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Are you looking forward to Heaven? What about Heaven are you looking forward to? Being with Jesus? No more tears and pain? Flying like a bird? Maybe MercyMe’s I Can Only Imagine is playing in the background of your mind as you consider this. A friend of mine says, “Being with Jesus and my son.” The son died in a car wreck several months ago. That brings perspective.

Muslims have a vivid and compelling sense regarding the eternal status of Believers. Jannah, roughly Muslim Heaven, is spoken of in the Quran, the Hadith (collected sayings of Muhammad that carry varying degrees of authenticity) and additional works.

If I say “Muslim Heaven,” one of your first thoughts might be, “Yep, 72 virgins for the dudes! Snicker, snicker!” While that specific notion is not actually in the Quran, some of the sensual descriptions could cause a sailor to blush.

This is less sexy, but it’s in the Quran: “Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment.”

Somewhere alongside the offers to eat everything you want and then belch perfume, there is a desire for many Muslims to see, to be with, God. While I don’t understand the logic embedded in, “Can’t drink wine here, but there’ll be rivers of it in Heaven,” I don’t want to caricature or disrespect Muslims. It seems counter to the way of Jesus, the way of love.

Then there is the unsure, wishful aspect of admission to Muslim Heaven. As I read articles on how to get to Jannah, many ended with a fingers crossed, “if God wills.” Ah, if our Muslim friends only knew how much God wills it.

I’m preaching about Hell this weekend. Hit me up with any advice you have beyond, “Don’t preach about Hell on Father’s Day. You’re not strong enough to avoid going for the easy jokes!”

It’s got me thinking about a lot of things, including, “What do Muslims think about Hell?” In spite of some deal-breaker differences, Muslims and Christians have much in common, including a good bit of our understanding of Hell.

So you won’t have to, I spent a fairly depressing day yesterday googling around in Jahannam or Islamic Hell. It is not pretty.

The following bullets are for your general knowledge, but also fodder for potential conversation between you and a Muslim bud.

Lots of press: Hell is referenced over 500 times in the Quran. By some estimates, nearly 20% of its verses mention Hell. Additionally, the topic is elaborated in the Hadith (the collected sayings of Muhammad) and other respected volumes.

Forever or not? Many Islamic scholars contend that Hell is forever. Others say it’s limited for Muslims, but not for non-Muslims. Muhammad has been quoted by some as saying, “There will come on Hell a day when its shutters will strike against each other and there will be none in it.”

Who’ll be there? Among others: Sinners, renegades, fortune tellers, disbelievers, and hypocrites.

What will happen? Eternal torture, including boiling water pouring over one’s head, skin that burns off, then is renewed to burn off again and food that turns to boiling oil in one’s stomach. Cries for mercy and forgiveness remain unheeded.

Weight of fear: As you’d imagine, and may have felt, fear of Hell fills the hearts of many Muslims. While there’s a case for hoping Allah will be merciful, Muslims face judgment without the conviction that Jesus has defeated sin, death and Satan, that full provision has been made to avoid the fires of Hell.

It almost goes without saying: This taxonomy is incomplete, overly simplified, and in some cases wrong! Learn Islam from Muslims, not white guys!

Secondly, by way of reminder: Christianity is every bit as diverse as Islam. There are people who call themselves Christian with whom I disagree regarding essential issues. And likely people who look at me and say, “I do not think it means what you think it means!”

Muslims use a myriad of factors and distinctions by which to categorize and even divide themselves. Few if any of these factors exist in isolation, but rather combine with others in varying degrees of strength to form a given Muslim group’s sense of identity. Additionally, these factors strengthen and weaken over time.

The result is a dynamic and fascinating kaleidoscope. One which honestly exceeds my capacity to depict in a pleasant format!

Muslim = Someone who follows the religion of Islam.

Two main divisions: Sunni (80%) and Shia (20%)

Sects and Schools of thought: Muslims sort themselves into a plethora of subsets of thinking based on religious interpretation. See this amazing graphic.

