Dear Roger,
I am from Malaysia and we live in a country with mixed races. Islam is the main religion and whoever embrace Islam cannot be converted to other religion but if you are from other religion you are allowed to convert to Islam. If you are to marry a Muslim girl, you first need to convert and then you are allowed to marry her.
My son was brought up the Christian way and was baptized and confirm in the Methodist Church. The problem is that he intend to marry a Muslim girl and he need to convert to Islam before he can married this girl. We have advise him many, many times not to get involved. Now he is converted and we have disown him for he have disgrace the family and God.
What is your advice?
Thanks
Dear Thanks,
I know how much you are hurting about your son’s conversion to Islam. Unfortunately, this was his choice and you cannot undo what has occurred, though God is powerful and can change his heart, as well as the heart of his new wife.
What you do now is really important in whether he remains a Muslim and whether or not your daughter-in-law finds Jesus as her personal savior and becomes a Christian. I know that it is against the law for her to convert and that her family ties demand that she stay with her family in Islam. Nevertheless, don’t give up hope. The love of Jesus Christ is powerful in drawing people from many religions and backgrounds to His heart. There is hope that your son can return to Christianity and that she chooses to follow Christ as well.
I think that it is best if you stop disowning your son and receive him back into your family in welcome and love. Your relationship with him is most important.
Who knows, if you receive him and welcome him back into the family, then he might be so impressed by your love that he might even one day come back to Jesus.
The same thing goes for your new daughter-in-law. Wouldn’t it be thrilling if she converted to Christianity!
The best way for her to become a Christian is to know and see Christians in loving relationships with each other. Love attracts.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
The best chance for her to experience the love of Christ is in your presence–to see love abounding in your family. Who wants to believe in a Savior who causes Christian parents to throw their son out of their family? She needs to experience your love and acceptance. When she sees how much you love her and your son, she may decide that love is more attractive than Islam.
I know you are praying for his soul. I will join you in praying for him. Pray for your daughter-in-law, also. Jesus takes the way we see people and flips it upside down. His love moves us to love everyone, including Muslims. Let God speak to you as you read this article from Frontiers USA.
1) God loves Muslims! Muslims are loved by God in the same way that He loves all people. Like all humans, Muslims are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Like all humans, Muslims sin and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Like all humans, God loved them so much that He sent His Son, so that those who believe in Jesus will have eternal life (John 3:16).
2) God calls Muslims to Himself! God designed all of us to seek after Him. That includes Muslims. “From one man, He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth…God did this so men would seek Him and perhaps reach out to Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:24-31, espec. 26,30). Like you and I, God has placed “eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
3) Muslims are our neighbors. Whether in America or in the Middle East, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are peace-loving, hospitable people.
4) Muslims are people like us! Most Muslims are concerned about the same things as you and I. They want to raise their children well, they are concerned about rising crime and pornography, and they work hard to pay their bills and survive. Like us, most Muslims decry human suffering and violence between peoples. Like many westerners, a large majority of Muslims yearn for peace, friendship, and a happy life.
5) God is at work among Muslims! Many Muslims are sensitive to God and spiritual things. Because they fear God and are aware of spiritual reality, Muslims often speak of how God appeared to them through dreams and visions (see Acts 10:1-8 for an example of this). Stories abound of healings because of God’s power through Jesus’ name. An increasing number of Muslims are hungry to know about God’s dramatic work through Jesus.
6) We are spiritually related. All Muslims look to ‘Ibrahim’ (Abraham) as “our forefather” (Romans 4:1). Since those who follow Jesus call Abraham “the father of all who believe” (Romans 4:11), that makes us ‘cousins’ ! Like us, Muslims believe in one true God, the Creator of all peoples.
7) They value our Holy Book and Jesus. The Qur’an specifically commends the Torat (books of the Law, the first five books of the Bible); the Zibur (the Psalms, or wisdom literature); and the Injil (the Gospels). According to the Qur’an, Jesus was sent by God to earth; He healed many during his ministry; and He is returning to judge the living and the dead.
8) Muslims have some things to teach us. Muslims take the spiritual world very seriously and generally are more open to discuss spiritual issues. They have a very high respect for God and His power. Muslims place a high value on community and loyalty. Hospitality is very important to them. These are qualities that most westerners appreciate in their Muslim friends.
9) God made promises to their ancestors. Many Muslims look to ‘Ibrahim’ (Abraham) as their ancestor through his first son, Ishmael. God made this promise to Ibrahim: “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation” (Genesis 17:20). God fulfilled this promise, for there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today!
10) God promised that Muslims who follow Jesus will be part of the multitudes who are gathered about the Throne of God. When God gathers all His people at the end of time, there will be representatives from every people group on the earth, “from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the Throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes . . . crying out in a loud voice, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne . . .”(Revelation 7:9,10)!
www.frontiersusa.org. Used by permission.