7th January 2008

Barnabas Fund revised response to Muslim “Open Letter and Call”

Since the publication of “An Open Letter and Call from Muslim Religious Leaders” on 13 October 2007 [link]

<http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/archives/article.php?ID_news_items=342> , the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Yale University, has issued a response entitled “Loving God and Neighbor Together” [link]

<http://www.yale.edu/faith/abou-commonword.htm> in which they have apologised to Muslims for past Christian actions and effectively embraced the Muslim arguments in the “Open Letter and Call”. A number of senior evangelical leaders have signed the Yale response.

This has created grave concerns amongst other Christians both in the West and in the non-Western world. One senior Church leader in the Middle East has cited a comment from an Arab Christian in the West: “A large number of Christians suffer from all kinds of pressure in Muslim countries because of their religious beliefs. If Muslims truly want peace in the world, why don’t they give Christians in the Muslim countries the same rights that Muslims enjoy in Western countries?” A Christian leader in a Muslim context in Africa wrote of his pain at reading the Yale response and asked of Western Christian leaders “Do they care what we, living in these contexts, feel?”

Barnabas Fund initially responded to the “Open Letter and Call” with our analysis, which aimed to interpret the Letter from an Islamic perspective. In doing so, we sought the advice of Islamic experts, linguists and others. Our response was welcomed by many Christians and is currently being translated into a number of languages. We now issue a revised version of our response incorporating comments from Christians in the Muslim world, which we trust you will find of interest. [link]

<http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/archives/article.php?ID_news_items=342> Please do feel free to translate or to circulate. Please cite Barnabas Fund as the source.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo International Director Barnabas Fund