Truth Over Fear: Combating the Lies About Islam
Author: Charles Kimball
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Date of Publication: August 20, 2019
Pages: 158
This little book is exactly what it purports to be. It is a primer of basic and accurate information about Islam and gives the reader a fundamental knowledge base to be able to begin to comprehend the broad similarities as well as the intrinsic differences between Islam, Christianity and Judaism. More importantly, Truth Over Fear allows the reader to listen critically to politicians, news media and other speakers and be able to spot the distortions and misrepresentations (as well as outright untruths) about Islam. We used this book in our adult Sunday School at Outer Banks Presbyterian Church to begin a study of comparative religions and to initiate a program to promote inter-faith dialogue in our community. The book was very successful in stimulating constructive, positive discussions and understanding about Islam.
Charles Kimball is the Presidential Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. He has extensive experience living and working in the Middle East and has worked tirelessly to promote interfaith understanding and dialogue. He has written other books which are useful in small group settings, including When Religion Becomes Evil: Five Warning Signs, published in 2008.
In the author's Introduction, he discusses the misinformation promulgated by politicians, religious leaders and others and suggests that we need a new paradigm for thinking about and interacting with Muslims. In the first chapter he gives us constructive religious responses to Islamophobia and discusses the Biblical mandate for positive interfaith relationships. Chapter Two gives a very good explanation of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars are: Statement of Faith, Five Daily Prayers, Fasting, Alms Giving and Hajj, or holy pilgrimage. Kimball in this chapter also iterates the similarities and differences between Islam and Judaism as well as Christianity. He stresses that Muslims consider their God (the Arabic word for God is Allah) to be the same God of Abraham and Isaac. Muhammad's revelations from God are thought to be the final ones in the line that started with Abraham and continued through Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is seen as one of the great prophets but in Islam, Jesus is not considered divine (neither is Muhammad). Islam does not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus and does not believe in the Trinity. The Five Pillars, however, stress many of the fundamental concepts of the Judeo-Christian tradition, taking care of the less fortunate being just one.
Chapter Three is entitled: "Conflict and Cooperation" and traces the development of attitudes towards Islam, Muhammad and Muslims in general from the time of Muhammad (around 620 A.D.) until the late 20th Century. In a very succinct summary, Kimball presents the geographic, economic and political forces which created a fearful and extremely hostile perception of Islam in Europe. The writings of Dante and Martin Luther are used as examples of the negative dialogue which prevailed. Enlightenment and Post-Enlightenment thought represented a softening of the negative rhetoric about Islam, but the stereotypical representations of Islam as militant and evil remained.
Chapter Four is entitled "The World We Actually Live In" and stresses the complexity of the world's religions (including Islam) today and how few people (especially those in charge of foreign policy) understand these complexities. Kimball states that generic remedies for real or perceived problems include thinly veiled racism or bigotry aimed at groups deemed inferior (such as Muslims) and that people faith and goodwill must be willing to challenge the easy stereotypes and deeply rooted biases about Islam and its 1.7 billion followers. We saw in the previous chapter how these stereotypes and biases evolved over centuries. In this chapter the author discusses the diversity in Islam including the differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites and even differences within these sub-groups. He also gives a cincise definition of Sharia and Jihad and clears up many misconceptions about both. He ends this chapter with a discussion of Islam in America.
The concluding two chapters enumerate how interfaith dialogue and improved relations have been attempted on an international scale and how that can be brought to the community and congregation level. Kimball notes how the Christian mission mandate has changed over the last 50 years which corresponds to the great ecumenical efforts of the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church through the directives of Vatican II. Mission work is now seen as an ecumenical effort to witness, serve and dialogue rather than proselytize and convert. Interestingly, Islam is also a missionary religion which comes directly from the Five Pillars.
