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Understanding Islam
Section One Who are Muslims? Lesson One
The Importance of Arabia in History and God's Plan
Technical notes
Story 1099 words = 7 minutes
Islamic Lesson 1387 words = 9 minutes
Bible Lesson 2371 words = 14 minutes
Questions 6 questions = 30 minutes
Story
Gui Chen buried his head in his hand and closed his eyes. For the last two
weeks he had kept a smile on his face even though his heart was heavy. Now
that he was alone, tears welled up in his eyes as emotions swept through
his body. His mind flashed back to the events of the past year. The people in his church back home in China had been proud to send him to
the mission field. His wife Mei and his son Huan had stood proudly by his
side as the pastors prayed for him. Everyone had given willingly and
sacrificially so that they had the money they needed to travel to Central
Asia. Their first months in the capital city had been stressful, but they had
also been good times. They met with other missionaries, lived in a small
apartment and studied the local language. During that time they had been
praying that God would provide a way for them to get a more permanent visa.
They had received letters from home. Everyone was praying that God would
give them a means of employment that would provide a visa so they could
stay and minister. And then they met Mr. Ruslan. Actually it seemed that Mr. Ruslan met them.
Gui thought about their first meeting at a local market. Mr. Ruslan had
seemed very interested in him and had wanted to meet his wife and son. He
had been very warm and had invited them to his home. After two visits, Mr.
Ruslan had offered Gui a job. It seemed like God was leading them forward. Mr. Ruslan told them of a shop he owned near an industrial area. The
shopkeeper had left and he was looking for someone to manage the store for
him. Mr. Ruslan had gone on to talk about the store in glowing terms: it
was the only for several thousand people. It was well stocked, and even had
an apartment attached to it. Yes, it was a cosy apartment, but it was a
perfect setup for the right person. When Gui had expressed interest, Mr.
Ruslan explained that the store manager needed to live in the apartment and
sell goods. Half of the profits would belong to the manager and half of
them would be sent back to Mr. Ruslan. Mr. Ruslan had explained that he had good connections in the government,
and that it would be easy for him to get the needed visa and permits. He
would be happy to arrange everything. After a time of prayer with some of the other missionaries, Gui had
accepted Mr. Ruslan's proposition and had given him their passports. That
was the last time he saw them. Whenever he had asked about them afterwards,
Mr. Ruslan had explained that they were at a government office, or some
other location. But that had been after that fateful day when Alibek, Mr.
Ruslan's skinny employee had taken them to the store. The events of that
day were clear in Gui's mind. Gui's first impression was that the area seemed very run-down. The store
matched the dilapidated condition of everything around them. They had stood
in the doorway of the small shop and stared in disbelief and shock.
Suddenly Gui knew he had been taken advantage of. His instinct was to try
and block the doorway so that his wife Mei and his son Huan could not see
inside, but it was too late. Huan twisted himself through the door and made
a face. "What is this? It's not much of a store." "It's a wonderful store," replied the skinny man with the white skull cap.
"Mr. Ruslan is doing you a fine favour by letting you run this business for
him. This is an excellent business. There are no other stores this side of
the factory. Many people do their shopping here." "But where will we live?" Mei asked, looking between her husband and the
skinny man that she didn't trust. "Oh, we have a fine apartment for you here at the back of the store" the
man as he pushed aside a dirty curtain. With a crooked smile he welcomed
them to their new home. It was a very small room with a door leading to a
small cooking area. The toilet was reached by going into the alley outside.
As Gui stared bleakly around him his wife Mei suddenly realized the
predicament her husband was in. She turned to speak to Alibek but he had
stepped outside and was unloading their suitcases onto the sidewalk. As
soon as they appeared he smiled crookedly and jumped into the vehicle.
"I'll be back in a couple of days to check on you," he shouted as the
vehicle roared to life. As her husband stood forlornly, Mei realized that now was the time to act.
