Posted on 11/05/2007 2:08:38 PM PST by Finally Awake
WHY CHRISTIAN WOMEN MARRY MUSLIM MEN Wake-Up Call By Mark Earley
Note: This commentary was delivered by PFM President Mark Earley.
It was while vacationing in Turkey that Miriam, a British subject, became fascinated with Islam. She was mesmerized by the beauty of the mosques and spellbound as she heard the daily calls to prayer. Miriam had been raised a Christian, but had turned against God when her mother died. The simplicity and security that Islam seemed to offer appealed to her: She decided to convert and married a Muslim man.
But within a few years, cracks began to form in her new faith. She felt that she could never be good enough to earn a place in Paradise, and that God did not love her. One day Miriam picked up her old Bible, and a few months later, re-embraced her commitment to Christ. But when Miriam told her husband what she had done, he promptly left her and their little girl. Islamic law required it: She was now an apostate.
Miriam tells her story in a new book by Rosemary Sookhdeo titled Why Christian Women Convert to Islam. What is shocking is how many of these women come from strong, evangelical backgrounds. Many converts, like Miriam, are brought up by Christian parents, accept Christ, and get involved in church activities. But as they grow older, their commitment fades, or they become disillusioned with Christianity. Islam, they think, may offer the answer.
Younger women often meet Muslims at college-men who convince them that there is really not much difference between Islam and Christianity. When their wives discover the truth that Christianity is not the same as Islam, it is often too late. Any children they have will be raised Muslim-and great pressure is put on wives to convert.
Some women marry with the best of intentions: Their husbands are recent Muslim converts to Christianity. The women learn later that they should have put off wedding plans in order to test the strength of this commitment, because all too often, these men convert back to Islam when their families pressure them.
The sobering truth is that the number of Christian converts to Islam is growing rapidly. Sookhdeo says that when her husband recently spoke at a major Christian conference, he asked the audience how many of them knew someone who had converted to Islam. Fifty percent of the audience raised a hand-astonishing!
Sookhdeo believes that some 30,000 Westerners have converted to Islam in the last decade-the majority of them women. Clearly, our churches need to do something about this. In Sunday school classes and youth groups, we need to teach our kids, especially our daughters, about the difference between Islam and Christianity. And we cannot forget the role that Christian education plays here. We must remind them of the Apostle Paul's admonition in Second Corinthians that we not be yoked with unbelievers.
As more and more Muslims immigrate to Western countries, Christians will likely find themselves mixing with them at work, in the college classroom, and in their neighborhoods. While we should welcome opportunities to develop friendships and share our life and faith, marriage is altogether different.
If you know young Christians tempted to marry outside the faith, talk to them. Pray for them. And ask your church family for support. We must do all we can to help our children remain faithful to the one true God and His only Son, who alone died for our sins: Jesus the Christ.
To what question? I can't think of any question for which Islam holds the answer.
By a slip of the tongue, she was spared. I’m glad.
Thanks for the telling of the story.
I can think of no better arguement than this to inspire people that they MUST understand the fundamentals of Christianity, so they are prepared to give a ready answer to someone exploring Islam.
I once had a liberal doctor with no religion who was interested in Islam. It seems he met a Muslim woman and she had been trying to convert him. I spoke to him about the difference between a “works” religion like Islam vs. a redemption of the heart, such as in Christianity.
He didn’t really respond, but several months later I saw a booklet on his desk that indicated he had started attending a bible study at a local church. I have no idea what happened, but I hope he found the true God.
It is vitally important that conservatives understand how Islam “saves” people. Islam is the reason the middle east is still in the middle ages. Islam is submission, or perhaps suppression.
I think it is more than that.
I notice many women tend to marry helpless/dangerous/unstable men. It’s the mommy thing.
They think, I’ll nurture him and save him. It’s very common. Dr. Laura wrote a book on it. The thing is, these kinds of men laser in on women like this. They can spot a sweet naive thing a mile off.
Good heavens, now I know why my liberal spouse married me, last anniversary 46 years. (joke)
I did some fast and furious checking on Wikipedia. Wicky is not so bad as some detractors claim. Quote:
"Women are not in love with me,but the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas on which women paint their dreams ".
Rudolfo Alfonso Raefaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi.
Well known as Rudolph Valentino
Because there aren’t enough serial killers in American prisons to fall in love with?
And gets what she deserves.
Good for him. If I ever had someone say that about my Mom, I'd do the same thing...maybe worse!
This was a good man and probably a bad Muslim. He didn’t kill her as the Koran requires, nor did he kidnap the child. She was a very lucky woman.
“but there are some beautiful Middle Eastern women”
That would also include Lebanese and Syrian women.
After having read all posts, I find this an interesting thread to BTTT!
“Miriam had been raised a Christian, but had turned against God when her mother died.”
Then she was NOT a Christian.
Thanks for the comments. I worked with a man from Iran that came here early enough to attend college. He married a woman in the U.S. and they raised two lovely children. She is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and if she is happy, it speaks very well of him. I respect him quite a bit based on my own experience.
Turks ain't Arabs. Why would they look like Arabs? Besides which, Arabs are a pretty "diverse" looking group themselves.
Who are Arabs? Saudis, Yemeni, Iraqis, Jordanians, Syrians, and other people from the states on the Arabian subcontinent, which is bigger than all of Europe put together, as is Iran. Plenty of room for vastly different kinds of people. Think "Lapplanders/Spaniards."
Iranians are not Arabs. Afghans are not, Pakistani are not.
Conversions are often the result of god’s failure to provide in kind - look about you, the godless have all the money and power.
Anyway, you won’t need him until the last few minutes of life.
I was wondering when someone would pick that up. In reality, there is such a strong anti-Christian streak in the media and universities, that Christians get brainwashed into thinking anything is better than their own faith.
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