In Whatever happened to Christianity, Fred Farrokh, an Iranian-American former Muslim, has reached out to Muslims, inviting them to consider afresh the claims of Christianity.
Daily Muslim rituals of worship include the prayer, ihdina as-sirat al-mustaqim (“guide us along the straight path”) so Farrokh introduces his appeal to Muslim readers by asking, how can one find the “straight path”? Open-minded Muslims are invited to inquire whether Jesus was the mortal prophet portrayed in the Qur’an, or “Lord, God and Savior.”
Farrokh reflects on Islam’s teaching that Christians have “gone astray” and invites Muslims to consider, “when, where, and how” this could have happened. He examines Islamic theories that attempt to answer this question and rejects them as implausible. For example, he rejects Muslim arguments that it was Paul who corrupted Christianity. Paul’s message, Farrokh maintains, was in harmony with that of the other seven human authors of the New Testament as well as with the teachings of early Church leaders. Moreover, Paul had a good relationship with other early Christian leaders, including Peter and Barnabas.
After considering the origins of Christianity, Farrokh examines four Christian doctrines that may be considered “un-Islamic or anti-qur’anic": 1)belief in a personal, loving God; 2) belief in the deity of Jesus; 3) belief in the Trinity; and 4) belief in salvation by faith in Christ. Farrokh’s conclusion is that “the core teachings of Christian orthodoxy were faithfully transmitted” by Jesus to his disciples, and then to the early church.
Farrokh is aware that Muslims reject the claims of Christianity, yet because they prefer to rely on the teachings of the Qur’an to inform them about Christianity, Muslims often lack basic knowledge about Christianity. Throughout this book Farrokh carefully fills in gaps for Muslims, using language that can be readily understood.
This book is a notable contribution in a long line of apologetic works produced by Christians and Muslims who have sought to show the superiority of their respective faiths. Although Farrokh is striking at the heart of the Islamic narrative, his tone is gentle, friendly, and respectful. He writes as one inquirer to another.
The turning of many Muslims away from Islam is one of the great stories of shifting religious allegiance in the world today. Many have described the Iranian convert church as the fastest growing Christian community in the world. From the 500 converts to Christianity around the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the convert church has expanded to number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
Converts from Islam are now making an important contribution to interfaith dialogue and apologetics and are increasingly seen as thought-leaders helping churches to better understand Islam and Muslims. Whatever happened to Christianity? is an outstanding contribution in this genre, which deserves to be read, not only by inquiring Muslims who want to understand Christianity better, but also by Christians and others who want to see how respectful, well-informed apologetics to Muslims can be done.