Ethnicity and region of origin. Muslim does not equal Arab, nor the inverse. Muslims come from hundreds of distinct cultures and ethnic backgrounds. While Arabic may be the tongue of Heaven, near countless languages and dialects are spoken by Muslims who are as different from each other as you are from them.

Orthodoxy and practice: While more or less following the Quran, Muslims believe different things to be true. Additionally, they believe those things with varying intensity and practice them with varying faithfulness. Some Muslims mix Quranic belief with local, animistic practices.

There are Muslims who are Fundamental, Progressive, Practicing, Nominal, Syncretistic and Former.

Then there are the Sufis, found throughout Islam, practicing a more mystical form of the faith. And there are Ahmadiyyas, a reform movement held at arm’s link by most of the Muslim world.

Is your head spinning yet? Mine, too! When we feel like we don’t totally understand. . . we are totally right!

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding recently released their American Muslim Poll 2019. Since the whole of my limited social science experience has been qualitative, rather than quantitative, you’re likely a better judge of these findings than me.

I make no claims for the veracity of this study (though it looks reliable), but want to share the statements underlying their Islamophobia Index and two conclusions which encourage me to keep writing Muslim Connect.

According to the report, “The Islamophobia Index is a measure of the level of public endorsement of five negative stereotypes associated with Muslims in America.”

1. Most Muslims living in the United States are more prone to violence than others.

2. Most Muslims living in the United States discriminate against women.

3. Most Muslims living in the United States are hostile to the United States.

4. Most Muslims living in the United States are less civilized than other people.

5. Most Muslims living in the United States are partially responsible for acts of violence carried out by other Muslims

What does this list stir in you? For me? Well, I’m saying “mea culpa” to some of them and for others, “Is it a stereotype if it’s true?” Dang it. I know better!

After illustrating at length that white evangelicals (Again, mea culpa!) score higher for Islamophobia than any other profiled group (Jews won, if you’re keeping score!), the report points out two things which correlate with lower scores on the index:

“Simply knowing a Muslim. . . cuts one’s likelihood of negative perceptions in half.”

and,

“Knowing something about Islam is an even stronger predictor of lower Islamophobia than is knowing a Muslim personally.” (Tweet this.)

There you are. Let’s keep learning and let’s keep meeting and befriending Muslims. Toward that end, I’d like to encourage you to grab some Muslim Welcome Cards to hand out to newcomers you see. These are wonderfully practical and tangible ways to say you care.

Please see the special note at the bottom of this week’s email.

Remember why we call today Good Friday? Not just because my birthday lands on it this year! By choosing the cross, by enduring death, taking the evil and violence of the world, and each of us, on to himself, Jesus sets the stage for an entire reboot of creation. A restart for you and me, for the Earth, for everything tainted by the rebellion.

Ahh, this is so good.

But Muslims don’t see it as such. The various Islamic views on Jesus’s death (or not) get complicated in a hurry! Between the actual words of the Quran, the traditions of the Hadith and the commentary of scholars over the years, it can be tough to discern a general belief.

Here are some of the thoughts on what happened with Jesus. I’d encourage you to kick these around in a genuinely curious manner with your Muslim friends.

• A follower of Jesus took on his appearance and died on the cross. God raised Jesus to Heaven.
• Judas died on the cross in place of Jesus.
• Jesus died a natural death. One sect of Muslims says he died in India.
• Jesus will return to earth as judge.

The first passage of the Quran usually referred to when talking about Jesus’s (non) death is Sura 4.157. I’m not your go-to person on Quran interpretation, but this passage seems to be talking about whether or not the Jews should take credit for killing Jesus, not whether or not he was crucified. I find it to be less than definitive in describing what happened to Jesus.

Bottom line: The story of Jesus’s death and resurrection is beautiful, good and true. Today is indeed a good day. May this hope wash over Muslims everywhere.

Ramadan, the month of fasting, begins May 6th. I want to invite you to join believers all over the world in praying for Muslims as they diligently seek God. Please go here and grab a copy (or 20) of this amazing prayer guide. I’m getting them for whoever wants them in my church.