Two weeks ago, three Polish people made a sudden visit to me in my room in the dormitory of Lodz University, Poland. They introduced themselves as Jakup, Adam, and Josef. They said their names are from the Bible and not like the strange names of these days.
Then, they stressed that they believe in all prophets and think that this world is corrupt, and they have a strong desire to create a common ground with Muslim foreign students to discuss how we can change this world for the better. They referred to the Philippines tsunami and said they wondered if it was a punishment from God.
Moreover, when I referred to Mandela as a great person that we should learn from, they replied that the largest majority of people are corrupt, stressing that Mandela himself couldn’t solve the problem of apartheid. So, in their view, we should work together to change the world to be a heaven.
They gave me many pamphlets in English and Arabic, and asked me: ”Can the dead really live again?” I answered the question according to my Islamic beliefs. They said, ”No! Please choose one answer from this pamphlet.” When I opened the pamphlet they referred to, I found many verses from the Bible, and no verse from Quran.
The strange thing is, I found another pamphlet cites some Quranic verses to prove that there are no alterations in the Bible, and mentions the names of all prophets except the Prophet Mohamed.
This raised many questions in my mind. First, if they believed in all prophets (including the Prophet Mohamed), and think that Quran is the word of God, why aren’t they Muslims? Second, if they want to create a real common ground with foreign students, why do they discuss closed religious issues like resurrection, and hell and heaven; and why don’t they focus on open discourse like the issues of tolerance, peace, and love between nations? Third, why do they offer us free copies of the Bible?
After a while, another of their group came to the room and told them in Polish that it was time to leave. They gave me their cards and website address and asked for my phone number and email address, confirming that they would visit again the following week if it was convenient for me. I wanted to tell them that I didn’t have the time, but felt shy to say so.
I went to some Arab friends who live in the dorm to ask if such evangelists visited them also. The students confirmed that they visit them weekly and spend hours talking to them about Christian beliefs and teachings.
“I was so angry, and wanted to ask them frankly: do you want us to convert to Christianity?”, one Moroccan student said.
”I was so angry too; what do such people want from us? We will never become Christians; now I believe in the conspiracy theory; they want us to become Christians, so when we get back to our countries we can convert more Muslims to their religion”, a Yemini student stated.
I must say that, like all foreign students, I felt angry, especially when I read the pamphlets. One of them pamphlets says mostly in bold capitals, “YOU ARE INVITED TO a weekly program of Bible discussions; ENJOY A FREE HOME BIBLE STUDY, and raise questions like: ”Does God really care about us? What happens to us when we die? How can I pray and be heard by God?”
A look at those questions above can surely confirm this is just a call to convert Muslim students to Christianity. Such questions deal with very closed areas and cannot create a common ground. Creating a common ground requires addressing open areas like tolerance, peace and shared principles, rather than controversial points.
If we reject Islamisation, we should also discourage evangelism of this sort. Neither of them can strengthen dialogue. Rather, they would both, inadvertently or otherwise, create hatred and enmity.
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