Jews for Allah takes a page from Christian mission efforts_102003

Posted: 10/17/03

Jews for Allah takes a page from Christian mission efforts

By Alexandra Alter

Religion News Service

DANBURY, Conn. (RNS)–It began as sort of a joke.

Mohamed Ghounem, 32, a mild-mannered, laid-off telecom worker who lives with his wife and daughter in suburban Connecticut, says it was the headline “Christ Converts to Islam” in the satirical newspaper The Onion that gave him the idea for his website, JewsforAllah.com.

At first, he laughed. Then he thought, “Why not?”

Ghounem, whose religious pedigree includes a year of study at al-Azhar, the world's foremost institute of Sunni Islamic learning, said he felt frustrated by Muslims' lack of evangelical activity.

Although Muslims are the world's fastest-growing religious group with more than a billion adherents, they haven't been active enough in the battle for Jewish souls, Ghounem said.

“Muslims haven't been doing it,” he said. “The Muslim attitude, unfortunately, was 'Jews will never convert.”

But why target Jews, fellow monotheists whose faith is regarded by many as Islam's closest relative, and who the Koran describes as “People of the Book”?

According to Ghounem's reasoning, to help the Jews, who remain dangerously ignorant of Mohammed's prophecy, and, in the long run, to turn Israel into an Islamic state.

Ghounem's goals, while seen by many as laughably far-fetched, have outraged leaders of Jewish counter-missionary groups who already have been fighting off Christian evangelists for decades and are wary of new attempts to convert Jews by aggressive or deceptive means.

A fervent admirer of Moishe Rosen, founder of the messianic group Jews for Jesus, Ghounem has studied the group's tactics and adopted their rhetoric.

Like Jews for Jesus, an organization renowned for claiming a Jew who believes in Jesus is a “completed Jew,” Ghounem says converts can maintain their Jewish cultural identity and observe Jewish holidays. He stresses Judaism and Islam's shared lineage of prophets and their similar dietary laws. And, in language almost identical to his Christian mentors, he insists that a true Jew follows Mohammed.

“If you're a true Torah follower, you'll believe in Mohammed, because he's predicted in the Torah,” Ghounem said.

He also argues Jews can liberate themselves from the stringent demands of their religion by embracing Islam.

“The holy Koran is a mercy to Jews,” Ghounem said. “A lot of the things in the Torah, they're not going to have to do anymore.”

The suggestion that Judaism's proximity to Islam justifies conversion remains odious to many, however, who see Ghounem's efforts as an affront to both religions.

“What this guy is doing is a disservice to both faith systems,” said Scott Hillman, executive director of Jews for Judaism, a group that seeks to educate and protect Jews from evangelical groups. “If he's going to say, 'Judaism is fulfilled by Islam,' he's saying Islam is incomplete.”

Others say Ghounem is simply acting on the centuries-old impetus for people of all faiths to seek converts.

Ghounem's objectives are in keeping with the principles of Islam, which encourages evangelism, said Ibrahim Hooper of the Council for American Islamic Relations. “Muslims are encouraged to present accurate and balanced information about their faith to people of all religions.”

Before he set out to convert Jews, Ghounem underwent a conversion of his own, from being an American college student who was mostly ignorant about his faith to a self-fashioned Muslim scholar combating the pervasive myths about Islam he encountered on the Internet.

Ghounem, who immigrated to the United States from Egypt at 6, said his knowledge of Islam was tenuous when he graduated from Western Connecticut University with a degree in engineering. After returning to Cairo for a year to study at al-Azhar, he began spending hours a night in chat-room debates with Messianic Jews and Christians.

Unlike Jews for Jesus, Ghounem has no sponsors and no missionaries; he relies solely on the Internet for outreach. His website, which has had more than 1 million visitors since it was launched three years ago, has attracted about 200 “converts” who use it as a support group. It also provides a forum for Ghounem to address what he calls misconceptions about Islam, like the idea that Islam was spread by the sword, that the Koran is anti-Semitic and that Jews and Muslims worship different gods.

Leaders of Jewish counter-missionary organizations claim they aren't overly concerned by Ghounem's efforts, saying the content of his website is so outrageous that most people don't pay attention.

“This is a freak show, a side show,” said Rabbi Tovia Singer, head of Outreach Judaism, a group that works to bring converts back into the fold.

Ghounem said he recognizes converts risk alienation from both faiths, but he hopes his website might lead to dialogue between Muslims and Jews.

Well, that and one other thing: “My goal is to surpass Jews for Jesus, which I consider 100 percent inevitable.”