Musing from a Muslim Country

I started writing this in a hotel room near the end of a trip to a predominantly Muslim country. I thought I would share a few musings about our experience in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This was not the first time we have visited a Muslim country, but it is the first time we have spent more than a day in such a country. I have to admit, it has been a wonderful experience! The country is very modern, with infrastructure in some ways better than ours. The people are very friendly, the feeling is safe, and my wife has never felt like she was looked at or treated like a second-class citizen.

We went to an openly Christian church and heard an Egyptian Christian pastor preach about God calling the Hebrew/Egyptian Moses through a burning bush in the desert. And though the UAE is an Islamic country by governmental decree, they do officially have freedom of religion.

As mentioned, I started writing this from our hotel room, but did not finish it there; I now continue on in an airplane flying over Iran, and I am reminded that not all Muslim countries are like the UAE. There are Islamic countries that are oppressive, that are intolerant to other religions and that are abusive to women. Those are probably the ones that are most commonly in the news.

Terrorists make sensational news. Wars make sensational news. Atrocities make sensational news. And sensational news sells, so we get mostly sensational news.

But I am happy to say that there are peaceful Muslims who do not want to eradicate the world of Christians or Americans; who do not want to force women to submission; who do not want to mandate Sharia law.

There is a key difference between Christianity and Islam. In fact, it is the same difference between Christianity and every other religion in the world and that difference boils down to Jesus Christ and how we view Him.

The New Testament teaches that Jesus Christ comes to fulfill the Old Testament. Muslims reject this.

The New Testament shares how Jesus, being fully man and fully God (see Colossians 2:9), lived the perfect sinless life here on earth in order to die as the perfect sacrifice for my sins and your sins. Then, after dying, He rose again on the third day and offered salvation to all who believe, first to the Jew and then also to the Gentile (which would include most Muslims).

Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Though it is sad that Muslims reject the freedom from sin offered through Jesus’ sacrifice, there remains hope because many are turning to Jesus Christ, both in friendly and unfriendly areas. So pray for the salvation of our Muslim friends, pray for the salvation of our Muslim enemies and pray for our Christian brothers and sisters who live and minister in nations that are hostile to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember that not all Muslims are trying to hurt us and know that it can actually be a pleasure to visit a Muslim country.