EQUIP Shorts
Can We Talk About Islam by Tony Payne
Here are three reasons to read this book:
1 It’s short
This book is short. Super short. Don’t get
me wrong - it is good to read long books. But sometimes life means a short book
is in order. And at 54 pages this one still packs a punch. If we gave books a
value-per-page score, ‘Can we talk about Islam?’ would be 9.5/10.
2 It’s about Islam (and how to
talk about it)
I am no expert on Islam. To be honest (to
my shame) this is the first book I’ve read specifically on how to talk about
Islam. And it was so clear and so helpful!
In his third chapter Tony Payne summarises the key teachings of Islam,
comparing them to Christianity. For example, in Christianity, the problem is
our rebellion against God (sin) and hence the solution is atonement to restore
a personal relationship with God. Yet in Islam the problem is ignorance or
weakness and so the solution is guidance through the prophets (particularly
Muhammad) in order to enable submission to Allah.
There’s also a really helpful summary of
the diverse strands of Islam. It left me feeling much better equipped to avoid
caricatures which depict extremist groups like ISIS as either representative of
all of Islam or none of it.
3 It’s not just about Islam
The hidden gem of this book is chapter two
– ‘Why don’t secular humanists want to talk?’ Don’t know what a secular
humanist is? As Payne points out, chances are they are your neighbour, boss,
dentist and cousin. Secular humanism is the air we breathe. This chapter is an
incredibly helpful discussion of what secular humanism is and why secular
humanists don’t want to talk about religion – because to them ‘whatever
religious belief you have is a matter of personally chosen faith and values and
opinion’ (p12). Payne explores and explains why
they think this using a really clear illustration (involving a disappearing
staircase!) which he admits to nicking from Francis Schaeffer. Well hats off to
Mr Schaeffer because it’s a really helpful illustration! I read this chapter
thinking – ‘that is what my friends
think…ahhhh….that makes sense of why
they think that’. It also was also helpful to see ways that I also can slip
into a secular humanist mindset.
In the final chapter Payne considers how to
talk about Islam with Muslims and also
with secular humanists. Part of me wishes that this chapter was longer, with
concrete examples and conversations included…but as I said at the start – this
book is short!
About this month’s contributor, Annabel
Nixey
I'm a Sydney-bred, Canberra-newbie who's still getting used to the idea of four distinct seasons (yes, in winter it is chilly!). My favourite genres are… for movies - period dramas, for books - biographies and for coffee - tea. I love trying new recipes and the occasional crafty exploit.