Read Journeys, chapter 9

Read Dialogue, chapter 12

12.1: The Muslim Ummah in Medina

12.2: The church in Jerusalem

Medina and Jerusalem

Introduction

There are two sides to most Muslim expressions of mission: Da’wah (witness and invitation) and Dawlah (political control). The Hijrah made it possible for Muhammad to express both these dimensions of Islam.

1. The Muslim Ummah in Medina

1.1 In Medina Muhammad became both a prophet and statesman.

1.2 People who opposed his rule were dealt with.

1.3 He formed a constitution to govern the affairs of Ummah and state.

• The rights of the community superseded the rights of the person.
• The different communities (exiles and helpers) were united into one Ummah.

1.4 The model of unity between Ummah and state that developed in Medina has become the model that most Muslim communities desire. Most Muslims yearn for the Ummah and the state to be united.

1.5 In Medina, the understandings of a world divided in three spheres began to develop.

• The Dar Al-Islam: The region of peace under Muslim political control
• Dar al Ahd: The region of the covenant, which includes communities that are not Muslim but are at peace with the Dar al-Islam
• Dar al-Harb: The regions of war that are hostile against the Muslims

1.6 For many Muslims their mission in the world is twofold:

• To extend the rule of Muslim political control over regions not yet ruled by Muslims (dawlah)
• To invite people to become Muslims without compulsion (da’wah)

1.7 The Ummah must do all in its power to prevent a Muslim from leaving Islam.

1.8 A primary responsibility of any government is to assure the well being of the Ummah.

1.9 The Ummah is a witness to the nations; it is the rightly balanced nation that welcomes all into its community of peace.

1.10 It is in Medina that the “sword” passages of the Quran are proclaimed, e.g., Baqara 2:190-193. These passages speak into the Muslim confrontation with dissenters within Medina and the wars with Mecca. These passages call for violent reprisals against the enemies of the Ummah. It is to these passages that modern day militant jihadists look for the support for their policies. Of course the mainstream of Muslim leadership urges these violent movements to also take heed of the more gentle face of the Quran.

1.11 It is in Medina that the Muslims engaged in their first wars; these were wars with the Meccan polytheists. Generally the Muslims had remarkable victories in the battles. However they suffered defeat in one battle; some thirty Muslims were killed and Muhammad was wounded. The Quran speaks into that situation with principles that are noteworthy (Ali Imran 3:134-200).

• Those killed in battle are martyrs who will go straight to paradise.
• The defeat happened because the Muslims did not adequately obey their prophet’s commands.
• God will not permit the faithful Ummah to experience defeat.

2. The creation of the Church in Jerusalem

2.1 Christians everywhere celebrate Palm Sunday once a year. On that day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt.

2.2 His army was children.

2.3 Five hundred years earlier, the prophet Zechariah had prophesied that the king who rode a colt into Jerusalem would proclaim peace to the nations and His rule would extend to the ends of the earth. The Messiah would do away with the weapons of war (Zechariah 9:9-10).

2.4 Jesus then cleansed the temple of its unjust merchants with a whip of grass.

2.5 In His conversations with the authorities, He made it clear that this temple of stone would be needed no more. Jesus and the Church are the new temple (Ephesians 2:19-

21).

2.6 After His crucifixion and resurrection, the Church was created on Pentecost Day. (That was the feast when Jewish people celebrated the first fruit of the harvest.)

2.7 The Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples of Jesus as they were praying and worshiping.

2.8 As the disciples preached the gospel, people from over a dozen nations were converted and baptized.

2.9 The Church spread from nation to nation as a voluntary movement with no political or military power. It was mostly a persecuted minority movement.

2.10 The power of the Church was the Holy Spirit; the center of the Church was Jesus Christ crucified and risen.

2.11 The mission of the Church is to give witness to the gospel throughout the world and to be a living expression of the love and compassion of the Messiah.

3. A great divide in Christian history

3.1 In 312 A.D., Constantine claimed he had seen a vision to fight his enemies under the sign of the cross.

3.2 In 313 A.D., Constantine, now the Roman Emperor, proclaimed that the Church was legal within the Roman Empire.

3.3 Very soon church and state joined hands.

3.4 One result was that churches that were not part of the Roman Church system were persecuted. In North Africa and Persia the persecution was so intense that the churches were practically destroyed; later Islam took the places of these weakened churches.

3.5 Then from the 11th to the 13th century, Crusades from the western Church attacked Muslim regimes in the Middle East, and Orthodox Christian regimes as well.

3.6 Crusade means cross. What a tragic betrayal of the cross of Christ it is when Christians use the cross as a justification for war.

3.7 These developments are sometimes called the Constantinization of the Western Church

4. The New Testament Church and the Ummah

4.1

• The Church is a voluntary community.
• The Ummah may provide strong encouragement to people to become Muslims, like special taxes on non-Muslims; however, the faithful Ummah should not compel people to become Muslims.

4.2

• The Church should influence political or economic systems with concerns for justice and righteousness, but not control or depend on such institutions. Church and state are separate.
• The Ummah should be supported by the state; state and Ummah should be united.

4.3

• The Church should respect the freedom of the person and bear witness to the authorities that God Himself gives people freedom to choose or reject faith.
• The rights of the Ummah supersede the rights of the person.

4.4

• The Church is united through the Holy Spirit and the confession that Jesus the Messiah is Lord and Savior.
• The Ummah is united through Muslim law and the Arabic Quran.

4.5

• The Church has no geographical, cultural, linguistic or common worship center. It is a community of remarkable diversity.
• The Ummah has a geographical, cultural, linguistic and common worship center. It is a community with remarkable similarities in spite of the wide diversity of people within the Muslim movement.

5. People within the Ummah who become believers in Jesus the Messiah as Savior and Lord

5.1 Recall that most Muslims believe that a responsibility of the Ummah is to do all that is possible to prevent anyone from leaving the Ummah.

5.2 One consequence is that a Muslim-background believer in Jesus the Messiah is often put out of his home; a spouse might leave the marriage of a believer; such persons might be ostracized within from the community or threatened in various ways.

5.3 This situation raises a couple key questions:

• To what extent can such a person remain within the Ummah as a believer in and follower of Jesus the Messiah?
• In what ways can and should the Church provide a secure and loving fellowship and support for the believer who has lost his home or even spouse?

Conclusion

The Constantinization of the Church and the Islamic commitment to the unity of Ummah and state have much in common.

However, the early Church in Jerusalem and the early Ummah in Medina do not have much in common at all. The early Church had no political or military power; the early Ummah was established through political and military power.

These different visions reveal a very different understanding of the nature of the kingdom of God and His people, and how God’s will is “done on earth as it is in heaven.”