets. He is the Son of God, the Messiah and was crucified. Since both sources of information are reportedly from God, how can they differ, and which one is (more) correct?”
Response: The Qur’an is correct; the Bible has been corrupted over time from different translations (if he says this, rather than voice your disagreement with him, I recommend you move on to the next discussion issue).
Which is Right?
At this point, I think you should press the issue – of which religion is true – a little further. You want to raise the question in his mind as to how one can know whether the religion you believe in is true given that there are so many of them. To do this, you will describe a religion to him that he’ll think is Islam, but instead is Mormonism.
“Let me play a little game with you, if you’re up for it. I’m going to describe a religion for you, and then I want you to tell me which one it is. Ready?”
Response: Yes.
“A long time ago, but after the Bible was written, a new religion was founded. In this religion, a man received revelations from an angel. With the assistance of others, he recorded what he received into a book. Through this experience, the man became a prophet, and his followers view him as the greatest prophet that ever lived. This religion stresses the importance of doing good deeds. Also, it views Jesus differently than Christians do, and does not believe in the Trinity. What religion am I describing?”
Response: Islam!
“No, Mormonism.”
Your response should surprise him, and hopefully get him to think about this issue more. Now we need to steer his thoughts towards the Christian religion, and more specifically the problem of sin.
Transition into Sin
“There are a number of religions in our world, and those of us who are religious want to know which one is right or true, correct? I believe there is one that best addresses the fundamental problem every person faces every day. Do you want to know what this problem is?”
Response: Sure.
“It’s sin. We sin all of the time, but many people don’t realize it, or don’t think about it. Let me ask you a question. What do you think sin is?”
Response: Doing bad things.
“That’s true, but only partly. According to the Bible, sin includes not only the bad things you do, but the good things you should do but don’t. In addition, sin goes beyond what you do, to what you say and think. Based upon this, how much do you think you sin?”
Response: (Hopefully he says) A lot.
“Some people think they don’t sin much, but I can prove to them that they do, and here’s how. Imagine if someone attached wires to your brain that were tied to a movie projector, and the projector showed – on a big screen for everyone to see – all of your thoughts. Would you be OK with this? The answer, or course, is no. No one would. Why? Because we not only do sinful things, we have bad thoughts and wrong desires that lead to sin. We live in a world of greed and pride and selfishness and lust and violence…these all stem from our sinful thoughts and desires. But there’s only one world religion that addresses this problem head on. Do you know what it is?
Response: I don’t know – you tell me.
“It’s Christianity.”
Offer a Solution to the Problem
“According to Christianity, we all inherited our sin problem from Adam and Eve. They disobeyed God by obeying Satan, and that was humanity’s first sin. Every person who was subsequently born inherited a sinful nature, and that’s why everyone sins.
The problem with sin is that it causes us to live in a way that does not please God, it separates us from God, and it prevents us from going to heaven.
However, God knew this would happen, so he devised a plan to address the problem*. The plan was to have someone who did not sin to step in on our behalf and take the punishment for sin, which is spiritual death, or separation from God. This may not seem fair or right, but it was the only way to satisfy God’s justice. When a person sins, someone has to be held accountable for it, or “pay” for it. The only person that could do this for us was Jesus, for he never sinned.
Too many people think of Jesus only as a child who later became a man and preached the gospel. But Jesus was much more. He existed from the beginning; He simply “became flesh” for a time before He went back to heaven. He was born differently than all other messengers, He came for a different purpose per Matthew 1, which was to “save His people from their sins” and He claimed to be divine. Jesus was not merely a prophet, or a messenger, for even John the Baptist, who was greater than the Old Testament prophets, viewed himself as unfit to even remove Jesus’ sandals. Jesus was human and deity at the same time, and this is why He could do things that no mere man could do, such as healing the blind and the deaf and the crippled, and raising people from the dead. Jesus alone offers forgiveness of a person’s sins if they repent of their sinful way of life, and surrender to Him as their Lord.”
Provide Evidence for the Solution
“So, I’ve told you a lot just now, so let me conclude with this.
Of all of the major world religions, I believe Christianity makes the most sense because it addresses the fundamental problem we all have – which is sin – and offers a solution for it. When a person accepts this solution – which requires them to repent and surrender their life to Jesus – God wipes away that person’s sins (past, present and future), cleanses their “heart” and gives them His Holy Spirit to dwell within them. These spiritual miracles forever change them in terms of what they think, say and do. And I’m living proof of it (then you tell your conversion story, and how God has changed how you live. You might also challenge him to read the gospels in the Bible).”
The next time I’m on a business trip and have a Muslim driver, I’ll try to go through the above steps and let you know how it works.
*The Qur’an mentions sin a few times, but more in passing than as a real problem. In at least one area it mentions “lesser” sins, but I don’t know what constitutes lesser vs. other sins. In another place, the removal of sins appears to be conditioned upon doing this: keep up the prayer, pay the prescribed alms, believe in my Messengers and support them, and lend God a good loan (5:12). The Qur’an also says, “If only the People of the Book would believe and be mindful of God (these are terms used to describe Islam), We would take away their sins and bring them into the Gardens of Delight.” These differ from the Bible (and gospel message) where one must repent and put one’s faith in Jesus as Lord.
Salvation Summaries 
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