Christian Janitor Dies to Save Muslims

One man reminds us there's more to Christian/Muslim relations than a "clash of civilizations."

Nov 12th, 2009 | By Skye Jethani | Category: Culture, Politics

“A clash of civilizations.” That’s how many in the media and in politics describe the relationship between Muslims and Christians. This popular narrative, however, does not capture the full story. Yes, there is a faction of Islam that is hostile and even aggressively violent toward the West. And there are some Christians who ignorantly scrawl Bible versus on the gun barrels of their tanks. But there are also people like Pervaiz Masih.

Pervaiz was part of the poor, Christian minority in Pakistan. He was illiterate. He worked as a janitor at the women’s campus of Islamabad’s International Islamic University. When a suicide bomber disguised as a women tried to enter the crowded cafeteria, Pervaiz confronted him at the doorway to prevent him from entering. In the struggle the bomb detonated killing Pervaiz and three students, but many more would have died had Pervaiz not sacrificed himself and stopped the killer from entering.

Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik, the rector of the university said, “[Pervaiz Masih] rose above the barriers of caste, creed and sectarian terrorism. Despite being a Christian, he sacrificed his life to save the Muslim girls.” Some in Pakistan are calling him a national hero.

Pervaiz Masih represents an alternative to the “clash of civilizations” rhetoric that is being propagated. He represents what happens when Christians take seriously their calling to love their neighbors–even when those neighbors are Muslim. Our call to love, give, serve, help, and sacrifice is not dependant on the identity or doctrine of our neighbor. We do not love because of who they are, but because of who we are.

Watch this report by CNN about Pervaiz Masih and be hopeful. Be inspired:

http://us.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2009/11/11/watson.pak.unsung.hero.cnn


Popularity: 23% [?]

Share

5 comments
Leave a comment »

  1. Amber Hacker November 12th, 2009 3:06 pm :

    Skye,

    What a powerful story and important reminder what it means to love your neighbor.

    Really enjoying the book-almost done!

    Peace,
    Amber

  2. Christian Janitor Dies to Save Muslims « HIS PEACE UPON US November 13th, 2009 1:30 am :

    [...] November 13, 2009 by Dustin From SkyeBox: [...]

  3. michaeldanner November 13th, 2009 7:25 am :

    Thanks for calling attention to this man. There is a third way!

  4. The Morrisons » Blog Archive » Christian Janitor Dies to Save Muslims November 13th, 2009 11:37 am :

    [...] From skyejethani.com: [...]

  5. Jeffry Butter November 23rd, 2009 7:03 am :

    Galatians 5:22,23 “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” And conversely … we can’t legislate this behavior. Thanks to our Father for his power.

Leave Comment