Network Survey 2016

Here are the results of the survey, which was undertaken in May 2016.

You can find the full questions below the slideshow, and you can also download the result in booklet form.

Questions

How do you currently engage with Mahabba?

• I receive emails

• I am part of a local prayer group
• I am a member of 'The City' online forum
• I am in a coordination/ leadership role
• I am a financial supporter
• None of the above

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Why are you involved in Mahabba?

• I want to see Muslims come to know Christ
• I have a heart for Muslims in my city
• I have built relationships with Muslim friends/ work colleagues
• I am concerned about Islam in my country
• I am interested in overseas mission to a Muslim nation
• I want to help/have a specific interest in refugees
• I have an interest in a particular Muslim people group

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How effective do you think Mahabba is at its aim of MOTIVATING – to help everyday Christians to break their fear of Islam and encourage them to love Muslims?

How effective do you think Mahabba is at its aim of MOBILISING – to plant and encourage local prayer groups partnering with churches?

How effective do you think Mahabba is at its aim of MENTORING – to help churches care for Muslims who turn to Christ and disciple them?

How effective do you think Mahabba is at its aim of MULTIPLYING – to help and equip Muslim Background Believers to reach their community?

• Extremely effective
• Very effective
• Effective
• Could be more effective
• Could be a lot more effective
• I'm not sure

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Do you receive Mahabba emails? (such as Mahabba Matters, blog updates, emails from The City)

• Yes, of course!
• No, I haven't signed up yet
• I used to, but not anymore

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What do you think about the CONTENT of Mahabba's email communication?

• Content is POOR
• Content is GOOD
• Content is FANTASTIC

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What do you think about the FREQUENCY of Mahabba's emails?

• The number of emails I receive is just right
• I receive too many emails
• I don't receive enough emails
• Other

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How often do you visit the Mahabba website?

• About once a month
• About once a week
• Every few months
• I never look at it
• A few times a week
• At least once a day
• At least once a day

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What do you think about the Mahabba website CONTENT?

• Content is POOR
• Content is GOOD
• Content is FANTASTIC

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How do you find using the Mahabba website?

• It's OKAY to use and to find the information I want
• It's VERY EASY to use and to find the information I want
• It's DIFFICULT to use and to find the information I want
• Other

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Do you engage with Mahabba on social media?

• No I don't engage
• I don't use social media
• Yes, on Facebook
• Other
• Yes, on Twitter

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What should Mahabba's priorities be going forward? (Please choose your TOP, SECOND & THIRD priorities)

• Equipping & resourcing churches in caring for and discipling Muslim background believers
• Creating more prayer groups in new cities
• Organising more REGIONAL events for equipping and training
• Spending more time directly supporting and encouraging existing prayer groups
• Supporting & empowering Muslim background believers to reach their own communities with the Gospel
• Expanding our work into new areas (such as Europe & the US)
• Create more prayer groups in new cities
• Expand our work into new areas (such as Europe & the US)
• Providing more printed and online resources to equip those already engaged
• Organising more NATIONAL events for equipping and training

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How can we make Mahabba stronger as a network? (Please choose your TOP, SECOND & THIRD priorities)

• Work more with church networks to raise our profile
• Help local prayer groups build stronger connections with church leaders
• Create more ways for those in local prayer groups to connect, share experiences and support one another
• Build and strengthen the core team to provide more support for local prayer groups
• Create a stronger online presence to share what we do
• Other
• Facilitate better prayer resources
• Organise more promotional events and activities

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The majority of central funding for Mahabba comes from grants from charitable organisations. However going forward we want Mahabba to be more sustainable and less reliant on grant funding and look to raise funds from our grassroots networks and individual donors. 

What do you think of this idea?

• This is an OKAY idea - I am interested to see if Mahabba can be supported by its grassroots members and individual donors
• This is a GOOD idea - I think it would be good for Mahabba to be supported by its grassroots members and individual donors
• This is a GREAT idea - I definitely want to see Mahabba supported by its grassroots members and individual donors
• This is a BAD idea - I don't think Mahabba should be supported by its grassroots members and individual donors

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About you - what's your sex?

