Edward Hoskins - A Muslims Heart

This is a landmark book. It teaches people who want to reach Muslimsbut who are not aware of the sensitive issuesto understand what it takes to reach these dear people. For those of us whose hearts have been touched by the cry of those unreached millions, this book is refreshing and challenging. Islam is on the rise and is advancing all over the world. This book is a must for any person who wants to reach Muslims anywhere they are found.

Jacqueline Hajjar, Ph.D.

Professor, Lebanese American University

A Muslims Heart is a concise and positive resource to begin learning how to relate to Muslims.

Paul Martindale

Arab World Ministries

Dr. Hoskins has given us a most helpful and practical introduction to the beliefs and cultural mindset of Muslims. Dr. Hoskins is motivated by a profound love for Jesus Christ and an abiding passion to see Muslims, made in the image of God, surrender their lives to the Savior. To that end, may this book be a powerful tool.

Pastor Michael L. Andrakowicz

Berean Baptist Church, Sacramento, CA

A Muslims Heart is a great, practical summary of how to connect spiritually with your Muslim friends. Though short, it covers the basics needed to understand and relate, not just on a theological level but with the cultural heart of your friend. When Im asked for a good place to start by someone wanting to relate to their Muslim friends and coworkers, I recommend this book.

Paul, area director with an overseas missions agency

I have used many of the relational tips from this book in both my professional and social interactions with Muslims. I have seen their openness to hearing my story about my relationship with Jesus and have experienced the willingness of Muslims to talk about the heart of God and the heart of man.

Professor Richard H. Grant

O UR G UARANTEE TO Y OU

We believe so strongly in the message of our books that we are making this quality guarantee to you. If for any reason you are disappointed with the content of this book, return the title page to us with your name and address and we will refund to you the list price of the book. To help us serve you better, please briefly describe why you were disappointed. Mail your refund request to: NavPress, P.O. Box 35002, Colorado Springs, CO 80935.

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The Navigators is an international Christian organization. Our mission is to advance the gospel of Jesus and His kingdom into the nations through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost. We see a vital movement of the gospel, fueled by prevailing prayer, flowing freely through relational networks and out into the nations where workers for the kingdom are next door to everywhere.

NavPress is the publishing ministry of The Navigators. The mission of NavPress is to reach, disciple, and equip people to know Christ and make Him known by publishing life-related materials that are biblically rooted and culturally relevant. Our vision is to stimulate spiritual transformation through every product we publish.

2003, 2005 Edward J. Hoskins.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from NavPress, P.O. Box 35001, Colorado Springs, CO 80935. www.navpress.com

ISBN-10: 0-9672480-6-X

ISBN-13: 978-0-96724-806-6

All Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All Quranic passages are from The Koran Interpreted, a translation by A.J. Arberry, 1955 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

Printed in the United States of America.

3 4 5 6 7 8 / 11 10 09 08

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the many Kingdom laborers currently serving in Gods harvest fields among the House of Islam. This is for Uncle B, who believed in me and has encouraged me over the years. This is for K, who first instructed me in Kingdom principles and spiritual warfare. This is for D, who taught me my first Arabic proverbs. This is for N and I, Arab national believers: May your humility and learner spirits continue to bear fruit long after we short-term foreigners have left the field. This is for the family of Rev. F: As your father once exhorted me, May it be done to you according to your faith. This is for the 3 Ms: May your freezer-wrap plan outlast the 40 years. This is for my two children: May your heritage flourish like the cedars of Lebanon. Finally, this book is dedicated to my wife. She refused to have her name appear as coauthor, although no one was more deserving. May the Lord give you your hundred and grant your request to influence the next 10 generations for Him. I salute each and every one of you. Maranatha!

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the staff of Dawson Media for making this book a reality.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

IT WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE DISCUSSING the Bible with Muslims on their own turf. I was in Jordan, visiting friends. One of them, K, invited me to go with him to a Muslim home where he had been meeting with a family to explore the life of Jesus.

The two of us walked across town into a neighborhood of flat-roofed, one-story houses, all of them the same yellowish-gray color as the dusty street beneath our feet. We arrived at the house and knocked on the door.

K had prepared me for what might happen next. He told me that if just the elder son appeared, it was a signal that the situation wasnt really safe. But if the father and brother were also present, we could go ahead with our Bible discussion. And if the mother was also there to greet us, it would signal that we were especially welcome.

The door opened and there stood the three men. They invited us in. As we entered, the mother came out of the kitchen to greet us. I glanced down the little hallway to see five small, covered heads peeking around a corner. That was all we got to see or hear of their children that afternoon.

We found ourselves in a living room, sparsely furnished with a sofa, a few chairs, and a low table in the center of the room. As we sat down, the mother entered with a pitcher full of a cool fruit drink and some glasses. She placed them on the table and disappeared back into the kitchen. A few minutes passed while we made small talk. Then the mother appeared again, this time with a platter of fresh dates. When she left it was time to get into our discussion.

K began by narrating one of Jesus parables about the kingdom of God. (How else would you do it in a place where it is unsafe to carry a Bible?) We talked about possible meanings of the parable. K narrated another similar parable, and then another, while platters of fruit and pastries were regularly supplied by the mother. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. It opened before anyone could get up, and in walked a family cousin. Scarcely pausing to begin a new sentence, the father switched subjectsa discussion of the state of education in the country. Since K was an educator, the father knew that would be a safe subject. The cousin never got a clue as to what was really going on in that room before he stepped in.

As we walked away I was painfully aware of how clumsy I had felt in that home. I knew signals were going on all the time that I couldnt read. At that moment, the gap between their Arab culture and my Western culture seemed insurmountable. How does one find enough common ground for meaningful communication to occur, I wondered.