Strengthening the identity of converts from Islam in the face of verbal assaults. Special challenges for Christian converts from Islam

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1 Wolfgang Häde, IAMS 2016 Strengthening the identity of converts from Islam in the face of verbal assaults Research on converts from Islam has become necessary and was possible because there are people who convert from an Islamic religious background to the Christian faith. Compared to the process of conversion the special problems that Christian believers with Muslim background face after their conversion, and especially the challenges to their identity, has seen less analysis. This paper focuses on converts from Islam in Turkey, their exposure to verbal assaults and the question of how to strengthen the identity of these converts. The analyses of the verbal assaults bases on media research of the author combined with anecdotal evidence from his church ministry in Turkey. The suggestions for strengthening the converts try to apply guidelines given by the First Letter of Peter to today s converts from Islam in Turkey. Special challenges for Christian converts from Islam Traditional Islamic theology does not allow for Muslims to convert to other beliefs. According to all traditional Islamic schools of theology apostasy from Islam requires capital punishment. The Ottoman Empire abolished the capital punishment for apostasy in However, a high percentage of people in Turkey still considers a conversion from Islam to Christianity a crime. Turkey is a shame oriented culture with a strong sense for community. To break away from the Muslim faith is conceived as breaking away from society or even betraying the Turkish nation. If accusations, humiliations and ostracism are continuously experienced these assaults maybe worse than death. Social alienation should not be viewed as a trivial form of suffering. Persecution may bring death, but the martyr has the advantage of dying with meaning. Societal scorn, however, threatens meaning and identity. For Muslims Islam is considered the latest and highest model of religion. Being confronted with a Muslim s conversion to the outdated religion of Christianity devout Muslims have to find explanations for the unthinkable. If a Muslim turns his/her back to Islam, there have to be insane reasons or ignoble motivations with the converts. Verbal assaults against converts from Islam Verbal attacks against converts from Islam in Turkey come first of all from family members and friends. Accusations and prejudice are spread in the media and even by high politicians. Verbal assaults are most often directed to missionaries who are accused of deceiving people, bribing them with dollar bills in New Testaments, luring them into Christianity by promising marriages or visa for Western countries. By means of accusing missionaries those who follow them are accused too. Muslims becoming Christians are assumed to be weak characters, easily to be deceived or extremely calculating people willing to sell their religion for material advantages.

2 Muslims who become Christians and actively spread their faith are seen as Western agents and parts of a conspiracy against Turkey. At best they are brainwashed anchorless fellows. In their felt need to find an explanation for apostasy from Islam, sometimes Turkish Muslims resort to the idea that converts leave Islam because Christianity was in their blood anyway, i.e. they must have had some Armenian ancestors! This theory makes sense for many Turks, because in fact a great number of Armenian women and children were adopted by Muslim families during the genocide of As many people in Turkey willingly believe these accusations, converts are ostracized by their family or even by their clan: You are not my son anymore!. At least verbally converts are ostracized by their nation: You are not a real Turk anymore!. Pious Muslims see them as excluded from eternal salvation: You are on the way to hell! We see an attempt to make a negative definition of Christian identity, to paint the image of Christians as being wicked, untrustworthy and dangerous for society. Advice from First Peter to strengthen Christian identity The First Letter of Peter is addressed to Christians living in what is today Turkey (1Pe 1:1), but more importantly was written to followers of Jesus in a context of suffering mainly verbally for the sake of their faith. There is a battle for defining identity going on. So how is the author of First Peter trying to strengthen the identity of Christian believers under verbal attack? On the background of misunderstandings (4:4) about the Christians, accusations against them (2:12), insults (3:9) and slander (3:16) First Peter presents the very different conception that the almighty God has of them: They are chosen (1:2), children of God (1:14), stones in God s holy temple (2:4) and God s priest to serve this world (2:9). Society perceives Christians as wicked and weak. God counts them as justified and precious. Being strangers (1:1; 2:11) characterizes the Christians as outsiders. First Peter seems to emphasize the positive aspects of being strangers: As the Old Testament patriarchs were strangers because God had called them out of their society and family, now the eternal call to Christians in Anatolia requires them to be foreigners to the present world order. The audience of First Peter is partly from heathen, non-jewish background. The author connects the Christian existence with the Old Testament narrative: The Exodus narrative (cp. 1:13 with Ex 12:11; 1:19 with Ex 12:5; 1:16 with Lev 19:2) and the narrative of the Exile (1:1; 2:11-12; Christians as strangers living amongst pagans) are repeatedly alluded to. The author gives the new Christians, who are accused of being innovators destroying old traditions, strong roots in antiquity as members of God s people. Practical approaches in Turkey Continuous verbal assaults may have tragic results for the identity of converts if not properly dealt with: Internalizing the alienation may lead to a life long struggle with depression, loneliness, fear and anxiety. How can Christian teaching and counseling to converts prevent

