USA (MNN) — Social justice: it's more than a buzz word. People are facing injustices around the world. Christians are being attacked for their faith. Dalits are threatened and abused in India. And, Muslim women face abuse.
Fouad Masri, president of the Crescent Project, says some the abuses are unconscionable. He says while Islam claims men and women are equal, that's not the case socially. "The majority of Muslim women, if you take it across the board, are illiterate and uneducated. They don't give them a chance. There's a struggle with child marriages, child labor, concubines, polygamy, and divorce."
Masri says young girls are even abused. "A Yemeni girl, aged 12, died from internal bleeding due to the fact she was married to a man three times her age and she wasn't ready, physically, for marriage." He says this type of marriage is allowed in Islam.
Crescent Project is doing something about it. Masri says, "As Christians, we have a responsibility in the sight of God to speak for justice. We have a responsibility to speak the truth in love. And we feel like many of these cases will not be changed unless we ask the Lord God to intervene."
The month of May has been set aside as a time to pray for Muslim women, says Masri. "People can sign up to pray for social injustice and Muslim women who have not heard the Good News of Jesus. The whole month of May we are sending e-mails on a daily basis on specific stories about issues concerning Muslim women and how to pray for God to intervene."
Masri says most Muslims don't know what the Bible teaches because Bibles are illegal in many Muslim countries. When Muslim women read the Bible, their hearts are open. "When they read the words of Jesus and the way Jesus in the Bible treated women–His mom and His disciples," many turn to Christ.
Coupled with the month-long prayer effect, Crescent Project is hosting an event called, "Can You See Me?" in Minneapolis, Minnesota, dedicated to praying for Muslim women facing abuse and injustice.
If you'd like to join the prayer effort, you can go to http://www.CrescentProject.org and sign up. Masri says, "We would appreciate people rallying behind this effort by asking others to forward the e-mail and ask others to join them. We would like Christians to rally and see God work."
If you've ever considered Muslim evangelism, this is the place to start. Masri says, "According to Jesus, you start everything you do with prayer. So, this situation needs to be started with prayer."