Kimball does not ignore the radical Muslim extremists responsible for the attacks of 9/11 as well as the horrible activities in Afghanistan and elsewhere. He discusses this and notes that other religious traditions (including Christianity) have extremists as well. He notes that "Knowing something of the fullness of one's own religious tradition makes it easier to continue to think generically of its ideal and assign repugnant behavior to the marginal extremes." In other words, it's easy to dismiss these extremists as "not true Christians" or "not true Muslims". The author further states: "you cannot remove large groups of people with whom you disagree from your broader religious community." In order to understand these concepts of extremism and how to react to it, our class is next going to study Reza Aslan's Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Extremism in the Age of Globalization. Stay tuned for more on this topic.
In the author's Introduction, he discusses the misinformation promulgated by politicians, religious leaders and others and suggests that we need a new paradigm for thinking about and interacting with Muslims. In the first chapter he gives us constructive religious responses to Islamophobia and discusses the Biblical mandate for positive interfaith relationships. Chapter Two gives a very good explanation of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars are: Statement of Faith, Five Daily Prayers, Fasting, Alms Giving and Hajj, or holy pilgrimage. Kimball in this chapter also iterates the similarities and differences between Islam and Judaism as well as Christianity. He stresses that Muslims consider their God (the Arabic word for God is Allah) to be the same God of Abraham and Isaac. Muhammad's revelations from God are thought to be the final ones in the line that started with Abraham and continued through Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is seen as one of the great prophets but in Islam, Jesus is not considered divine (neither is Muhammad). Islam does not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus and does not believe in the Trinity. The Five Pillars, however, stress many of the fundamental concepts of the Judeo-Christian tradition, taking care of the less fortunate being just one.
Chapter Three is entitled: "Conflict and Cooperation" and traces the development of attitudes towards Islam, Muhammad and Muslims in general from the time of Muhammad (around 620 A.D.) until the late 20th Century. In a very succinct summary, Kimball presents the geographic, economic and political forces which created a fearful and extremely hostile perception of Islam in Europe. The writings of Dante and Martin Luther are used as examples of the negative dialogue which prevailed. Enlightenment and Post-Enlightenment thought represented a softening of the negative rhetoric about Islam, but the stereotypical representations of Islam as militant and evil remained.
Chapter Four is entitled "The World We Actually Live In" and stresses the complexity of the world's religions (including Islam) today and how few people (especially those in charge of foreign policy) understand these complexities. Kimball states that generic remedies for real or perceived problems include thinly veiled racism or bigotry aimed at groups deemed inferior (such as Muslims) and that people faith and goodwill must be willing to challenge the easy stereotypes and deeply rooted biases about Islam and its 1.7 billion followers. We saw in the previous chapter how these stereotypes and biases evolved over centuries. In this chapter the author discusses the diversity in Islam including the differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites and even differences within these sub-groups. He also gives a cincise definition of Sharia and Jihad and clears up many misconceptions about both. He ends this chapter with a discussion of Islam in America.
The concluding two chapters enumerate how interfaith dialogue and improved relations have been attempted on an international scale and how that can be brought to the community and congregation level. Kimball notes how the Christian mission mandate has changed over the last 50 years which corresponds to the great ecumenical efforts of the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church through the directives of Vatican II. Mission work is now seen as an ecumenical effort to witness, serve and dialogue rather than proselytize and convert. Interestingly, Islam is also a missionary religion which comes directly from the Five Pillars.
Kimball does not ignore the radical Muslim extremists responsible for the attacks of 9/11 as well as the horrible activities in Afghanistan and elsewhere. He discusses this and notes that other religious traditions (including Christianity) have extremists as well. He notes that "Knowing something of the fullness of one's own religious tradition makes it easier to continue to think generically of its ideal and assign repugnant behavior to the marginal extremes." In other words, it's easy to dismiss these extremists as "not true Christians" or "not true Muslims". The author further states: "you cannot remove large groups of people with whom you disagree from your broader religious community." In order to understand these concepts of extremism and how to react to it, our class is next going to study Reza Aslan's Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Extremism in the Age of Globalization. Stay tuned for more on this topic.
In summary, Kimball's book is an excellent starting point. If you stop here you will have a basic understanding of Islam and be able to confront the erroneous statements made by less informed individuals. It is also a great jumping off point to learn more about the world we live in today. I recommend it highly.
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