Mission Heroes

Samuel Zwemer: Pioneer Missionary to Arabia
By Chuck Satterwhite

In this daunting time when the cultures of
Christianity and Islam are knocking on each other’s door, and people are claiming to do things in the name of the Lord or Allah, Samuel Zwemer offers sound advice through his vision, passion and words.

He encouraged Christians of all vocations to understand Islam. “It is supremely important,” Zwemer said, “to understand the soul of a people and their popular religion and fold traditions. To achieve this, we must know their spiritual leaders. My conviction … is that the key to understanding of the masses lies in personal friendship with their clergy, the so-called imams, mullahs and sheikhs.” Zwemer modeled the type of friendship about which he spoke during his 38 years as a missionary in Arabia and Egypt. He immersed himself in his environment, learning the language as well as the culture. Despite lacking widespread effort from other Christians in the United States, and his hard missionary work trekking across deserts on camel back, Zwemer developed a passion for the people of this area.

Zwemer believed that the best way to reach Muslims was not forceful arguments that seek to destroy Muslim attacks on Christianity, but rather a “ministry of friendship.” A friendship that pleads “less of the spirit of controversy and more of the spirit of the Cross.” Zwemer went on to call for more of a “ministry of healing to the wounded and dying. The nearest way to the Muslim heart is the way of God’s love, the way of the Cross.” This ministry he believed started with Muslim leaders.

Samuel Zwemer was born in 1867 to a Reformed pastor in Michigan. He was the 13th of 15 children. Following in his father’s footsteps, Zwemer attended Hope College in Holland, Mich. After college he attended New Brunswick Seminary and later became a recruit of the Student Volunteer Movement.

While in seminary, Zwemer met James Cantine and the two of them became very interested in the idea of missionary work in Arabia. After much prayer, and with support from a professor, Zwemer and Cantine developed plans for the Arabian Mission because they could not find an agency to send them as missionaries to Muslims. They intended this to be a self-supporting mission arm of the Reformed Church. Five years later, the Reformed Church agreed to sponsor the Arabian Mission.

Zwemer’s challenges to Christians were to show the love of Christ to Muslims. Through his writings, he continues to challenge Christians to take time to learn and listen to Muslims. “The clergy and priesthood of Islam demand the respect of those who desire to help the masses or have dealing with them. This applies to tourists, orientalists, political officials and merchants no less than it does to missionaries. It applies most of all to the latter because it is from among the clergy of Islam that opposition often arises, and also some of the strongest and most distinguished Christian converts have come from this very class,” said Zwemer.

Zwemer published 48 books — 29 he authored and 19 he co-authored — and numerous articles. He also founded the journal The Moslem World.