he enters Heaven and avoids Hell. Listen with
respect while he tells you what he believes.
6. When speaking with Muslims, do not attack
Muhammad or Islam. Do not point out
errors in the Koran or bring up violent acts
by Muslim extremists. Your goal is to lift up
Christ.
7. Share your testimony of what Christ
has done in your life and the
assurance you have of sins
forgiven and eternal
life. Then ask the
Muslim if you may
show him what
Jesus said about
eternal life in the
Injil (Gospels).
8. Ask the Muslim
if he would like
to study the Bible
with you.
9. Work patiently to
present Bible truths
to the Muslim
over the weeks
or months. Show
that the cross was
not a defeat but a
victory. Emphasize
the importance of
the blood sacrifice for
the forgiveness of sin. The
Muslim is familiar with animal
sacrifice and the provision of the ram for
Abraham’s son. (Muslims believe the son was
Ishmael.) Present Christ as the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
10.Do not rush a Muslim to make a decision.
The Muslim must believe that Christ is God
and the only way of salvation.
11.Remember that there will be a high cost to
pay for most Muslims who reject Islam and
turn to Christ as their Savior, even for those
who live in the West.
12.Seize this opportunity to lovingly reach out
to these that God has brought to our land
that they might hear and be saved.
Resources
Arabic Bible Outreach Ministry
PO Box 486
Dracut, MA 01826
[email protected]
www.arabicbible.com
Fellowship of Faith for
Muslims
PO Box 65214
Toronto, ON M4K 3Z2
CANADA
[email protected]
Friends of Muslims
PO Box 6585
Wyomissing, PA 19610
[email protected]
www.answering-islam.org
Taking the Gospel to
Muslim People
Multi-Language Media
PO Box 301
Ephrata, PA 17522
[email protected]
www.multilanguage.com
Note: The listing of these resources does not
imply an endorsement of these ministries.
By Robert Rutledge
GFA Missionary in England
Gospel Fellowship Association Missions
1809 Wade Hampton Boulevard, Suite 110
Greenville, SC 29609
(864) 609-5500
E-mail: [email protected]
www.gfamissions.org
GM060 12/06
helping
churches
send this
generation’s
finest
missionaries
Followers of Islam today number over one
billion—about one-sixth of the world’s population. Muslims openly seek to win converts and
spend millions to proclaim their message in many
countries. On the other hand, mission­aries seeking to win the Muslim people are few and often
work many years to see even a small number
come to Christ. Islamic countries have laws
preventing evangelistic work among their people.
However, God has allowed many Muslims to
immigrate to countries such as the United States
and the United Kingdom, where there is freedom
to carry out open evangelism. Christ’s command
recorded in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every crea­ture,” surely
in­cludes the Muslim people. Many Christians
have Muslim co-workers or neigh­bors. Believers
should look upon their contact with Muslims as
a great opportu­nity to proclaim God’s
truth to a needy people.
The History
of Islam
Islam: the proper name for the religion
started by Muhammad. Islam is the Arabic word
for “submission.”
Muslim: the proper name for a follower of Islam. Muslim is the Arabic
word meaning “one who submits
to God.”
Muhammad: the founder of
Islam (570–632 A.D.).
Allah: the Arabic name for God.
Beginnings: Muhammad claimed
in 610 A.D. that Gabriel (God’s
angel) had told him he was God’s
prophet to the Arab world. Muhammad’s
claim was rejected at first, but later many
accepted him as a prophet of God. Islam
grew rapidly and had be­come a domi­nant
power in the Arabian Peninsula by the time of
Muhammad’s death in 632. Following his death,
Islam continued to spread, reaching North Africa
and Europe by 750.
Islamic Doctrine
and Belief
The Five Pillars
1. Confession: “There is no god
but Allah, and Muhammad is
the messenger of God.”
2. Prayer: to be made
toward Mecca at five fixed
times each day.
3. Fasting: going without
food or drink from dawn
until dusk during the ninth
month in the Muslim year
(Ramadan).
4. Almsgiving: a freewill loan to God of two percent
of one’s wealth to help the poor and needy.
5. Pilgrimage (or Hajj): a trip to Mecca required at
least once in a lifetime.
Beliefs
The Muslim believes that salvation can be obtained
by following the pillars of Islam and obeying
the laws of the Koran. There is no assurance of eternal life. “If Allah wills, I will enter
Paradise.”
The Muslim believes in
four holy books.
1. Tawrat: the
first five books
of the Old
Testament.
2. Zabur:
the Psalms.
3. Injil: what
Jesus said in
the Gospels.
4. Koran:
considered to
be a record of
what Muhammad claims
Gabriel told him. Koran is Arabic,
meaning “recitation.”
(Note: Many Muslims believe that the Bible has
been altered from its original form.)
• The Muslim believes in one God and that it
is a great sin to add partners to God. The
Muslim views the Trinity as a violation of this
teaching.
• The Muslim believes that man is born innocent (like a blank sheet of paper) and rejects
the idea that man is born a sinner.
• The Muslim believes that all men must one
day stand before God.
• The Muslim believes in a heaven (Paradise)
and a hell.
• The Muslim believes in the virgin birth of
Christ.
• The Muslim believes that Christ is only a
prophet and not the Son of God.
• The Muslim believes that Christ was secretly
taken to Heaven before dying and that
someone else was put in His place to die
on the cross.
• The Muslim believes that Christ will return
to earth someday and will marry, have children and die.
• The Muslim believes in Adam, Eve, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, David, Solomon,
Jesus and other people in the Bible.
• The Muslim believes that Allah is all-compassionate and forgiving but not the loving,
personal God of the Bible.
Reaching Out to
Muslims in Your Area
1. Spend much time in prayer because
you are dealing with people under strong
deception.
2. Know your Bible and be ready to give an
answer of the hope that is within you. Also,
read books about Muslims that have come
to Christ, missionaries that have worked with
Muslims, etc.
3. Obtain a Koran from the library or a bookstore. It is likely that the Muslim will ask you if
you have read it.
4. Find Muslims in your area by looking for
names such as Abdul, Khan, Habib, Haslam
and Muhammad in your phone book.
5. After introducing yourself and giving the reason for your visit (“I am out talking to people
about God, the Bible and eternal life”), ask
the Muslim if he believes in Heaven and Hell.
Then ask him what he is doing to make sure