Bassam Michael Madany

As Christianity in Western Europe and the United Kingdom is in decline, Muslim immigrants are settling in these lands with an agenda — to spread Islam, making them part of Daru’l Islam. Rather than learning about the history of Islam and its global conquests, we are being desensitized by television programs that advertise a rosy and tolerant view of Islam.

It isn’t my purpose to comment on the events. However, I offer my readers the text of an article that Dr. Shake al-Nabulsi, a Jordanian writer, posted on the Arabic online daily Elaph, with the title, “The Losers and the Winners from Camp David.”

As Newton’s popularity grew, he received several calls to service in prominent parts of England. He left the Church of St Peter and St Paul at Olney in 1780 to serve as Rector of St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, London, where he officiated until his death on 21 December 1807. His 25 years of service at a prestigious Anglican church in London, where the Olney Hymns were sung, paved the way for the normalization of hymn-singing beyond the Church of England, impacting anglophone Protestant churches everywhere.

Following WWII, European countries experienced the influx of foreign workers needed for their raevived industries. At first, the guest workers were expected to return to their home countries. That did not happen. Eventually, their families joined them. As a result, the demographic scene changed. That became a challenge to the Christian churches.

“While slavery has been known throughout history among all nations, and on all continents, what is less known is that the African slave-trade was inaugurated by the Arab-Muslims; it lasted around thirteen centuries without interruption. It was accompanied by a generalized castration of incalculable numbers of Black captives. Its impact was greater than the Trans-Atlantic slave-trade. The saddest thing about this historic tragedy, is that most of the deported people were deprived of having any descendants, due to the policy adopted by the Arabs.

Compared to the Bible, the Islamic tradition, based on the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sirat Muhamad, presents an entirely different and antithetical account of the Person and Work of Jesus, the Messiah. The New Testament relates the story as written by the disciples of Jesus Christ, Matthew, and John. Paul, a convert from Judaism, became an ardent missionary and spread the Gospel throughout the Mediterranean World. He sent his Epistles (Letters) to churches he had founded and dealt with doctrines relating to the work of Jesus and with ethical matters.

The obstacles to Muslims leaving Islam are based on the Qur’an and the actions of Abu Bakr, the first Muslim Caliph. Upon learning of the death of Muhammad in 632AD, several Arab tribes, who had accepted his claims as Prophet and leader of the Umma (the New Islamic Community), decided to return to their previous tribal status quo. Immediately, Abu Bakr led punitive campaigns against them, forcing them to return to Islamic rule. These campaigns are known in history as Huroob al-Ridda (Wars against Apostasy). From then on, the Umma believed that 'once a Muslim, always a Muslim,’, i.e., there is no going back; al-Ridda is not tolerated.

The invading Arab Islamic armies not only acquired new lands where they imposed the Jizya tax on Christians and Jews but also sent scores of young women as concubines to Medina, Damascus, and Baghdad. This action constituted a new feature of Islamic Imperialism as described in a book by Professor Darío Fernández-Morera, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Hispanic Studies at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

“The Mu’tazilite Project failed due partly to the repressive measures that were used against them; additionally, their work was too abstract for the common people, and thus, they failed to gain their support. Had they succeeded, a historical reading or exegesis of the Qur’an might have arisen. Ultimately, a spirit of tolerance may become prevalent throughout the years after the failure of the Mu’tazilite Project.”

Most Arab and Muslim writers, even those who claim to be moderate, hardly ever admit that Islam was responsible for the rise of a unique imperialistic venture in the history of mankind. No other major world religion combined religion with politics, church, and state, as Islam has done during the last 1400 years. And no other religion spread primarily through the sword, as Islam has done. In fact, Muslims glorify their early Conquests, claiming that they were accomplished with the approval of Allah, who gave them the right to bring mankind under their rule.

First, our salvation begins by hearing and believing the words of the gospel, we are born again (John 3:3) and justified by faith in Christ (Galatians 2:16)
“Saving faith comes by hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17) Scripture reveals we progress in our Christian faith by hearing God’s word with faith (Colossians 2: 6,7)

“Yet the living tradition, the continuity of Christian life, is indispensable. Without it, Scripture would have had no context. If we could suppose that the church had been wiped out in the Diocletian persecution and the church’s scripture lost, to be rediscovered in our own day like the Dead Sea Scrolls, would the rediscovered scriptures once more have the effect which we know them to have in experience, or would they, like the Scrolls, be an archeological curiosity and a subject of historical debate? On the other hand, the living tradition without the constant corrective of Scripture, (or, in more modern language, without the possibility of ‘reformation according to the Word of God’), might have developed out of all recognition if it did not have indeed slowly faded and died.”

