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The central premise to Mrs Mallouhi's
book is that, as Christians, we should treat Muslims as individuals
whom God loves and not as enemies to be defeated.
She argues persuasively that, if you reach out to people,
overcoming fear and prejudice, you can see beyond the "cultural
block" to the individual lives.
Mrs Mallouhi gives some good examples from her own experience
of how to meet individuals on their home ground. She focuses
attention on St Francis and his undiscriminating mission to
both Christian and Muslim armies during the Crusades (although
other writers suggest that the legacy of St Francis was less
than successful).
I found her book most engaging when she speaks of her own
experiences and I would have liked to have learned more of
her life in Muslim countries with her Arab-Christian husband.
The over-reliance on anecdotes makes the text a little disjointed.
Mrs Mallouhi boldly tackles the Palestinian Question although
her book, which pre-dates 11 September 2001 and the current
Intafada, is already dated. Her accounts opened my eyes to
the conditions in which Palestinian refugees have been forced
to live and provide background to the current, desperate acts
of young suicide bombers we are witnessing today.
In seeking to redress the balance between the overwhelmingly
positive coverage that the Western Media has provided the
Israelis, I think Mrs Mallouhi swings too far the other way.
It cannot be right to categorise all Muslims as victims because
many of them are oppressed any more than it is right to categorise
all Jews as bullies because of the aggressive
acts of the Israeli government.
[Whilst she clearly has a much wider knowledge of her subject
than I do, I cannot help thinking that she may be a little
naïve about regimes such as the Taliban and the Iraqi
government. It is hard to see how her concentration on the
individual would assist those suffering under such regimes
or even that such an approach would be tolerated under them.
It may well be true that Western sanctions are contributing
to the plight of the Iraqi people but the appalling child
mortality rate would no doubt be considerably lower were the
country not ruled by a profligate tyrant.]
Mrs Mallouhi is rightly anxious to draw attention to the fact
that may Palestinians are Christian and Western Christians
should be aware of their plight.
Mrs Mallouhi is on safer ground when she tackles her central
premise and encourages the reader to focus on individuals
and away from politics. Speaking as one who rarely gets the
opportunity to study a book uninterrupted I feel the text
was a little on the long side.
Nevertheless, the main message of the book comes across strongly:
God does not show favouritism. Jonah had to learn that lesson
and so must we. In reaching out to Muslims in love we will
see God in them. Should we choose the way of the Crusades
or the way of St Francis? Should we "raise the battle
cry against Muslims and launch a spiritual offensive
against them, or walk to them carrying a Gospel of good news
and peace"?
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