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About you - what's your age group? 

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Are you part of a local Mahabba prayer group?

Can you recommend a good book to understand the Qur'an?

Image: Ersan Urganci, Flickr

CAN YOU RECOMMEND A GOOD BOOK TO UNDERSTAND THE QUR'AN?

“A friend of mine is trying to read the Qur’an and has asked for a good and short book to help her understand what the Qur’an is saying; does anyone have any good recommendations for this?”

This is a common question, and do see the existing entry below: ‘Recommended English translation of the Qur’an and introduction’.

Find a translation first 

We suggest that you first start with a translation and then move onto commentaries and secondary books.

• Find a translation of the Qur’an first (see below), which allows it speak for itself and its nature to become apparent
• Read from back to front (surah 114 back to surah 2) is helpful for giving a sense of how ideas develop. The ‘back section’ is mostly older ‘revelations’ from Mecca while the front section is mostly newer ‘revelation.’ (The heading of each chapter should tell you whether it’s a Meccan or Medinan surah.)

Use a commentary to help you understand

Once you have had a chance to engage with the text itself through a translation (if you need it), have a look at the following:

• Neal Robinson’s Discovering the Qur’an (see below), although it is quite academic
• James White’s What Every Christian Needs To Know About The Qur’an (2013)
• An archived online course by the Qur’an scholar (non-Muslim), Gabriel Said Reynolds of Notre Dame in the USA, which discusses themes of the Qur’an, its role within Islam, meaning to Muslims, and relationship with the Bible
• Chapter two in Malise Ruthven ‘Islam: A very short introduction’ gives a good an readable overview. It’s an excellent small book, that is readily available, accurate content, and a good starting place
• A six-page chapter from John Azumah’s book ‘My Neighbour’s Faith’ which is on the qur’an and hadith

Other resources

Qur'an course by Jeremy Hinds from Word of Life

• Excellent introduction for the Christian who wants to seriously study the Qur'an itself
• A little archaic now, but still an accurate self-study course
• Designed for use with 'Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an' by M Pickthall, but can be used with any English translation of the Qur'an

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Leave your name, if you would like us to get back to you with further improvements or updates to the FAQ area

London is not Paris

Image: hadock, Flickr

London is not Paris

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks of 13 November 2015, western nations rallied around the French people in an outpouring of sympathy. The French tricolour was superimposed on Facebook images, projected onto state buildings in many countries and #prayforparis trended for a considerable amount of time. Together with these technological ways of expressing solidarity, several nations stepped up their military involvement in the Middle East and ISIS became the target of one and all.
 
The British parliament voted in favour of extending bombing campaigns into Syria with the argument that, “Paris could have been London.” All the historical differences and squabbles of the last couple of decades were forgotten; President Obama declared that France was America’s oldest ally despite the recent differences between France and the USA on the Iraq war.
 
ISIS does not discriminate against its western targets. There is a real and expressed threat facing Muslim and non-Muslim peoples alike from this terrorist band who seem to thrive on violence and destruction for its own sake. But simply calling London and Paris the same brushes over some fundamental differences in worldviews and approaches to religion in public life. Take for example the law in 2010 that banned wearing a headscarf in France to improve ‘living together.’
 
I was reminded of how we can differ on basic ideas that we take for granted in a recent seminar by Ravi Zacharias of RZIM ministries. Ravi was making the case that western ideas of freedom are ultimately based in biblical ideas but that freedom took different paths in western countries. He spoke of three enlightenments: the French, the English and the American.
 
Quoting from Gertrude Himmelfarb’s book, The Roads to Modernity (2004), Ravi listed eight things we associate with enlightenment: reason, rights, nature, liberty, equality, tolerance, science and progress. Out of this list, Reason usually tops the list for the French (and for modern secular society). The missing element from the list is Virtue which, for the British, was an essential part of enlightenment according to Himmelfarb. The British did not deny Reason but they gave it a lesser, contributory role to the qualities of compassion, kindness and sympathy, she says.
 