So, we are indebted to Bat Ye’or (Daughter of the Nile) who took the initiative by writing a book on the treatment of Christians and Jews in Islam.  I learned about her work from an article in First Things, by Richard John Neuhaus, who commented on her book “The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude.”

Since the rise of Islam in the 7th century A.D., it spread mostly at the expense of Christian lands. The Christians in those conquered areas were weak and divided. The Arab conquerors called Christians and Jews "Dhimmis," a term that means "protected." This protection, however, did not mean that they were free in the expression of their faith. Severe restrictions were placed on them, such as paying the Jizya tax. It was my privilege to be a radio missionary of The Christian

I have digitized my Lexicon of Modern Arabic terms and phrases. I hope it is of help to students and reserch academics in the field of Modern Arabic. To access this work, please use the following link.
https://www.unashamedofthegospel.org/editoruploads/files/Contemporary%20Arabic%20Vocabulary%20List.pdf

Theodor Herzl, a Jewish correspondent of a Viennese newspaper, covered the Dreyfus trial. He became convinced that there was no hope for the Jews to achieve complete emancipation in Europe. He became the father of the Zionist Movement which advocated the establishment of a national home for the Jews. After many debates at World Zionist Congresses, it was decided to establish this home in Palestine. After his death, the Zionist Movement was assumed by Chaim Weitzmann, a Polish Jew who was teaching chemistry in England. During the war he helped the British Navy by inventing materials used to combat German submarines. Eventually, the British Government published the Balfour Declaration, which favored the established of a Jewish state in Palestine.

“On Sunday, the 29th of October 2023, President Erdogan will mark Turkey's centenary by honouring the republic's revered founder, while chipping away at the foundation. Erdogan and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk have become the seminal figures of modern Turkey, their contrasting styles and visions defining the shape of society and the country's place in the world.
“Meaning the "father of all Turks", the surname Ataturk was bestowed on Mustafa Kemal by Turkey's parliament after the field marshal drove out foreign armies and built a new, staunchly secular republic from the Ottoman Empire's ruins. Now, Erdogan is walking a fine line between paying respects to the man who created the country, and building his own legacy -- one that critics fear is pulling Turkey back into its Ottoman past. ”
  Erdogan challenges Ataturk's legacy on Turkey's centenary (yahoo.com)

Two southern Syrian provinces have risen-up against the oppressive Assad regime in Damascus. Unlike previous uprisings since 1970, President Bashar Assad has not sought to squelch this Intifada. One reason is the provinces are adjacent to Jordan, Lebanon, and occupied sections of the Golan Heights. The most likely reason is the fact that the population is Druze, a religious sect related to Shia Islam. The Druze have been fiercely independent and had opposed the French presence in Syria between 1920 and 1946. I remember their 1936 uprising against the French and its news that was covered in the newspapers that my father read.

Another feature of French colonialism was the presence of Catholic and
Protestant missionary activities where the translation of the Bible and other Christian literature into French was done. For centuries, the only available version was that of Olivétan’s translation of the1530s. Since then, the French language had modernized considerably, and there had been advances in the practice of Bible translation, such as the work
of Constantin von Tischendorf. Thus, there was a great need for a new
translation of the Bible into French. Which brings us to Louis Segond's
translation of 1910.

“The tension between the Church’s essential nature and its empirical condition means the Church is always in a state of crisis. As a divine-human society it ‘is not one of the many religious and moral institutions that exist in the world.’ As an incarnated empirical human institution, it simultaneously witnesses against an evil-dominated world, while also witnessing to it being God’s creation and object of redeeming quality. The Church experiences crisis between the world and divine orders but is often unconscious of this because unless it realizes its nature and mission, behaves as if it was just a religious and moral institution.”

