This petition calls for Christian minorities in Muslim-majority countries to be given the same rights and freedoms as those enjoyed by Muslim minorities in the West.

Visit http://www.barnabasfund.org/End%20The%20Silence/end_the_silence.htm

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An Urgent Message

The “End the Silence” petition [was] written, and the petition campaign planned, before the terrible atrocities in New York and Washington on 11th September. I want to assure you that we do not in any way wish our literature to be perceived as possible fuel for anti-Muslim violence.

I also want to ask you not to forget Christian minorities in the Muslim world during this time of global turmoil and uncertainty. They feel desperately vulnerable, and are fearful of becoming the victims of revenge attacks by Muslims angered by America’s anticipated military attacks on Muslim targets. Christians in Pakistan are particularly nervous, having experienced revenge attacks during the Gulf War of 1990-91. Yet their needs, their suffering, their very existence go unacknowledged by the media. I warmly endorse all the statements by church leaders in favour of the protection of Muslim minorities, but would urge them also to speak out in favour of the protection of Christian minorities. So please do circulate the petition. It is needed now more than ever.

The tragic events in the USA have generated an urgent debate in the media about the nature of Islam. Most of what has been written and said about Islam since 11th September, both by Muslims and by non-Muslims, has strenuously asserted that Islam is a religion of peace. As a reader of Barnabas you will be aware that, sadly, this is not the whole truth.

I was invited to contribute an article to Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper on this subject, which was published on Monday 17th September. (The article can also be found on our website) In this article I drew attention to several verses in the Qur’an which command Muslims to fight against non-Muslims. I tried to make the point that, although thankfully there are many peace-loving Muslims in the world today who give a spiritual interpretation to these verses, there is another strand of contemporary Islam which takes the verses literally, just as they were taken in the early days of Islam. I believe that the latter group is far more numerous than the media have admitted. I believe it is important that the non-Muslim world recognises the existence of this debate within contemporary Islam, and realises that Islamic militants are sincerely pious Muslims who simply take their scriptures at face value.

As a result of the article I was invited to attend a meeting between senior Christians and Muslims at Heathrow, London, on Friday 21st September. I am immensely thankful to God for the statement produced by this group (see overleaf). This called for the protection of Muslim minorities in the West from revenge attacks and also for the protection of Christian minorities in the Muslim world from revenge attacks. It was what I had personally hoped and prayed would result from the meeting. I am so pleased that at last the plight of Christians under Islam is being included in the current debate. This statement will be circulated both in the West and in the Muslim world. Please can you circulate this statement to Christians and Muslims you know. (Further copies are available on request.)

May I ask you to pray with me about these issues:

That Muslims in America and Britain may not be attacked in revenge for the World Trade Centre attack. That Christians in the Muslim world may not be attacked in revenge for the anticipated American military attacks.

That the media may not be silent about suffering Christians. In Indonesia, Muslims from many countries are conducting a jihad to eliminate Christians and Christianity from various islands by military force. Ten thousand Christians have been killed, many thousands more have been forcibly converted to Islam. The main group responsible, Laskar Jihad, have set up a desk at Jakarta airport to welcome Islamic militants to join their ranks, including hundreds who have recently fled from Afghanistan.

For wisdom for the leaders of our nations to know how to eradicate the evil of terrorism effectively and justly, without causing further suffering to innocent civilians. For protection for myself, my wife Rosemary and all the other staff of the Barnabas Fund at this time. We feel ourselves to be a lone voice, speaking on behalf of the suffering Church, when all the world now seems unwilling to hear our message.

May I also ask you to give, if you are able, to help your needy Christian brothers and sisters. With the Afghan refugees pouring into Pakistan, the already difficult economic situation has become far worse. The impoverished Christian community in Pakistan needs help, as do Afghan Christians. Please bring encouragement to our fellow-believers, who feel weak, defenceless, voiceless and friendless.

Yours in the service of the suffering Church,

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo (International Director)

BARNABAS FUND

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JOINT CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM STATEMENT

We, a group of Christian and Muslim leaders meeting together at Heathrow to discover and express shared convictions following the attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, wish to plead with all people and societies to treat with respect and compassion religious and ethnic minorities within their midst who might otherwise become the focus of anger and vengeance.

We express our sadness that here in the British Isles Muslim individuals and communities have already been visited with acts of violence, and we have the fear that in countries with a Muslim majority the pursuit by the United States and its allies of those who perpetrated these tragic attacks may result in reprisals on minority Christian communities.

Both Islam and Christianity proclaim that life is God-given and precious. Those who seek to impose their wills through violence cannot justly claim the support of either religion. Moreover, the true worth of any community or society is to be judged not least by the way in which it treats minorities in its midst.

21st September 2001

Mr Qasim Ahmad, Chief Imam of Croydon Mosque and Islamic Adviser to Tinsley House, Gatwick Airport

Mufti Barktullah, Chief Imam of Finchley Mosque

Dr Martin Conway, Member of the World Conference on Religion and Peace

Rt Rev. Richard Llewellin, Bishop at Lambeth, Head of Staff at Lambeth Palace, Archbishop’s Representative

Rev. Erik Lundberg, Senior Chaplain at the Immigration Detention Centre, Tinsley House, Gatwick Airport

Rt Rev. Mano Rumalshah, Honorary Assistant Bishop of Southwark

Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid, Muslim Council of Britain

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of the Barnabas Fund

Rt Rev. Howard Tripp, Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark

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For more: visit the Barnabas Fund website http://www.barnabasfund.org/news.htm

Shalom!

And may you have a Happy, Holy and Helpful (!) Christmas!

Rowland Croucher http://jmm.aaa.net.au

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UPDATE: ‘END THE SILENCE’ PETITION SUBMITTED

Members of the Barnabas Fund staff travelled to Geneva in April to present
the ‘End the Silence’ petition to the United Nations. The petition,
sponsored by the Barnabas Fund, received support from 124,066 signatories in
more than seventy different countries. It calls on the United Nations to
support the proposal that Christian communities in Muslim-majority countries
be given the same rights and freedoms as those enjoyed by Muslim minorities
living in Europe and the West.

The petition was received by a representative from the secretariat of the
United Nations Commission for Human Rights on 11th April. It will be
forwarded to Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General; to the Council of Europe;
to the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance; and to the United
Nations Human Rights Commission’s Representative for Asia, based in Bangkok.
The two large boxes containing the list of signatures of the petition will
be kept in the Commission’s archive for three years. Barnabas Fund staff
were also able to meet with the ambassadors of various countries and the
representatives to the Human Rights Commission of several Christian
denominations. This helped to promote the requests made in the petition.

We at the Barnabas Fund are extremely grateful to everyone who signed this
petition. The level of response was truly remarkable and it has served to
focus attention on the issues raised. It was encouraging that the petition
received a warm reception by the United Nations representative and that it
will be forwarded to other bodies concerned with the rights of religious
minorities.

Please pray with us that this petition may be effective in raising the issue
of Christian minorities in Muslim countries.

Pray that it will influence key decision makers and that the important
issues it raised will be high on their agendas.

UPDATE ON THE SUFFERING CHURCH is produced monthly by
The Barnabas Fund, The Old Rectory, River Street, Pewsey, Wiltshire, SN9 5DB
tel: 01672-564 938, fax: 01672-565 030, e-mail:
website: www.barnabasfund.org (Compiled 26.4.2002) [35 (67)]