Engaging Muslims & Islam: Lessons for 21st-Century American Evangelicals

By Amit A. Bhatia

Urban Loft Publishers, 2017

ISBN: 978-0998917702

376 pages

USD $15.99

Reviewed by Fred Farrokh, Global Initiative: Reaching Muslim Peoples.

Engaging Muslims & Islam. It’s all in the “&.”

Amit Bhatia has undertaken an important research project regarding the views of American evangelicals toward Muslims & Islam. Bhatia recognizes this could be two separate inquiries because of the potential “mismatch” in the views towards Muslims and Islam by American Evangelicals, of whom he states: “They may have a fairly positive perspective toward Islam but a negative attitude toward Muslims, or vice versa” (25).

Bhatia’s research is well-balanced and has many instructive elements. First, Bhatia shares the heart-warming story of how his Hindu grandparents were spared from the violence of the bloody partition of India by the bravery of a Muslim servant (177–178).

Second, the author selected Chicago for his field research, which is an area featuring a large and diverse Muslim population. Bhatia interviewed members of four Chicago evangelical congregations for their views on Muslims and Islam. Eight of the interview questions were specifically about Islam, five about Muslims, and four about both. These congregants demonstrated varying levels of engagement with Islam as a religion and local Muslims as neighbors. Bhatia also interviewed staff from a local ministry center, pseudonymously named “COMM.”

While the length of the book—376 pages—may appear daunting, Part II (of three) is comprised of eminently readable interview responses. One interviewee recognized the diversity which exists within Islam, calling it a “big tent” (126). Another respondent described local Muslims as “lovely people, they are gentle, they are kind, they are very hospitable” (126). Others elicited negative impressions. Several stated that Islam was satanic. One mentioned the “dark side” of militant Islam (106). Another stated “female infanticide is okay” (124) in Islam, though Muhammad is recorded in Islamic history to have abolished the practice in Arabia.

There are encouraging signs. One pastor invited his Muslim friend to an eight-week Bible study on “The Life of Jesus.” After the series ended, the Muslim friend stated, “If you ever do anything like this again, I want to be in it” (207).

Bhatia rightly encourages “engagement at a deeper level” (339). He emphasizes that pastors should present information about Islam in a way that Muslims themselves could attest as accurate. Yet he may have fallen short of his own recommendation on one point: “Their training must include … that Islam is not what it was in the 7th century when it was first established but has changed and continues to change as it engages other religions and cultures …” (343). Who is to say the extent to which this is true?

Doctoral projects require a theoretical component and Bhatia meets his by developing a “theology of religions” based both on a literature review and the field research. He addresses religious pluralism, tolerance/intolerance and the topic of “Islamophobia.”

In conclusion, Bhatia emphasizes the importance of prayer as the foundation for outreach (345), and that Muslims share the same nature as others—sinners needing salvation. Bhatia proves a worthy match for the mismatch he has tackled. His thorough research which will enlighten many readers. 

For Further Reading

Miller, Duane A. Two Stories of Everything: The Competing Metanarratives of Islam and Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Credo House, 2018.

Durie, Mark. Liberty to the Captives: Freedom from Islam and Dhimmitude through the Cross, 2nd ed. Australia: Deror Books, 2013.

Houssney, Georges. Engaging Islam. Boulder, Colorado: Treeline Publishing, 2010.