“For a long time, to proclaim the Gospel to Muslims, missionaries had to cross the seas, as Saint Francis did, who went to Egypt and witnessed to Sultan Malik al-Kamil. Nowadays, Christians who want to share the Good News with Muslims, can cross the street to meet Muslims. Several of them are thirsty for the truth about God.”

Ever since the Third General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in New Delhi, 1961, a modern understanding of missions has developed through the influence of secular ecumenical theologies and political ideologies. Due to the influence of ‘radical evangelicals’ originally from Latin America, this view is increasingly being adopted by the evangelical side. The contemporary theological thinking of evangelicals ranges between the proclamation of salvation in Christ on the one hand, and the changing of society as the surmised goal of evangelism on the other. The latter understanding of mission is called ‘holistic’ or ‘incarnatory’. Many missiologists now call their discipline ‘Missional Theology’, based on the view that all functions of the church, including her social and political responsibilities, are determined by her total mission in the world, which is to establish the promised ‘Kingdom of God’. In this connection, the word ‘Transformation’, so far unknown to many Christians, has become a key concept.”

I left Saudi Arabia and moved to Paris, France. I lived in a neighborhood where there were no Muslims, At the apartment there were many French families. They were kind and very welcoming to me; but they never spoke to me about their faith. God was no longer part of my life. I made a good living; I had my comfortable life. I visited everything in Paris, except the churches.
I met a French man who introduced me to his Catholic family and to his friends. And little by little, I started to get interested in the Christian faith, in the Christian culture, in the Holy Scriptures and to ask a lot of questions.

On 20 June 2023, the YouTube channel, Qanat al-Taghier (The Channel of Change) posted an Interview with the Iraqi Tamara al-Daghestani about the events of 14 July 1958, when the Iraqi royal family was assassinated in a horrific coup. Her father, a general in the Iraqi Army and not part of the Coup, managed to fly to London where he found refuge for himself and the family. At the time, Tamara was a five-year old girl.
The Interview began with this question: “How were the King of Iraq and his family assassinated, and who were those who dragged their bodies throughout the streets of Baghdad?”

In 1964, General Abdel Salam Arif appointed his brother General Abdul Rahman Arif, as Chief-of-Staff of th Army. Two years later, on 13 April 1966, General Abdel Salam Arif was killed in the crash of an Iraqi Air Force plane in southern Iraq He was replaced as president, by his brother Abdul Rahman Arif.
On 17 July 1968, the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, led by Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein, seized power allowing the Ba'ath Party to control Iraq, until the U.S invasion in March 2003. It didn’t take long before Saddam Hussein became the absolute ruler of Iraq. Relations between Iraq and Syria deteriorated after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. Iran established a close relation with the Assad regime in Syria that adhered to the Alawite sect, a branch Shi’ism related to that practiced in Iran.

Ever since the Arab conquests of the seventh century, a pervasive continuity has enveloped the lives of Christians in particular. A book by Dr. Robert Benton Betts, "Christians in the Arab East" explains one era of that continuum, as it affected the status of Christians in the lands of the "Arab East."1

President Nasser had negotiated with the United States and Britain for the building of Aswan High Dam in Upper Egypt. When the deal didn’t materialize, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company in July 1956. In response, France, Britain, and Israel attacked Egypt in October 1956, and landed their troops in the Canal area. The United States joined the Soviet Union in opposing the Anglo-French action. Nasser regained control over the Canal. In 1957, the United Nations placed UNICEF (UN Emergency Force) in the Sinai to act as a buffer between the Egyptian and Israeli forces.

An Arabic YouTube channel, Qanat al-Taghier posted an Interview with the Iraqi Tamara al-Daghestani, about the events of 14 July 1958, when the Iraqi royal family was assassinated in a horrific coup. Her father, a general in the Iraqi Army and not a member of the plot, managed to fly to London, where he found refuge for himself and his family. At the time, Tamara was a five-years old girl!

The coups in the Arab world began in Syria when Husni Al--Zaim staged his coup in 1954 Several other coups followed leading to the Assad family ruling Syria since 1970!

When proclaiming the Gospel to Muslims, we must remember the cultural baggage they bring to the Bible. They believe the Qur’an to be Allah’s final revelation, and it abrogates the Torah (OT) and the Injil (NT.) Muslims claim these books had been corrupted prior to the rise of Islam. The Christian messenger must keep that in mind, when sharing the Gospel with Muslims.  In fact, any revision of the Arabic Bible would be confusing to Arabic-speaking Muslims. They cannot see the need for revising the Smith-Van Dyke (SVD) that took place in 1865, when the revival of Classical Arabic and Arab culture had been going on since the early years of the 19th Century!

