I’ve heard it said by some that there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim. Islam is a religion of violence, they say, and anyone who tells you differently is simply being an apologist. Or a liberal. Or maybe they’re just too afraid of being called an Islamaphobe.

I am neither an apologist nor a liberal, and I’ve been labeled with much worse epithets than Islamaphobe in my days. Yet I can tell you definitively that yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a moderate Muslim. And before you go thinking that tracking down such a person might prove to be as difficult as hunting the elusive white whale, let me share with you a statistic. Polls show that 90–93% of all Muslims do not support the use of violence or terrorism to achieve political ends. That means that of the 1.6 billion followers of Islam in this world,[i] 1.4–1.5 billion of them are against the violent tactics of the extremists and militants. They want nothing to do with the bombings and the shootings and the knife attacks. Unfortunately, it’s the 112–144 million extremists and militants who are making the most noise and wreaking the most havoc. Therefore they are the ones garnering the most attention.

Recently, I’ve had the privilege to spend time with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. I am under no illusion that these men are all Boy Scouts with squeaky-clean hands. What has been remarkable to witness, however, is a developing coalition of Sunni Arab allies willing to partner with the United States and Israel against the violent regime in Iran, against ISIS, and against the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist terror groups.

As I considered how easy it is to lump the world’s Muslims into one large militant basket, it got me wondering about how often we do the same thing with those who are with us locally. If you live in a city of significant size, chances are an Islamic community lives near you. Maybe you drive past their place of worship on your daily commute. Maybe you see them when you are out shopping. What is your attitude toward them when you come face-to-face with the reality of Islam in your midst?

May I ask you to join me in a little assignment? Open up a new window on your browser and do an online search for “mosques near me.” If your results are anything like mine, there are quite a few web links that pop up. If you happen to be reading this from a small American town, then your results may be a little more limited. Scan over your list, then open one of the websites. Now click through the information. You’ll likely be struck by the same thing I see: that apart from vastly differing beliefs, the mosque’s website looks a lot like that of your local church.

But the “beliefs” part makes all the difference, doesn’t it? That’s why I’m going to ask you to take one more step. Scan the website for the name of the mosque’s imam. (His role is similar to that of your church’s pastor.) Once you find it, write it down on a piece of paper and put the paper in your Bible or your devotional or somewhere that you’ll see it regularly. Then commit to the Lord that you will pray daily for the salvation of your local imam. Sometimes revival moves from the bottom to the top; sometimes it pours from the top down. Imagine the powerful, far-reaching impact if the imam of your city’s mosque met the true Jesus.

The salvation of souls—this is what our focus must be. It’s not about the destruction of our enemies. Leave that to God. It’s not about avoiding those whose beliefs differ from our own. Our mission is redemption. Our attitude is love. Our methodology is sacrifice. Our power is prayer.

-Joel C

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[i] Pariona, Amber. “How Many Muslims Are There in the World?” World Atlas, 16 Nov. 2016, www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-muslims-in-the-world.html.