Must All Muslims Leave Islam to Follow Jesus?

For the past decade, my family and I have lived in a close-knit Muslim neighborhood in Asia. My daughter, who loves our neighbors dearly, asked one day, “Daddy, can a Muslim go to heaven?” I responded with an Acts 15:11-type “yes”: “If a Muslim has accepted Isa (Jesus) the Messiah as Savior and Lord, he or she is saved, just as we are.” We affirmed that people are saved by faith in Christ, not by religious affiliation. Muslim followers of  Christ (i.e. C5 believers) are our brothers and sisters in the Lord, even though they do not change religions. Can a Muslim truly accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, thereby rejecting some elements of normal Islamic theology, and yet (for the sake of the lost) remain in his or her family and religious community? Due to the extreme importance Islam places on community, its nearly universal disdain for those who have become “traitors” by joining Christianity, and our desire to see recious Muslims come to Christ, finding the answer to this question is essential. I agree with Dr. Parshall; it is time for missiologists, theologians, and others, especially those who work face-to-face with Muslims, to seriously seek God’s will over this C5 issue. This article is a response to “Danger! New Directions in Contextualization” by Phil Parshall in the October 1998 issue of EMQ.