The Abbasid period lasted for several centuries and was centered in Baghdad. It witnessed the flowering of Islamic civilization. Arabic culture, the arts, and knowledge were much promoted. The peak of Abbasid glory occurred under Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809) and his son Al-Ma’moon (813-833). During this period Baghdad was a magnificent urban center.
The history and details of recent conflicts and the birth of the State of Israel are described in Chapter 9. We are given a concise account of the tortuous history of the period between 1948 and the beginning of the Third Millennium. At the conclusion of Parts 1 & 2, the authors comment:

Having illustrated the strong points in the writings of Bernard Lewis, several of his books are disappointing. He claims that Islam has been a tolerant religion, especially in its attitude to the People of the Book, i.e., Jews and Christians.
It is true that when Jews and Christians surrendered to the invading Islamic armies, they were given the status of “dhimmis,” an Arabic word that means, “Protected Ones.” But this so-called “protection” while allowing them to maintain their faith, deprived them of most of the rights they had enjoyed prior to their conquest. Severe restrictions were placed on dhimmis. They could not propagate their faith, they had to pay the Jizya tax, and when their houses of worship needed repair, it was extremely difficult to get a permit for such repairs. Some of their churches were confiscated, such as the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Damascus, Syria, that became the historic Umayyad Mosque.

Having received most of my education during the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon, French was my cultural language.  In God’s Providence, Pasteur Marcel became my mentor by providing me with theological articles that appeared in the Journal.

Some readers who accessed the article, did not realize it referred to an Arabic publication, based on the work of Dr. Pierre Ch. Marcel, a Pastor of the French Reformed Church. The title of the book is, A L’Ecole de Dieu, In God’s School.            The English version sells for $28.00.
The following is the publisher’s explanation of the nature and purpose of the Catechism.
“In God's School (A L' Ecole de Dieu) is foundational Christian instruction. It follows the outline of John Calvin's Geneva Catechism along with the Heidelberg Catechism.

THE TEACHINGS OF THE HOLY BIBLE DR. PIERRE CH. MARCEL'S A L'ECOLE DE DIEU Based on the Heidelberg Catechism Translated and Broadcast by Bassam Michael Madany teachingsofthebible.pdf (kalimatalhayat.com) Over a period of thirty-six years. I broadcast these doctrinal lessons that included the Biblical references. Fifty-thousand copies were printed and sent to missionaries laboring in the Arab world.

A couple years before the Arab Spring began in Tunisia , and spread to other Arab countries, a group of Arab intellectuals met in Kuwait to launch an Enlightenment Movement throughout the Arab world.
To accomplish their goal, they started a website “kwtanweer” whereby reformist Arab intellectuals posted their views in articles. I began viewing the articles in 2006; for some unknown reason the website disappeared in 2009.

The decision to readmit Bashar al-Assad to membership in the Arab league was met with strong criticism by Arab commentators on the social media.
These are excerpts:
“On what basis that action was taken, while many Syrians were looking for their imprisoned, or disappeared sons, or daughters, or husbands, or wives?”

“As long as the Assad Regime exists, there can be neither justice, nor solution for the problems of the Syrian people.”

“The return of Al-Assad to the Arab League in lieu of his trial, sends a message to the world that war criminals can escape punishment.”

In Hamed Abdel-Samad TV program Box of Islam No. 215, he listed (in thirty episodes,) the major problems of Islam. A basic and active motif in Islam has been the use of religion in the service of politics. It functioned during the caliphates of the Rashidun, the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Ottomans
Rather than analyzing and commenting on these problems, as I often do in my articles, I share some of the comments made by the responders to the thirty episodes posted by Abdel-Samad on his YouTube ch

On the 15th of May 2023, Israel celebrates its 75th Anniversary.           
I remember that Saturday morning (15 May 1948) when the BBC broadcast the news. At dawn, Arab armies attacked from the north, the east and from the south. The Haganah that has been defending the Jewish people in Palestine during the British Mandate, became the IDF (Israeli Defense Force,) that’s been defending the country for the last seventy-five years.
There are two aspects to the subject of the Future of the State of Israel: one, the Historical/Political, the other is Saint Paul’s teaching on the Future of Israel.

