Rome, Thursday, April 19, 2012
The Islam Reflection Group has been convened in Layibi (Uganda) from the 17th to the 22nd of April. The group, made up of the representatives of the French and English speaking Africa and Mozambique, has reflected on the following theme, “The Islamic Da’wah: a Threat or a Challenge?”.
The Islam Reflection Group is meeting every two years and its aim is to deepen some important issues of Islam related to the pastoral challenges this religion is posing to the Christians in Africa. This year’s theme is centered on the islamic da’wah that is the call to follow God on the path of Islam, an issue very relevant in today’s Africa.
With the help of the confreres from Dar Comboni in Cairo, the Reflection Group has studied the meaning, the theological foundations and the missionary methodology of the Islamic da’wah and tried to work out which pastoral answers Christians could possibly give. Islam is a rapidly growing religion and, like Christianity, considers the missionary commitment and the invitation to conversion an obligation to every Muslim. In the African continent the emergence of a militant and dynamic type of Islam poses many challenges to Christian communities.
The Reflection Group has opened a website where it is possible to find various document to deepen the knowledge of Islam – besides other working papers presented at the previous meetings. The web address is: http://www.awlaadibnhagar.org/.