Islam Is Collapsing

Equipping Pastors International

Islam is collapsing and will be gone in ten years. 

These are the words of Massab Youssef, the son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Youssef, who recently converted to Christianity. If Massab is right, Islam is not rapidly spreading as it is portrayed in the media, it is dying. The reason it is dying, according to Massab, is not because it is being defeated, rather it is imploding from within. Islam is dying simply because it's not true, and because it cannot deliver on the promises it makes.

As I was ministering in Cairo, Egypt last week I observed a phenomenon that caught my attention, namely, that the Islamic call to prayer that is issued five times per day, goes largely unheeded. Very few Muslims actually stop and pray. The streets of Cairo are teeming with activity throughout the day. The calls to prayer ring out all through the city in a cacophony of voices. Yet nothing happens. No one pauses. No one stops. No one prays. In fact, no one even seems to notice. The call to prayer is issued to summon the faithful, but it's as if no one hears. The faithful are no where to be seen. 

There is an Arabic expression that has become something of a cliché. It can be loosely translated like this: Islam is easy. 

The idea here is that everything about Islam is easy compared to other religious systems (especially Christianity). Islam is easy doctrinally (I don't have to use complex logic to explain the Trinity or the two natures of Christ), and it is easy in terms of practice (if I can't stop and pray now I can make it up later, or if I want to get a divorce, no problem).  Islam is easy. 

Yet it seems to me that this approach to religion has not resulted in the desired outcome. It has not produced faithful practitioners, rather it resulted in a people that no longer even hear the call to prayer. 

While all of this is anecdotal, it seems to lend credibility to the assertion of Massab that Islam is not really growing, or thriving. At least not an Islam anyone would recognize. The question then is how long will this cultural form of Islam last? How long before this religion collapses and implodes on itself in much the same way communism collapsed in the former Soviet Union. 

However long it takes, the church needs to prepare now to minister to those coming out of Islam. This is why at EPI we are focusing significant resources to North Africa and the Middle East.

If we begin to equip leaders to train their own people now the church will grow strong and healthy and be ready when Islam finally collapses.