During the 1930s, certain parts of the Turkey were still under occupation by Allied Forces, Ataturk sought to end their rule by negotiation. He succeeded in terminating the French occupation of Cilicia (Asia Minor). Encouraged by that success, Ataturk claimed that the Syrian province of Alexandretta, which included Antioch, belonged to Turkey. Actually, Alexandretta was the most cosmopolitan part of Syria, and was the home of French, British, and Italian schools. The population consisted mostly of Christians from various communions: Orthodox, Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, and Protestant. A significant remnant of the Armenian Genocide had also settled in Alexandretta. Nevertheless, France handed the province over to Turkey in June 1939. Around 90,000 people of the province moved to other parts of Syria and to Lebanon.

As certain parts of the Turkish mainland were still under occupation by Allied Forces, Ataturk sought to end that rule by negotiation. In the 1930s, the French ended their occupation of Cilicia (Asia Minor.) Not satisfied with those accomplishments, Ataturk claimed that the Syrian province of Alexandretta belonged to Turkey. He renamed the area as Hatay and kept pressing France to cede it to Turkey.

The province included Antioch and Seleucia as well and was the most cosmopolitan part of Syria. Besides the French schools, there were British and Italian schools. The population was mostly Christians of various communions: Orthodox, Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, and Protestant. A significant remnant of the Armenian Genocide had settled in Alexandretta.

It is evident that a modus operandi that had lasted for 1400 years, namely the primacy of the state in governance, was broken when Ayatollah Khomeini became the religious and political leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a religious establishment professing the Eschatology of Twelver Shi’ism took over the reins of governance in Tehran, they claim their authority is derived from the infallible Mahdi. As a result, they have become intransigent in their response to the ongoing Intifada of the young generation of Iran.

“There is no more heroic figure in the history of Christendom than that of Raymond Lull the first and perhaps the greatest Missionary to Muslims. He was years ahead of his time; a great thinker as well as doer, establishing missionary colleges to carry the Gospel to Muslims, while personally obeying Christ's command to 'Go' himself. Heaven enlightened Lull to know the love of God and to do the Will of God as no other of his generation. From a powerful vision of Christ's unrequited Love at the time of the bloody Crusades, Lull began his own crusade of love. Lull's motto was, He who loves not lives not; he who lives by the Life cannot die.”

‘With the ending of global strategic confrontation between superpowers, those in the Middle East must adjust to a new reality: to accept final responsibility for their own affairs, to make and recognize their mistakes, and to accept the consequences. In The End of Modern History in the Middle East, Bernard Lewis discusses the future of the region in this new, post imperialist era. For each country and for the region as a whole, he explains, there is a range of alternative futures: at one end, cooperation, and progress; at the other, a vicious circle of poverty and ignorance “

“There is a distinction that it is important to make in any discussion of Islam. The word ‘Islam’ is used with at least three different meanings, and much misunderstanding can arise from the failure to distinguish between them.      In the first place, Islam means the religion taught by the Prophet Muhammad and embodied in the Muslim revelation known as the Qur'an. In the second place, Islam is the subsequent development of this religion through tradition and through the work of the great Muslim jurists and theologians. In this sense, it includes the mighty structure of the Sahri’a, the holy law of Islam, and the great corpus of Islamic dogmatic theology. In the third meaning, Islam is the counterpart not of Christianity but rather of Christendom. In this sense Islam means not what Muslims believed or were expected to believe but what they actually did, in other words, Islamic civilization as known to us in history.” (P. 20)

According to these Ecumenical Creeds, the Son of God is of one nature with God the Father, and in His Person both natures, the divine and the human, are inseparably united. Now the miracle of the Incarnation of God is called ‘incarnatory’ and plays an important role in the contemporary understanding of the Neo-Evangelical movement. However, what is meant is not so much the singular miracle of the Incarnation of the eternal Logos in the Person of the Christ. Rather, in what could be called an ‘Example Christology,’ it is emphasized that the Incarnate Jesus Christ has made Himself a servant and led a life of service in the needs of mankind.