3 them from being caught up by depression and help them to find a new home in their Christian identity? Four aspects of strengthening the identity of converts in Turkey will be emphasized: Turks are taught about pre-islamic Turkish history and about Turkish Christian history. Turkish converts have to understand their negative experience of alienation within the biblical framework of history of salvation which includes persecution. Strengthening of identity is most notably a deep assurance of the new identity in Christ and finally being in Christ means also to be in the body of Christ, the local and universal church of Jesus. Secondary help through history To be a Turk is to be a Muslim is a very strong and almost unshakable prejudice in Turkey. For Muslims in Turkey and converts alike it might be a challenge to a new thinking to have a closer look at history. Many pre-islamic Turks in Central Asia chose Christianity very early in history. There were Nestorian metropolitans in midst of Turkish tribes around 650 A.D. Even in the 13 th century there were Turkish bishops belonging to the Church of the East, i.e. the Nestorians. Even more challenging is the fact that genuine a Turkish people in today s Moldavia, the Gagauz people, have been orthodox Christians for centuries without losing their Turkish culture and language. Finally, it can be a help to find identity as a Christian and a Turk to learn about the transition of Turks from shamanic beliefs to Islam. The Turkish author Erdoğan Aydın wrote about the often violent and cruel methods of Arabic Muslims forcing Turks into Islam, challenging the usual Turkish historiography that tries to present Islam as the natural way for Turks. These historical viewpoints are secondary because they are not the biblical-theological basis for the converts new identity. But they possibly are a help to somehow shake the prejudice that is still effective even in converts. Putting verbal assaults into the framework of God s history of salvation When Jesus taught his disciples so detailed about persecution (see e.g. Mat 10:16-42), he wanted to prepare them for what would follow, and he wanted them to be aware that suffering was part of God s history of salvation. As the Messiah had to suffer and die (Lk 24:44-49) so his followers will have to go through sufferings. Putting sufferings for Christ s sake into this bigger picture can help to interpret the negative experience of converts as steps towards a very positive ends. This framework can help the converts to a disidentification from the accusers and their system of values, prevent them from internalizing the alienation and accepting the wrong definition of Christian identity by society. Disidentification does not equal withdrawing from society. In teaching converts about a biblical theology of persecution it can also be shown that the verbal attacks are real persecution. Ripken appropriately says: One of the greatest gifts that can be given to believers in the midst of persecution is for the believing community to assure

4 them that what they are experiencing is for Christ s sake and for no other reason. Converts from Islam in Turkey must know that slander and lies against them are part of the biblical concept of persecution for righteousness. Assurance of the new identity in Christ Missionaries as well as the fellowship of believers are certainly called to provide means to strengthen the identity of converts from Islam. However, finally it matters how the convert himself is believing about his/her identity. Not what society says has to matter, but what God says. According to the witness of the New Testament God sees the Christian s identity as in Christ, as being blessed, chosen, and included in Christ.. Each Christian has to be taught that faith means to put his/her trust in this new God-given identity and not in his/her natural identity anymore and of course not in the identity imposed on us by family or society. This act of faith is even more necessary for converts from Islam. Teaching and counseling is crucial, but the step of faith in the identity in Christ has to be done by the convert. Being part of the body of Christ Of course, to be in Christ simultaneously means to be part of the body of Christ, the church (1Co 12:12). Because for a convert the network of familiar and social relations might break away almost completely, the new family of Christ is even more important for him/her. The local church should not take away tasks from still functioning societal networks, but she has to take over tasks of the converts family if necessary. He/she needs not only emotional but also material support. That may include financial support (though that is a very controversial issue in Muslim societies), looking for jobs, looking for convenient spouses. Most of all it means to spend time with the convert, being available, being willing to listen, being really like a mother or a father. Relations among the converts have to be strengthened simultaneously. The reality, that Christians are one body, one family of God (Eph 2:19-20) must be put into practice. Converts are also members of the worldwide church, the universal body of Christ. Yes, the Turkish church of Jesus has to develop her own style of worship, has to find biblical answers to the specific Turkish questions. But converts have a felt need to belong to something bigger. So it is good that the New Testament authors perceive the church of Christ as the one spiritual temple (1Co 3:16; 1Pe 2:5), the one bride of Jesus (Rev 19:7-8). Converts have to know and to internalize that they are but one part of God s people that is prepared for Jesus coming. Conclusion Many converts from a Muslim background are under verbal attacks. If there is no convenient Christian response to the accusations against the Christian identity of the converts, they are in danger to internalize these accusations and end up in loneliness and despair. The First Letter of Peter emphasizes the God given identity of the elected. It roots new Christians into the antiquity of the Old Testament narrative.

5 Converts in today s Turkey have to see the historical roots of Christianity amongst Turks. The equation Turks have to be Muslims is not coercive. Converts need a strong feeling of belonging to the local church and the universal church of Christ. However, above all the convert must find his/her identity as rooted in Christ. This step of faith nobody can go in his/her place.