Pawson prophecy

At the turn of the century, David Pawson wrote a book, The Challenge of Islam to Christians, in which he lamented the spiritual vacuum in the UK brought about by moral decline and the erosion of a sense of ultimate truth. Pawson claimed that Islam was far better equipped than the Church to move into that gap and, based on a potent vision he received, he controversially prophesied that Islam would soon ‘take over’ as Britain’s dominant religion.

While many at the time felt Pawson’s claims were somewhat alarmist and over-pessimistic, far fewer would be so quick to dismiss them today. Yet, I suspect that even Pawson would have been shocked to know the remarkable pace of change in Britain’s religious and cultural landscape in the two decades since he made his prediction.

With suitably similar title, Tim Dieppe’s ‘The Challenge of Islam’ acts as an appropriate sequel to Pawson’s prophetic offering. The book is written to inform Christians about the nature and influence of Islam in various areas of British culture, and to help equip believers to suitably respond to such challenge. It is no hastily-penned polemic, no bitter rant at the perceived dangers of a ‘foreign’ religious force. Rather, this is a thoughtful and well-argued study, based on years of careful research by the Head of Policy at Christian Concern, and backed up by references to scores of both Islamic and western texts.

Survey revelations

Chapter One, from which the book takes its title, offers a concise 20-page summary of the challenge of Islam in this country. Packed to the brim with pertinent statistics – some of which are likely to shock even those who think they have a reasonable understanding of the influence of Islam in the UK – quite simply, the book is worth its cost for this invaluable and highly informative chapter alone.

 More recent polling suggests that 29% of British Muslims had a positive view of Hamas, and 32% supported the introduction of Sharia law in the UK.

We’re told that the Muslim population of Britain stood at just under 4 million in 2021 – 6.5% of the population – constituting a growth rate of an incredible 44% from a decade previously. Tim quotes various surveys revealing a lack of integration of Muslims into British society; and notes that, for example, 29% of British Muslims had a positive view of Hamas, and 32% supported the introduction of sharia law in the UK.

Among the many other prominent statistics quoted in this revealing chapter are the following:

• A number of major cities have Muslim populations of over 30% (e.g., Bradford, Luton, Birmingham), and in 2024, there were 14 UK voting constituencies with over 30% Muslim and 31 which were over 20% Muslim.
• There were over 2,800 ‘honour-based’ abuse offences recorded by the police in 2021 – an average of eight per day – with many more presumably being unrecorded.
• Muslims represent 18% of Britain’s prison population, with many Muslims leaving prison more radicalised than when they went in.
• Out of the 43,000 people whom British intelligence services have said pose a potential terrorist threat, 90% are Muslims.
• There are over 85 sharia courts operating in the UK (inherently discriminatory against both women and non-Muslims).

 Tim quotes liberally from both the Quran and the hadiths to prove his conclusion that “… antisemitism is integral to Islam and is part of Islamic doctrine, as defined by Islamic texts."

‘Islamophobia’ and antisemitism

The remainder of the book comprises a number of essays on specific aspects of Islam written by Tim over the past decade and published in various journals. These vary from just a few pages to as many as fifty. That lengthy section has the title, (‘Is Islam Antisemitic?’, and stems from a debate held with Islam apologist Reza Aslan (2024), in which Tim quotes liberally from both the Quran and the hadiths to prove his conclusion that “… antisemitism is integral to Islam and is part of Islamic doctrine, as defined by Islamic texts.” (p.188).

Another significant chapter (40 pages) also dates to 2024, and tackles the notion of ‘Islamophobia’ being a threat to free speech. With a surprise introduction from Richard Dawkins, Dieppe ably runs holes through a host of problems in the definition of ‘Islamophobia’ created by the All Party Parliamentary Group in 2018 and readily accepted by almost all the UK’s major political parties.² Tim shows how ‘Islam’ is not defined by the APPG definition, the term ‘perceived Muslimness’ is horribly vague, Islam is not, in any case, a race, and the language of ‘phobia’ is unhelpful.

Other helpful chapter titles include ‘What’s wrong with Multiculturalism’; ‘Is Islam a Religion of Peace?’; and ‘What’s Wrong with Islamic Finance?’.

How should we respond?

Tim makes it clear that while, as a Christian he cannot help but be anti-Islam, he is not prejudiced against Muslims per se. On the contrary, he urges believers to both pray (‘Muslims are redeemable, whereas Islam is not’ - p.19) and to love, being aware that Muslims are not our enemy.¹

At its root, this is a battle for the soul of the nation. It is a battle we cannot afford to lose.

This is an important work. As Tim states in his introduction, ‘’At its root, this is a battle for the soul of the nation. It is a battle we cannot afford to lose.” (p.2) Articulate, balanced and well-informed, The Challenge of Islam is an excellent resource – indeed it’s the finest study of its kind that I know of.

And Christians do need to respond; yes, always in love and in prayer, but also to be bold, sometimes requiring to confront and resist. Dieppe states that Christian Concern supports street pastors who are deemed to have offended people by insulting Islam – with a 100% success record in defending free speech so far.

Ultimately, it’s up to us all to respond to Islam’s challenge. For, in the end, as Tim concludes, “the only effective response to radical Islam is radical Christianity” (pp.21-22).

Endnotes
1 See Tim Dieppe and Beth Peltola, ‘Questions to Ask your Muslim Friends: A Closer Look at Islamic Beliefs and Texts’, 2022.
2 The APPG defines Islamophobia as: “… rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.

The Challenge of Islam (207pp) is published by Wilberforce Publications, and is available from Amazon for £12.00 (inc p&p).