Beneath Islam's Dark Shadow

A Christian organization has initiated a ten-year project to develop a twenty-four hour prayer chain. Prayer for a specific objective will by this means continually ascend to God, twenty-four hours a day, each day of the year, for a whole decade (DV).

The objective? The strengthening and encouragement of Christian minorities in Muslim lands. There are of course some countries where the Muslim faith predominates but general religious toleration obtains. However, it is sadly evident in other places that this is not the case, Christians being penalized for their faith. True Christian believers who suffer for the sake of the Name will surely be heartened by the Master's words: "Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you" (Mat. 5:11,12). Christian resilience under stress of persecution has brought glory to God since apostolic times. Believers who have not themselves experienced such trials are stirred in heart by the example of those who suffer. That this quality of Christian faith persists in our present materialistic and cynical age brings joy and assurance today to all who love the Lord; and stirs them to sympathetic prayer.

From Egypt comes news of pressures on the Christian minority. Freedom of religion is officially guaranteed by the country's constitution; yet in 1990 there was a wave of assaults by Muslims on the churches, homes and shops of the minority Christian population in Upper Egypt. There is generally strong opposition to any attempts to convert people from Islam. Three ex-Muslims who were arrested last autumn have allegedly been tortured and though acquitted three times by the courts, were still being detained many months later. It is becoming progressively more difficult for Christians in Egypt to obtain higher grade jobs in the civil service, universities and the like.

In Pakistan Islam claims 97% of the population. The death sentence was recently made mandatory for the offence of criticizing the prophet Mohammed. Formerly there had been the option of a prison sentence for at least twenty-five years, or even for life; but this has now been removed in favour of the ultimate penalty. The new law is aimed at making the position of Christians more difficult: For clear testimony to the gospel of Christ may so easily be seen as implying criticism of Mohammed.

The Turkish government's Islamic stance has resulted in the gradual weakening of the Greek Orthodox Church in that country. Seventy years ago about 80% of Istanbul's population was nominally "Christian": today there are barely three thousand Greek Orthodox adherents among the population of six million. The building of new churches is forbidden. There is strict limitation of residence permits for foreign clergy. For the past twenty years the only seminary for the training of Orthodox clergy has been closed. As a result of these policies even nominal Christianity has been effectively diminished. How sadly this all contrasts with the buoyant apostolic witness in the Roman provinces of Asia, Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia and Bythinia where first-century churches of God flourished! (1 Peter 1:5).

Saudi Arabia has long forbidden any open Christian activity. King Fahd has specifically pointed out to his fellow-Muslims the danger of Christian evangelism. Vast financial resources have been allocated for the promotion of Islam - an estimated �600,000,000 over recent years. An international conference of Islamic ministers of religious affairs, convened in Saudi Arabia last year, announced "a world-wide campaign for the promotion of Islam". One of the campaign's objectives was to activate Islamic minorities in Western Europe to propagate the message of Islam more vigorously.

A plaintive report from Bethlehem reflects the sadness of Christian Arabs now under pressure from fundamentalist Arab Muslims in the West Bank area: "We Christians and Muslims have been living together peacefully for a long time", a Christian woman said, "but these fundamentalists are different: We never felt the fear of Muslim domination before. Life is becoming unbearable". It seems that customary Christian activities in Bethlehem were frowned on by the Muslim Arabs because any signs of celebration were regarded as a breach of the intifadeh.

The dark shadow of Islam is cast over the very birthplace of the Saviour of the world, the Christ of God. How appropriate that we should "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17).

unknown | Nov 1991
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