Western politicians as well as the media, and educators, should listen to those brave Arab scholars like Hamed Abdel-Samad, Muhammad el-Musayeh, and Sayyid Al-Qemany, who are speaking boldly to their fellow-Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa, about the need for learning a factual history of Islam, in order to deal with the mounting challenges that face the Islamic world. I’m sure that had the producer of the documentary "Islam: Empire of Faith" consulted the three above-named authorities on Islamic history, the result would have been anything, but the panegyric version offered by the documentary.

One of the most moving stories of missions among Muslims was preserved for us by Dr. Henry H. Jessup, a Presbyterian missionary who labored in Beirut, Lebanon, for fifty three years during the 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Kamil belonged to a prominent Muslim family in Beirut. He was well educated in Arabic and Turkish. As a seeker for the truth, he began reading the Arabic New Testament. That led him to meet Dr. Jessup, who helped him to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. After Kamil's conversion and having done some mission work among the Bedouin tribes in Syria, he joined the work of two missionaries, Rev. James Cantine of the Reformed Church Mission to Arabia, and his colleague, Rev. Samuel M. Zwemer. " Kamil, a servant of the Messiah, " developed a missionary approach to Arabic-speaking Muslims, based on his new-found faith, and his intimate knowledge of Islam's authoritative texts, the Qur'an and Hadith. I would like to highlight some aspects of his " Missiology " by quoting from his biography. He offers us important lessons in the presentation of the Gospel to the Muslims of today. In telling the story of Kamil's conversion, Dr. Jessup wrote: " Kamil listened intently to every word, and asked questions as if hungering and thirsting for the truth. Then he asked, 'How do you pray?' I told him we would engage in prayer, asking divine grace and help and the guidance of the Spirit. He knelt by my side and repeated every word after me. At the close he said, 'I never heard this kind of a prayer before. It is talking with God. We repeat words five times a day, but we have no such prayers as yours.' " I then laid on the table the Bible, the Concordance, the Bible Handbook, and the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism with proof texts. I explained to him that this Catechism was in men's words, but was concise and would give him an idea of the system of Christian belief, but he need not accept a word of it unless he could find it supported by the Scriptures. I also urged him to ask divine aid and light whenever he read the Bible, and then I left him alone. On returning at noon I found that he had prepared a series of questions about various passages of Scripture which he had been reading. These I explained to him. " On the evening of the next day he called and remained two hours. He had committed to memory the first ten answers of the Catechism. With the fourth, fifth, and sixth he was delighted. The answer, 'God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth,' charmed him and the sixth answer,-'There are three persons in the Godhead the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory,' — he said, set his mind at rest. 'We Mohammedans think that the Christians worship three Gods,' said he 'but you do not; for there is one God in three persons the Eternal Father, the Eternal Word, and the Eternal Spirit. That is all clear.' Then we read the Bible together for two hours and he listened with astonishment and delight. He seized upon the great doctrine of the atoning sacrifice of Christ with such eagerness and satisfaction that he seemed to be taught of the divine Spirit from the very outset. 'This,' he said, 'is what we need. The Koran does not give us a way of salvation. It leaves us in doubt as to whether God will forgive our sins. It does not explain how he can do so and preserve his honor

Several decades have passed since Edward Wakin wrote his book on the Copts of Egypt. The country has undergone several political changes. Sadat was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak who ruled Egypt until the Arab Spring of 2011. Ousted by a popular uprising, Mubarak’s departure ended with the one-year rule of a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. That lasted for a brief period, until Egypt returned to military rule. As the French proverb puts it, « plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose » (the more it changes, it stays the same!)

“A Visit to Islamic England: Muslims headed to Friday prayer while non-Muslims went the other way. No one made eye contact.” The author, Andy Ngo, continued:
“Other tourists may remember London for its spectacular sights and history, but I remember it for Islam. When I was visiting the U.K. as a teenager in 2006, I got lost in an East London market. There I saw a group of women wearing head-to-toe black cloaks. I froze, confused and intimidated by the faceless figures. It was my first encounter with the niqab, which covers everything but a woman’s eyes.”

