Waging Peace on Islam

by Christine A. Mallouhi

Book Overview

How can caring Christians approach Islam? As relations between Islam and the West grow more polarized, many Christians are nervous about meeting Muslims. How can we possibly overcome years, if not centuries, of mistrust? Christine Mallouhi, who married into a Muslim family and has lived much of her life in the Middle East, suggests we should emulate St. Francis, who during the Crusades went to be with the Muslims and even shared the gospel with...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830823042
• ISBN13: 9780830823048
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: IVP
• Length: 348 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

self analysis of developing stereotype

"This book was suggested by one my dear friend. Reading this book make me realized that we all hide prejudism with in us .Many times completely unaware of our inner secrets. This book makes you realize your own hidden prejudism towards other religions,people of different ethnicity and background.How we develope them through out our life span.Our source is Minipulative media images,misinformation and misrepresentation that becomes a cause of our stereotypeing others.Fears becomes a powerful force that create division,hatred towards others. Christine encourage others to self analyze,remove hatred and prejudism and connects with others on human level by following the footsteps of Christ and Fransis of Assisi. Good book to read also deals with political issues between palestines and isreal's relations.Cause of conflict is not merely political but fear, lack of understanding ,love, respect towards other faith.

Enlightenning

This book will go a long way towards helping the West understand the Middle-East from religious perspectives. I learned a tremendous amount and have been able to apply a lot of it. It was very, very eye openning and I believe should be read by especially by Christians who want a balanced view Christian-Muslim issues. It dealt with history, culture, and faith inter-twining the three to give a comprehensive picture. Bob Roberts - Author Glocalization & Transformation

Refreshing Perspective!

Amidst escalating tensions between Christians and Muslims, this book presents a refreshing perspective. Fanaticism and stereotyping abound on both sides, yet Christine Mallouhi urges her readers to see people as people, complete with names, parents, kids, siblings, extended families and life stories. And, she supplies plenty of examples taken from her own life story as an Australian evangelical Protestant who has spent the majority of her life in North Africa and the Middle East married to a Muslim disciple of Jesus Christ. If you think that last statement is an Oxymoron, read the book. As the title indicates, Mallouhi's book targets Christians and proposes peace, love and grace as infinitely preferable to fear, hatred and bigotry when dealing with Muslims. Especially poignant is the insight Mallouhi gives into the plight of the Palestinians, one of the least understood groups of people on earth. Mallouhi is no Pollyanna and freely acknowledges the existence of Islamic terrorists, though she contends they are a small minority. Her point is that beneath the cultural and religious differences most Muslims are just people like you and me. She also informs us that many Muslims have the same difficulty of seeing Christians beyond their own stereotypes, including several centuries of Christian terrorists who ravished the Middle East during the Crusades. Sadly, even today there are right-wing fundamentalist Christians who probably would love to establish a "Christian Taliban." The thread that ties the book together is the example of St. Francis of Assisi. The chapter title "The Mad Monk" informs the reader that Mallouhi is well aware of Francis' numerous and well-documented eccentricities and excesses. You may wonder what St. Francis is doing in a Protestant book on the need for an attitude adjustment toward Muslims, but the ploy works well and adds an interesting historical dimension to the book. The strength of the book is Mallouhi's lifetime of personal experience. Some of her experiences and commentaries will challenge many evangelical readers and stretch them far beyond their personal comfort zones. You do not have to agree with all of her viewpoints to benefit greatly from reading Waging Peace on Islam. I have already recommended it to several people and will continue to do so.

An eye opener for an Evangelical!

Christine spends a great deal of time passionately and methodically explaining why our stereotypes of the situations and problems in the Middle-east are wrong. She very clearly articulates that the issues in Palestine are not simply Jew versus Muslim, but also include the dwindling population of Christians, who are also Palestinian! This book is a must read if you want to see behind the cleverly managed and manipulated media presentations of current events so that you can formulate viewpoints and positions based on reality. If you care more about being a follower of Jesus than merely a creature of culture called a "christian", read this book.