Unplanned Evangelism in a Sunni Mosque

On this occasion I visited a Sunni mosque right outside the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit. I'd been to other mosques closer to home before (mostly Shiite), but never to this one. It is not my regular habit to visit mosques, but when I received an invitation to attend a special open house from the WSU Muslim Student Association, that was just the reason I needed. I felt prompted by the Lord to go, and I decided to go as a learner. Maybe I would see some students I know or meet some new ones with whom I could stay in contact. And who could tell what the Lord might do? I have some of the most interesting encounters like that, and this visit was no exception.
First I called a couple InterVarsity students to go with me who are often up for some personal evangelism and, I hoped, for something like this: Amir and Dwight. I was not disappointed. So together we walked from campus three blocks to arrive at the Islamic Learning Center at about 1:00 p.m. just in time for prayers. We were greeted warmly by several Muslim men and invited to observe the prayers which were just beginning. At first there were only a few dozen praying in scattered places on the carpeted floor without furniture. But by later the room was full with around 200 men doing salat--ritual prayers all facing in one direction in perfect unison. They were mostly Sunni I guessed, but since it is the only mosque in the area there had to be some Shiites in there. Many were Arab or South Asian, but many were African American as well. During the prayers the three of us sat on the floor near the wall halfway back, quite conspicuously not joining in, but praying to Jesus under our breath nevertheless. While we sat together I tried to read the faces of my two young cohorts--who had never been to a mosque before--to try to gauge their apprehension and explain some of the things they were observing in quiet whispers. Halfway through the prayers a visiting teacher recognized the non-Muslim visitors (there was one other) and gave what I thought was a rather sound talk on the importance of being a responsible father (an important topic that many Christians need to hear, and probably chosen for this mixed audience). But I was also surprised to hear the speaker honor Ashura and Imam Hussein in the presence of the many Sunnis that were there.
After the last round of prayers we were invited to share a meal with the supplicants. We ate on white plastic table cloths rolled out on the floor in two parallel rows. Plates of delicious rice and meat were served, and men ate either with plastic ware or with their hands. It was after the meal that it got more interesting. Just when I thought I was going to leave without any significant conversations (Amir and Dwight had already left by this time), I was greeted by two students named Bilal and Abdullah whom I knew. At first we were only making small talk while we stood there together. But this led somehow to the question of whether God could make a rock too big for him to lift. The consensus between the two students was affirmative--after all, "God can do anything." I extended the question by asking whether God can come to earth as a man, and the reluctant answer was again affirmative. "But why would God do something that made him less than he was", posed Abdullah. Before I could even answer there were three more young men very pleasantly joining in on this conversation, asking to be brought up-to-date. I suggested that we sit down on the floor, and there we were...an older Christian man encircled by 5 (and sometimes 6 or 7) young Muslim inquirers. One of the new participants began controlling the agenda of the conversation, and for the next 40 minutes he very humbly and politely asked me to clearly explain the fundamental Christian doctrines--the trinity, revelation, the authority of the Bible, the prophecies of Deuteronomy 18 and John 16 (which Muslims believe point to Mohammed), and the problem of sin. I won't go into all the substance, but I was so impressed by their posture of learning and respect in asking their questions. This is not always how it goes. Pray that the Lord will give them divine understanding of all that was explained to them. Praise to Jesus!

Pray for Abdullah, Bilal, Waseem, Ashraf, Monsour and Nouman.