Islam has engaged the attention of Christians ever since its rise early in the seventh century. One obvious reason is the fact that most early Muslim conquests took place within Christian lands. The people of the Book, as Jews and Christians were called, were given the choice to Islamize or remain in their own religions. Those who made the second choice often gave a reason for this decision. They could not forsake the Messiah as revealed in Holy Scripture. Thus, from the beginning of the Christian-Muslim encounter, the main debate centred on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

In his new book, Hamid Zanaz covers themes related to the future of Islam. Both for Algeria and France, the outlook looks dim. This work is a pot-pourri of interviews, done in French or in Arabic, between 2009 and 2016. Even after Wafa Sultan’s book , it’s not out of place. Rather than citing texts from the Qur’an and the Hadith, he focuses his analysis on Islam, as a faith and a political ideology.

Reading “Da’esh & Islam” by Brother Rachid, reminded me of another book I read in the early 1950s: “Witness” by Whittaker Chambers. He explained why he joined the American Communist Party, and became an important cell worker in it.  But he eventually became disillusioned with Communism in its entirety, left the Party and lived to tell the story of his long imprisonment in a false and dangerous ideology. I also read “The God That Failed”.  The six men who wrote essays for it included Americans Louis Fischer and Richard Wright, and Europeans André Gide, Arthur Koestler, Stephen Spender and Ignacio Silone. These intellectuals were all attracted to Communism but became disillusioned, and chronicled their experiences in this false ideology. and left it and also lived to tell about their experiences.

According to the Muslim faith, there are three heavenly (theistic) religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All three faiths affirm the unity of God, his transcendence and his involvement in the world which He created. While these similarities are important, there are major differences between them, especially when we compare Christianity with Islam. The greatest disagreement is in the way these two religions regard the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

A few years ago, Nahid (a pseudonym) arrived at Saint-Gall, Switzerland, as an ideal refugee. To date, his request has been refused, but there still hope. It’s difficult to find a more warm-hearted smiling and communicative resident of Saint-Gall; he seems more integrated than a native Swiss. He is loved by some, appreciated by many; he speaks both French and German. We want more refugees like him. Except he is not a refugee, that status has been denied him.

On Sunday, 6 April 2003, this conversation took place at the home of Bernard Lewis in Princeton, New Jersey. A C-Span representative, with his television crew, began the interview with the retired professor giving a tour of his house. Throughout the interview, professor Lewis remained seated in his study, with hundreds of books in various languages stacked on the shelves around him. He answered questions that were put to him by the interviewer, and from the audience, calling in from various parts of the USA. The questions did not follow in any specific order. Quite a few viewers had on their mind the war in Iraq. Sometimes, there were multiple questions, making it rather difficult for Bernard Lewis to remember them, and to properly to deal with each one.

“The Arabs have raided sub-Saharan Africa for thirteen centuries without interruption. Most of the men they deported have disappeared, due to their inhuman treatments. This painful page of the history of Black people does not seem to have been completely ended. The beginning of this treatment of the Blacks began when the Arab Emir and general Abdallah ben Saïd, imposed upon the Sudanese a “Bakht” (an agreement) in 652, forcing them to furnish hundreds of slaves annually. Most of them were men who were taken from the people of Darfur. That became the point of departure for an enormous human operation that continued officially until early in the 20th century.”

“The Arabs have raided sub-Saharan Africa for thirteen centuries without interruption. Most of the men they deported have disappeared, due to their inhuman treatments. This painful page of the history of Black people does not seem to have been completely ended. The beginning of this treatment of the Blacks began when the Arab Emir and general Abdallah ben Saïd, imposed upon the Sudanese a “Bakht” (an agreement) in 652, forcing them to furnish hundreds of slaves annually. Most of them were men who were taken from the people of Darfur. That became the point of departure for an enormous human operation that continued officially until early in the 20th century.”

This book was written to help Christians in their witness to Muslims. It relates the Gospel genuinely, relevantly, and intelligently to the Muslim heart and mind. Rev. Madany, a pioneer radio missionary, shares his approach-with emphasis on man's sinfulness and the redemptive character of the Bible.

This book was written to help Christians in their witness to Muslims. It relates the Gospel genuinely, relevantly, and intelligently to the Muslim heart and mind. Rev. Madany, a pioneer radio missionary, shares his approach-with emphasis on man's sinfulness and the redemptive character of the Bible. He writes out of the context of 36 years of broadcasting the Gospel in Arabic, to the Arab World from Morocco to Iraq, and to the Arabs living in other parts of Africa and Western Europe.