Reaching out to Muslims

Recently I had the great privilege of speaking with Fr. Joseph Kenny, a Dominican friar from Nigeria. He shared with us the struggle of Muslims in Nigeria and how we can relate to them, understand them, and ultimately show the love of Jesus to them.

To give you a little background on Fr. Joseph Kenny: He was sent to Nigeria in 1964, while the Vatican II Council was in progress, because the Holy See requested the Dominicans to provide a resource person knowledgeable in Arabic and Islam, because nearly half the country is Muslim and there was a need at the very least to secure understanding and peace between the two communities. He took some time off to learn Arabic in Rome, Tunisia and Cairo, and to get a Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University in 1970. After resuming work in the North and then teaching Islamics at the government-owned University of Ibadan for 22 years, he is presently based at the Dominican Institute, Ibadan, which provides philosophy and theology courses for candidates for the priesthood as well as for lay students, and also courses in communications and Internet.

We began the interview discussing the necessity of everyone in the Church to show interest in Muslims and reach out to them. "Why? Because Christ died for them" (Fr. Kenny). That point may seem obvious, but it actually struck me that in my own life I don't know if I would go out of my way to speak to a Muslim because God loves them and I desire for them to know that. It is something that I think many of us know, but need to better practice and live out.
Fr. Kenny stressed the fact that we should "walk with the Muslims", that is, we should be understanding their situations, problems, customs, and their life from their perspective. We should try to learn about them and treat them as friends first and foremost. Not that we water down our faith, on the contrary, they actually deeply respect someone who is solid in their beliefs. Rather, "we propose, we do not impose" (Fr. Kenny quotes John Paul II).

There have been great improvements in Nigeria in the last several years, which can partially be attributed to John Paul II. Although, his impact did not come without a price. He took a bullet and was greatly rejected by Muslims initially. At his funeral there were countless Muslims saying how much they admired John Paul II and grieving his death. Since then there has been decreasing hostility between Muslims and Christians, yet it is still not the freedom that we have here in America and we should not take for granted. We are able to approach Muslims in the street and strike up conversations with them and even tell them about Jesus, which is something not possible in many Islamic countries. We should take advantage of this opportunity (Fr. Kenny).

I was very encouraged by my conversation with Fr. Kenny. He is very knowledgeable and has a passion and love for Muslims that I find inspiring. The main thing I hope to live out as a result of the conversation we had is to not be afraid to approach a Muslim and to strike up a conversation not necessarily preaching Jesus to them, but finding out how they are doing and seeing things from their perspective, becoming a friend first and foremost. Please pray for Fr. Kenny and his work in Nigeria, to find out more about his work click here.