"Huan, help me with the cases. Let's get them inside and then we can clean
our apartment before we unpack." Gui had done his best to help, but his
heart was very sad. After cleaning the back rooms, Mei found some tins of
fish and some rice. They ate in silence. Then Mei turned her attention to
the store. Gui was grateful for his wife's energy. She seemed to know just
what needed doing. As they cleaned each shelf, Huan wrote down what goods
were there. As nightfall came they had inventoried everything in the small
shop, and the place was looking much cleaner. "With a little pain" Mei sighed "I think this place could look much
better." Gui waited until Huan was out of earshot. "But we cannot stay here. This is
not what we expected." "It's what God has provided," Mei answered. Gui was usually pleased when his wife thought of spiritual things, but now
her answer grated against his feelings. "I think this is a mistake. I don't
think that God provided this. I think Mr. Ruslan is cheating us." Mei looked at him. "We won't know that until we've been here a while. We
must make the best of it." Mei smiled. "Think of Huan, we don't want to
burden him with this right now." Gui nodded, not so much because he agreed,
but because whenever his wife smiled and looked deep into his eyes he could
never say 'no.' "Besides" his wife added, "we prayed that God would give us
a place to life and work in the middle of a Muslim neighbourhood, and here
we are. We can be thankful for that." Islamic Lesson
Introduction
Every day, five times a day, almost a billion Muslims bow down and recite a
prayer to Allah, given to them by Muhammad, their prophet.
Every day, five times a day, they face a black rock in far off Mecca, and
submit themselves afresh to the religion of Islam.
Every day, five times a day, they bow as a corporate group, all around the
world, to express their solidarity as followers of Islam, for whom Mohammad
is their prophet, and the Qur'an is their scriptures.
And every day, their numbers grow. Islam is now considered by some to be the greatest challenge that the
Christian church is facing all around the world. Next to evangelicals, no
other religious group is growing at such a rapid rate. Not only is the
population of Muslim countries expanding, fervent Muslims are sharing their
message all around the world. Most cities in the world now have a mosque or
Muslim place of prayer. While many Christians feel inhibited about sharing
their faith, Muslims are often bold and excited. As a community, they reach
out to those around them, offering support and encouragement to those that
need it. In a time when the west is struggling with broken families and
sexual immorality, Muslims uphold their strict code of conduct as an
example of what true religion should be. Unfortunately, the number of
Muslims in the west is growing as well. Even China has its Muslim groups. The first Muslims arrived in China only a
few years after the death of the prophet Muhammad. Since then Muslim
merchants have spread their religion and founded communities along China's
coasts and along the Silk Road trade route through Central Asia. Sometimes it is hard for us to grasp just how large and important the
Muslims are. Unlike many other people who have a Christian church among
them, there are millions of Muslims who have no Christians near them. Many
Muslims have never met a Christian. Most have never seen a Bible. Many will
pass into eternity having never heard the gospel, simply because no one
cared enough to go and tell them. On the other hand, most Christians have never reached out to Muslims. Most
Christians have no idea what Muslims believe and how they are different
from Christians. That is where this course will help. It is designed for Christians
everywhere, who want to become more aware of Muslim and the specific needs
and opportunities that exist when ministering to Muslims. This course is the first of three courses aimed at helping Christians reach
out to Muslims. Each course has a very specific aim and purpose. Course one
introduces the students to the religion of Islam. Course two highlights
some of the struggles that exist when ministering to Muslims and Course
three trains the student in using several bible-based tools that have
proven effective when ministering to Muslims. We trust that God will use these courses to inform and prepare Christians
as they reach out to Muslim people everywhere. Arabia
The land of Arabia is a vast place with rocky plains, rugged mountains,
burning deserts, and huge sand dunes; few rivers and virtually unknown to
the outside world until recent years. Three great deserts exist in Arabia. All of them are barren waste lands
where very little lives.
1. The Syrian Desert is in the north
2. The Nafud Desert is in the interior
3. And the Empt