The most important difference between these two enlightenments is in the French rebellion against the church and the monarchy, summed up in the French philosopher, Denis Diderot’s wish to, “Strangle the last king with the last priest’s entrails.” As Ravi explained, the difference for both Britain and America was that religion was not the enemy. In Britain, social virtues were the driving force of political change. In America, the fight was for political freedom still based in upholding religious values, even though it was against monarchy.
 
The point here is not to emphasise differences between people, nor is it to have a sense of complacency about freedom of religious expression on the Atlantic side of the English Channel, or La Manche as it is called in French. Recent law suits and debates about religion in public life have shown that Anglo-American society is rethinking what it means to be secular. The aim of looking at the different expressions of enlightenment here is to think about our social values and which Light we are following in the world: To what extent does the light of the Word (Proverbs 6:23) and the Light of the world (John 8:12) form the foundation of our thinking? In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says definitively that we are a light to the world.
 
The question is, which en-Lightenment will we reflect to the world in the year ahead.

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SINCE YOU'RE HERE...

... we have recently reached a total of 40 local Mahabba prayer groups in the UK - awesome news!

With your help, though, we would like to continue to sow, plant and support Mahabba groups.

Our work involves a small team of regional reps and central hub personnel investing in local coordinators and groups, as well as spreading the word.

To continue this vital mission to Muslims, we need to increase our regular monthly income.

Our initial target is to raise up 100 individual regular donors, giving an average of £10 to £15 per month.

Could you be one of the 100?

ComRes poll on refugees for BBC Newsnight

BBC NEWSNIGHT REFUGEE POLL

Poll of 1000 British adults about the migrant crisis for BBC Newsnight

Here are the key findings from the ComRes poll for the programme.

• 40% OF PUBLIC IN FAVOUR OF TAKING MORE REFUGEES
   
• Four in ten members of the public say that Britain should allow more refugees from countries such as Syria or Libya to come and live here
   
• Although taking more refugees is the most popular single option (40%), there is a combined majority against increasing numbers
   
• 31% say Britain should take fewer and an additional 26% say it should take about the same amount as it currently does
   
• There has also been a large shift in attitudes towards allowing migrants coming to Britain via an EU quota system

Read the poll and its findings in full on the ComRes website.

Probably one of the least Muslim areas in the UK

Image: digimist, Flickr

Mahabba is regularly on the road, encouraging and equipping everyday Christians and church leaders – God is on the move among Muslims and we have a part to play.

Out of the blue in The Hub, we heard from Andy, a church leader in St. Austell, Cornwall. He had been impacted by a conversation with Mahabba Network’s UK Director, Gordon Hickson.

“As Gordon shared about the work of Mahabba, I was struck by the impact that the work was having with Muslims, not only globally, but also within the UK as well.”

He added light-heartedly,

“We’re based in St Austell, so probably one of the least Muslim areas of the country!”

As it happens, Andy was not far off the mark.

In the 2011 Census, Cornwall recorded one of the lowest concentrations of Muslims in England and Wales, with 0.2% of its population stating its religion as Islam [Source 2011 Census].

In contrast, Tower Hamlets – a borough in East London, where Mahabba has a prayer group – recorded 34.5%, making it the local authority with the largest concentration in the UK.

Here is how Cornwall comes in the standings:

Government office for the region (South West)

Bottom with 1%, 51,000 Muslims

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County

[N/A Cornwall is not designated as a county]

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Local Authority

In the bottom 15% of LAs, with 0.2%, 850 Muslims

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Ward

Wadebridge East is in the bottom 3% of over 8,500 wards in the UK

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At the end of the conversation, Andy asked to be kept up to date with the work of Mahabba so that he could feed things back to the rest of the leadership team here.

Mahabba continues to spread the word about Muslims around the UK: that Christians need to face the facts, but not fuel the fear.

Muslims are here to stay, and we have a responsibility to love and pray for them.

Whether you find yourself in an area with many Muslims or not, you can have an impact.

Be Involved

Why not request a church visit like Andy, so you can find out more about Muslims and Islam and how you can engage?